How to copy disk with smart status bad?

[BobG]

Hello helpful folks and MVPs. I get 'smart status bad... backup and
replace' on my WD740 sata. So I hooked up a WD800 sata as D. Now how
do I copy C: to D:? I have the norton ghost 10 cd, but the disk copy
util on it wont run unless ghost is installed, and I dont want to hit
F4 and boot off C: and thrash the disk to death trying to install
ghost. Plan B? WD datalifegaurd boot from floppy? xcopy32 c: to d:? I
have powerquest drive copy, but I think its pretty old. Good freeware
disk copy somewhere? What do you folks recommend as good way to
proceed in this scenario? Something that boots from floppy or cd I
assume? Thanks for the help.

 

[Leonard Grey]

Here's what to do:

The most important things to backup are your own user files -- your
documents, spreadsheets, photos, videos, etc. That's easy: Just copy and
paste to a second hard drive (an external hard drive or a network drive
would be best.)

The next most important things to backup are probably your e-mails and
Favorites. This isn't as easy as copying and pasting, but it's not hard
either. The instructions for backing up your e-mail depend of which
e-mail program you use. To backup your Favorites, open Internet Explorer
and go to File > Import and Export to create an HTML file of your
Favorites. You'll import this file into Internet Explorer later.

Backing up the rest of the contents of your hard disk gets complicated.
You can't simply copy Windows and your software applications. If you
have installers for all your software on CDs and/or DVDs you can always
re-install everything. Kind of inconvenient, but you won't lose anything.

Another way to backup your hard disk is with disk imaging software. This
is complicated, so don't try it unless you're well-prepared. Backup your
user files independently in any case, and do that ASAP while your
damaged disk is still working.

Only use imaging software that supports your version of Windows and I
recommend only using the newest version of a program. An alternative to
buying disk imaging software is to buy a replacement hard disk, since
retail boxes include disk imaging software on a bootable CD and plenty
of help from the disk manufactu8rer's technical support.

Ghost 10 is old. PowerQuest is older. Will they do the job? Quite
possibly they will, but these programs are currently unsupported so you
won't be able to ask the authors for help if you run into trouble. Xcopy
is not an imaging program. I have a personal bias against using freeware
for something as critical as backup, so I'm not able to recommend a free
program.

Perhaps the least expensive way to go is to simply pay someone to image
your hard disk. That way you avoid having to decide which program to use
and then learning how to use it.

 

[BobG]

Anyone care to suggest what the geek getting paid to 'image the hard
disk' would use? I take it you think the solution is to take the WD740
and the new WD800 and hook them up to a 2nd computer with 'magic
program xyz' installed. This scenario is possible.. lots of spare
computers around.... suggestions for commercial disk cloning programs?

 

[Leonard Grey]

Commercial disk imaging programs of which I am aware include a bootable
CD in the box, so no need to find a second computer just to image a
disk. For example: Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image have bootable CDs.

Terabyte Unlimited offers a free, 30-day, fully functional trial of
Image for Windows. That would qualify as a program a geek would use.

Good luck.

 

[BobG]

Commercial disk imaging programs of which I am aware include a bootable
CD in the box, so no need to find a second computer just to image a
disk. For example: Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image have bootable CDs.

Terabyte Unlimited offers a free, 30-day, fully functional trial of
Image for Windows. That would qualify as a program a geek would use.

Good luck.

================================
Thanks. Guess I need to upgrade my version of Ghost from 10 to 14

 

[Leonard Grey]

If you go with Ghost, shop around for the best price. Norton-brand
software is often heavily discounted and rebated.

 

[SC Tom]

Commercial disk imaging programs of which I am aware include a bootable
CD in the box, so no need to find a second computer just to image a
disk. For example: Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image have bootable CDs.

Terabyte Unlimited offers a free, 30-day, fully functional trial of
Image for Windows. That would qualify as a program a geek would use.

Good luck.

================================
Thanks. Guess I need to upgrade my version of Ghost from 10 to 14

There's a freebie called DriveImage XML that will do a copy from
disk-to-disk. I haven't tried that part of the program, but I have used the
backup and restore functions and they work great. You can find it here
http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-downloads.htm if you want to download
it and give it try.

SC Tom

 

[Anna]

Hello helpful folks and MVPs. I get 'smart status bad... backup and
replace' on my WD740 sata. So I hooked up a WD800 sata as D. Now how
do I copy C: to D:? I have the norton ghost 10 cd, but the disk copy
util on it wont run unless ghost is installed, and I dont want to hit
F4 and boot off C: and thrash the disk to death trying to install
ghost. Plan B? WD datalifegaurd boot from floppy? xcopy32 c: to d:? I
have powerquest drive copy, but I think its pretty old. Good freeware
disk copy somewhere? What do you folks recommend as good way to
proceed in this scenario? Something that boots from floppy or cd I
assume? Thanks for the help.

Bob:
As Leonard has suggested, you can use the Acronis True Image program to
clone the contents of your (apparently) failing HDD to another HDD. You can
obtain a trial version of the ATI program at http://www.acronis.com. It will
do the job for you.

Actually the disk-cloning program we prefer is the Casper 5 program. There's
also a trial version of that program available from http://www.fssdev.com,
however the trial version is somewhat crippled in that while the program
will clone the contents of one HDD to another HDD, the "destination" HDD,
i.e., the recipient of the clone, will be resized only to the extent of the
disk size of the "source" HDD, i.e., the HDD that is being cloned. So that
in your case the destination HDD, your 80 GB HDD will contain a 74 GB
partition of your source HDD, the WD 74 GB Raptor following the disk-cloning
operation. The remaining few gigabytes of disk space will be "unallocated".
Naturally you could partition/format that unallocated disk space. No such
limitation, of course, is in the licensed version of the Casper 5 program
and I do not believe such limitation exists in the trial version of the ATI
program.

And, as you mention, you can also consider using the WD Data Lifeguard
program to perform the disk cloning operation. It usually works.

We're not particular fans of Symantec's Ghost program but if it meets your
needs so be it. If that's your program of choice definitely look into the
latest version of the program.

BTW, have you also checked out the Raptor with the WD HDD diagnostic
utility?

In a sense you were fortunate that the SMART status indicated a
potentially-failing HDD and you're obviously wise to copy the contents of
the drive before a catastrophic failure of the disk. Had the latter
situation occurred your problem would have dramatically increased. Hopefully
following a successful disk-cloning operation, you'll consider using a
disk-cloning or disk-imaging program as a *routine* backup system for your
day-to-day working HDD. It's in that particular vein that we prefer the
Casper 5 program as a comprehensive backup program that a user will be used
frequently to backup one's system.
Anna

 

[BobG]

Bob:
As Leonard has suggested, you can use the Acronis True Image program to
clone the contents of your (apparently) failing HDD to another HDD. You can
obtain a trial version of the ATI program athttp://www.acronis.com. It will
do the job for you.

Actually the disk-cloning program we prefer is the Casper 5 program. There's
also a trial version of that program available fromhttp://www.fssdev.com,
however the trial version is somewhat crippled in that while the program
will clone the contents of one HDD to another HDD, the "destination" HDD,
i.e., the recipient of the clone, will be resized only to the extent of the
disk size of the "source" HDD, i.e., the HDD that is being cloned. So that
in your case the destination HDD, your 80 GB HDD will contain a 74 GB
partition of your source HDD, the WD 74 GB Raptor following the disk-cloning
operation. The remaining few gigabytes of disk space will be "unallocated".
Naturally you could partition/format that unallocated disk space. No such
limitation, of course, is in the licensed version of the Casper 5 program
and I do not believe such limitation exists in the trial version of the ATI
program.

And, as you mention, you can also consider using the WD Data Lifeguard
program to perform the disk cloning operation. It usually works.

