Upgrade Hard Drive - transfer data & partitions

[Justin]

Running Windows 7 64 bit, what is the best utility to transfer all my
crap from the old drive to the new one?
Not just the data, I want to transfer the whole thing without going
through a reinstall. I've done this before but I can't remember the
name of the utility.
I have an adapter to hook up a SATA drive as USB - I use it for getting
data off corrupted drives.

 

[GMAN]

Running Windows 7 64 bit, what is the best utility to transfer all my
crap from the old drive to the new one?
Not just the data, I want to transfer the whole thing without going
through a reinstall. I've done this before but I can't remember the
name of the utility.
I have an adapter to hook up a SATA drive as USB - I use it for getting
data off corrupted drives.

What is the manufacturer and model of the new drive????

 

[Flasherly]

Running Windows 7 64 bit, what is the best utility to transfer all my
crap from the old drive to the new one?
Not just the data, I want to transfer the whole thing without going
through a reinstall. I've done this before but I can't remember the
name of the utility.
I have an adapter to hook up a SATA drive as USB - I use it for getting
data off corrupted drives.

You'll need to boot off a disc, HD or optical, with USB support for
recognizing the attached drive. I generally stick the drive in a MB
port for the binary transfer, besides having optical boot discs
written and ready, the USB drivers or transfer rates can be slower
than the time to open it up and just do the crap.

 

[Paul]

Most hard drive manufacturers have a downloadable utility which lets
you clone your old HD to the new HD that is made by the manufacturer.
Other than that, for cloning just individual partitions and for making
image files and incremental cloning of partitions and entire HDs, there
are Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image, Casper, GPartEd and PartitionMagic
(both of the latter being free and runable under Linux and as self-loading
.iso files). Whether they will work with Windows 8 is still generally
unknown.

*TimDaniels*

In some cases, the free utility from the disk manufacturer, is actually
written by Acronis. It may include a PDF manual you can download from
the same web page. The Acronis branding, shows inside the PDF manual.

*******

Macrium Reflect Free, can likely copy disks. That might be
another way, and because it uses VSS (volume shadow service),
can do that while the OS is running. In the same way, that the
"System Image" capability in Windows 7, can in two steps, copy
the contents of one disk to another. (Backup on the source disk,
restore using the recovery CD or install DVD, on the destination disk.)

Older versions of Ghost, didn't use VSS, and then the software
has to reboot into the special Ghost software, to make the
copy. Many modern utilities use the VSS service offered by the
OS, and for that, the OS can remain running while C: gets copied.

There are probably more freebie clone packages, ones I've not
bothered to use or evaluate.

*******

If I was doing it, being lazy, I might just boot a Linux LiveCD,
and with both disks plugged in, do something like this

dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb

and just walk away from the machine. That assumes the source
disk is lettered "sda" and the destination is "sdb". That
requires some background knowledge to get it right. (For
example, using sudo fdisk /dev/sda and the "print" function,
to verify that sda really is the source disk. And repeating
the exercise for /dev/sdb to verify that all it has is the
single NTFS partition from the disk drive manufacturer factory.)

To do that style of "dumb" sector by sector transfer, the
destination disk should be the same size or bigger than the
source. A dumb sector copy, cannot massage partitions to fit
a smaller disk. The main benefit of a sector-by-sector copy,
is it doesn't matter what kind of partitions on there. Say,
for example, you had a copy of FreeBSD on the same disk as
Windows 7, and weren't sure how to copy it. Then the
sector by sector method, is your friend. More intelligent
transfer methods are reserved for the "popular" partition
types, like FAT32, NTFS, EXT2/3/4.

While Linux has GParted for partition management functions,
I don't know if I'd trust it to make an "exact" copy.
GParted may seem to have your best interests in
mind, but examining the details of what it's been doing,
is usually scary (leaves you scratching your head,
like finding it did a "resize" command perhaps, when
all you asked it to do is change the "label" on a partition).

