Cloning my Hard Drive - Page 2

leon · #21 17-10-2016, 09:52 PM

Anders, I tried what you said about getting a free download of Acronis, however that did not work.
I have a seagate 2T hard drive in the PC and it asked for the serial number of that Hard Drive which I gave, so it could look up the Firmware, but it then told me that the number supplied was incorrect, which was not the case.

Never mind i will download something later of just get a Inatech Clone Docking set-up to do the job.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Leon

OICURMT · #22 17-10-2016, 10:21 PM

where did you get the SN off of?

Photo would help.

hamiland (Anders) · #23 17-10-2016, 10:37 PM

Hi Leon,
You don't need a serial number to download, I didn't mention however that Seagate call their distribution of acronis discwizard, sorry should have mentioned that when I recommended it.

multiweb (Marc) · #24 18-10-2016, 07:32 AM

Hi Leon, your S/N is printed on a sticker on your HD. Buy a new version of Acronis. It retails around $80 I think, then stick with it. Don't buy an OEM cut down version. 2015 is fine, I never updated to 2106. I don't like the cloud integration that they are pushing trhough heavily now.

leon · #25 18-10-2016, 01:31 PM

Got the serial no off the HD, took it out of PC

Leon

leon · #26 18-10-2016, 01:52 PM

Now i do have a final question on this Cloning subject.

It is stated that when one clones a H/D with a good docking station one gets an exact copy of the drive they are copying, correct

If this is the case then all my photo files, text files, settings, operating system files and any other thing that makes the initial H/D work is copied so that i could actually swap drives and all would be the same, correct

So are all my installed programs copied

What happens to the virus protection loaded, is it copied and just sits there until i happen to use the copied Drive

Dose the PC start up as it dose now with the copied H/D

Also if i use a good cloning dock and there are some good ones out there why would i need to buy Acronis or any other software

So what I am asking is this, dose a cloned H/D drive make an exact workable copy of the drive, yes or no

Thank you all for your continued support on this subject.

Leon

sil (Steve) · #27 18-10-2016, 02:25 PM

Um, probably not, technically.

Thats a lot of questions for one final question.

When you physically swap hardware such as a hard drive the computer BIOS will usually recognise there is a change and pause when you turn it back on the first time for you to confirm the change is OK, once you do that with a cloned drive then Yes it will work as if nothing had changed. All your viruses will be fully operational again too ! All updates since your last backup will be lost of course. Ghosting drives doesn't protect you from yourself, all your bad habits will still be there whereas re-installing the OS gives you a clean slate. The OS is a waste backing up IMHO.

multiweb (Marc) · #28 18-10-2016, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sil

Ghosting drives doesn't protect you from yourself, all your bad habits will still be there whereas re-installing the OS gives you a clean slate. The OS is a waste backing up IMHO.

That's the whole point of the exercise. So you don't have to worry about reinstalling your OS and programs. Or am I missing something.

leon · #29 18-10-2016, 04:01 PM

Sil what you are telling me one might as well forget about cloning a H/D and just back up all ones files to an external drive wipe the drive and reinstall everything if things go belly up, programs and all other stuff.

I really appreciate all the answers and suggestions, but guys this technical stuff is not what I'm after, I just need a yes or no answer.

Dose cloning a drive make an exact copy that can be replaced with a faulty drive, ending up with a PC like one had before it died, ya or na

Leon

multiweb (Marc) · #30 18-10-2016, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

Now i do have a final question on this Cloning subject.

It is stated that when one clones a H/D with a good docking station one gets an exact copy of the drive they are copying, correct

Yes. An identical image.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

If this is the case then all my photo files, text files, settings, operating system files and any other thing that makes the initial H/D work is copied so that i could actually swap drives and all would be the same, correct

Yes. All of the above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

So are all my installed programs copied

Yes. All your programs, settings, licenses, everything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

What happens to the virus protection loaded, is it copied and just sits there until i happen to use the copied Drive

Your anti-virus is just another program. It'll be the same and still up to date. It won't mind that the hardware has changed and still work as expected.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

Dose the PC start up as it dose now with the copied H/D

Yes. In the same way. If you have multiple drives in the PC, it might be worth checking the BIOS to make sure you boot from the new drive, but usually it will pick it up automatically. Not an issue if you have only one HD in the PC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

Also if i use a good cloning dock and there are some good ones out there why would i need to buy Acronis or any other software

You can get Acronis or any other software that you are comfortable with. The dock is just so you can read your drive from your PC. Not a cloning accesory. The program is what will make a clone of your drive onto the drive plugged into the dock.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

So what I am asking is this, dose a cloned H/D drive make an exact workable copy of the drive, yes or no

Yes. Absolutely. You get an identical drive that you can swap with the one in your PC.

