Replacing hard drive with a cloned copy

MikeSA

New Member
Messages
7
I am running Windows 8.1 and it appears that my hard drive needs to be replaced. When the machine is turned on, frequently there is a slight screech and I feel it’s best to replace the hard drive.

How do I make an exact bootable copy of the hard drive on a new hard drive and simply replace the drive with the new drive without having to reinstall Windows 8.1 or other programs and without affecting any of the files currently on the machine? If cloning software is required, are there any free programs I can download?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
    CPU
    G630
    Motherboard
    H61
    Memory
    4Gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    1Gig
I know of no free image backup software to restore to dissimilar hardware.

Two good programs are Acronis True Image 2014 Premium or Macrium Reflect Pro. I have used them in the past.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
1) If you are transferring to different machine :

you might get away with it. 7 and 8 can cope if the hardware isn't too different.

Software isn't always needed for that.

Give it a go, if it doesn't boot up, you are no worse off. I could probably adjust the system hive manually, I have done it a couple of times.

2) If you are just replacing the HD on the same machine:

you don't need to make any adjustments, it will be fine.

There are plenty of free programs that will do a clone, or an image, which you can then restore to the new HD.

Aomei Backupper is the best free one, there is also one from paragon, macrium, easeus, etc.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
You can get the Apricorn Notebook hard drive transfer kit. Or use something like ToDo Workstation if going from a larger drive to a smaller sized one or vice versa. I found that ToDo works great.

Right now the Crucial M500 240GB SSD is going for $120 at Newegg.com. ToDo Workstation is $40 at EaseUS com.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
Hi there

For a laptop it's straight forward -- simply connect the NEW HDD to the laptop via a USB==>Sata connector and use any imaging program to copy the disk.

(Even easier -- if you can handle Linux boot any Live Distro from USB / CD and simply type in

SUDO dd if=/dev/sda of=/output device (target) bs=16384K conv=noerror,notrunc

Go away have a beer, glass of whisky, or whatever -- takes a little while - but it copies the entire drive including MBR etc.

Simply now fit the new drive and boot.

If it's a new INTERNAL HDD and you only have ONE HDD it's a bit more complex if you can't connect the drive externally.
You have several methods here --depending on whether you can connect BOTH HDD's to the computer at the same time.

Fit 2nd Disk and copy either with something like CLONEZILLA or use the Linux Live distro with the DD command -- to see what the devices are simply type SUDO fdisk -l on the Linux console (command line).

After the copy disconnect Bad disk and you should be fine to boot etc. In the event of boot NOT working simply insert windows install disk / recovery disk and go for repair system. That should fix boot errors (but the DD method seems to be the most reliable method even if it isn't the fastest).

Clonezilla is another good freebie for copying disks.

Clonezilla - About

For Linux distros use any Live CD - Linux mint is probably the easiest and will work straight out of the box
Main Page - Linux Mint

For a USB==>sata cable get something like this. (Pic shown).

(note if you re-partition the new disk you can keep the OS separate from Data etc -- always a good idea. For re-partitioning GPARTED is a good system -- you can either download a bootable stand alone version or again using the Linux Live CD simply type SUDO gparted and you've got a nice graphical partition manager that can adjust partitions etc. The Linux DD command can also copy partitions -- instead of say dd if=/dev/sda choose say dd if=/dev/sda1 or whatever the partition number is (use fdisk -l to list the disks / partitions).

the DD command and clonezilla need the TARGET disk / partitions to be at least the same size as the source - however you can re-size afterwards. I wouldn't re-partition your source HDD if you suspect it's going bad - get it copied first. If you have an external USB then image it to that before starting. Then if it goes wrong we can recover easily.

Cheers
jimbo
 

Attachments

  • satausb.png
    satausb.png
    23.6 KB · Views: 179

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Not always Jimbo. I went through three days of finding the correct tool to rescue data off of a failing drive. I finally ended up using my drive that I had in a USB/eSATA case and ToDo Workstation to pull the data. The disc that came with the Apricon kit would not do it, along with the adapter in that kit.

It comes down to mostly trial and error with each case. All due to not every situation is going to work the same as the last one or next one.

If I recall. I went through six different tools to finally get ToDo to do the job.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
Hi there

I think the OP was looking for suggestions -- mine is using easily available freeware -- if it's a question of DATA RECOVERY then that's a totally different issue and different tools are needed. EASUS is paid for software which possibly is OK - however if I'm paying for software I'd go for the much more robust ACRONIS package - it also has the advantage in that you can create incremental backups too and UNIVERSAL restore (can restore to different hardware) -- but this is another topic.

Apart from the 4.00 USD cable the solution I proposed can be used with 100% FREEWARE. Your Apricorn thingy is around 30 USD + tax !!! (I'm getting too stingey in my old age to pay out 30 USD for a bit of plastic with a piece of wire attached !!!).

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Back
Top