Clone a failing HDD

Dave_YorkEMC

You might be able to clone a hard drive, that has not completely failed and still works, but remember that it will be a mirror image, therefore be certain that existing drive has no corruption or virus on it, as these will be transfered to the new hard drive.

Bev.

Hi Dave,

Let me add that, if this is the original operating system installation, the system is undoubtedly bogged down with hard drive detritus. Your colleague is far better off with a clean installation of the OS and applications.

Hi bev and Osprey4, thanks for the suggestions so far. I can do a clean installation if necessary, but what I was hoping to do was to replace the disk with as little fuss as possible, and get her machine into a healthier state without spending a day away from what I should be doing, downloading endless updates and configuring a new install. It's a works machine, and she's "tidy" in her habits, so there's little in the way of disk clutter and extraneous software doodads.

If I was to get a replacement disk from Dell, would it come preconfigured with any recovery partition "stuff" or would it be a blank, with the image set up by the Dell recovery CD/DVD?

The reinstall disc requires a manual install and will only install the operating system - not the other partitions.  

You may be able to clone the entire disc before it fails - it's worth a try;  sometimes, it works - other times, it won't but if it does, it can be  a great time saver.

With XP and a relatively new version of Acronis (the full version - not the limited one supplied for free by the drive makers) it will work just fine.  I've done this with Acronis many times.

The only Dell systems that had trouble with Acronis were the ones that shipped with a Media Direct partition - and those were notebooks, not desktops -- at least most of them were.

@ ejn63, that's what I'm looking for, however I understand that not everyone has had success with Acronis and other hard disk cloning software, on account of the hidden partitions. I was wondering if anyone knew of a tool that was known to work.

The software that comes with Apricorn Drive wire works fine up to windows 7.  Windows 8 drives cannot be cloned however.

Norton Ghost only works up to 7 also.  The current version of acronis claims to work with windows 8.  The reason I like the drive wire is that you get a bootable CD and dont have to install anything.

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

Highlights

   Compatible with almost any 2.5" or 3.5" IDE/PATA or SATA Hard Drive

   Offers Plug-n-Play connectivity

   Bundled with USB 2.0 Cable, AC Adapter and Apricorn's Upgrade Suite CD

Overview

The DriveWire IDE/PATA/SATA to USB Hard Drive Adapter from Apricorn is an ideal solution for transferring the data from a desktop or laptop PC to a new hard drive in a few easy steps. With this DriveWire Adapter you can easily transfer your OS, data, applications, documents, address books, e-mail, settings and preferences - from the old drive to a new drive, in few easy steps. DriveWire Adapter is bundled with Apricorn's �Upgrade Suite� which features EZ Gig II cloning software for Windows and Shirt Pocket's SuperDuper for Mac. Just attach your 2.5" or 3.5" hard drive to the appropriate connector on DriveWire's cable head. Then connect the AC power adapter and the USB cable. Now, boot up your computer using the "Upgrade Suite" bootable CD and make and exact clone of the old drive onto a new drive. After the transfer is completed, install the new hard drive into the desktop or laptop, and the computer will boot up just like normal.

This DriveWire adapter provides a SATA connector for the new style drives as well as 44-pin connector for a 2.5" Notebook IDE/PATA Hard Drive and 40-pin connector for a standard 3.5" IDE/PATA Hard Drive, allowing you to connect a hard drive to any desktop or notebook computer with a USB 2.0 port. This adapter eliminates the need for a separate enclosure for every Hard Drive and is compatible with almost any 2.5" or 3.5" IDE/PATA or SATA Hard Drives. With all these features, this DriveWire adapter is an ideal solution for anyone needing immediate or temporary access to a Hard Drive.

Manufacturer Part# : ADW-USB-KIT

Dell Part# : A1164717

Connects to Any Notebook or Desktop Hard Drive or SSD

The DriveWire Universal Hard Drive Adapter allows you to connect a hard drive to any desktop or notebook computer with a USB 2.0 port. This is the perfect solution for anyone needing immediate or temporary access to a hard drive. 

This unique adapter provides a USB connection to:

• SATA connector for SATA hard drives and SSDs
• 44 pin connector for a 2.5" Notebook IDE/PATA hard drives
• 40 pin connector for a standard 3.5" Desktop IDE/PATA hard drives

No Enclosure - Fits All Hard Drives, Desktop Drives Too!

You won't need to buy a different enclosure for every Hard Drive or worry about whether or not you have enough power through your USB ports run the device. Because DriveWire is guaranteed to safely provide all the power you need and it is compatible with all of today's 2.5, 3.5 IDE/PATA or SATA Hard Drives. When you combine DriveWire with Apricorn's Upgrade Suite you will have the perfect solution to upgrade the hard drive on all of today's most popular desktop and notebook computers. 

I've been cloning/imaging Windows 8 hard drives, using Arcronis 2013, without any issues.

Bev.

Thanks everyone for your help, I'll try this out. If you don't hear from me again - it's worked!

Thanks everyone for your help, I'll try this out. If you don't hear from me again - it's worked!

Apologies for the the length of time before getting back about this, however this is what we did:

- bought a replacement Western Digital disk

- fitted into the case using a spare internal SATA port

- booted the system up with an Ultimate Boot CD (www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html)

- started up Parted Magic, which found both drives and then gave listed prompts towards cloning the disk

- after about 1/2 hour, all done. Swapped out the old dodgy disk, and everything is now back as it was. The Dell hidden recovery partition is there, so you still get the usual Dell boot options.

I can't definitely say this would work on a disk with the Media Partition on it, not having tried it myself, but given how easily this worked I would certainly recommend trying it.

Dave_YorkEMC

Glad to hear it worked out for you and I appreciate the heads up.

Bev.

@ ejn63, that's what I'm looking for, however I understand that not everyone has had success with Acronis and other hard disk cloning software, on account of the hidden partitions. I was wondering if anyone knew of a tool that was known to work.

The Linux utilities dd and ddrescue will make sector level copies of the entire disk, including any hidden partitions. Both are free.

I used ddrescue to image a failing hard drive that shut down whenever one of its several bad sectors was accessed.