Solved: Need to clone HDD to external

[DVFs_DrinkOrDie]

I've been trying for two days and been through many programs that promise but don't deliver, and I still haven't accomplished what I need to do. The software that came with the external is utterly useless, and won't clone a whole disk.

I just need to make an exact copy of my internal HDD onto my external. The physical disks are identical. (500 Gb SATA2)

Seems a simple enough thing to do but I keep running into problems, and nothing seems to work. In the past I used seagate software, but it won't let me do that now because I don't have a seagate HDD.

Anyone know where I can get something that actually works?

[setarip_old]

Hi!

The attached Microsoft article (scroll down to the bottom for alternative methods) should serve your XP purpose:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/bott_03july14.mspx

[jeffy]

I was quite satisfied with the Windows version of CopyWipe by TeraByte, Inc., which is available for free here, but it is not a program suitable for beginners!!!
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/copywipe.php

Should you decide for this way, read this manual carefully:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/downloads/copywipe.pdf

[DVFs_DrinkOrDie]

Hi!

The attached Microsoft article (scroll down to the bottom for alternative methods) should serve your XP purpose:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/bott_03july14.mspx

I already read that before posting. Those instructions are not what I wanted to do. That method doesn't clone a disk, it only backs up files, placing them in a single file on the destination drive, and it requires you to create a boot floppy to restore the backup. Heck, I don't even have a floppy drive. What I am looking to do is make an exact copy of the HDD so that in the case of hardware failure, I could simply boot from the copy as if nothing happened. Similar to what you would do when upgrading a HDD, copying the old partition to the new HDD, then booting it up.

I found a program that appears to have worked: http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/

Now my external appears to be identical to the internal drive, files and all. There's still another issue however. To simulate hard drive failure I unplugged my internal, and left the external attached by USB. Bios detects it and tries to boot from USB but I get a 'disk read error' message. If my external is identical with files and all, shouldn't the PC be able to boot from it?

[setarip_old]

Sounds like you didn't follow my suggestion very carefully to:scroll down to the bottom for alternative methodswhere there are several different programs listed and linked to...

[DVFs_DrinkOrDie]

I did read the entire page. None of those programs describe themselves as being able to do what I want. That's why I'm so frustrated. I've tried at least a dozen programs and none of them simply clone a drive. Only the one I already mentioned above seemed to clone the drive. However, now I'm not so sure it worked since I can't boot from the clone.

[linyx]

To simulate hard drive failure I unplugged my internal, and left the external attached by USB. Bios detects it and tries to boot from USB but I get a 'disk read error' message. If my external is identical with files and all, shouldn't the PC be able to boot from it?

I assume you are using Windows XP.

AMD Athlon64 X2 6400+Black, Asus M2R32-MVP, Windows XP, 4GB 800Mhz DDR2, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS, 500GB SATA2, Sony Multi DVD-RW, PCI-HDTV Tuner, SOYO 24" Wide LCD 1920X1200
XP will not boot from USB devices. Here is a tutorial on how to make it boot, but i haven't had any luck with it.
http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176

[DVFs_DrinkOrDie]

I assume you are using Windows XP.

That is correct.

XP will not boot from USB devices.

Well that explains a lot. If I had known that, I would have bought another internal drive instead of the external. :mad:

[dat720]

For future reference a extremely good general purpose backup/recovery/clone package is Acronis True Image, i have cloned hundreds of disc's with it and it performs flawlessly.

[linyx]

For future reference a extremely good general purpose backup/recovery/clone package is Acronis True Image, i have cloned hundreds of disc's with it and it performs flawlessly.
Agreed. I believe it is also currently available for free by Seagate as the Seagate DiscWizard.

[reepa]

This might be of help: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1047073#post1047073

[foxyshadis]

Acronis migrate easy is cheaper if all you need is the cloning.

I used something called Drive Image XML (http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm) last time I needed a clone, where both acronis products and others failed miserably (costing me days of effort).

Is your external eSATA? If so, get a connector for that, much much better than USB. If not, pull the drive out of the enclosure and connect it directly to the motherboard. External loading problem solved (by making it internal).

[DVFs_DrinkOrDie]

Agreed. I believe it is also currently available for free by Seagate as the Seagate DiscWizard.

That is correct. As I said before, I used the free Seagate software to clone a drive before and it worked perfectly. I moved my old 15 Gig partition to a 40 gig HDD, then created another partition with the unallocated space that was left. That drive is still going strong.

I tried it again this time, but it wouldn't let me do it unless there is a Seagate drive in the system, and of course, there isn't.

As I said before, this worked and it's free: http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/
It's an ISO file download, which you burn to a CD that you can boot from. The program loads, and all it does is clone drives. It's just that I can't boot from my external copy using USB.(Thanks to Micro$oft)


Is your external eSATA? If so, get a connector for that, much much better than USB. If not, pull the drive out of the enclosure and connect it directly to the motherboard. External loading problem solved (by making it internal).

The drive does have eSATA, USB, and firewire, but didn't come with the eSATA cable. Stupid in my opinion. I don't see any option to boot from firewire or eSATA in bios, so that's why I used USB. Also, there is no way to open the thing and take out the drive. It's not made that way. It's a Western Digital My Book Home Edition.

I'm satisfied with the disk copy, just not happy about not being able to boot from it using USB. I'll end up getting an internal drive anyway, then run my drives raid 1 mode so I'll have a backup.

[dat720]

Why do you need to boot from USB?
Its a design feature of Windows to not boot from USB, assuming the clone was a full clone you should be able to unplug your internal drive and plug in the external drive in it's place and go, no need to boot from USB.