*******

The Acronis on the disk manufacturer site, should be enough
for this job. Since the source disk is Windows 7, it'll likely
run OK.

If a person was bored, they could always go through this list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disk_cloning_software

Paul

 

[Justin]

What is the manufacturer and model of the new drive????

Western Digital. I forget the exact model...

 

[Paul]

Western Digital. I forget the exact model...

Check the downloads on their site.

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?wdc_lang=en

Paul

 

[John Doe]

Macrium Reflect Free, can likely copy disks. That might be
another way, and because it uses VSS (volume shadow service),
can do that while the OS is running.

Yup. And apparently they did something in the most recent version
5 that speeds up the process of restoring from rescue CD. Easy as
cake.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Running Windows 7 64 bit, what is the best utility to transfer all my
crap from the old drive to the new one?
Not just the data, I want to transfer the whole thing without going
through a reinstall. I've done this before but I can't remember the
name of the utility.
I have an adapter to hook up a SATA drive as USB - I use it for getting
data off corrupted drives.

The last time I did it I used a freeware ugly Unix-based utility. It
worked but it was utterly unfriendly by normal Windows standards (for
example, it didn't have the sense to suggest or even identify the
drive that had no partition on it as a target and then it pestered me
with overwrite warnings on that very same empty drive. Had the target
drive not been obviously unique this could have been a problem.)

 

[Don Phillipson]

Running Windows 7 64 bit, what is the best utility to transfer all my
crap from the old drive to the new one?

[/QUOTE]

The last time I did it I used a freeware ugly Unix-based utility. It
worked but it was utterly unfriendly by normal Windows standards

This is why drive manufacturers now distribute their own
software for the purpose. Western Digital's worked flawlessly
for my purposes (three times.)

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

Running Windows 7 64 bit, what is the best utility to transfer all my
crap from the old drive to the new one?
Not just the data, I want to transfer the whole thing without going
through a reinstall. I've done this before but I can't remember the
name of the utility.
I have an adapter to hook up a SATA drive as USB - I use it for getting
data off corrupted drives.

I routinely use Easeus for this sort of thing, because it's free. I
also have Acronis, but it's not free, although it is a bit easier to
use. But using a SATA to USB adapter REALLY slows down the process. If
at all posssible, just connect the extra drive to the internal SATA
controller on your computer.

 

[Paul]

I routinely use Easeus for this sort of thing, because it's free. I
also have Acronis, but it's not free, although it is a bit easier to
use. But using a SATA to USB adapter REALLY slows down the process. If
at all posssible, just connect the extra drive to the internal SATA
controller on your computer.

But you can get an Acronis software product, from the WDC or Seagate sites.
The software is free from those sites, but the manual for it, has
Acronis name on it.

Paul

 

[Flasherly]

The last time I did it I used a freeware ugly Unix-based utility. It
worked but it was utterly unfriendly by normal Windows standards (for
example, it didn't have the sense to suggest or even identify the
drive that had no partition on it as a target and then it pestered me
with overwrite warnings on that very same empty drive. Had the target
drive not been obviously unique this could have been a problem.)

They're all ugly, obscure, and pestering, until familiarity shows
otherwise or kindred OS-ional alternatives reveal themselves. The
problem with #Nix is not as much any damning generalizations, but a
small to miniscule acceptance when seen for its broader placement
among alternatives, namely XP and W7. Of course, there are those who
would have either XP or 7 regarded as unfashionable, and computing
moved onto rental cloud space for a tablet or something, nothing else
as we know to suffice. Control is total, that way, considering an
alternative freedom, and people find easier to be controlled for a
presented posture rather than assume responsibility of arriving at one.

 

[Justin]

Check the downloads on their site.

