How to clone the hard disk in an XPS L501X?

You can use - for - instance - Windows 7 built-in backup utility to make a "system image"

Further down I have included other freeware backup programs you can try them too......

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click the windows start button and type backup - choose "Backup and Restore"

choose "Create a system image"

choose for instance - an external USB hard drive (or DVD).The storage medium should be the same size or bigger as the drive you want to backup

even though the system image will be far smaller in the end !

Other free backup programs are:

http://download.cnet.com/Easeus-Todo-Backup-Free/3000-2242_4-10964460.html

or

http://download.cnet.com/Macrium-Reflect-Free/3000-2242_4-10845728.html

I haven't done this yet, but will definitely try it later on. Thanks for sharing.

Windows 7 backup is good if you need to restore to the original hard drive, but does NOT not work when installing a new hard disk. It's easy to copy and paste excerpts from Microsoft's 'help' site, but trust me on this, I've tried numerous times to no avail. If you scan through other forums or do a search there are many posts testifiying to the fact that Win7 backup is simply not up to the job. After installing the new HDD windows is unable to locate the backup (even after installing Win7 with the Dell recovery DVD and with ALL the drivers.

Third party software such as Acronis is very good at taking backups, but you will not be able to clone your hraddrive unless you purchase the full version.

I am in a similar situation to you with a pretty much non functioning L501x (XPS15) which has had 3 HDD sector faults from new.

Unfortunately, Dell seem to use Samsung hard drives which are renowned for failures early on. I have since bought a disc from WD (which is the same size as the original) and will be attempting to clone the old one. I'll let you know how i get on

I'll try EASEUS Todo tonight to see if that works

First of all:

Windows "system image" works - at least for me ! I had no trouble at all to to backup my system and I was able in a test run to restore it back to an empty drive.

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I did include additional links to other FREEware backup software which I also tested and they work too!

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I finally decided to use EASEUS Todo 1.1 (currently Todo 4.5 available) because it had a very good compression when making the "system image".

Additionally it allows me to mount the final image file.

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There is no harm in trying more than one backup back program and compare them to one another

When I got my laptop I  neither trusted Micosoft backup  nor EASEUS backup - so I used both of therm in case one wouldn't work .

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The biggest advantage of Microsoft's backup is the fact  that it comes with Windows 7,it's free,no download necessary,easy to use and ideal for people who are new to computers.

Can i ask you then how you successfully achieved your restore to an empty drive. I've had no joy at all.

The way i tried was:

Win7 backup/image stored on an external Toshiba 1tb drive using the native windows program

Ran the Windows 7 installation disc which was purchased from Dell

Installed the drivers from the disc which was purchased from Dell

Ran system image restore using Windows native program.

at this point (with the external HDD plugged in) i try to select 'other' and get the "Windows cannot find an image on this computer" message

I tried Microsoft' backup only once  and almost 2 years ago - when I got my laptop.That time I was instantly looking for a good backup program and was "thrilled" to find out that Microsoft finally included their own backup utility in Windows 7.As I already wrote - The system image was written to my external USB hard drive and the restoring process was easy.

You might have made one mistake:The USB hard drive MUST be connected to the system before you turn on the laptop otherwise the hard drive might not be detected.

Ok, i'll try leaving the ExtHdd plugged in before turning on. When you restored, was it to a brand new hard drive (of the same size or more)?

I forgot something:

Do not rename backup folders that were created during backup.especially when it come to Microsoft's program !

Some people tend to rename the root folder to "Backup 1" , Backup 2" etc.........leave the names as they are.

It was the same hard drive (and it's still my one and only internal laptop hard drive).The hard drive you restore to should be at least of the same size or larger.

> Backing up and restoring is always a risk if it is the first time you do it.If you are not familiar with reinstalling windows from scratch I would recommend to replace your perfectly working laptop hard drive with a second one for testing purposes.It is a real pain if something goes wrong and you lose all your stuff on the original drive.

> If you don't have this option (hard drives cost money....) make sure that you once made a "Dell factory backup" - by the way: I tested that too AND it failed miserably - but it didn't bother me as i wanted to get rid of the factory installation anyway.

> Make two additinal backups(!) one using Microsoft's program and one using Todo 4.5

You would then have 3 backups - At least one of them should do the trick.

Yeah, i made numerous backups using acronis and the Windows 7 system. The new one is exactly the same size (500gb). The problem is not recognising the external hdd with the system image. I'll try again tonight