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Cloning the Hard Drive on Inspiron 620 Desktop
New member, first post here, great resource.
I am working a friend with her Dell Inspiron 620 Desktop computer; 3.5 years old. The hard drive is beginning to fail, but computer is still operating fine at this time.
I have recovery media ordered and on the way via Dell out of warranty support in the event that the drive fails catastrophically before I get to it. But instead of using this recovery media, reloading the OS, drivers, all applications, customizing, etc. I am considering "cloning" the current hard drive while the original hard drive is still operational.
I have never cloned a drive before, but my understanding is this would be the procedure. I purchase a new identical replacement hard drive (found one 3.5 Sata 1TB size) and also purchase an external USB enclosure for the new drive, connect the new drive via USB cable, launch the cloning software, then install the cloned drive into the computer when cloning is complete?
Any downside to "cloning" vs reloading the OS? Any recommendations of any free cloning software I should consider using? Cloning especially appeals to me as this is a small business computer, highly customized. Getting this computer back to it's current status the long way is certainly doable, but I'd like to do it the easiest way possible.
Thanks in advance for the help folks......
shesagordie
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September 19th, 2015 12:00
birchlake
There is no need to buy an external enclosure, just install the drive to be cloned as the secondary, all you need is a SATA data cable, there is a spare SATA power connector already inside the chassis, for an additional HD.
The easiest method that I prefer, is to clone the existing hard drive to the new one, that will also, transfer all the applications and programs.
You need a imaging utility, similar to True Image Home 2016.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage
Acronis will resize the transferred partitions to match new hard drive's size.
I have also found AOMEI free version of Backupper to be excellent and have been using this with great success with Windows 8.1 and 10
http://www.backup-utility.com/free-backup-software.html
Hard drive manufacturers, also have their own free cloning software available, but this can be used only with their hard drives.
First, install the new drive as the secondary and image the existing primary hard drive to it.
After cloning, immediately shut the system down, switch the data cable [SATA port 0] to the new drive, making the new hard drive the master and see if the system boots correctly.
Boot the system with only the new hard drive connected.
Remember to leave the original drive disconnected, until the new hard drive is working to your satisfaction.
Before cloning a hard drive, be certain that the existing drive has no corruption or virus on it, as these will be transferred to the new hard drive.
As already mentioned, a second SATA data cable will be required, there should be a spare SATA power connector inside the case.
Bev.
rdunnill
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September 19th, 2015 13:00
Probably not, and you'll be assured of keeping all your files. And it's definitely the easiest way to move to a new storage device.
birchlake
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September 19th, 2015 14:00
Bev and Rdunnill, thanks for the quick replies! Looks like "cloning" will definitely be the way to go. I've been wanting to learn how to do this anyways.
Bev, great information about a secondary HDD slot inside the 620. That will save me from buying an HDD enclosure. I'll likely purchase the SATA data cable then before digging into this repair. Is there a particular type of SATA cable that I'll need (any particular cable specs) to connect up this new drive? IE: what exactly do I search for? Is it male to male, male to female, right angle, etc. Or is it the same connector on each end? Thanks!
shesagordie
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September 19th, 2015 22:00
birchlake
You could open the chassis and check the SATA data cable to the primary SATA HD.
Basically you need an 18/24" SATA data cable, that has one end with a 90* connector.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816030&cm_re=sata_cables_for_hard_drive-_-12-816-030-_-Product
Unfortunately Dell does not has any documentation for installing an additional hard drive in the Inspiron 620 available
Maybe the discussion HERE can help.
Bev.
birchlake
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September 20th, 2015 05:00
Bev, Thanks for this information. I think I now have the information I need to tackle this.
It might be a few days or so before I have the time to get it done, but I will be sure to post back how the "cloning" went!
shesagordie
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September 20th, 2015 10:00
birchlake
Bev.
birchlake
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October 15th, 2015 07:00
Just a quick update to the cloning the 620 hard drive. I did a little research and found there are a few companies that offer cloning hardware with a one click clone button. Put source hard drive in slot A, put target hard drive in slot B, press "clone" button, wait a few hours and it's done. Clones bit for bit the entire source hard drive.
Along with the ability to clone, it gives me a hard drive enclosure to work with which I have been wanting. So I bought a "Cable Matters" clone box. Looks like a small toaster. $45 on Amazon. Supports both 2.5" and 3.5" SATA and SSD drives (not IDE). Clones at USB 3.0 speed. Worked perfectly; not one hitch.
I knew there was hardware like this, but I didn't know that it was available at this low of a price point. I've since used it to clone another friend's laptop hard drive as she was scrapping the computer and it worked perfectly on that one too. So two for two. Pretty cool!
Anyway, mission accomplished. The new hard drive is in the 620 desktop and working great.
Thanks for the help here folks.....
shesagordie
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October 15th, 2015 09:00
birchlake
Appreciate the useful heads up on the clone box.
Bev.
jjdevilliers
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August 13th, 2017 01:00
Hi, will it work if I clone to a different brand HDD of same size and type? My PC is out of warranty, so this does not matter to me. Or does it have to be exact same model?
jjdevilliers
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August 13th, 2017 01:00
Hi, will it work if I clone to a different brand drive of similar type and size or does it have to be exact same model? My PC is out of warranty so it does not matter for me.
shesagordie
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August 13th, 2017 07:00
jjdevilliers
Yes.
Bev.
speedstep
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August 13th, 2017 17:00
different brand is not an issue but drive capacity/size matters
jjdevilliers
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August 14th, 2017 08:00
Hi, I currently have Windows 10 on this PC. I made use of the free upgrade when it became available. The PC came out with Windows 7 Home Premium. Is there a way to start from fresh and get Windows 10 installed again, e.g. either a clean install of windows 10 or reverting/recovering back to windows 7 and then upgrade back to Windows 10, or will I have to buy windows 10 to be able to do this?
speedstep
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August 14th, 2017 09:00
Once you go online and activate you can download the current windows 10 ISO and burn to DVD then install clean from scratch on a new blank hard drive.
When it asks for a key you can say skip this step. Once back online windows 10 will still be activated.
Code named "Redstone 2" (Windows Insider builds 14901 and later) will officially become the "Windows 10 Creators Update"
http://microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Follow these steps to create installation media (USB flash drive or DVD) you can use to install a new copy of Windows 10, perform a clean installation, or reinstall Windows 10.
Before you download the tool make sure you have:
Check a few things on the PC where you want to install Windows 10: