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Disk Cloning / Want To Clone My System Disk

robblok

By robblok
in IT and Computers

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robblok Star Member

robblok

Posted
Posted

It has been a long time since i done this but i might want to replace my system disk that is now 120gb ssd to a 180 or 240 (probably 240) gb ssd. Now i have windows 7 on it, basically i don't want to install it all again. I just want to clone the harddisk and be done with it

Does anyone have experience with this, i realize i cant run win7 and clone it. So the program would probably work with its own bootup cd / usb stick.

Also is the difference in size of the disk a problem

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2008bangkok Gold Member

2008bangkok

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There is no need to use any other software just use the Windows Backup/Restore feature from control panel, just plug in a USB drive to store the backup run Backup/Restore.

After you have created a clone and you want to put on new computer then open backup/restore, click create system repair disk in the left pane, once you have created the clone and you have repair disk put the repair disk in new computer when it boots up choose repair and then browse to clone backup and the go from there.

Much easier

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howto Advanced Member

howto

Posted
Posted

"I will be cloning from SSD to larger SSD, but for now i have put it on ice."

Prefect time for this thread...

I will have 3~5 new systems soon...

and need to clone a sys disc...

they will be new mobo's...

(Both ASUS, H55m to Z77)

and new discreet pcie vid...

(NV450m to AMD-ATI 6770 pcie)

Current OS is w7-UlT-SP1-oem,legit,

+ lang-pac for TH

+ Off2k7

+ several apps

from a 60GB SSD single NTFS partition

to a 128~256 SSD.

Please point me to a site for ref.

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Digitalbanana Ruby Member

Digitalbanana

Posted
Posted

What about cloning from an HDD to an SSD? I remember reading that there are some issues (AHCI maybe?)

Has anyone here successfully done that?

Cheers

I've cloned from HDD to an Intel SSD and it worked but having read similar reports I reverted to doing a system re-install on the new SSD again. Not sure if it helped or not.

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JSixpack Ruby Member

JSixpack

Posted
Posted (edited)

"I will be cloning from SSD to larger SSD, but for now i have put it on ice."

Prefect time for this thread...

I will have 3~5 new systems soon...

and need to clone a sys disc...

they will be new mobo's...

(Both ASUS, H55m to Z77)

and new discreet pcie vid...

(NV450m to AMD-ATI 6770 pcie)

Current OS is w7-UlT-SP1-oem,legit,

+ lang-pac for TH

+ Off2k7

+ several apps

from a 60GB SSD single NTFS partition

to a 128~256 SSD.

Please point me to a site for ref.

If you're gonna try to restore to different hardware, why mess around. Use Acronis, Paragon, ShadowProtect, or Macrium Pro, all payware. Any one of these will do a bare metal restore. They're all good, though Acronis has gotten bloated and convoluted lately.

You'll hear that Win 7 has no problem, blah, blah--google around and you'll find it ain't so. You might get lucky--but it's much more likely you won't.

Edited by JSixpack
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bangkokburning Platinum Member

bangkokburning

Posted
Posted (edited)

I would not clone you old disk. Do a fresh install, update the OS and then clone that. Then add all your programs via Ninite and all the others from sw you have on hand.

Why bring all your old systems and sw issues to a new box and or drive?

Edited by bangkokburning
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Naam Star Member

Naam

Posted
Posted

There is no need to use any other software just use the Windows Backup/Restore feature from control panel, just plug in a USB drive to store the backup run Backup/Restore.

After you have created a clone and you want to put on new computer then open backup/restore, click create system repair disk in the left pane, once you have created the clone and you have repair disk put the repair disk in new computer when it boots up choose repair and then browse to clone backup and the go from there.

Much easier

windows backup/restore does not clone!

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Naam Star Member

Naam

Posted
Posted

What about cloning from an HDD to an SSD? I remember reading that there are some issues (AHCI maybe?)

Has anyone here successfully done that?

Cheers

I've cloned from HDD to an Intel SSD and it worked but having read similar reports I reverted to doing a system re-install on the new SSD again. Not sure if it helped or not.

at the end of each day i clone from SSD to HDD and vice versa and check ability of all three to boot. never any problem.

switched from Ghost to Acronis to EaseUS (free software)

http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/disk-clone.htm

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Naam Star Member

Naam

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Posted

Naam that is interesting, I notice the company offering easeus is in China. I did find a review on CNET though.

i assure you that i am extremely happy with the performance and will soon buy the "pay version" which has a lot of additional features.

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jacnl2000 Advanced Member

jacnl2000

Posted
Posted

Does Easeus support dynamic disks?

Personally I switched from Ghost to Acronis, not yet to EaseUs (free software) as Naam said to have done in post #18.

This is what I found related to dynamic disk/volume:

“EaseUS Todo Backup supports to backup and clone five types of dynamic volumes as well as file backup of dynamic disk.”

EaseUS Todo Backup Users Guide:

“You can clone all dynamic volumes in your computer to another basic disk with Disk clone feature. All dynamic volumes will be listed as one single Dynamic Disk, although they may actually be located on different dynamic disks. You can also clone a single dynamic volume to basic disk. In this case, both the used space and unallocated space on basic disk could be specified as the destination. The task can be finished with Partition clone.”

Don’t know whether or not EaseUS does MAIDs being quite an interesting concept to which I am not quite familiar either.

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ericjt Senior Member

ericjt

Posted
Posted

I've used Acronis to make an image of my old drive in a Thinkpad laptop and then restore the image to a new, larger, hard drive. But if you're moving to a larger new drive, there are a few hints and kinks to know about:

1. Be careful about disk numbers if you want to boot from the new disk. Set Acronis to copy the MBR (Master Boot Record), but NOT to copy the "disk signature".

2. There's a small box at the bottom left of one of the screens when you're setting up the backup. If you check it, Acronis will copy and restore the old disk number. If that happens, then your new drive will only run if another hard drive on your computer has that same disk number. The one from your old HD. So don't copy it.

3. Stop virtual memory, Norton Go Back if you still have it, and your anti virus software.

4. When the backup is complete, let Acronis verify the integrity of the backup image.

5. To restore, use the Acronis Boot Disk for recover. You made one, right?

6. To get your computer to boot from the CD, you might need to press F12 or some other combination of keys to get the computer to look at the CD drive if there's no boot information on the hard drive.

7. You might also need to be sure you can set your BIOS and/or that your machine will boot from an external USB CD drive (Acronis Recovery Disk) and "see" the USB hard drive where you have the image from your old hard drive.

8. When upgrading to a larger disk, use a partition manager to set one partition to the same size as your old hard drive. That will be Drive C. Then the rest of your new hard drive will be Drive D. If you don't do this, the I think the extra space on the new drive will be wasted. I think the new partition from the restore is the same size as the old hard drive. And the rest of the space on the new HD is wasted. I'm not sure about this, but I split my new drive into two partitions as described above -- and then restored my old disk image to the C partition.

9. You might also have to mess around a bit with your Master Boot Record if it has become damaged or causes problems. There are some files from Win98 you can use to fix errors in your MBR and/or edit it as needed, but I'll leave that for another post if you have MBR problems.

Good luck --

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zzdocxx Gold Member

zzdocxx

Posted
Posted

Thanks for those tips. I've got mine backed up on Acronis (made a CD) and then my SSD crashed. Up and running on an extra HD (just with basic OS) and my computer help guy is coming over today and hopefully we'll restore the SSD using Acronis, the disc plus the backup to my external HD.

Eh, wish me luck! I'll show him the info about the disc number and also about EaseUS.

Thanks again, guess I'll google dynamic volume and MAID!

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Gary A Star Member

Gary A

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Posted

I have tried a number of backup programs including the one that came with Windows 7. I have had problems with all of them. The conclusion was that I need a backup for dummies. I finally found that program. It is called Rebit 5. It is so simple that even I didn't manage to do anything wrong. They offer a free 30 day trial. After my first backup, I gladly paid the $39.95. Since I consider my backups to be quite important, I use two external USB drives. It works with my Seagate and my Western Digital. It's not too likely that one of them will die but I don't want to take the chance.

I wish that I had had the program when I installed a SSD in my netbook. The backup I had failed or I wasn't smart enough to know how to do it, so I ended up installing everything from scratch on the new SSD. Rebit 5 is excruciatingly slow, it took 11 hours for my desktop that has about 200 MB of data but it got the job done. One good part is that you can open the backup and drag and drop any portion of it directly into the computer. Updates to the backup are fast and easy. The computer remembers any changes since the original backup was made.

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zzdocxx Gold Member

zzdocxx

Posted
Posted

11 hours, wow. I wonder how much of that was due to the amount of data you had and the speed of your usb connection. I can't remember off the top of my head what USB speed is, but my newer external has USB 3 which is quite a bit faster than USB 2.

Also an interesting experiment we did, I was using something like "FileSync" to backup my music files from desktop to netbook and was doing it wirelessly, which was rather slow. So we plugged it in and it just started zipping along, I think it was an "ethernet" cable.

Anyway, I'm replacing the 60G SSD that crashed with a new 120G SSD. I checked the newegg reviews and it seems to have lots of favorable reviews. After having two SSDs crash, I realized a high number of good reviews is essential.

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Gary A Star Member

Gary A

Posted
Posted (edited)

I emailed Rebit 5 support and complained about how slow it is. The reply was prompt and the answer was that this is normal for the initial backup and the backup updates are much faster. That appears to be true.

I was a little surprised that he told me that if I was not 100 percent satisfied with the program, they would refund my money.

ADDED - Where are you doing your shopping for a maid? I'd be happy with that one.

Edited by Gary A
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