HDD Switch Out

[1voyager2]

I am about to do a major change to my PC's hardware and software configuration.
I'm nearing the close of scanning all my old slides to digital.
I've got graphics files coming outa' my ears, and more coming.

I have a 750GB SSD for my OS.
I had used a smaller SSD before that and began to run out of space.
So, I began installing apps in a partition on another HDD to conserve SSD space.
After getting the larger SSD, I moved the partition with the installed apps to it along with the OS partition.
I'm going to go back and basically do an OS clean install, actually an image from before I began using the 2nd partition for apps.

Then, I have three 2TB drives for DATA storage.
My galfriend has had a couple of drive failures recently with some data loss.
A drive failure for me right now would be catastrophic, weeks and weeks of rescanning slides.

I recently bought a couple of 3TB drives.
I just set one up as GPT and made a 3TB partition on it, ... WOW!

What I want to do is copy the contents of the 3 X 2TB internal drives to the 2 X 3TB HDDs, then install them as replacements in the PC.

Finally, I will turn the 3 X 2TB drives, along with the 1TB I'm already using for backup, into external storage as backup for the graphics files.

OK, that's all the BS [Back Story, or BS].

So my question:
Being as the two 3TB drives will be GPT drives, will there be any advantage to converting the other smaller drives to GPT also?

 

[deustroop]

As you know GPT has several advantages over MBR including larger partitions and more of them will fit on a drive. So you can easily decide whether in your situation one partition scheme is better.

 

[1voyager2]

OK, In another Googling expedition I've found that another advantage of GPT over MBR is resilience.
A GPT drive has a backup copy of the GPT table.
I have lost MBRs before, which is a real PIA.

I think I will convert all my 2TB and smaller MBR drives to GPT.
Any special considerations for doing this on the SSD?

 

[deustroop]

The OS matters, not the drive type. All versions of Windows Vista/XP/7/8/8.1/10, Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016 can use GPT disk to save data. But only 64-bit editions on UEFI-based systems can be used as system disks.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-and-gpt-faq

There are third party tools to convert volumes without data loss.

 

[1voyager2]

Huh,Oh!
Everything looked OK.
So, I spent 2 days copying the contents of 2 drives onto the 3TB GPT drive.
I used an app that copied and checked for errors in the copying.
Everything looked good after finishing the duplication of the contents of the drives.

While making the duplications I used a USB 3.0 / SATA III docking cable.
The 3rd day, I placed the 3TB drive into a diferent USB 3.0 / SATA II docking station to look at it before erasing the 2 copied drives.
The 3TB drive was empty and reverted back to MBR format.

I have re set the 3TB drive back to GPT and am now running a data recovery app.
It is finding files.
I'm running the recovery app only to confirm the presence of files on the drive.
I will re do the copy / checksum operation again after I figure out what has happened.

What is going on here?

 

[deustroop]

Huh,Oh!
Everything looked OK.
So, I spent 2 days copying the contents of 2 drives onto the 3TB GPT drive.
I used an app that copied and checked for errors in the copying.
Everything looked good after finishing the duplication of the contents of the drives.

While making the duplications I used a USB 3.0 / SATA III docking cable.
The 3rd day, I placed the 3TB drive into a diferent USB 3.0 / SATA II docking station to look at it before erasing the 2 copied drives.
The 3TB drive was empty and reverted back to MBR format.

What is going on here?

I have no idea.

Everything looked good : Did you actually see the proper files and a GPT partition on the drive ?

Then the files and partition just disappeared between using the SATAIII and II enclosures ?

This app[ that copied the data : Is it a cloning app ?

 

[Elixer]

The 3rd day, I placed the 3TB drive into a diferent USB 3.0 / SATA II docking station to look at it before erasing the 2 copied drives.
The 3TB drive was empty and reverted back to MBR format.

The problem can be with the USB dock, might need a firmware update to understand bigger drives.

I had this happen to my dock, and had to update the firmware before it would full see the drive.

 

[1voyager2]

I used TeraCopy to copy the files.
I held the Copying to a few hundred GB's for each increment.
If I tried to copy a full drive in one go, I'd end up with skipped files and/or bad checksums.
That's why it took two days to do the copying.
Everything showed as being there, and was accessible.

