Trying to clone my SSD to (used) HD but both Aomei and Macrium report errors with bad sectors. Ran chkdsk.
The disk management picture shows on HD/disk1--4 partitions with 1 small unallocated (1U), and an 8.48 G one. I have allocated the 8.48G with "New simple Volume" but it reverts back to "unallocated" after attempted cloning The smaller unallocated does not offer any options.
Any ideas?
You never ever clone a drive with bad sectors as it will copy bad sectors to the new drive and it cant be reversed
The bad sectors are supposedly on the target HD, not on the source from my PC. None the less, it is strange as the HD drive was working well on my last PC. I also formatted the HD but still problematic.
Why is it impossible to start from a "fresh" HD as it was formatted and letters and volumes added? From past experience with another, it seems one cannot use an old HD to a new machine?
Bad sectors on a drive are a simple fact of life, I have seen errors marked on drives from top manufacturers when brand new from the factory.
A drive can work for many years with bad sectors without any issues showing to the user what you have to look for is increasing numbers of bad sectors appearing, which could indicate that the drive is failing
...I had enough with this HD and it's going in the trash.
Tested with Victoria and found a lot of bad sectors, then tried chkdsk and error appeared: " insufficient disk space to repair master file table mirror".
Again, it is strange these sectors only appeared when connecting as external drive. At another time, a different HD only cloned on one PC and not another system, so it is difficult for me to understand.
The problem with bad sectors as you start to get them they are remaped to enginering tracks so you dont see them until thats full when you test and find them they are marked bad so next time you test you see no errors as it doesnt touch marked bad blocks so people thing the drive is ok
I was able to save the disk and is now operating well in its original PC. I simply attached it and had to reinstall 7 (as the OS was deleted/formatted in trying to repair it).
All good and working faster--even on an old Dell-as there are no bugs nor many applications. The only problem is on boot
where there are 2 operating systems and I have to choose one--the 7 Home vs the 7 Pro recovered. The only way the Pro could appear on my HD is thru the failed clones I had been trying as aforementioned. Not a big deal, but is this a "dual-boot" now, and is there a way to delete the Pro?
Take a look at the following which gives an introduction to the boot menu and how to modify what is displayed and for how long, It's often a good idea to increase display time with a dual/multi Boot system at least until you get used to it
Overview of Boot Options in Windows - Windows drivers | Microsoft Learn
Was this the SSD in your laptop according to your Comp. Specs? Curios, what make and model SSD?
When you buy a new SSD (assuming this is the SSD) read this: SSD Over-provisioning (OP) - Kingston Technology
So, if it's a 1TB like before, over-provision to 800GB max capacity, You can use the program Crucial Executive on any SSD to conduct this action, I do believe. Or just use some partition editing program. The Windows built in computer management will do it I guess. Just have to be careful and know how to do it right. That's why Crucial Executive will do it with point and click no fuss crap.
Edit-
I hope the Windows product key is intact on the bottom of the laptop. Sometimes it's in the battery compartment.
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