Please help with steps needed to clone my hard drive...?

[Petros_k]

For weeks I've been tweaking Windows 7 settings, installing drivers and programs, and transferring files and folders onto a new system. Turns out that my hard drive may be faulty, so the seller sent me a replacement. I absolutely do not want to start from square one on the new drive and re-install what took me weeks to set up. I know I can image or clone the original hard drive, but I think there's several problems:

1. The new hard drive has on it another installation of Windows 7. Of course, I don't need it if I'm cloning the original drive, which also has Windows 7. I know that if I remove the original hard drive and install only the new hard drive it will auto-boot with Windows 7 set up screens. How do I stop the hard drive from doing this so that the two drives can be installed at the same time without having them boot at the same time? If I run the new hard drive only for the sake of getting through the set up, won't the boot file for the new drive be wrongly configured if I'm going to re-install the original drive, boot from the original drive, and then clone it?

2. The original hard drive was set up with a recovery partition. Can I clone the partition of the hard drive that has Windows 7 and my files and folders while still preserving the recovery partition? I have seen some info on forums (not sure if it's valid) where people are claiming you can't clone a hard drive and expect a recovery partition to still work properly.


*I'm also wondering if there's software available that you can download then create a CD that will boot while both drives are installed and you can clone one drive to the other drive this way.

 

[silicon]

Well for starters if the windows 7 is not needed or wanted on the new drive then do a low level format using software available from the drive manufacture. when you do this disconnect the original drive so you do not accidentally format it. Then there are some free cloning software available like clonezila or macrium free edition. But the new drive should be formatted first to NTFS

 

[jolancer]

re recovery partition, thy maybe referring to changing system hardware not just HDD, or maybe copying recovery partition data not actually 'cloning' it. i never needed to, but my assumption would be it would work if core system hardware remained the same. u can test it directly after cloning, then just re-clone again to reset back to how you had it... however do NOT have both harddrives plugged in if you test your recovery partition. just the one your testing it on

re your last paragraph, that is the only way i know how to do it. might be the only reliable way to do it.

if these are your only 2 drives and the only ones your going to stick with for now.. dont have to if you dont feel its neccessary, but what i would do is first create a Backup Image of the entire 500gb drive to your 250gb. The Image file will be the size of the data not the disk, or smaller if the program used uses compression. That way you can restore the 500gb to its original state for any reason including issues.

since your original drive is smaller you can Clone the entire 250 directly to the 500gb, and then create additional partitions in the unpartitioned space, or expand the last partition to fill the rest of the drive.

cloning in that manner should be very simple... unless your disk changes to GPT which it doesnt, or your drive changes interface which i assume its not doing, in that case it would still be pretty simple seeing as you could probably just install the new interface drivers b4 cloning.

Iv only used linux through live booting SystemRescueCD for what your asking. "live booting" is what your last question is about not needing to boot from HDD. Clonezilla should be basically the same thing tho for basic Imaging/Cloning for those who don't want to learn the commands. Should be tutorials on there site etc.

some basic info tho if not already familiar
- Imaging = HDD > Image.file
- Cloning = HDD > HDD or PARTITION > PARTITION

for max reliability don't use compression on Image files, or low compression if optional. High compression will take especially long if your HDD has lots of data and your CPU isn't a beast

another note, since im not familiar with how each program handles the MBR. but for your own future reference, if you clone a Boot Partition and NOT the Entire Drive, depending on the program used, you may need to Clone the MBR seperatly. i dunno tho havn't used many gui progs for the task.

must say i like the way you post, i don't often start topics, but even so never think of starting a new thread on a question that kind of coralates to the original thread. the way you start threads is definitly more efficent. If clonezilla tutorials or sumthing don't answer all your questions, then it will be simple to answer if you have a ?

low level format

That is completely useless and a complete waist of time... Use low level formatting before selling your drives to other people so IF there is any sensitive data they can't use recovery applications to undelete sensitive data.. however the otherway around sound foolish... could run a data recovery application to see if some else left there sensitive data on it tho LoL

the new drive should be formatted first to NTFS

No you shouldn't. Cloning wipes the old format no matter what it is and copies the structure of the original HDD

 

[silicon]

re recovery partition, thy maybe referring to changing system hardware not just HDD, or maybe copying recovery partition data not actually 'cloning' it. i never needed to, but my assumption would be it would work if core system hardware remained the same. u can test it directly after cloning, then just re-clone again to reset back to how you had it... however do NOT have both harddrives plugged in if you test your recovery partition. just the one your testing it on

re your last paragraph, that is the only way i know how to do it. might be the only reliable way to do it.

if these are your only 2 drives and the only ones your going to stick with for now.. dont have to if you dont feel its neccessary, but what i would do is first create a Backup Image of the entire 500gb drive to your 250gb. The Image file will be the size of the data not the disk, or smaller if the program used uses compression. That way you can restore the 500gb to its original state for any reason including issues.

since your original drive is smaller you can Clone the entire 250 directly to the 500gb, and then create additional partitions in the unpartitioned space, or expand the last partition to fill the rest of the drive.

cloning in that manner should be very simple... unless your disk changes to GPT which it doesnt, or your drive changes interface which i assume its not doing, in that case it would still be pretty simple seeing as you could probably just install the new interface drivers b4 cloning.

Iv only used linux through live booting SystemRescueCD for what your asking. "live booting" is what your last question is about not needing to boot from HDD. Clonezilla should be basically the same thing tho for basic Imaging/Cloning for those who don't want to learn the commands. Should be tutorials on there site etc.

some basic info tho if not already familiar
- Imaging = HDD > Image.file
- Cloning = HDD > HDD or PARTITION > PARTITION

for max reliability don't use compression on Image files, or low compression if optional. High compression will take especially long if your HDD has lots of data and your CPU isn't a beast

another note, since im not familiar with how each program handles the MBR. but for your own future reference, if you clone a Boot Partition and NOT the Entire Drive, depending on the program used, you may need to Clone the MBR seperatly. i dunno tho havn't used many gui progs for the task.

must say i like the way you post, i don't often start topics, but even so never think of starting a new thread on a question that kind of coralates to the original thread. the way you start threads is definitly more efficent. If clonezilla tutorials or sumthing don't answer all your questions, then it will be simple to answer if you have a ?


That is completely useless and a complete waist of time... Use low level formatting before selling your drives to other people so IF there is any sensitive data they can't use recovery applications to undelete sensitive data.. however the otherway around sound foolish... could run a data recovery application to see if some else left there sensitive data on it tho LoL


No you shouldn't. Cloning wipes the old format no matter what it is and copies the structure of the original HDD

your advice jumps all around and i don't think you are that knowledgeable. perhaps you could limit your responses to what you really know before you jump on those also trying to give advice?

 

[jolancer]

your advice jumps all around and i don't think you are that knowledgeable. perhaps you could limit your responses to what you really know before you jump on those also trying to give advice?

nothing personal. looking at it now i see how it may of come off that way... i may of been a little too descript as a lot of topics have irrelevant info, part of which when i first learned of things was also advised and used, so my distaste for some things is reflex don't take it personal. the net is filled with conflicting info, def don't blame you for it

my advice is not concise with the OP cause his questions arn't specific due to lack of info i think

 

[razel]

Sounds like you don't care what's on the new drive, let just clone what you have now to your new one. Check the HDD manufacturer of the old or new drive if they offer disk cloning software. Western Digital and Seagate do. Keep in mind that Samsung HDDs are now taken over by Seagate and Hitachi I think is Western Digital.

I understand that both drives have an OS installed and Windows can at times boot the wrong partition so here's what I'd do.

If you have a SATA-USB adapter or enclosure plug the new drive into that and delete the partitions. Easiest way is through diskpart and issue the clean command.

If you don't have the adapter, when in Windows put your computer to sleep. Now plug in the new drive. I'm assuming your PC is fairly new and so it will 'hot detect' it just fine. Then delete the partition.

Once done feel free to clone using the HDD manufacturer's cloning software.