We're not particular fans of Symantec's Ghost program but if it meets your
needs so be it. If that's your program of choice definitely look into the
latest version of the program.

BTW, have you also checked out the Raptor with the WD HDD diagnostic
utility?

In a sense you were fortunate that the SMART status indicated a
potentially-failing HDD and you're obviously wise to copy the contents of
the drive before a catastrophic failure of the disk. Had the latter
situation occurred your problem would have dramatically increased. Hopefully
following a successful disk-cloning operation, you'll consider using a
disk-cloning or disk-imaging program as a *routine* backup system for your
day-to-day working HDD. It's in that particular vein that we prefer the
Casper 5 program as a comprehensive backup program that a user will be used
frequently to backup one's system.
Anna

================================
Thanks for the recommendation of the Casper program. I've had Mira HD
Clone 3.5 free edition chugging on it all day now. Looks like it will
finish soon.

 

[Leonard Grey]

You must have a truly enormous amount of data to backup if it's taking
"all day now."

 

[BobG]

You must have a truly enormous amount of data to backup if it's taking
"all day now."

==========================
Took 4 hrs at 5megs per sec, 75 gigs. Finished about 7pm... I
disconnected C:, plugged D: in where C: was, it booted right up. So
one good experience with Mira HD Clone.

 

[Leonard Grey]

The bottom line is: You got the job done.

ShadowProtect Desktop images my 4-year old disk at 19 MB/sec. Sometimes
it pays to pay ;-)

 

[BobG]

The bottom line is: You got the job done.

ShadowProtect Desktop images my 4-year old disk at 19 MB/sec. Sometimes
it pays to pay  ;-)

========================================
I'm sure the non free version of Mira HD Clone probably runs a lot
faster too... There were several features not avail in the free
version.... maybe they throttle it down to 5megabytes per sec on
purpose. I'm going to try the paid version. If I ever meet the guy
that invented SMART I'll buy him a drink. If your drive has it, turn
it on.

 

[SC Tom]

The bottom line is: You got the job done.

ShadowProtect Desktop images my 4-year old disk at 19 MB/sec. Sometimes
it pays to pay ;-)

========================================
I'm sure the non free version of Mira HD Clone probably runs a lot
faster too... There were several features not avail in the free
version.... maybe they throttle it down to 5megabytes per sec on
purpose. I'm going to try the paid version. If I ever meet the guy
that invented SMART I'll buy him a drink. If your drive has it, turn
it on.
========================================
DriveImage backs up my 90GB in just over an hour; I just ran it last night.
Not bad for a freebie. I back up to an external WD through firewire.

 

[Twayne]

========================================
I'm sure the non free version of Mira HD Clone probably runs a lot
faster too... There were several features not avail in the free
version.... maybe they throttle it down to 5megabytes per sec on
purpose. I'm going to try the paid version. If I ever meet the guy
that invented SMART I'll buy him a drink. If your drive has it, turn
it on.
========================================
DriveImage backs up my 90GB in just over an hour; I just ran it last
night. Not bad for a freebie. I back up to an external WD through
firewire.

Good point: I've found that FireWire is better than USB backup purposes.
USB has a faster burst rate, but firewire has a faster sustained thruput
and shortens transfer times very noticeably.

HTH,

Twayne

 

[Bill in Co.]

Bob:
As Leonard has suggested, you can use the Acronis True Image program to
clone the contents of your (apparently) failing HDD to another HDD. You
can
obtain a trial version of the ATI program at http://www.acronis.com. It
will
do the job for you.

Actually the disk-cloning program we prefer is the Casper 5 program.
There's
also a trial version of that program available from http://www.fssdev.com,
however the trial version is somewhat crippled in that while the program
will clone the contents of one HDD to another HDD, the "destination" HDD,
i.e., the recipient of the clone, will be resized only to the extent of
the
disk size of the "source" HDD, i.e., the HDD that is being cloned. So that
in your case the destination HDD, your 80 GB HDD will contain a 74 GB
partition of your source HDD, the WD 74 GB Raptor following the
disk-cloning
operation. The remaining few gigabytes of disk space will be
"unallocated".
Naturally you could partition/format that unallocated disk space. No such
limitation, of course, is in the licensed version of the Casper 5 program
and I do not believe such limitation exists in the trial version of the
ATI
program.

Which means that the registered version of Casper, and perhaps the trial
version, allows a selective partition-to-partition copy operation without
destroying anything else on the destination drive. I forgot in all these
discussions as to whether or not this was verified.

 

[Anna]

Which means that the registered version of Casper, and perhaps the trial
version, allows a selective partition-to-partition copy operation without
destroying anything else on the destination drive. I forgot in all
these discussions as to whether or not this was verified.

Bill:
The following comments refer to the licensed (registered) version of the
Casper 5 disk-cloning program...

There are two methods of cloning offered by the Casper 5 program. Casper can
be instructed to clone the entire contents of one hard disk to another hard
disk, or clone a specific partition/volume to another partition/volume. When
using the "Copy an entire hard disk" method, Casper completely replaces the
existing content of the destination device, master boot record, existing
partition structure, etc. When using the "Copy a specific drive" method,
Casper clones only the file system format and content of one
partition/volume to another, but does not otherwise modify any existing
partition structure on the destination device.

So, for example, should a user's "source" 320 GB HDD contain three
partitions - one of 100 GB, another of 150 GB, and the third of 70 GB - and
for one reason or another the user desired to clone *only* the first two
partitions to his or her "destination" HDD, say a 500 GB USB external HDD
designed to serve as the recipient of the clone(s), this could be done
without any problem. Following that disk-cloning, i.e., partition-cloning,
operation the destination HDD would contain the two partitions totaling 250
GB and the remaining disk-space would be "unallocated".

At some subsequent date should the user now desire to clone the contents of
his/her source drive's third partition of 70 GB to the USBEHD this too could
be easily achieved by cloning those contents to the unallocated disk space
on the destination drive. Furthermore the user would have the option of
sizing that partition on the destination drive to whatever size he or she
desired (naturally as long as it was large enough to contain the contents of
the data being cloned. This disk-sizing option would also have been
available for the first two partitions as well).
Anna

 

[Bill in Co.]

Bill:
The following comments refer to the licensed (registered) version of the
Casper 5 disk-cloning program...

There are two methods of cloning offered by the Casper 5 program. Casper
can
be instructed to clone the entire contents of one hard disk to another
hard
disk, or clone a specific partition/volume to another partition/volume.
When
using the "Copy an entire hard disk" method, Casper completely replaces
the
existing content of the destination device, master boot record, existing
partition structure, etc. When using the "Copy a specific drive" method,
Casper clones only the file system format and content of one
partition/volume to another, but does not otherwise modify any existing
partition structure on the destination device.

So, for example, should a user's "source" 320 GB HDD contain three
partitions - one of 100 GB, another of 150 GB, and the third of 70 GB -
and
for one reason or another the user desired to clone *only* the first two
partitions to his or her "destination" HDD, say a 500 GB USB external HDD
designed to serve as the recipient of the clone(s), this could be done
without any problem. Following that disk-cloning, i.e., partition-cloning,
operation the destination HDD would contain the two partitions totaling
250
GB and the remaining disk-space would be "unallocated".

At some subsequent date should the user now desire to clone the contents
of
his/her source drive's third partition of 70 GB to the USBEHD this too
could
be easily achieved by cloning those contents to the unallocated disk space
on the destination drive. Furthermore the user would have the option of
sizing that partition on the destination drive to whatever size he or she
desired (naturally as long as it was large enough to contain the contents
of
the data being cloned. This disk-sizing option would also have been
available for the first two partitions as well).
Anna

OK, and thanks for the reminder, Anna.