Copying the OS hard drive to a new hard drive

[SIW2]

Of course you can use an image of some sort. Most people seem to - cloning seems to have gone out of fashion.

Kbronski's original question is the one that is being responded to.

Actually, this intrigues me. Is it possible to clone a drive to a usb portable hard drive?

 

[GeneO]

Your all talking 'cloning' here. I did this from a WD drive to a Seagate drive without cloning.
Obviously the simple solution is to use a system backup (created with Windows Backup). I have a dedicated internal drive just for doing system backups.
Run the backup and do a complete (system) backup of your C: drive.
Remove the old drive and install the new drive.
Upon first boot, go into BIOS and ensure the new drive is the first drive (i.e. Drive 0) and set your Boot order (i.e. CD/USB/HDD0). Save this and reboot from your Windows install disk.
Select Repair as your option and restore the backup to the new drive with System Restore.
Reboot from the new HDD.
What could be simpler and effective solution?

Cloning? There is only one step as opposed to backup AND restore
Though my current system is restored from Windows 7 backup.
Also, with cloning, all of your restore points are kept while they are not with backup/restore.

 

[Dave76]

Yes, I had already found that - thanks.

Took about 10 seconds. LOL.

Luckily, you can still get v11 - they don't appear to have updated all the download links.

V11 has a massive advantage - you can download the Bartpe plugin - throw it on your winpe3 boot media. It works really well. Surprisingly small and efficient compared to the installed version.

Sadly - they seem to have removed it from the newer version.

That is a huge step backwards.

Will have to check the bootable media option in v13.

Will the v11 BartPE work on v13 backups?

Actually, this intrigues me. Is it possible to clone a drive to a usb portable hard drive?

Not on usb2, as far as I know, you might be able to clone it but, it won't run from the USB2 external. USB3?

You can do it on an eSATA external port with eSATA external drive enclosure.
I have done this before with a SATA to eSATA direct port crossover, the OS doesn't know it's not internal.

 

[kbronski]

Ahh, mine is usb2 sadly. I've looked at getting an e-sata drive but they're not the easiest to find, and not exactly the lowest price either.

 

[SIW2]

Will the v11 BartPE work on v13 backups?

NO.

 

[GeneO]

Ahh, mine is usb2 sadly. I've looked at getting an e-sata drive but they're not the easiest to find, and not exactly the lowest price either.

Get yer own enclosure and use whatever drive you want. That is actually cheaper than buying a eSATA external drive from a vendor. And you get full SATA speeds.

For instance:

Newegg.com - Rosewill RX-358-S SLV (Silver) 3.5" SATA to USB & eSATA External Enclosure w/Int.80mm Fan

OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Quad Interface eS... (MEFW924AL1K) at OWC

(I have the latter) or just search newegg for "esata external enclosure"

 

[ripperrita]

Hi, I'll be getting a new hard drive soon and I'm wondering if it is possible to copy the whole of my current C: drive including the OS to a new hard drive. Reason being the new hard drive will be faster and would be more beneficial for me.

Thanks

Hi, Why dont you kill 2 birds with 1 stone, Acronis true image will let you do this without fuss, plus you get a great backup software to boot. I have used several versions of true image to clone/upgrade hard drives and a tip is to do it using the rescue cd, and not in windows. Also make sure you follow the directions carefully, and remember to DISCONNECT the old hard drive before you reboot. Tis good

 

[Dave76]

Check your HDD if it's Seagate or WD you can get free version of Acronis, check the corresponding website.

 

[SIW2]

It appears you can do it with Partition Wizard ( free ) disk copy function.

 

[GeneO]

It appears you can do it with Partition Wizard ( free ) disk copy function.

I will have to try that!

 

[mjf]

Moving OS, Programs etc.... to a new hard drive is straightforward using imaging. There is no need to clone.
I have carried this out twice with Windows inbuilt imaging. Transferring to a brand new drive with no prep work required.
Macrium Reflect (free) will do the job as well.

An advantage of the imaging approach is that if disaster strikes, your last image can become your new disk.

