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Hi Folks, getting a bit concerned about the primary drive in my system and am going to replace it with a new 1TB 7200rpm WD Black. What is the best way to clone my current primary to the new drive such that I don't lose my OS, programs installs, file associations, registry, etc.

Appreciate any and all help, got too much to lose to make a mistake!

Jeff


Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2025, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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Normally I use Norton Ghost, but if you need to do it cheap, then Clonezilla works well, but IIRC it will only clone to a matching or larger drive, I think it doesn't resize partitions.

There's other products but those are the ones we use in my business.


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I use Acronis. I have had no problems transferring all data (programs, OS and data) from one drive to another. I have all of my computers backed up with Acronis.

PS - if you have Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 there is a backup program included under my computer/open/C:/properties/tools/backup. I have no experience with this but a friend said it work perfectly for him.

Last edited by MarioD; 01/20/15 04:01 AM.

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+1 on Acronis.


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quite a few years back I had a flaky C drive... before it died I wanted to replace it.

I looked for a drive that came with cloning software.

I followed the instructions exactly and in 15 minutes, my new drive was installed and running. Everything was there. I only needed to reinstall 2 applications that required registration. All their data was in place.

I think it was a Western Digital drive...


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I have to give the EASUS folks the nod here.

I've done this process 3 times. One of the times the drive I was cloning had bad sectors and it stopped Acronis in it's tracks as soon as the bad sectors were hit.

You'll need two products from EASUS (free by the way).

1. Their disc cloning software: http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/
2. Their partitioning software for after the clone since you are probably cloning a smaller drive to a larger drive: http://www.easeus.com/partition-manager/epm-free.html

I should mention that the version of Acronis I was using was one bundled with the new drive - can't recall if it was a WD or a Seagate drive. Easus saved my rear end - powered through the bad sectors and allowed me to let that PC survive another couple years.

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Macrium Reflect is also a very good and free cloning or imaging tool. I use it to create backup clones on two spare hard drives. The hard drive the clone is going on to must be the same size or larger than the primary the clone is coming from.
On a computer help forum site I contribute to I wrote a full tutorial for using Macrium Reflect for cloning.
Here is the link to the tutorial.

http://magazine.freepchelp.uk/making-a-cloned-hard-drive-using-macrium-reflect/

Macrium Reflect can be downloaded from this site

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

If using the C.Net download, be very careful to read every window that opens during the install and remove ticks from boxes for the usual junkware such as tool bars, free antivirus scans, etc. Where given the choice for a custom or advanced installation, choose that instead of the default, it is in custom or advanced where you will see and be able to remove the foistwares.

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is it easy and ethical to clone my band in a Box audiophile disk just for backup purposes? And would Acronis or one of the others be a good choice for that?

WSS

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Thanks for all of your help here folks. New drive is on its way...should arrive by Saturday. By the way, I'm cloning a 1Tb WD "blue" with an 8Mb cache to a 1Tb WD "black" with a 64Mb cache.

Somewhere I heard, rightly or wrongly, that drives over 1Tb have multiple platters and this can cause slower seek times, generate higher heat loads, and a higher failure rate due to the mechanics. Any truth to that?

Thanks for your help on this.

Jeff


Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2025, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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Originally Posted By: MountainSide
Thanks for all of your help here folks. New drive is on its way...should arrive by Saturday. By the way, I'm cloning a 1Tb WD "blue" with an 8Mb cache to a 1Tb WD "black" with a 64Mb cache.

Somewhere I heard, rightly or wrongly, that drives over 1Tb have multiple platters and this can cause slower seek times, generate higher heat loads, and a higher failure rate due to the mechanics. Any truth to that?

Thanks for your help on this.

Jeff


That might have been true a couple of years ago, however you are buying one of the best drives on the market, so I wouldn't worry about it.

For Westside Steve. A clone for backup purposes only should not be a problem, however I would ask the PG staff directly to be sure about that.

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Originally Posted By: MountainSide

Somewhere I heard, rightly or wrongly, that drives over 1Tb have multiple platters and this can cause slower seek times, generate higher heat loads, and a higher failure rate due to the mechanics. Any truth to that?

Actually, multiple platters should contribute to faster access times...

There is a technique called "elevator seeking" which works on multiple platter drives that allows the controller (built in on IDE/ATA drives) to position data such that during read and write processes the next segment of a file should be under the head of a platter when it is required during long reads and writes.

Novell used it extensively when EVERY drive was multi platter just to get some semblance of capacity. It was this teqhnique, along with a couple of others, that made them the fastest file servers available for at least 2 decades.

As for reliability, check the MTBF figures between similar drives (single platter vs multiplatter) - I would be surprised if there is any significant difference. It may even be that the multi platter is MORE reliable (more spare sectors to redirect to).


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Originally Posted By: Westside Steve
is it easy and ethical to clone my band in a Box audiophile disk just for backup purposes? ...

WSS

Ethical; Yes
PGMusic has stated this publicly before. Only the amount of 'installs' (working running copies) is an issue.
You could clone it 6 times .. as long as you only have 3 installs at any given time. You can back it up as many times as it takes for you to feel safe.


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[quote=MarioD]I use Acronis. I have had no problems transferring all data (programs, OS and data) from one drive to another. I have all of my computers backed up with Acronis.

Same here, Mario. I have never had a problem with Acronis. It's not free, but it's well worth the buy.

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Originally Posted By: MountainSide


...
Somewhere I heard, rightly or wrongly, that drives over 1Tb have multiple platters and this can cause slower seek times, generate higher heat loads, and a higher failure rate due to the mechanics. Any truth to that?
...

Jeff,
You can get single platter drives, but just about all drives have multiple platters. Been that way for a long time. One of the main benefits of the single platter drive is its low form factor, and lower power requirements.

However, we must remember that all drives have a finite lifetime.

I've seen multiple platter drives operating continuously (24 x 7) for years and years and years.

You'll be OK with this baby, I'd say.

Trevor


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Thanks guys, appreciate the insight. Seems like I might have been behind the times as far as my info on multi-platters...have been noticing that lately...the faster tech moves, the slower I move....not saying I'm getting older...just slower.

Jeff


Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2025, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!

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In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!

Special offers until December 31st, 2025!

All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!

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