Cloning a HD

[DavidC]

So my laptop hard drive decided to stop working properly. The laptop boots up and before I can start working I get the blue screen of death. I restart and get a error saying no operating system installed.

I want to try and salvage the HD and save my laptop. My plan is to buy a 1TB harddrive (more than likely off this forum) and clone the old one. Any suggestions as to what is the best software to use?

Is a hybrid drive a option or just get a SSD and be done with it?

Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.


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[BetaTester552]

Get an SSD and be done with it. Take your current internal, convert it to external by getting an enclosure, copy your data off, then check condition if its fit to use into the future. If yes, you now have a fast laptop and external hard drive, if no, you have a fast laptop and the possibility to get an external.

Windows can be directly downloaded from Microsofts website Download Windows 10, the version is your choice.

 

[electroshock777]

A hybrid drive performs a lot more like an HDD than an SSD, so while it's better than an HDD, you're not gonna be getting anything spectacular. Up to you though.

As for software, Macrium Reflect has served me well - cloned probably well over a dozen drives without issue. Maybe watch a video tutorial or something just to be safe (don't want to mess around with formatting involved) but it's pretty straightforward.

However, it might be better to do as the above mentioned and copy only the data over to a new install of Windows.

 

[souljazk]

"The laptop boots up and before I can start working I get the blue screen of death. I restart and get a error saying no operating system installed."

While this sounds like an HDD issue, it is not as cut and dry as that. To make sure, slave the disk in another PC and run HDsentinal. If the disk is 100%, then great, you can simply clone the disk to the SSD. If the disk is between 20-99% healthy, you should not have an issue cloning it. If it's below 20%, you would be advised to have someone clone it that is familiar with Linux. I've succesfully cloned +-20x disks that were on 0-5% health, using Linux tools.

SSD:
SSD's are cheap but they are not all created equal.. A Crucial MX series is a solid SSD, 5y warranty, good cache, hardware encryption etc etc. Otherwise their BX range is decent, 3y warranty, no h/w encry, no/less cache. Kingston also have a good unit with a 5y warranty that is almost identical to the Cruial MX, I think it's the Kingston KC400, but the Cruial MX is still a better performing drive as far as I recall.

Clone:
The SSD will come with free software to clone the existing disk to the SSD. Failing that, Macrium Reflect or MiniTools Partition Wizard are good free tools.

 

[Star_22]

https://imgur.com/a/xl1Oj3T

 

[BetaTester552]

Get an SSD and be done with it. Take your current internal, convert it to external by getting an enclosure, copy your data off, then check condition if its fit to use into the future. If yes, you now have a fast laptop and external hard drive, if no, you have a fast laptop and the possibility to get an external.

Windows can be directly downloaded from Microsofts website Download Windows 10, the version is your choice.

Just wanted to reiterate, when moving OS drives, i always found it best to start new. You can copy your old things, files, but software can be redownloaded etc.

Peeps above made a fair point aswell, check reviews on drives to which is best, and move from there.

 

[DavidC]

Thanks for all the info. I will be looking at getting a SSD this coming week and start the process[emoji106][emoji106]


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[el3venth]

1. Attempt to clone the drive. (I like using Clonezilla. FOSS software.)
2. If cloning fails, then either do as @souljazk above recommends, or if it is mission critical data, cough up the money and take it to the pros.

 

[Ninja Sandwich]

You can even use VEEAM for Windows (if you have a spare drive). Make a full backup, restore it to your new HDD/SSD of choice with the bootable VEEAM usb you can create upon installation.

 

[solz]

If you have an other pc would take it out and plug in there as second drive and make backup or clone directly to the ssd.

I have used acronis with lots of success.

Not sure where you located as it the drive still reads fine could assist with this. Note more data on drive longer this tends to take.

 

[DavidC]

If you have an other pc would take it out and plug in there as second drive and make backup or clone directly to the ssd.

I have used acronis with lots of success.

Not sure where you located as it the drive still reads fine could assist with this. Note more data on drive longer this tends to take.

I am on the East Rand, Webber close to Wadeville ( work in Wadeville)


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[solz]

I am on the East Rand, Webber close to Wadeville ( work in Wadeville)


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Okay not really close by, I'm in centurion side.