There's no point in getting upset about not being able to boot from USB, many people have tried and failed, and when they succeeded it requires many hacks and is not reliable.

[jeffy]

... you should be able to unplug your internal drive and plug in the external drive in it's place and go, no need to boot from USB.


Also, there is no way to open the thing and take out the drive. It's not made that way. It's a Western Digital My Book Home Edition.

Is it clear?

[foxyshadis]

Also, there is no way to open the thing and take out the drive. It's not made that way. It's a Western Digital My Book Home Edition.

You can, actually, it's just not as simple as unscrewing. Take a very small flathead screwdriver and run it along the seams in the plastic, you'll find areas that give and areas that don't, the ones that don't are just plastic hooks that you can press out of the way. It takes a lot of careful jimmying on some enclosures but all of them open up at some point, without damaging the plastic casing. It is easy to cause minor damage, though, so it's up to you.

You can probably just return it in exchange for an internal if you can't find another use for it (backup, etc).

[DVFs_DrinkOrDie]

Why do you need to boot from USB?
Its a design feature of Windows to not boot from USB, assuming the clone was a full clone you should be able to unplug your internal drive and plug in the external drive in it's place and go, no need to boot from USB...

Ummm.. OK. The only bios boot choices I have are: #1: internal SATA II HDD plugged into the board. #2: Optical drive (IDE), and #3: USB. And, of course, #4: Floppy, which I find it useless, so I don't have one.

Can you explain to me how I can plug in the external drive in place of the internal? It doesn't work that way. The external has USB, eSATA, and Firewire. That's it. eSATA does not work with SATA connectors on the board. They are NOT the same.

...You can probably just return it in exchange for an internal if you can't find another use for it (backup, etc).

I do have use for the external so I didn't take it back to the store. I can always use more storage. I bought another 500GB SATA2 internal drive today (prices are dropping fast!) and I'll use it in Raid 1 mode so I'll have a real-time backup of my original internal boot drive.

I'll just keep the external, I have in mind a use for it.

[dat720]

Can you explain to me how I can plug in the external drive in place of the internal? It doesn't work that way. The external has USB, eSATA, and Firewire. That's it. eSATA does not work with SATA connectors on the board. They are NOT the same.

You remove the external drive from it's case and plug it in where the internal drive was... very simple, i never said esata connectors we're the same and i know they aren't but what you will find is the hdd is just a plain normal sata hdd!

[DVFs_DrinkOrDie]

dat720 said "You remove the external drive from it's case and plug it in where the internal drive was"

That was already suggested before. Not going to happen.

foxyshadis already suggested before, that I "pull the drive out of the enclosure and connect it directly to the motherboard".

Aren't those two suggestions pretty much the same? They both involve basically destroying this external drive to get the guts out. There is NO good way to "pull" the drive out. It's not made that way! That would be like cracking an egg shell, draining the contents, then trying to incubate it.
In the old days that would be a reasonable suggestion. You could buy an enclosure and put a drive in it, and take it out of the enclosure. I know, I've done it.
This is not the same thing. You're both suggesting that I destroy an external drive that cost $130 to get a drive out of it that I can buy for under $90.

I'm keeping the external drive in tact. I already got an internal for far less money.

[dat720]

Then i don't understand what you want, you CANNOT boot Windows from a USB device plain and simple (when the Windows NT kernal was developed USB was still 1.0 which means booting from USB would have taken something stupid like 20 mins), your options are to remove the drive and plug it directly into your computer, buy a new internal drive to redo the drive clone, or live with what you have now, pick one and live with it! Windows was never designed to boot from USB thus it does not work! It is not a problem or a fault with Windows it is a design feature full stop!

dat720 said "You remove the external drive from it's case and plug it in where the internal drive was"

That was already suggested before. Not going to happen.

I realise this, and you asked how to do it.... I told you how to do it!

This is not the same thing. You're both suggesting that I destroy an external drive that cost $130 to get a drive out of it that I can buy for under $90.

If there was another solution don't you think someone would have suggested by now?

[setarip_old]

@dat720

Hi!If there was another solution don't you think someone would have suggested by now?

The OP has already resolved his/her dilemma:I'm keeping the external drive in tact. I already got an internal for far less money.

[DVFs_DrinkOrDie]

Thank you setarip. I honestly don't know why the thread went on as long as it did. I just couldn't see a way to mark the thread as "solved" like many forums allow. I would have done it by now.

The original reason I posted was to find a simple, free way to clone my drive. I found that software on my own finally, and shared the link. As the booting issue goes, I now know that windows won't boot from USB so the solution is obvious.

Anyway, I'll keep the clone I did on the external, just in case something goes wrong with the software. Beats re-installing everything. Also, I'll keep an up-to-date backup on the spare internal in case of drive failure, so I think I'm pretty well covered. I started this adventure not just because it's the wise thing to do. I had a few blue screen errors then my PC wouldn't boot up, saying "S.M.A.R.T. enabled, but command failed". Luckily, I have not been able to reproduce the error for some time now, but I feel better knowing that all will not be lost if the drive does fail.

[dat720]

Thank you setarip. I honestly don't know why the thread went on as long as it did. I just couldn't see a way to mark the thread as "solved" like many forums allow. I would have done it by now.

Just a thought but you probably could have posted something like "issue resolved"???

PS If you edit your orginal post you can modify the title.

[DVFs_DrinkOrDie]

...If you edit your orginal post you can modify the title.

Thanks for the tip. I've done it.