Clone windows machine or Move everything to external HD

Ok, so this is hard to ask but I know what I am wanting to do. Perhaps not hard to ask but more I don't know all the right words. 

In my office I have a windows computer, XP Home. I want to clone everything on that computer to an external hard drive. Yes, I want to clone the OS as well. At that point I want to be able to use parallels and plug it into my mac and use it from there. I have a ton of stuff on the windows computer that I cannot lose and programs I have legally that I cannot  mess up. 

I am not sure if this can be done and if it can I do not know the best way to do this, so I have come to the people who know so much more than I do. Is this possible?

If it is not possible, is there a way for me to copy everything from the windows computer (every single file, everywhere on the HD) and place it onto the EHD and plug it into my mac and run it from the windows os (7, I think it is) I have on another EHD? 

Thanks in advance for the help!

You are running an obsolete operating system that is no longer supported.  The proper thing to do here is to get updated versions of the software you require if necessary, and reinstall them on a newer system running Windows 7 or 8.  At that point you just need to transfer the data and continue on your merry way.  Often times the hardest thing to convince people of is that regardless of when they do it, they will do it sooner or later.  There is no preventing it and you will simply be unable to keep Windows XP and your old software viable forever.

With that said, there are specific instructions addressing your post here:  http://kb.parallels.com/en/115007

I did take a look at the link you gave me and I think I am not being clear enough, but first allow me to address the other issues you mentioned. 

I don't need an upgraded OS. I don't need support from windows. And no, I will not need to install a more current version of windows at anytime soon. 

Let me explain a bit better. The xp system I have works super well with an application that I have that optimizes brain waves. I can manually manipulate that application in xp better and if I go into another I lose that ability and I don't want to lose it. Another application makes maps and it does not work anywhere as good on the 7 or 8 versions. So, I don't need to nor do I want to change.  The computer has a very basic and very simple purpose. I am not worried about security updates and the like, as I only connect briefly if needed for email, at best. 

The link you gave me, I do not feel handles the situation as I intend. Perhaps, if it does, you could explain it to me better. 

What I really want to do is just clone the whole system onto an external drive and run it from that drive. I do not want it on my mac. I do have an external drive with windows 7 on it and I can connect it to my mac but the entire OS is on the external drive. I had to do an install of the os on the external to get that and I partitioned it in a rather small form so I only used the space I needed. 

In essence, If I can clone the XP os I will have all of the external drive dedicated to the XP os. but I need all the paths and folders to remain the same. I don't have some of the old disks and one of the comes from a closed company in the czech republic.  Having stated more than I need to. is there a way to do what I am asking. Again, I don't feel as if the link you offered solves the problem as I wish it too. Perhaps I am wrong and if so forgive me and please explain in detail, if you will, the best way to handle said situation.

Thank you. 

Ohhh, what about this? Since I have a C drive, D drive, and an installed F drive, could I hook up to the external drive and copy all of drive c onto it at that point and it do what I am asking? would it still act like my c drive? 

this is if I can hook into the F drive somehow as I don't recall the ability to connect at the time.

no you can not clone the hard drive and run it as a "native" os on a new pc (well not easily.) but yes what you really want to do ie. run it as a virtual pc using parallels software on your mac is definitely doable.

now not having a mac or ever having used parallels, i can not give you exact details on how to do what you want but i can give you general instructions that should give you an idea.

first thing you want to do is use some backup software (i'd suggest macrium reflect.) and make a complete backup "image" of your windows pc's hard drive, this will include the os and programs etc.

then you may or may not need to convert that image into a vhd (virtual hard drive/disk.)

now install parallels on your mac, and start it running, the first time you run it you will have to set up a virtual pc and then install an operating system to that virtual pc, it is at this stage you would point parallels to the image of your old xp system and it should see it and create and boot it as a virtual pc just as if you were running it on your old pc.

like i said not detailed instructions and there are probably a couple of ways to do it but i hope there is enough info there for you to be able to work with and get it running on your mac as a virtual pc.

if i had the hardware available myself i'd set everything up first so i could give better instructions, but i hope there is enough there to help you anyway.

Thank you terry1966.

I will look up macrium reflect and see what I can do with it. this sounds more like what I am trying to do.  This is very helpful and appreciated. 

If anyone is well versed in this area and has some step by step directions, they would be greatly appreciated.

Once the windows os is on the external hard drive it will not need to connect to the net at all as I will only use it for a single purpose and transfer what I need to the main computer. 

Again, Thanks.

The purpose of my original post was not to offend you.  I work in the industry and have to deal weekly with people still running Windows XP.  Less than 1% of them have any legitimate reason to not move to newer hardware and operating system.  In general we prefer to put our effort and their money into something that they will get more value out of rather than trying to delay the inevitable.  Ofcourse, it is your choice on what you do and how you do it, I wasn't suggesting otherwise.  But, while I agree I'm sure you can keep this running for now you will inevitably either have to stop using what you are using or upgrade it - so my comment was only to suggest that now might be a good time for that.  Eventually the hardware will fail, and you'll be required to buy new hardware, and that new hardware will not support the operating system you want to run, so you'll have to buy a new operating system, and that new operating system won't support the software you want to run, and you'll have to buy new software.  Such is the lifecycle of a computer system.  No offense intended.