 

[ripperrita]

Moving OS, Programs etc.... to a new hard drive is straightforward using imaging. There is no need to clone.
I have carried this out twice with Windows inbuilt imaging. Transferring to a brand new drive with no prep work required.
Macrium Reflect (free) will do the job as well.

An advantage of the imaging approach is that if disaster strikes, your last image can become your new disk.

Another advantage of Acronis True Image, and if I may say so, remember to take a full image of the old drive before you try any hard drive clone procedure. I must admit If I didnt have AC true image, i would probably use macrium, but true image with the plus pack can also clone an image to a pc with different hardware, something free macrium baulks at. For the price true image is great value, and if you look around true image can be very cheap. No I dont work for Acronis, but I would not have a pc without it.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ah didn't see this thread

Have done a new Sandy B build (first build) and have a Samsung 103j as the original primary HDD but I find it a bit noisy - the clicking as it boots etc.

So I have installed a 500MB Seagate Blue 6gbs hard drive - originally to back up the Samsung and am just about to install a Seagate 1TB hard drive (6Gbs) to get rid of the Samsung (noise) and perhaps speed the transfer rate up a bit, and keep it for another small build or spare.

Now I'll be bluntly honest I am a total semi savvy computer idiot / moron / and whatever other names people sometimes refer me as and I have been looking at cloning now it all looks rather complicated until I read this thread.


Now forgive my absolute ignorance but wouldn't it also be possible to totally copy the original HDD and paste the contents into the new HDD then remove the Samsung and use the Seagate? Although I do get this gut feeling that this is going to be too easy.

As a matter of pure nincompoop curiosity can I also do the same with just the OS onto the smaller of the twp Seagates.

Look I am an RN by profession so it is like walking through a strange swamp wondering if there are crocs or other nasties in there or not - in case I get it horribly wrong.

 

[essenbe]

Seagate has a scaled down version of Acronis. I believe it has a clone function with it. It is called DiscWizard and is free if you have a Seagate HD. I use Western Digital's version, but they should both be similar. It is a easy process and takes less than 10 min. It uses a wizzard that is simple to follow.

 

[mjf]

wouldn't it also be possible to totally copy the original HDD and paste the contents into the new HDD then remove the Samsung and use the Seagate?

Basically, no using the normal understanding of "Copy".
Cloning is a special form of bit for bit copying (dubbing if you like). You can use this if you like but you need the destination disk to clone to.
Imaging is a more sophisticated/higher layer copy process creating special image files that can be stored on any appropriate external HDD then reimaged to to a final destination HDD if and when needed.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok

Thanks essenbe I'll give that whirl when I get two minutes.


Hey mjf yes mate I regularly system image as I now have the 3.0 external hooked up, and I don't know how it did it but it just does it automatically!

Like I said I am just a computer moron compared to you folks!!

 

[essenbe]

You are not a moron. Most of us learned what we know from our experiences. The more you mess your computer up and have to fix it, the more you learn. I have a lot of experience in messing the computer up. That and reading these forums will teach you a lot.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Essenbe

Thanks yo for your kind words but I have to be honest and feel quite out of my depth at times. But as you suggest I'll keep trying.

 

[essenbe]

John, Don't worry so much. What is the worse that can happen? You will have to reinstall windows. Besides, if you really mess everything up, we'll be here to help. As I said before; this is how you learn. You've got the best backup crew there is- Seven Forums. That should give you some confidence. You cannot mess up cloning with the Acronis. It takes you through a wizzard. What do you want the source disk to be, what do you want the destination disk to be, it will set up and tell you to reboot. Before windows finishes loading Acronis will start the clone and show you the progress. It will finish in less than 10 minutes and continue booting into windows. Restart and use the boot menu to boot into the new disk. Look around make sure it works got all of your programs and email. Once you are sure it worked properly, reformat the Samsung. It really is simple. After the first time you try it, you will be telling everyone else how easy it is. Like I said, back up everything before you start, and the worse thing that could happen is a clean install of windows. If you have the space, just leave the OS on the samsung for a backup OS. Change the boot order in bios to boot into your new OS disk and you are done.