BleepingComputer.com: Replacing hard drive

I also have questions on replacing hard drive. Can you use Macrium Reflect as recommended when the new drive is in an enclosure, usb-attached to computer which has the going bad hard drive? Or must it be installed in a bay in tower? Once you have your clone, are there any issues as far as if you ever need to do repair/install on your OEM XP on that new hard drive with the cloned image? This is assuming I reformat the old, bad hard drive and only use it for storage, so xp is now only installed on the new drive. Also, if it is possible to make your hard drive copy while new drive is in enclosure, must the hard drive be installed in tower to boot up?

Hello Terri13th,

You have many questions, maybe I can answer a couple.

Macrim Reflect is a disk imaging software. It digitally takes a picture of any drive you have installed on your computer. I have not used this software, but I would guess it does the same thing as most others.

It should take a digital picture of your drive, as it is at the time of capture, and transfer ALL the information to another drive you specify.

If you clone your HDD to a new drive, the new drive should be exactly the same as your old one...exactly! Once the new cloned HDD is inserted as the master drive on your same machine in place of the old one, it should act exactly as your old one did in the same machine if all goes well.

A clone is just that...a clone. It is the exact replica of any drive you just cloned.

It does not matter where your clone target drive is installed. You tell the software to clone a drive to another drive, and that's what it does. Provided the drive you clone from, is smaller than the drive you clone to.

Have a quick look at this site on Macrium Reflect and what it's used for.


Hope this helps your understanding on this subject!


bloopie

Terri13th, on 15 July 2011 - 08:17 PM, said:

Cloning or recovering a bad hard drive can not necessarily be carried out successfully in the same manner as cloning a good hard drive, which is what most available cloning tools are designed to do. When cloning a bad hard drive, it is almost imperative that both the source and destination HDDs be attached directly to the motherboard of a desktop PC, rather than contained in an enclosure attached via USB connection.

The following link provides some sound advice on recovering or cloning a bad hard drive:

DjLizard's data recovery guide

This post has been edited by AustrAlien: 16 July 2011 - 01:48 AM

Terri13th, on 15 July 2011 - 08:17 PM, said:

Yes

AustrAlien, on 16 July 2011 - 01:45 AM, said:

Yes, that was my real question, and why I wanted to post...I noted grey_ghost mentioned having faulty drive and wanting to catch it before it died. My concern is if the cloning will also copy bad sectors onto new drive? I did read the DJ Lizard site, but that is beyond me for the most part! Got some good info as far as not running chkdsk /r nor defragmenting a suspected failing hard drive, tho. It seems like if you suspect your drive is going bad, it's not good to run the intensive tests that would tell you for sure!

When a disk has bad sectors on it, those bad sectors cannot be read at all ... by the cloning software. So, to answer your question, no, those bad sectors will not be copied to the new HDD.

DjLizard's guide is just that ... a guide, and that's all I meant for you to get out of it (yes, I am aware that you will find it a bit of mouthful to swallow and digest). If you need assistance with the steps necessary, I will provide you with step-by-step instructions that you will be able to accomplish without too much trouble. The critical thing for you is to be able to configure the hardware setup in the correct manner. The rest is relatively simple and easy.

You commented: "It seems like if you suspect your drive is going bad, it's not good to run the intensive tests that would tell you for sure!"
That's about it! Best to shoot clone it first and ask questions later!

This post has been edited by AustrAlien: 17 July 2011 - 01:41 AM

Also, a bad sector is a physical fault. You can't copy a physical fault from one drive to another.

Thanks so much AustrAlien and Allan for the great answers on my question/concern about copying over bad sectors! (I should know better than to believe anything I hear in a computer store!)
Rather than the clicking sounds grey_ghost mentioned in first post, I have developed just one click coming from tower. The first time I heard it was during a chkdsk /r I was running as a final recommendation after a Mod in this forum helped me thru a problem with computer. The sound is exactly like the sound computer makes when it's powered off, but computer doesn't go off. It's happened twice since then...you don't lose what you're doing, no errors, nothing changes, just that one sound like power off click. So that's why I'm thinking about new hard drive.

If you are using at least one of either Seagate or Western Digital branded HDDs in the system, you can take advantage of the free version of Acronis' imaging and cloning software provided by each of those manufacturers. The Acronis software can be run either from within Windows or from a bootable CD, which can be created once the utility is installed on a Windows system (and it is a wise to create this CD immediately). The bootable CD will be needed if ever the Windows system is not accessible.

Seagate: DiscWizard

Western Digital: Acronis True Image WD Edition

Great--both old and new hard drives are Western Digital, so Acronis it wd be. Wd you recommend Acronis over Macrium for cloning hard drive? As far as Boot disk, wd any recovery type boot disk work, such as Kaspersky's or XPUD disk which a Bleepin' Advisor already had me make?

The bootable CD that you need to make contains the "Acronis" software: No other bootable disk can be used, so you will need to create a special bootable CD for the purpose of cloning &/or imaging.

I have not used Macrium, so I cannot make any comparison. However, I have used Seagate's DiscWizard extensively, and I can recommend the Acronis software, which is widely regarded as one of the best available.

This post has been edited by AustrAlien: 17 July 2011 - 08:11 PM

Hello again, it seems that I can no longer put off my clone attempt on what I suspect may be a failig hard drive. I've decided to use Acronis, both hard drives are Western Digital. I'm making the bootable disk and reading the extensive manual for Acronis on WD site. I was hoping to be able to make my clone with the new hard drive in enclosure, attached to usb port on back of pc tower, rather than installing is as slave in tower. But is this method asking for trouble and not reccommended? Also, if I want to see if the clone was successful, must I install the hard drive in tower, or is there any other way to verify that it worked? Thanks for any assistance.

Terri13th, on 27 August 2011 - 10:19 PM, said:

You may wish to test the hard drive in question with the manufacturer's diagnostic utility, to confirm your suspicion.

Download the .ISO image file Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (CD) and burn it to CD in the correct manner.

If you do not already have a suitable burning program for writing .ISO images to disc ...

• Download and install ImgBurn.
  Ensure that you UN-check the box agreeing to install the Ask toolbar during the installation.
  
• Place a new (blank) CD disc in the drive tray.
  
• Choose Write image file to disc.
  
  • Under Source, click on the Browse button: Navigate to and select the .ISO file that you wish to burn.
    
  • Place a check-mark in the box beside Verify.
  
  
• Click
  
  When the CD has been burned and verified as successful, it will be bootable.

Run the Quick test and then the Extended test.


If you are reasonably sure that the hard drive is failing you may wish to skip the above and go ahead with the imaging or cloning of the hard drive to be on the safe side.

Like I have said before, there is no guarantee that you will be able to successfully either image or clone a failing hard drive with software such as Acronis. I suggest that you try it: If successful, well and good. If it fails then we can move on to another method of cloning.

You said: "I was hoping to be able to make my clone with the new hard drive in enclosure, attached to usb port on back of pc tower, rather than installing is as slave in tower. But is this method asking for trouble and not reccommended?"
If you suspect that the hard drive is failing, then yes, using the USB connection is asking for trouble, and I would not recommend it. Try it and find out if you wish, but I do recommend that you use the power and SATA data cables from the computer to connect to the hard drive to do the cloning.

You said: "if I want to see if the clone was successful, must I install the hard drive in tower, or is there any other way to verify that it worked?"
No need to install it in the tower: Simply remove it from the USB enclosure and connect it (power and SATA data cables that you unplug from the ailing hard drive) to the hard drive lying beside the tower (take suitable care!). You may need to put some books or some such under the hard drive, so that the cables will reach it. (I am doing that all the time.)

Try the cloning and see if it is successful. If Acronis runs into problems on the hard drive, then it will let you know.

This post has been edited by AustrAlien: 28 August 2011 - 12:39 AM

Ok, thanks for the very good suggestions. Now, I'm afraid I have to take a few steps back. I have heard of new hard drives being bad out of the box, so can you please tell me how to ck out this new hard drive. It's WD Caviar SE 1600 Pata, which I understand is what I needed for old IDE type hard drive. Can I test it while in usb attached enclosure, on my healthy computer? Is it the same Lifeguard test you were talking about? Also, do I format the new hard drive, and if so, which type format, regular or what they call 'quick' format? In what order, do I test it first or format it first?
I'm sorry I'm jumping around in ths process. As is obvious it's my first time trying to clone/replace hard drive, and so I'm learning every step of the way! Many thanks!

My mistake earlier for making the assumption that it was a SATA hard drive, now that I see you are dealing with an IDE/ATA (aka PATA) hard drive.

Testing a new hard drive before using it .... a smart move, I believe: It is something that I myself like to do!

The WD diagnostic tool is the same for all WD hard drives, so that is the one you need. As far as I know (and I may be wrong here) the bootable CD tool will not work via a USB connection. (There is a version of this tool that can be installed on a Windows system and used for testing hard drives over a USB connection, so it is possible.)

From what I understand of your hardware situation, a convenient means of testing your new hard drive (and the method that I would recommend for the most reliable result) would be as follows:

• Use your ailing computer to run the test.
  
• Unplug the power and data cables from the ailing hard drive.
  
• Plug these same cables into the new hard drive, which you can position somewhere conveniently beside (outside) the box. This should be relatively quick and easy to do.
  
• Now boot from the CD that you create, and test the new hard drive.

Warning: Ensure that all power is switched OFF, and that you ground yourself to the metal box before touching components.

You said: "do I test it first or format it first?"
No need for the hard drive to be formatted: Simply test it by running the diagnostic utility as it is.

This post has been edited by AustrAlien: 28 August 2011 - 05:31 PM