Whole drive copying

[LegendKiller]

My wife moved to a mac and wants to get rid of her old gateway. I would like to move all files from the Gateway hdd to her mac through an external USB HDD. However, I can't find a way to just copy the whole drive so I don't miss anything she might have stored and be able to access any single file from the backup. Obviously windows has it's issues copying files in the Program Files directory, which I need to get around. What's the best free program?

I also need to be able to browse the files without having to go through the program.

 

[Blain]

I would like to move all files from the Gateway hdd to her mac through an external USB HDD. However, I can't find a way to just copy the whole drive so I don't miss anything she might have stored and be able to access any single file from the backup. Obviously windows has it's issues copying files in the Program Files directory, which I need to get around.

Going from a Windows machine to a Mac, you don't want to copy the whole drive (generally known as cloning).
No reason you should need Windows OS files on a Mac.

 

[Cerb]

I know of three options that will do the job without too much hassle:

1. Karen's Replicator, with a one-shot backup job. It uses VSS, so won't get stuck on special files, so long as you run it as admin.

2. Diskshadow. Once the shadow is made, you can use whatever to copy from it, as admin (like Teracopy).

3. Hobocopy. Works great, but is pure command-line.

Karen's is the only pure GUI way to do this that I know of, that isn't hard to put to use (most backup and sync programs that use VSS have more bells and whistles than you want, generally).

Or, you could use a SATA/USB dock or dongle, and just copy it over to the Mac, from the Mac, by removing the HDD from the old PC (assuming it's SATA...if not, a PATA-supporting dongle would be needed). It can make deep copies from some junction points, though.

 

[Essence_of_War]

However, I can't find a way to just copy the whole drive so I don't miss anything she might have stored and be able to access any single file from the backup.

Can I clarify what exactly you're trying to do? If she wants her user data (pictures, videos, documents, etc) you should just be able to copy her "user" folder from the gateway to the external, then copy the contents of that folder to the correct place in the mac's file structure (something like: '/Users/YOUR_WIFE/WHATEVER' I think).

If she wants specific programs/applications she'll have to find OS X versions, I don't see what exactly you'd hope to gain by copying the contents of the "Program Files" folder.

 

[LegendKiller]

Can I clarify what exactly you're trying to do? If she wants her user data (pictures, videos, documents, etc) you should just be able to copy her "user" folder from the gateway to the external, then copy the contents of that folder to the correct place in the mac's file structure (something like: '/Users/YOUR_WIFE/WHATEVER' I think).

If she wants specific programs/applications she'll have to find OS X versions, I don't see what exactly you'd hope to gain by copying the contents of the "Program Files" folder.

The problem is that I am not sure if she saved anything anywhere else. Rather than just looking on a broken computer (lcd is cracked, I have it hooked up to our tv) for hours to make sure I scour everything, I'd rather just copy it all over and then have it in case there was something I missed. That's why I need all of the files easily accessible.

I know, strange request, but I'd rather do that than miss some pictures.

 

[Berliner]

Take the drive out and copy it from another PC that is not currently running from that disc. You can use pretty much any explorer type tool for that.