With that said, I read your original post again and I guess maybe I am not fully understanding what you are trying to accomplish.  From what I gather you want to "migrate" your existing Windows XP system fully intact to a different hardware platform - specifically, a mac running parallels.  You cannot do as you are suggesting and "clone" windows XP to different hardware because the HAL (hardware abstraction layer) was compiled for the exact hardware it is currently operating on.  You cannot clone the system, file for file to an external hard drive and plug it in to another computer and boot it.  You touched on some of the limitations such as drive letters and paths, but the point being there are a lot of technical reasons this has to be done in a very specific way or it won't work.

Originally, I started to type about Macrium and Acronis which can go a "hardware independent" clone.  In addition there is a Disk2VHD program to migrate a live system to a Windows virtual machine.  All of that is quite complicated.  Therefore, I found the link I provided to you originally where it says this:

 

 

You can import all your data from a Windows PC to Parallels Desktop on your Mac. Then you can continue to work with all your Windows programs, files, and data, side-by-side with Mac OS X.

If I understood you correctly then this is what you are trying to do.  The link I provided is right from Parallels support giving you step by step instructions how to do this properly.  Specifically you will be using the option to migrate using an "External Storage Device."  Ultimately, if you want to keep the entirety of the system on an external hard drive then you will need a second external hard drive to temporarily export and import the images while you tell Parallels to store your windows system and files on the primary external hard drive.  Or, you will need to temporarily store everything on your Mac and once everything is working find instructions how to move that entire system back to the external hard drive you want to store it on.  But, if your intention is to just move this around from computer to computer as you see fit, you will likely have significant hurdles to overcome.  As the instructions suggest, you may need to reactivate windows or the software.  Unfortunately, no matter what you do, Windows will detect it is on different hardware and will quite possibly force you to re-activate and other software may do the same.  The idea is that it is not legal, nor supported to run this installation of your operating system and software on more than one computer simultaneously.  To stay within the law you would need to decommission the existing hardware and run it exclusively on another platform.  Thus the reason re-activation often has to occur.  And technically speaking, if the Windows XP license is whats called an OEM version you don't have any legality to move it to different hardware.  You are simply not allowed to although it can be done.

I read the instructions at that link again, this does appear to be what you are asking for with step by step instructions for your environment.  If you have further questions you can certainly ask them and I'll try to clarify.

thanks to appleoddity reminding me there are programs out there that will convert a running system into a vm i found this link that may make things easier for you to do what you want than my original post.

it explains how to create a virtual machine from your running win xp system then use that in vmplayer on windows 8, of course you'd have to be using fusion on your mac because i don't believe vmware offers just the vmplayer free for macs but it is part of/included with fusion.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/run-your-windows-xp-system-in-windows-8-with-vmware/

and/or you can use/import the created vmware vm files into either virtualbox or parallels if you wanted to use one of them instead of fusion.

always remembering there's no guarantee every program that runs on a native install of xp will run on a virtual machine of xp, be that using vmplayer/fusion, parallels or virtualbox but i'd guess you have a very good chance of your programs working just fine.

here's a comparison of fusion with parallels that might help you decide on what route you want to take. http://www.macworld.com/article/2055442/parallels-9-and-fusion-6-run-neck-and-neck-in-virtualization-contest.html

@appleoddity

I accept your apology and meant no offense back. However, I work with many people who believe they know what is best all the time and do not always understand the entire situation. In my case I believe I will be fine as much of the original computer is built the way it is for a reason and I ave a ton of 'spare parts' to overcome many other issues. Some of what you say makes sense and I agree with you that eventually there is a need to upgrade and all, but for what I am doing and needing I am good, for now and hopefully for a while. What does seem to cause me great conflict in this is that terry1966 does have sort of a fix for me and is on track with what I am wanting to do and telling me it can be done while you are telling me it cannot. I think, to a degree you are telling me it can be done but you understand some of the major hurdles that come with trying to do it in the way you are telling me to do it. 

The thing that really sucks is that the main software that I need to use is a windows only software. If it was for both windows and mac I would not have as much of a problem. I am unaware of the paths that are needed and that run, for the program to work. Thanks for our help and input. While some of it may not be what I want to hear it is good to know. 

@terry1966

Thank you. I have had a very long and hard day. I plan on investigating these new ideas tomorrow. I believe that a VM is the way to go and while I am not real sure about fusion, I do recall the old VMware (I think).  Many of the books and papers that I have on the computer can be transferred and I can use that stuff anywhere. The main need is a certain few pieces of software that I have to make sure I have. I will still have it on my office computer, but perhaps this way I can travel and help others, too. I am willing to invest enough to make this happen if it really can work, so I thank you for the advice and the points in the right direction. 

