Use Macrium Reflect (free) or other to clone a Win7 hard disk

[loninappleton]

Just now I am running Seatools tests on a 1tb Seagate after the old Noron Ghost program failed twice to
complete and issuing an error which aborted the program.

Crystal Disk info reports the HD in the 'blue as good with no errors or warnings.

Seatools short test says Smart atributes have not triggered.

The drive is just two years old and the company told me warranty expired just in March 2018.

I am running the whole suite of Seatools Dos version including fix all on the advice
of Seagate staff which has been very helpful.

Is there perhaps an alternative with Macrium or Acronis? I've stuck with Norton Ghost
because frankly it's easier and less complicated: Select a source drive, select a target drive-- Go.

I've tried Acronis and Macrium in the past. Also unrelated I've had disastrous results with Linux based
cloners.

What's the latest and the simplest to do this task?

 

[fireberd]

One of the forum software GURUs (no longer posts due to health problems) did some in depth testing for Clone (Windows and Linux) and found it was a "hit or miss" - works for some and not for others. I tried cloning my Win 7 mechanical hard drive to a new Samsung SSD and was never successful. I tried the clone program that came with the Samsung SSD, Acronis True Image and another Cloning program (don't remember its name, but it wasn't Macrium) and they all failed at different points. I had made a full disc image of the hard drive so I used that and "restored" to the new SSD and it worked without problems.

I abandoned Acronis True Image as it failed me twice doing restores and it didn't get a 3rd chance. I now use Macrium Reflect (V7 free) and have had success cloning a Win 10 SSD drive and with backups and restores.

 

[loninappleton]

Thanks for the reply.


The old Ghost 11 I think always works for me from a cd until
recently it failed to complete doing a Seagate 2tb (700Gb filled) to a recent Seagate 1Tb Baracuda but no longer in warranty. The program works slower it seems with anything involving this 2tb Seagate Baracuda. But the old Ghost completes with other 1 tb drives I have.

I have begun testing the problem Seagate Drive. Seatools came back passed no errors in Short and Long test. In Win7 I have the Check Disk and Repair bad sectors routine running now.

I'm not trying to restore or create disk images-- just copy through from source to target.

I even have the Macrium instructions printed out someplace but have not looked at that lately.
This is just an inquiry about any new developments in programs for backup. From what you say
Acronis and free stuff -- what? -- does not work in lieu of pay- for versions?

What you say about SSD is valuable too. I will be moving to an SSD or M.2 boot drive at some point.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I used to use Norton Ghost years (decades?) ago until it became too bloated and expensive. Norton anything anymore is too bloated and expensive.

The best program I have found for imaging and cloning is Macrium Reflect. Cloning is as simple as it it gets on Macrium Reflect. Just click on the dive and partitions you want to clone, click on Clone this Disk, select the drive you want to clone to, and go from there. The prompts are simple to follow.

 

[loninappleton]

I see some screen shots at least from one support site and there's the PDF which I have to print
selectively. As a simple disk to disk transfer there should be one volume showing, yes?

 

[fireberd]

Macrium is very user friendly. You shouldn't really need any tutorials.

 

[loninappleton]

From scratch, then, can I make a bootable cd rom to run the program for the clone job?

Yesterday I download ReflectDLHF.exe from Macrium site.

That's as far as I am. Also can I verify some way that this is the 'good' V7?

I don't want to run the exe immediately since, of late, I've had problems getting rid of
unwanted programs once installed.

 

[loninappleton]

Some progress.
I ran the installer program.
I selected Macrium from the desktop Shortcut.
The screen that opens shows the one HD I currently have connected.
That screen has an option to clone the disk.

But I've always understood that an HD can't copy itself. For this reason
I want to be able to run the Clone program from what the Linux users call a Live Cd or
ISO.

I'll connect up a spare HD to see how far I get but have all these questions.

In my toolbox from ages ago I have some cds called Reflect but those are
that backup image or whatever-- not indicating a bootable clone program to run from
CD like Ghost, Clonezilla etc.

Any tips appreciated.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

As long as you are cloning the HDD that Macrium Reflect is installed on to another HDD (or even an SSD), you do not need a live CD or anything else. Just start up Macrium Reflect, tell it which HDD you want to clone, then, when prompted, tell it which HDD to clone it to. I've done it many times and had a problem only once (the source disk had become corrupted)

 

[loninappleton]

I'll report any progress and mark solved when completed.
Thanks for the answer.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

Just now I am running Seatools tests on a 1tb Seagate after the old Noron Ghost program failed twice to
complete and issuing an error which aborted the program.

Crystal Disk info reports the HD in the 'blue as good with no errors or warnings.

Seatools short test says Smart atributes have not triggered.

The drive is just two years old and the company told me warranty expired just in March 2018.

I am running the whole suite of Seatools Dos version including fix all on the advice
of Seagate staff which has been very helpful.

Is there perhaps an alternative with Macrium or Acronis? I've stuck with Norton Ghost
because frankly it's easier and less complicated: Select a source drive, select a target drive-- Go.
I've tried Acronis and Macrium in the past. Also unrelated I've had disastrous results with Linux based
cloners.
What's the latest and the simplest to do this task?

I must ask, "what version of Ghost were you using?". When the originating company that wrote Ghost, in New Zealand, back around 1996, sold Ghost to Symantec Corp, it began to degrade. When Ghost was re-written to run from within Windows, it really went to H311 in a handbasket.



I am fortunate to already have the last version of Ghost that was written in and for DOS. That is Ghost 11.5. I run it from bootable media, CD, Flash Drive, SD Memory card, etc. The only time I've had Ghost error out, is when there are Errors on the original HD. I ran SFC /scannow to fix the drive and then when I ran Ghost again, the backup (or clone) went off without a hitch. That was NOT the fault of Ghost, but in my C: drive.


I have a short list of Rules, for doing backups or Clones.
1. The Backup & Restore program must be on some bootable media, so it can backup the active OS drive or even a Data Only disk. And it can be used on multiple computers.

2. The backup copy must not be saved to the C: drive.
3. The drive to hold the backup or clone, should not be permanently attached to the system board, but should be separate from the system, in case of PSU failure or lightning strike.


Symantec no longer supports Ghost 11.5, but it's still 'out there', as an ISO, for those who want it.


Good Luck

 

[loninappleton]

Just a quick reply to show I haven't abandoned these discussions. Short explanation is I've had some hardware snafus and am replacing at least one monitor.


I will read this in more detail shortly.
But even though I got the original Ghost I was using 'from a friend" I think the

instance of Ghost I've had is from Hirens and that is 11.5


I made an autoexec for the cd to even get a mouse to work.


I've tried Acronis. clonezilla-- would like to see HDD Guru have a clone program
but none such exists.


The initial screen at Macrium looks friendly enough. But over the last days I've had hardware
headaches.