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?wdc_lang=en

Paul

Those downloads pretty much suck.
Acronis would not install. It kept saying the installation was
interrupted. I disabled UAC, ran as administrator - same thing.
Then I remembered Clonezilla. an open source drive cloner. Worked a
hell of alot better than anyhting I have used in the past - including
the previous version of Clonezilla.

 

[Flasherly]

Those downloads pretty much suck.
Acronis would not install. It kept saying the installation was
interrupted. I disabled UAC, ran as administrator - same thing.
Then I remembered Clonezilla. an open source drive cloner. Worked a
hell of alot better than anyhting I have used in the past - including
the previous version of Clonezilla.

HIRENs -

Set two primary partitions from a Partition Tools menu. One FAT20 at
500M, one FAT32 at 4G.

Set the smaller active and run FDISK /MBR then SYS R: C:.

Third level into MBR tools, install SMB for a boot arbitrator -only-
on the 500M.

Put WinX on the 4G and prepare it (to include in your masterpiece,
swapfiles in system settings should be set to be cleared upon power
down).

Reboot to C: to run Ghost on the 4G.

(Your programs, placed further on a logical partition assignment, if
entirely another drive, confers an added level of physical isolation
from corruptive OS manipulations provided it's FAT32 and not a token
NTFS partition for those unlikely events when you never run into 4G
files.)

 

[Justin]

HIRENs -

Set two primary partitions from a Partition Tools menu. One FAT20 at
500M, one FAT32 at 4G.

Set the smaller active and run FDISK /MBR then SYS R: C:.

Third level into MBR tools, install SMB for a boot arbitrator -only-
on the 500M.

Put WinX on the 4G and prepare it (to include in your masterpiece,
swapfiles in system settings should be set to be cleared upon power
down).

Reboot to C: to run Ghost on the 4G.

(Your programs, placed further on a logical partition assignment, if
entirely another drive, confers an added level of physical isolation
from corruptive OS manipulations provided it's FAT32 and not a token
NTFS partition for those unlikely events when you never run into 4G
files.)

I was going to put another hard drive in this system (Dell Precision
M6500) but when I put that 500GB 7,200 rpm WD drive in here, after a few
minutes the screen would go black. Apparently this is a known problem
with the M6500 - overheating. So I put the original 320GB drive back
in. Weird because the original is 7,200rpm as well.
I miss my Macbook Pro.

 

[Flasherly]

I was going to put another hard drive in this system (Dell Precision
M6500) but when I put that 500GB 7,200 rpm WD drive in here, after a few
minutes the screen would go black. Apparently this is a known problem
with the M6500 - overheating. So I put the original 320GB drive back
in. Weird because the original is 7,200rpm as well.
I miss my Macbook Pro.

Hm...little, itty-bitty pieces of a laptop. Not much of a fan of
substandard cases and form factors for scaling down desktop PCs,
either. Middle of the road is usually where the cost per bang is.
You'll just have to get along with an external enclosure interface, if
that's your situation, preferably directly onto the SATA bus
architecture, to get what I also like - trx rates often double between
HDs, rather than via moving from one section of the HD to another
(even though, depending, their not always as bad as all that). I've
ran them, laps, lunchboxes before Dell invented the mobile
workstation. About about killed my eyes. Nowadays, a few feet from
this 8-yr-old Snytax 32" is just peachy.

Got'ta do what you got'ta do.

I'll tell you, buying a cheapo system (was getting MSI P4 MB stuff in
good working order, vid included, for $17US -- P4 ebay $10, 2G stick
of $10 mem, Newegg decent but basic bronze/Antec whatever PS $29) is
preferable to me over a Dell, even if I stick it all on a piece of
plywood and plug it in a television to bring up some drives.

 

[Justin]

Hm...little, itty-bitty pieces of a laptop. Not much of a fan of
substandard cases and form factors for scaling down desktop PCs,
either. Middle of the road is usually where the cost per bang is.
You'll just have to get along with an external enclosure interface, if
that's your situation, preferably directly onto the SATA bus
architecture, to get what I also like - trx rates often double between
HDs, rather than via moving from one section of the HD to another
(even though, depending, their not always as bad as all that). I've
ran them, laps, lunchboxes before Dell invented the mobile
workstation. About about killed my eyes. Nowadays, a few feet from
this 8-yr-old Snytax 32" is just peachy.

Got'ta do what you got'ta do.

I'll tell you, buying a cheapo system (was getting MSI P4 MB stuff in
good working order, vid included, for $17US -- P4 ebay $10, 2G stick
of $10 mem, Newegg decent but basic bronze/Antec whatever PS $29) is
preferable to me over a Dell, even if I stick it all on a piece of
plywood and plug it in a television to bring up some drives.

Indeed.
What would compete with Dell's Precision line in another brand? I
liek the fact that I can have two hard drives in this machine if I
chose.

 

[Flasherly]

Indeed.
What would compete with Dell's Precision line in another brand? I
liek the fact that I can have two hard drives in this machine if I
chose.

Trust me, you don't want to know when I last bought a computer I
didn't build from parts. I like most anything that isn't broken or
starts out with issues. They all sooner or later develop them,
though, as you're finding out, and that's just a part of it -- work-
arounds for more fun time and the next upgrade. Competition would come
from names like Gigabyte, MSI, Asus, Intel. 90% of it hinges off
that. Past a positive hit on reviews and pricing for a quality board
and conscientious assembly. Last one I delivered to someone, not long
ago, was a 3.4Ghz, relatively old single core for $250. He had to
have wireless keyboard, maybe something else, other stuff -- think the
box build itself cost me $150 on parts (used and old but good
condition 200G SATA HD and AGP graphics board, decent sale PS and case
from more of recent). Had a real good feeling about the quality of
those parts, and gave him what receipts I had on it. What's $25
between for me between friends and what I wouldn't do for anyone
else. Think he understood when I may have mentioned it might take
some time to find only the right old but good crap if he chose to
pass. His first, I built, cost $1200 after he drove me across the bay
to a computer wholesale warehouse where I had him charge the parts.

I was running with 4 DVDs and 4 HDs in towers not long ago,
thankfully, until the terabyte barrier was broken. Grabbed up half a
dozen at their lowest price point a year or so ago. Now it's just a
couple drives, made for a smaller industry standard in mini-board
factors, w/ one or two PCI slots and as noiseless as possible. That's
the trend these days. All pretty much modular and easy as cake once
some ground rules for the mechanics are established. Jump on in
anytime when you think you're ready.

 

[Justin]

On Nov 15, 5:36 pm, Justin<[email protected]> wrote:

I was running with 4 DVDs and 4 HDs in towers not long ago,
thankfully, until the terabyte barrier was broken. Grabbed up half a
dozen at their lowest price point a year or so ago. Now it's just a
couple drives, made for a smaller industry standard in mini-board
factors, w/ one or two PCI slots and as noiseless as possible. That's
the trend these days. All pretty much modular and easy as cake once
some ground rules for the mechanics are established. Jump on in
anytime when you think you're ready.

I used to build PCs, but stopped when I switched to mac. I just got
tired of Windows and its bullshit.
My problem is I have to be mobile. All of my Macbooks have been trouble
free. This Precision is about 85% as expensive as my last Macbook Pro.
My next step is to dual boot between Windows and OSX on a 17" MBP. As
much as I hate to pollute any Mac with Microsoft filth, my work requires
it. I work at a car dealer chain, and I have to access Ford's internal
system to get updated Window stickers. Their internal system *requires*
Internet Explorer. I would run a VirtualBox install of Windows 7, but
that eventually got cumbersome. So I bought a work laptop.

 

[michaellj]

Aomei Partition Assistant free: http://www.extend-partition.com/free-partition-manager.html , could let you clone the disk to another, after that you could directly use the cloned disk.