HDD about to die - I want to xfer everything onto another one, including OS? Possible?

[simms]

edit: i should search first next time, but any way to do this without ghost? i have no idea how to use it, and IIRC it was a pain in the a$$ to work... and don't get me started on partitionmagic. So basically my C: is going to fry any second now - typical signs are not recognizing upon bootup, random freezes right when I start Windows, and bad video playback and freezing on games. I already know it's not a virus or anything to do with drivers. I've also had my HDD for a bit over 4 years now.

So, I have no problem getting another 40GB HDD, but I want to make an exact copy of my current HDD without losing anything. Effectively I want to ideally copy my whole C: onto another drive, set that as C: and toss the old one without having to reinstall anything.

Is there an app that will do that? Or is it impossible because that would be illegal (copying OS?)

--Simon

 

[Sid59]

go to the hard drive manufacter .. dl their program. it will do a disk clone.

 

[CQuinn]

If you have problems with using ghost or partitionmagic...

I'll assume that the C: drive is the only partition you have on your 40GB HD.

Have you already started looking for a replacement drive?
Were you planning to get the same make/model of drive as what you already have?
What is the make and model of the drive you have now?
How are you backing up essential data from the drive now?
Can you still run chkdsk and defrag on the drive?

Sid59's suggestion is very good. You need to start at the website of the drive company
(IBM, Maxtor, Western Digital?) and download and use the diagnostic tools they provide for
testing their drives. Those tools can help you determine if the drive is already producing errors,
malfunctioning in some way, or if it qualifies for an RMA (assuming that it might still fall under warranty
support, or if the drive maker is cool about it).
The symptoms you provide are not neccessarily signs of a dying drive. Or at least your description is
lacking in critical detail for other readers to make that determination.

Along with the diagnostic tools, they have utilities that are designed to help migrate files from one
drive to another.

There are many apps and methods to do what you want, with varying degrees of complexity.
Ghost and Partitionmagic/Driveimage are considered some of the easier (more user-friendly)
programs in this regard, but YMMV.

You first need to run the diagnostics to determine what level of severity your drive problems are;
so you have a better idea if you can do a successful copy.

Or is it impossible because that would be illegal (copying OS?)

That's not illegal, you are not copying it to sell to someone else, you are essentially making a working backup.
(a type of backup that can be swapped in to replace the original working drive).

Instead of looking for another 40GB drive, you might considered getting a newer model of drive that could
provide a benefit in upgrading, as well as potentially being more stable and reliable than your current model
of drive.

 

[Luthien]

First thing I would do is get all my important stuff off that HD onto a CDR or DVD+R or another HD before attempting to clone it (clone may fail). If you have pictures and emails and favorites, college papers, financial information that you need a current backup of or have not backed up at all yet do it NOW! Then attempt to clone it. If the clone fails at least you salvaged your valuable information and the rest will just take some time to reinstall on a new HD.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Periodically doing fresh reinstalls (with MS products) is advised for maximum performance anyway. Might as well take this opportunity to do so. As the poster above mentioned...just save everything you want to keep to CDR(W)s first.

 

[redbeard1]

In this post I linked to two programs. I still haven't tried the free one yet.

thread

 

[Regs]

Federal law does not prohibit a manufactured copy for back up purposes if you own the original.

 

[simms]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Periodically doing fresh reinstalls (with MS products) is advised for maximum performance anyway. Might as well take this opportunity to do so. As the poster above mentioned...just save everything you want to keep to CDR(W)s first.

Do that already. I have the Maxtor 40GB 7200rpms... I'll check out Maxtor's diagnostic tool, but last I remember they were a PITA to use/install...

 

[simms]

Originally posted by: CQuinn
If you have problems with using ghost or partitionmagic...

I'll assume that the C: drive is the only partition you have on your 40GB HD.

Have you already started looking for a replacement drive?
Were you planning to get the same make/model of drive as what you already have?
What is the make and model of the drive you have now?
How are you backing up essential data from the drive now?
Can you still run chkdsk and defrag on the drive?

No, but I guess I can pick one up from the FS/T boards for relatively cheap now. Maxtor's haven't failed me, I have a DiamondMax and a lct20 (both 40GB) that are in top shape for about 2 years now...

The make and model? I'm not sure, it's in my rigs section below.
I'm making a RAR of all my important files and storing them on the secondary HDD - for critical files I have them all burnt to CD.
I can run everything on the drive, the drive works, and I'm using it right now..

Along with the diagnostic tools, they have utilities that are designed to help migrate files from one drive to another.

I never knew Maxtor had that, can anyone provide me with a link?

 

[simms]

Hard Drive: Maxtor DiamondMax 40.0 GB @ 7200 RPMS


Additional Hard Drives: Maxtor Quantum lct20 40.0GB @ 4500 RPMS

 

[chocoruacal]

Chances are your info is doomed, along with the drive. I had a similar problem with a 40gig recently...even DOS recovery tools (and Ghost) didn't work. Buy a new drive and do a fresh install. Why? Because the more you spin that bad drive the more likely it is to up and quit. Secondly, anything you transfer of the drive is going to be suspect...data corruption is the suckage. Then generate MD5 sums for the bad drive and transfer the data over.

 

[redbeard1]

I tested drive cloner today. It did clone the drive ok. I ran into a couple of quirks. It would not clone the partition until I had another drive or partition of equal or greater size. It seems that it also is only concerned with copying the data over. What I mean, is that the source drive I cloned, was a booting, active, primary win98 partition. The target drive was a drive with only an extended partition. When I was done, the data was all there, but it was not bootable because it did not copy or convert the drive to a bootable state like the drive it came from. I converted it with Acronis so that it was a primary and active partition. I sys'd the drive, and was able to boot normally with all the data there. It also needs to be installed in win2k/xp. So if you were going copy the data, you would need a working system to perform the clone.