 

[jolancer]

delete the partitions

Sorry but i gota say. theres no need for that. cloning will overwrite everything, mbr, partition table, and partition data.

 

[Petros_k]

Thanks for the responses.

Let me reiterate my issues:

1. New hard drive has Windows 7 installed ready to go and it will boot (auto start) as soon as I install the drive (it's how the seller of the system and the hard drive set it up). I don't need the install because the original drive that I want to clone already has Windows 7 on it.

2. How do I know if the cloning process will preserve the recovery partition so that it is still functional on the cloned drive?

3. Once the new hard drive is cloned, I want to use both drives on the PC, the larger drive most likely for periodic cloning. This way, if Windows is damaged on the original drive, or if the hard drive fails, I've got a clone of the original ready to go (perhaps minus some data files if I didn't back them up). How do I manage which hard drive to use to boot to? I have heard Windows 7 is difficult in this way.

It sounds like the basic advice I'm getting is to "clean" or reformat the new drive so that it won't boot, and then run both drives using cloning software like Macrum Reflect, yes? This still doesn't address the boot issue, unless I just don't understand that Macrum Reflect will allow you to select which hard drive and which partition you label as the active drive.

I ultimately need to be able to do the following:

1. Clone the original 250 GB hard drive to the new 500 GB hard drive (I'll be left with unallocated space) --keeping in mind I somehow need to wipe, reformat, or clone over the Windows 7 auto-start installation on the new hard drive.
2. The cloning process needs to have created a functioning recovery partition from the original hard drive.
3. Have both hard drives permanently installed with the larger hard drive used to periodically clone the original.
4. Have the option of booting from one hard drive or the other without errors in the boot manager or boot file.

Sounds easy when you say it like this.

 

[Petros_k]

If you don't have the adapter, when in Windows put your computer to sleep. Now plug in the new drive. I'm assuming your PC is fairly new and so it will 'hot detect' it just fine. Then delete the partition.

Once done feel free to clone using the HDD manufacturer's cloning software.

You mean boot using the new hard drive that has Windows 7 installed, go into disk manager and delete this same partition for the same drive that I'm currently using so that the partition becomes unallocated space? You can do this?

And what about deleting the recovery partition on the new drive? Just delete this first (since I'm just going to clone the other drive's recovery partition)?

 

[Petros_k]

Doesn't Windows 7 actually have the ability to transfer what's on my original hard drive to a new hard drive? See: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/back-up-programs-system-settings-files#1TC=windows-7

Or, is it a bad idea to rely on a Microsoft tool within Windows 7 to do this?

 

[razel]

Boot up with your old drive. As someone else has mentioned, you don't NEED to delete partitions, since when you clone it will recreate the partition table, deleting all partitions.

You are essentially avoiding the two drive bootup problem by booting up as you normally would, then attaching the new drive. SATA does allow you to hot swap. It's just not mentioned often or popular. For peace of mind, Intel recommends power cycling a drive, (half hot swapping) when you have an SSD that is frozen and you'd like to secure erase it.

Regardless, I usually put the computer to sleep since that's what I've always done and had zero issues.

Yes, Win7 does have an image backup that I love. You'll need to backup to an external drive, remove the old drive, install new one, boot up your Win7 DVD then do a restore. It may not clone your recovery partition. It will tell you beforehand though.

Cloning direct disk-to-disk is best if your HDD manufacturer provides one for download. They usually do.

 

[Petros_k]

Boot up with your old drive. As someone else has mentioned, you don't NEED to delete partitions, since when you clone it will recreate the partition table, deleting all partitions.

You are essentially avoiding the two drive bootup problem by booting up as you normally would, then attaching the new drive. SATA does allow you to hot swap. It's just not mentioned often or popular. For peace of mind, Intel recommends power cycling a drive, (half hot swapping) when you have an SSD that is frozen and you'd like to secure erase it.

Regardless, I usually put the computer to sleep since that's what I've always done and had zero issues.