As an exercise, when you've done your clone, take your drive out then boot from the copy. See if it works. This way you will be sure. If not put the old drive back, boot and image again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

Thank you all for your continued support on this subject.

Leon

multiweb (Marc) · #31 18-10-2016, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

Dose cloning a drive make an exact copy that can be replaced with a faulty drive, ending up with a PC like one had before it died, ya or na

Leon

Yes. That's the whole point of cloning.

leon · #32 18-10-2016, 04:31 PM

Excellent Marc, thank you indeed.

Leon

leon · #33 18-10-2016, 04:46 PM

Marc or anyone for that matter please have a have a look at this and tell me what you think

https://www.jaycar.com.au/dual-2-5-3...b-3-0/p/XC4697

Leon

multiweb (Marc) · #34 18-10-2016, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

Marc or anyone for that matter please have a have a look at this and tell me what you think

https://www.jaycar.com.au/dual-2-5-3...b-3-0/p/XC4697

Leon

Perfect.

leon · #35 18-10-2016, 10:43 PM

Hi Marc i was considering this software.

https://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-professional/

chosen from this group of the best.

http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/utilities/best-disk-imaging-
software/

so what would your thoughts be.

Thanks Leon

sil (Steve) · #36 19-10-2016, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

Sil what you are telling me one might as well forget about cloning a H/D and just back up all ones files to an external drive wipe the drive and reinstall everything if things go belly up, programs and all other stuff.

Yes, if you want a fast stable secure computer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

I really appreciate all the answers and suggestions, but guys this technical stuff is not what I'm after, I just need a yes or no answer.
Leon

Re-read my response. Its a YES BUT Not on the first boot. Which answering your question as asked is technically No.

Typically when drives fail they dont actually fail, its a corrupt OS from both infections and lots of files installed/uninstalled over time. Ghosting a drive safely stores all those problems and transfers them to a new hard drive. Not my concern if you want that risk. I've got tons of "dead" hard drives from people this has happened to and not a single one has a physical drive problem, Once I do my analysis and stabilisation on the dives they work just fine, all my desktop computers are running at least one such drive.

multiweb (Marc) · #37 19-10-2016, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sil

Typically when drives fail they dont actually fail, its a corrupt OS from both infections and lots of files installed/uninstalled over time. Ghosting a drive safely stores all those problems and transfers them to a new hard drive. Not my concern if you want that risk. I've got tons of "dead" hard drives from people this has happened to and not a single one has a physical drive problem, Once I do my analysis and stabilisation on the dives they work just fine, all my desktop computers are running at least one such drive.

What do you mean by "stabilisation"?

leon · #38 19-10-2016, 11:53 AM

Sil you have lost me mate,

Leon

silv (Annette) · #39 19-10-2016, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

Hi Marc i was considering this software.

https://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-professional/

chosen from this group of the best.

http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/utilities/best-disk-imaging-
software/

so what would your thoughts be.

Thanks Leon

I'm not Marc but - Leon, Acronis is also listed in the test, and only marginally less well rated.
And you already know from IIS that there are people here who know the software and even vouch for it.
That also means a safety net in case you need support.
Sure, Paragon has its own support community on their website - but nobody here knows it, apparently.
I know the brand because of their excellent Mac software

(But I don;t know their cloning software.)

With the rather special astro software you are running on your PC, it might come in handy to be using a cloning software others use as well.

The docking station is a nice touch, btw. If you ever want to keep the clone off site, the docking station makes it easy grab-n-go.
If you still have space in your PC you could also just put the additional drive in there.
What you really need is for your clone is
- software that copies the bits from one to the other hard drive - like Acronis or Paragon
- the hard drive

multiweb (Marc) · #40 19-10-2016, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leon

Hi Marc i was considering this software.

https://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-professional/

chosen from this group of the best.

http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/utilities/best-disk-imaging-
software/

so what would your thoughts be.

Thanks Leon

I haven't use Paragon. I have used Acronis since version 11.0 in 2007 so I have a lot of experience with it. I have done many bare metal restores with it and it has always worked flawlessly. My PC is about 7 years old now. I've had my C: drive fail 3 times (only 2 weeks ago the last time) over this period and my other 2 drives in the machine twice. So that's 7 drives over the life of the computer. Never lost any files.

As indicated I use differential backups, but I have cloned the C: drive on one occasion as well and swaped the clone in the machine and booted without a glitch.

So I'm not relying on online tests or blogs ranking different programs but I speak from personal experience over the past 10 years using the various versions of the software.