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Can a Windows only install on Mac Mini (2011) be cloned?

W

WarlordBB

Junior Member
I have suggested that my work use Mac Mini's as a desktop platform for our 40 person call center. They are smaller, more energy efficient and built better than anything else we can get for the price (this is the current 2011 Mac Mini). However, our call center is Windows 7 only. I'd prefer to not have to deal with having the Mac OS installed only to kickstart a Boot Camp install of Windows 7. I'd rather (at least right now, I do have an ultimate goal of slowly introducing the idea of Mac OS) just install Windows 7 only.

I purchased one as a test and during the Boot Camp install, deleted all existing partitions (including the existing Mac OS) and successfully installed Windows 7 as the only bootable OS on the Mac Mini. Everything is working fine and the system runs all apps fantastically (we've increased the RAM to 8GB).

Now how do I clone this? This isn't going to work if I have to tell my helpdesk guy that instead of using PXE and Windows Deployment Service images, he's going to have to install Windows 7 manually to all 40 systems.

Any ideas?

BTW, I'd settle for an option that allowed me to clone a Mac OS/Boot Camp/Windows 7 install if that's the only option. I've read that these new Mac Mini's can't PXE boot and that getting them to boot from USB requires black magic and possibly burnt offerings.
 
Dumb idea.

Build quality on a Apple, like it's image, is superficial - the aluminium shell is nice and all, but it's often more poorly cooled and less reliable than a comparable system. Also, they're not as easily serviceable as e.g. an Optiplex - no reasonably priced on-site service either.

All that, and it doesn't work as a Windows PC. 99.9% maybe, but not 100%.

If you want something similarly sized look at an Asrock http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.asp?Model=Vision%203D%20Series%20(Sandy%20Bridge)
But as with the Apple, I wouldn't recommend it for work. A lot of people underestimate the abuse that commercial PC's are put to - then complain that it's a piece of crap compared to the mollycoddled Apple they have at home.
 
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vbuggy said:
Dumb idea.

Build quality on a Apple, like it's image, is superficial - the aluminium shell is nice and all, but it's often more poorly cooled and less reliable than a comparable system. Also, they're not as easily serviceable as e.g. an Optiplex - no reasonably priced on-site service either.

All that, and it doesn't work as a Windows PC. 99.9% maybe, but not 100%.

If you want something similarly sized look at an Asrock http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overview.asp?Model=Vision%203D%20Series%20(Sandy%20Bridge)
But as with the Apple, I wouldn't recommend it for work. A lot of people underestimate the abuse that commercial PC's are put to - then complain that it's a piece of crap compared to the mollycoddled Apple they have at home.
Click to expand...

Wow that was helpful to the OP.

If you don't have any other options, there's Winclone. It'll clone a Windows partition while you're running Mac OSX.
 
vbuggy: I disagree with everything you said, especially for our purposes. Although it's probably pointless, I'll give you my reasons. First, you've obviously not used a Mac Mini. I have. I replaced my Shuttle system with a 2010 Mac Mini for my work machine and I run OS X and VMWare Fusion to access my development environment Windows VM (my "main" machine is actually a MacBook because of the success with that). It runs my Windows VM better than my _very_ similarly equipped Shuttle system and it's been plugging along without error (even 0.01% error I might add) non-stop since a week after they were released which is when I bought it. Second, we don't service desktops. Not really at least. If something goes wrong with a users system, we replace it with one of our spares immediately and then see if there's something we can do to fix the one that messed up. Unless the hardware issue can be resolved quickly and perfectly (i.e. it wasn't really a hardware issue to begin with), we don't use that system in our environment again. Our helpdesk dude might fix it up and sell it off or w/e. The main point is, we use these systems to get our jobs done, they are not our jobs, and we are fortunate to have enough success as a company to not have to pinch pennies in this area (though we don't throw money needlessly around either).

Having said that, I can count on two hands the number of systems we've had with hardware problems in the last 3 years. I don't expect this will increase if we use Mac Mini's (I don't expect it to decrease either but I'll bet it will).

And finally, open your eyes. Almost every "Apple guy" I talk to is a zealot and is over-the-top in their hate for all things not Apple. Let's don't be like them. If it's a viable solution for the particular situation, then it is. And it is. It might not be the absolute best solution, but don't say it's not a viable one when it is.

Now, I'm going to cut and paste my findings on this issue (I've since found out that Thunderbolt works this same way with Target Disk mode and since all of them will have Thunderbolt ports, that's what we're going to do):

I attached a SuperDrive to the Mac Mini and we were able to boot into Acronis (and we presume several other imaging solutions, even Bart's PE to do WDS stuff) but ultimately, the easiest solution is the one I accepted as the answer. We don't _need_ PXE like we would if we had 800 clients and different physical locations. We have less than 100 systems which are all within easy walking distance of less than 400ft.

Several of y'all must have missed the "Windows 7 only" part of this equation. We didn't want to have a Mac OS and Bootcamp be part of the final install just as a means to get Windows installed on the system. We took a Mac Mini with Mac OS X installed, went through the Bootcamp process but during the Windows install, removed all partitions _including the original Mac OS X_.

The SuperDrive eliminated the "no PXE" issue for us but, as I stated, the easiest method now that we have an image we want to use is to just attach a new, out-of-the-box Mac Mini to our deployment machine via Firewire, hold down the T key on the keyboard during boot of that new Mac Mini to enter "Target Disk Mode", then restore that Windows 7 only image to the new Mac Mini using our favorite (and most likely Windows based) image software such as Acronis.
 
Well - the question is, based on the hoops you're jumping through already, what's viable about it relative to the solutions I put to you? They wouldn't use appreciably more power provided similar subsystems are specced to the Apple, and no hoop-jumping.

I do actually use the Minis - a small stack of '11 Minis, *in OS X* - in a stable datacentre environment, which IMO is the environment that could enable a lightly-worked Mini to work in any context of commercial reliability - to circumvent the need to carry an inferior Apple notebook while still giving me the ability to run OS X applications while on the move (i.e. as remote desktop servers).

I now get that you're fixated on this idea, but perhaps the 'open your eyes' factor may have a bigger bearing on you...?

e.g. In a per-unit comparison, an Optiplex 790 SFF - a desktop system designed for commercial, and not domestic, environments and is moreover runs Windows actually natively... and which lets' face it, in an under-desk install will hardly be any different to the Mini - with W7Pro, desktop components including a desktop i5 (or ramp it down to the i3 if you want to match the Mini more closely), a 90% PSU so that under typical conditions you're not looking at huge disparities in power usage compared to a Mini, an optical drive and a 3-year *onsite* warranty would cost less than a base Mini with Applecare. Even if you intend to simply swap out the systems, an onsite service will enable the replacement of failed parts without involving your IT guy, making the desktop available to be recycled into use again faster than a depot return. If you're looking at buying 40+, both companies will probably be offering fairly aggressive discounts if cost is any kind of factor - if you're e.g. intending to retire failed systems.
 
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