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Help: how to transfer all data from old HDD to a new one?

Tags:
  • Hard Drives
  • Storage
  • Seagate
  • Disk cloning
  • Data transfer
  • Western Digital
  • Software
Last response: in Storage
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September 4, 2014 7:07:28 AM

I've a 500 GB Western Digital HDD that I want to replace with a 1 GB Seagate Hybrid Drive (SSHD).

I've heard of disk cloning softwares. But I need some advices and clarifications.

1. What software is the best and the easiest one to use?
2. My old drive has 2 partitions ( C: ) and ( E: ). Will the software create these 2 partitions too, with the exact same drive letters, replacing my old drive entirely? I assume that this software runs during boot time isn't it?

More about : transfer data hdd

September 4, 2014 7:26:56 AM

My personal Favorite is the Acronis True Image premium. I have been using True image products for years and have used it on dozens of workstations. Its very powerful and very easy to use.

you just install it, plug your new HD in and then select the clone feature under "tools" it will make an exact duplicate of the current drive onto the new one. If you select the automatic option, it will copy both partitions onto the new HD and they will be scaled to fit your new drive so they will effectively be double the size they are now.
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September 4, 2014 7:33:36 AM

DHFF said:
My personal Favorite is the Acronis True Image premium. I have been using True image products for years and have used it on dozens of workstations. Its very powerful and very easy to use.

you just install it, plug your new HD in and then select the clone feature under "tools" it will make an exact duplicate of the current drive onto the new one. If you select the automatic option, it will copy both partitions onto the new HD and they will be scaled to fit your new drive so they will effectively be double the size they are now.


I'm not so clear about the whole process though.

Okay, so I plug in my new HDD and do the cloning. As my new drive is another drive, it will of course be assigned a different drive letter than my current ( C: ) and ( E: ).

How will the software work around this though, making my new drive my default ( C: ) and ( E: ) partitions?
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September 4, 2014 7:41:02 AM

Once the cloning process is complete and the computer reboots. go ahead and shut it all down. then unplug your original hard drive, then turn it on. the computer will automatically assign the correct drive letters and act as if the new Hard drive had been there all along. Your computer will notice no difference other then having larger capacity. If you wish to use the original as storage you can re connect it at this point. the next time you reboot it should show up as extra drive letters but the computer will still boot from the larger hard drive. Once you are sure everything has gone smoothly, you can format the original hard drive so you have a nice clean drive for extra storage or backup.
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September 4, 2014 9:25:44 AM

DHFF said:
Once the cloning process is complete and the computer reboots. go ahead and shut it all down. then unplug your original hard drive, then turn it on. the computer will automatically assign the correct drive letters and act as if the new Hard drive had been there all along. Your computer will notice no difference other then having larger capacity. If you wish to use the original as storage you can re connect it at this point. the next time you reboot it should show up as extra drive letters but the computer will still boot from the larger hard drive. Once you are sure everything has gone smoothly, you can format the original hard drive so you have a nice clean drive for extra storage or backup.


Just wanna clear up some confusion in your 1st two sentences, it's a little bit confusing to me.

So my PC will reboot first. After it finish rebooting, I will shut down my PC again to remove my original HDD. Isn't it?
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September 4, 2014 9:43:10 AM

Yes. here is the process you will follow.

1) Install Acronis True Image. ( you can get regular honestly, premium has more flexibility but in this case you wont need it and the regular version is cheaper)
2) open Acronis and navigate to "Tools" then select Clone Drive
3) Select "Automatic" when asked for which mode you want to clone in
4) select your source drive ( click on your C: and E: partitions)
5)Select Your Destination, this will be your new disk, if the new disk has been formatted already it will ask if you want to keep or delete the exsiting partition, tell it to delete the existing partition.
6) it will begin the process and may tell you that it needs to reboot to start the process, tell it to reboot
7) system will reboot and enter a DOS like screen and begin the clone process.
8) system will reboot and when it does you will see a message from Acronis telling you the operation was successful
9) turn your system off and disconnect the old drive then boot up
10) you can now plug in your original drive, the system might see it right away or it might require a reboot.

Alternatively you can skip steps 9 and 10 by going into your BIOS and adjusting the boot sequence, its not that hard but it can be intimidating if you have never done anything like that before. Steps 9 and 10 take a little longer but its really simple.
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September 4, 2014 5:48:30 PM

DHFF said:
Yes. here is the process you will follow.

1) Install Acronis True Image. ( you can get regular honestly, premium has more flexibility but in this case you wont need it and the regular version is cheaper)
2) open Acronis and navigate to "Tools" then select Clone Drive
3) Select "Automatic" when asked for which mode you want to clone in
4) select your source drive ( click on your C: and E: partitions)
5)Select Your Destination, this will be your new disk, if the new disk has been formatted already it will ask if you want to keep or delete the exsiting partition, tell it to delete the existing partition.
6) it will begin the process and may tell you that it needs to reboot to start the process, tell it to reboot
7) system will reboot and enter a DOS like screen and begin the clone process.
8) system will reboot and when it does you will see a message from Acronis telling you the operation was successful
9) turn your system off and disconnect the old drive then boot up
10) you can now plug in your original drive, the system might see it right away or it might require a reboot.

Alternatively you can skip steps 9 and 10 by going into your BIOS and adjusting the boot sequence, its not that hard but it can be intimidating if you have never done anything like that before. Steps 9 and 10 take a little longer but its really simple.


Thanks very much for your kind help.

Yea I know how to adjust the boot sequence in BIOS.
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September 4, 2014 5:58:54 PM

excellent, so if you can adjust the boot sequence then after the hard drives are done cloning and you get the message that it was sucessful, you can reboot an go into your BIOS and make sure the new Hard drive boots first. Since you are doing this, there is no need to unplug the old Harrd drive at any point. once you are sure the new hard drive is being seen as your C and E drives, you can format the old drive.
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September 6, 2014 2:36:21 AM

The trial for True Image doesn't include cloning. I don't wanna buy something I will probably use just once.

Do you have experiences with free softwares though, which will do the job as good as True Image cloning all partitions without hassle?

Also, do I need to format the new drive first before doing the cloning?
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September 6, 2014 3:46:44 AM

you typically do not need to format the disk before cloning. If the disk fails to show up after plugging it in for the very first time, you might need to activate the disk. Acronis has this feature, and most har drive manufacturers include disk preparation software with their products, or available to download.

As for free cloning software, I am sorry that I cant think of any. I have been using Acronis for over 10 years and haven't needed to look anywhere else.

You might try BackupAssist, they have a trial version of thier software, I don't know if you can clone with the trial version.

you could make a backup with Windows backup an then restore that backup to your new Disk, that should work. Honestly though I would put the $40 on Acronis, its very handy software, you might not need to clone again but it comes with several useful tools. being able to schedule automated backups for one, being able to securely shred sensitive files ect...

I will look an see if there is anything else that works for free but really I think Acronis is the easiest way for the money.
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