Quite a while ago, I did a wholesale file transfer over an eSATA connection.
I ended up with massive file corruption.
I began using TeraCopy for all larger file transfers after that.
I also have never used eSATA again.

I'm stumped by this.
I'll go back into the BIOS and look around for a possible cause there.

I have reset the drive back to GPT and got my 3TB partition back using the SATA II dock.
It was a struggle.
I had to fight with it a bit, but finally got it done.
I was worried that the drive may have been damaged somehow.
Hard Disk Sentinel was showing it's health as down to 85% while this was going on.
Now it's back up to 100%.
After sitting all night with several shutdowns and restarts, GPT and the 3TB partition are still there.
Nothing in it, but it's still there.

I'll check out the SATA II dock's firmware, just in case.
I'm getting close to trying another wholesale copy again.
I'll do it from the SATA II dock this time to see what happens.
Then, I can compare transfer speeds between the SATA III cable and the SATA II dock.
Wish me luck.

EDIT:
I have also set the 2nd 3TB drive up as GPT with a 3TB partition.
It seems to be OK.
But then, I haven't tried putting anything on it either.

REEDIT:
Going back into the BIOS, the only thing I can see that may have an affect is that "UEFI network Stack" is Disabled.
But, I don't think it is likely to be in involved.

 

[1voyager2]

I did a firmware upgrade to the USB dock. It did mess the GPT and partition up again. But, It is all straightened out now, I hope.
Had to go back into Windows Disk Management and initialize the drive again, then set the GPT and the partition again.
I've got to get going on some yard work tomorrow. Maybe in a day or two I can get back to this.

 

[Elixer]

I did a firmware upgrade to the USB dock. It did mess the GPT and partition up again. But, It is all straightened out now, I hope.
Had to go back into Windows Disk Management and initialize the drive again, then set the GPT and the partition again.
I've got to get going on some yard work tomorrow. Maybe in a day or two I can get back to this.

What dock is this?
I assume now, since that it can see the whole drive, instead of what it saw before, it became confused.

 

[1voyager2]

I re formatted the drive as GPT and made another full sized partition on it.
I used the SATA III cable dock to do it.
Then, I reloaded all the files, 2.1TB, back on to it, again using the cable dock.
I've placed the loaded drive back into the offending dock, then have turned it and the PC off and on a number of times in various combinations.
So far it looks as if the GPT configuration and the loaded files are holding up.
But, I'm not going to erase the 2 copied drives yet.

The cable dock I'm using is this one:
https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Adapt...eywords=USB+3.0+to+3.5+SATA+III+Adapter+Cable

It really works nicely.
There is another that comes with a power adapter
I bought this one because I have several power adapters and didn't need another.
I just don't like how exposed it is to potentially getting knocked around when being used.

The offending dock is this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013WODZH0/ref=psdc_160354011_t1_B005KGNXTE

I liked the flat enclosure with a cooling fan.
The firmware update seems to have made it usable, at least as a platform to read the drive's contents from.
When I load the second 3TB drive, I'll try doing it with the flat dock again.
It may work as it should now.
We'll see.

I also have a dock that I have been using for several years, one where the drive sits vertically.
It has never felt safe to me from potentially damaging the drive's SATA sockets when loading the drive.
I was looking for a better, safer docking solution.

 

[1voyager2]

All seems to be well.
Updating the Sabrent's firmware looks to have fixed the problem.
The wholesale transfer is holding and new files are being added successfully.
It looks as if the GPT tables may have been misread, corrupted or whatever, causing problems with the transferred files.
The enclosure feels safer than the cable adapter, less likely for possible damage to the drive's socket.
Transfer with the enclosure is a lot slower than with the cable.
I'll wait a bit longer just to be sure, then erase the smaller drives and re purpose them.
Problems seem to be solved.

 

[deustroop]

ok

 

[dlerious]

I have a similar USB to SATA adapter. I've only used it with SSD drives. I didn't think you could use them with spinners because they couldn't get enough power from USB.

 

[1voyager2]

Both the cable and flatbed docks use a 12v 2amp power supply.