Yes, Win7 does have an image backup that I love. You'll need to backup to an external drive, remove the old drive, install new one, boot up your Win7 DVD then do a restore. It may not clone your recovery partition. It will tell you beforehand though.

Cloning direct disk-to-disk is best if your HDD manufacturer provides one for download. They usually do.

1. Boot normally using the original hard drive.

2. Attach new second hard drive while system is powered on (or in sleep). (*Why will the drive not go into auto-start if it's got a pre-installed Windows 7 ready to run on it?) So now both hard drives are installed.

3. Don't risk using Windows "System Image" tool because it may not include imaging of the recovery partition. Use a free cloning tool offered by Seagate (these are both Seagate hard drives) to CLONE the original drive, not simply image it.

Is this right? Can you explain why if you connect the new drive by "hot swapping" the drive will be recognized and useable and won't auto-start given it has Windows 7 installed on it ready to go?

 

[Petros_k]

You are essentially avoiding the two drive bootup problem by booting up as you normally would, then attaching the new drive. SATA does allow you to hot swap. It's just not mentioned often or popular.

If I've got two hard drives that are cloned identically, how does the system decide which one to boot to? Won't the boot files be identical and both drives will start to boot?

 

[jolancer]

I do not have experience dual booting win7 with itself, however someone posted at one point about prossible issues with what your trying to do some were on a diff topic. IF they were IDE you maybe able to just set them up as master/slave, but if BIOS doesnt differentiate between Drives and only Host controllers for SATA, then it maynot be so simple if you only have one SATA host controller onboard.. I havn't messed with such things as of late and don't remember if you bring up the Boot manager instead of Bios at Post time, If it allows you to select Indevidual drives or Device types only.

There are ways to do it, but its probably not worth while anyway unless your task is very specific. one can see the ideal of having a maintence free backup ready to go, but its not ideal or efficent in concept of being as a "backup", especialy since both your drives are used from who know where you exposing your 'backup' to the same failure probability as your OS in that setup. only difference is wouldn't expect them to fail on the exact same day.

may want to put a little more thought into your purposes before proceeding. aside from that id also recommend looking at a Imaging tutorial and a Cloning tutorial from a third party application such as Clonezilla or HDD manufacters tools if they live boot. whatever process you choose afterward will be much less cumbersome and more flexable if you live boot instead of having to rely on booting from windows initially.

others may not know what drives your specificly refering to if they didnt read your other thread. but considering the situation of your specific drives i would consider using the 500gb as the main drive, and then backing up Imaging or Cloning(as long as your OS partition can fit on the 250gb) to the 250gb, and keep the 250 as an offline backup.

 

[razel]

- Boot to Win7 with old drive only
- Put Win7 to sleep *RESIST THE HABIT OF UNPLUGGING POWER*
- Connect new drive via SATA
- wake PC up
- start cloning software

Follow the cloning software's instructions. Usual procedure is a reboot, software will load and start the clone outside Windows. After it's done, it'll boot Windows off your old HDD. It'll then tell you to remove both drive and only attach the new one. Best of luck.

 

[Petros_k]

- Boot to Win7 with old drive only
- Put Win7 to sleep *RESIST THE HABIT OF UNPLUGGING POWER*
- Connect new drive via SATA
- wake PC up
- start cloning software

Follow the cloning software's instructions. Usual procedure is a reboot, software will load and start the clone outside Windows. After it's done, it'll boot Windows off your old HDD. It'll then tell you to remove both drive and only attach the new one. Best of luck.

1. And there's no reason to "wipe" the new hard drive despite Windows 7 set to auto-run?

2. And using Macrium Reflect or Seagate DiscWizard will work without giving me boot issues?

3. If "After it's done, it'll boot Windows off your old HDD. It'll then tell you to remove both drive and only attach the new one," does that mean I can't continue to use both hard drives unless I alter the boot file? Remember, I want to run both hard drives with the option to boot from either one.