@both  I appreciate your understanding and help in this situation. 

Hi.  I'm not really saying anything that contradicts Terry.  When it comes to Windows, or pretty much any operating system, you can't just copy it file for file to another computer which is what I think you are trying to say when you say "clone."  We both indicated that will not work.  The reason being is that the software is customized so to speak for the hardware it was installed on.   But, there remains some programs that can do a hardware independent restore which means it is able to modify the parts of the operating system that are necessary to make it run on different hardware.  In addition there remains programs out there specifically for taking a live windows system and migrating it to a virtual machine.

No offense to Terry or you, but I'm not sure why the information from Parallels I provided you is not your solution.  Everything Terry is saying is true and will work, but its a round about way talking about software you don't have such as VMWare.  In addition, since my last post Terry you have talked more about the software that can capture a live system and migrate it to a virtual machine.  That is very good, and I agree that is the way to go.  But, that is exactly what the link I posted does except it uses the software that our poster has indicated he already has and wants to use (Parallels).  Namely the Parallels Transporter Agent. It transfers a live machine over to a virtual machine that runs in Parallels. So, what would be the benefit of using different software to convert the system to a non-native format and then turn around and import it back into Parallels?  I believe I have provided you with the most direct approach to accomplishing what you asked.

To pastimage - anything you run in Parallels is a "virtual machine."  That's what Parallels does, just like VMWare, or VirtualBox.

Am I wrong?  Or, what is it about that particular solution that isn't meeting your needs? You're not giving me anything to go on here.

you never offend me appleoddity, i have a great respect for your knowledge and wisdom. so sorry, having never used parallels and only skimming the links you posted, i didn't realise parallels transport agent was creating a full running vm from the old system and thought it was just used to import user data from the old system into an already running xp vm and why i've offered alternate options for doing the exact same thing even tho parallels has been mentioned by pastimage i didn't think he already had it, and assumed that is what he mentioned because it is mac vm software.
anyway i believe choice is always a good thing, even if it does make it harder for the op to decide and us to get them up and running.   
 
pastimage as you can now tell there are lots of ways and means to do what you want and it really doesn't matter what method or vm software you choose and use, they will all do the job, so it's up to you.

parallels i believe you have to buy a copy for every machine you install it on and vmware fusion you only need to buy the 1 copy and can then install it on any machine you own (i understand both offer trials so if you wanted you could test each out for free before buying.).

both fusion and parallels have good support and work pretty much as good as each other in all respects from my understanding.

in your situation, if you don't already own parallels, personally i think i'd go with fusion just because i believe it offers best bang for buck.

once you have chosen your virtual software (whichever) and installed it onto your mac and then start using it and following some guides, the process of actually achieving what you want and creating a vm of your xp system on the mac will be quite straight forward i believe. 

as with most things to do with computers tho, there are numerous ways of achieving the same goal, so if you find that even when you have got the xp vm up and running on the mac your needed programs don't work, your not out of options.

we could always look at getting a clone (macrium system image) of the xp system transferred to and running natively (not in a virtual machine) on a mac boot camp partition, like you earlier mentioned, and we said couldn't be done, it can be done from my understanding, even tho i've never done it to a mac, i have done it for other pc's, but like appleoddity has fully explained things need to be made hardware independent, either before making the clone or during/after it's installation to the new machine.

of course we're assuming you are aware of and are complying with all the legal issues to do with microsoft software licensing (even when installing the xp system in a virtual machine) as previously mentioned by appleoddity and in some of the links already posted.

OK, So this brings up a whole new issue guys. Right now I have a desk top for both apple and windows. One computer is at home and the other at the office.  So I need to understand if I can put parallels/Fusion on the external HD and import the xp system (create a VM), bring it home and plug it into the mac and see if it works. 

I am not finding that information. Perhaps I overlooked it. 

Both of you are offering very valid point and I do appreciate it very much. 

If you intend to use parallels then you will follow the link I provided, and perform Step 1 on your PC.

You will then perform Step 2: "Use An External Storage Device." Sub-steps 1-10 on your PC, and steps 11-19 on your Mac.

it's more or less the same 3 step process however you do it or with whatever you use,

step 1

install and run the converter/image program on the xp system,

step 2

save the results from that to external hard drive,

step 3

install the actual vm program you chose on the mac,

connect external hard drive and then run the vm software on the mac and point it to the external hard drive to get the data for the vm to run on your mac screen.

you can make the external hard drive the default drive for the vm so there is no need for it to use any more of the macs drive than is actually taken up by the vm software or you can have everything on the mac so there is no need for the external drive to be used once the vm is created.

just depends on how much space you have on the mac and how you'd like to set things up at the time and usually those settings can also be changed later so you can set it up one way then decide to set it up the other whenever you choose.

all links should be easy enough to follow once you start the process and are actually using the software in my opinion.