 

[silicon]

If I've got two hard drives that are cloned identically, how does the system decide which one to boot to? Won't the boot files be identical and both drives will start to boot?

you set the boot order in the bios of the computer. This will let you boot to whichever drive you want it to. But as I mentioned the cloning software will do its job, you only have to select from where to copy and where to write to. As i mentioned if you WIPE the

 

[silicon]

1. And there's no reason to "wipe" the new hard drive despite Windows 7 set to auto-run?

2. And using Macrium Reflect or Seagate DiscWizard will work without giving me boot issues?

3. If "After it's done, it'll boot Windows off your old HDD. It'll then tell you to remove both drive and only attach the new one," does that mean I can't continue to use both hard drives unless I alter the boot file? Remember, I want to run both hard drives with the option to boot from either one.

then you will need, most likely, a boot management program.

 

[Petros_k]

Well surprise surprise...

I just installed the second hard drive with the system unplugged without removing the original drive and the system booted as it normally does after giving me a BIOS update message. No auto-start or conflicts! When I go to Start > Computer now I've got another hard disk drive labelled "Windows" and a drive letter assigned, but nothing auto-started.

So I should be good to go now with cloning software like Macrium Reflect or Seatools just running the original drive and then cloning, right?

 

[silicon]

Well surprise surprise...

I just installed the second hard drive with the system unplugged without removing the original drive and the system booted as it normally does after giving me a BIOS update message. No auto-start or conflicts! When I go to Start > Computer now I've got another hard disk drive labelled "Windows" and a drive letter assigned, but nothing auto-started.

So I should be good to go now with cloning software like Macrium Reflect or Seatools just running the original drive and then cloning, right?

So why don't you clearly describe your next steps you plan to do...

 

[Petros_k]

1. Install Macrium Reflect

2. Run Macrium Reflect and set it up to clone the original hard drive to the new hard drive. The instructions here are pretty clear: http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50081.aspx In my case, because there's data and partitions on the new drive I have to delete these partitions to make it unallocated space, but then the cloning should proceed. The larger 500 GB hard drive will have unallocated space that I can later extend using Windows 7 Disk Manager.

But what I'm still unsure about is whether or not there will be a conflict when trying to boot because the two drives will have identical boot files, or possibly the BIOS will just detect there's two operating systems with one on each drive and it will just give the option which to boot to. It didn't do this yet I suspect because Windows 7 is not configured on the new hard drive. I did find EasyBCD if it's necessary to alter the boot files: https://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/

 

[silicon]

1. Install Macrium Reflect

2. Run Macrium Reflect and set it up to clone the original hard drive to the new hard drive. The instructions here are pretty clear: http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50081.aspx In my case, because there's data and partitions on the new drive I have to delete these partitions to make it unallocated space, but then the cloning should proceed. The larger 500 GB hard drive will have unallocated space that I can later extend using Windows 7 Disk Manager.

But what I'm still unsure about is whether or not there will be a conflict when trying to boot because the two drives will have identical boot files, or possibly the BIOS will just detect there's two operating systems with one on each drive and it will just give the option which to boot to. It didn't do this yet I suspect because Windows 7 is not configured on the new hard drive. I did find EasyBCD if it's necessary to alter the boot files: https://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/

you should just format the drive before you do anything and then create a partition that uses the entire drive. A boot manage will let you select the drive to boot to and there should be some good free ones available.

 

[Petros_k]

Why should I go through formatting the drive when Macrium Reflect is going to do it anyway (through the cloning process)? Are you suggesting there will be possible errors without reformatting the new hard drive first?

Are you suggesting to use the Windows Format option and just do a quick format for NTFS?

Isn't it also true that if I create a RescueCD with Macrium Reflect I don't really need the recovery partition (recall my concern above that the recovery partition might not function properly after cloning)?

 

[silicon]

Why should I go through formatting the drive when Macrium Reflect is going to do it anyway (through the cloning process)? Are you suggesting there will be possible errors without reformatting the new hard drive first?

Are you suggesting to use the Windows Format option and just do a quick format for ntfs?

if macrium will do the format then all is good...just follow the steps.

 

[master_shake_]

try this

xcopy source: destination: /c/h/e/r/y

in dos prompt as an admin