Recommended software to clone/copy c:drive to new drive for a new startup disk

1611mac

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I know Mac OSX... Windows not as well.. On Mac I use Carbon Copy Cloner to make bootable disk clones of my internal startup drive. (and carry them with me in case of fire or theft)

I have a 1TB drive coming and I'll need to clone my C:drive to it. (data folder will be on 2TB D: drive)

For Windows, PC mag suggest Macrium Reflect free. What say ye? (First hand knowledge is always good.)
 
I've used it to clone a replacement C: Drive.

I mainly use it for my weekly backups to an external drive, restoring Windows from a disk image works well if required, well it did when Microsoft screwed up a Windows update.

It's highly recommended on TenForums as well.
 
Thanks for the reply. I trust user reports much more than "web" reports even if by PCMag. :) I know there are some very knowledgeable Windows users here in the forums. I use my Win machine for a few business needs too and I don't want to mess up and have down time due to a new system install. Thanks.
 
Yes I've got MiniTool Partition Wizard free version, note latest update is bundling Shadowmaker Trial with it causing Defender to block it.
Paragon also works but a bit slower than Macrium Reflect and the newer free versions have a horrible interface with less features, I kept hold of an old pro version.

New Kid on the block, well to me, is Disk Genius which seems to do everything from data recovery, partitioning to OS Migration, haven't tested it out yet though.
 
How Google associate my post here with my YouTube account? After I posted my question here in the Trainz Forums, 4 videos came up in my YouTube recommendations. Their subject? "How to clone you Windows disk drive." That's scary. YouTube has somehow associated my Trainz forum account with my YouTube account?
 
No such thing as a 'free meal' Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, every social media provider and many many more may make life easier at time but harvest your data and turn it into a profit its partly how they survive. Peter
 
How Google associate my post here with my YouTube account? After I posted my question here in the Trainz Forums, 4 videos came up in my YouTube recommendations. Their subject? "How to clone you Windows disk drive." That's scary. YouTube has somehow associated my Trainz forum account with my YouTube account?

Using Chrome?
Need to look at browser settings and Google's account settings if you have a Google Account such as web and App activity - Off and YouTube account settings where you can turn off recommended videos if they annoy you. I disable everything that can be disabled without breaking things and don't stay logged in to Google / YouTube when searching or using forums. Add to that an add blocker and an active cookie manager that deletes everything not white listed on closing the web page.
 
No such thing as a 'free meal' Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, every social media provider and many many more may make life easier at time but harvest your data and turn it into a profit its partly how they survive. Peter

Well, I know about data harvesting. But account harvesting? They figured out that my account here and my YouTube/Google account is the same person?
 
If it's a different account name I'd suspect they got it from IP address.

If you have a look at your Google Account settings when you are logged in it tracks and lists every site you have been on, very intrusive.

So Google Account > Data and Personalisation > Activity and timeline, you can see what you have been doing while signed into Google anywhere. You can however turn it all off using Activity Controls in the same screen, Off in Google Speak actually shows as paused.
 
It's too bad that MiniTools is bundling that Shadowmaker with the freeware version. That wasn't the case a few years ago when I tried it and ended up buying it afterwards because it suited my needs. There was another utility, not disk-related that I can't remember the name of, that used to do great things, that did the same thing as well. What good is a system cleaner if it's putting the crap back in again!
 
Shadowmaker claims to be able to transfer and operating system to a new hard drive, - though I haven't tried it out yet.

I find that uBlocker does a great job of stopping advertising on websites. Works on Youtube as well.
 
OP here... I completed this using Macrium Reflect free. The cloning was a breeze once I figured out to to enlarge the existing main partition on the clone. The "slider" isn't so obvious. Maybe I'm just not as smart as I think. So my old 1TB (was my D drive) is now my C drive and the new 2TB my D. The original 240 gb C drive is sitting there ready to boot until the new ones proves itself for a while.

Thanks to everyone who replied.
 
My choice of cloning software is Clonezilla. It's free and does a whale of a job in hardly any time at all. Took 23 minutes to clone a nearly full 500GB drive onto a 1TB drive. I also have a device called "Dual bay docking station" by Inland. it is a stand-alone two-bay hot-swapping hdd holder that will also connect to your computer using USB to add two more HDDs to your compliment. In stand-alone mode, you plug a new drive into one slot and the drive to be cloned into the other, then press a button. Bingo, cloned drive.

Here's an example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wavlink-US...734832?hash=item362350d870:g:kK0AAOSwP-5Z3v3l

Bill
 
Shadowmaker claims to be able to transfer and operating system to a new hard drive, - though I haven't tried it out yet.

I find that uBlocker does a great job of stopping advertising on websites. Works on Youtube as well.

Yup I use that and have great success. I also use Privacy Badger as well and that helps keep the spam down. It's a good combination, but i need to police it sometimes because it gets a little too rambunctious and blocks download links on occasion, or worse, bank logins because of multiple pop-up screens. I applied for a loan to replace my roof and had to fight trying to get the application electronically signed because PB was blocking the signature screen. GRRR!
 
My choice of cloning software is Clonezilla. It's free and does a whale of a job in hardly any time at all. Took 23 minutes to clone a nearly full 500GB drive onto a 1TB drive. I also have a device called "Dual bay docking station" by Inland. it is a stand-alone two-bay hot-swapping hdd holder that will also connect to your computer using USB to add two more HDDs to your compliment. In stand-alone mode, you plug a new drive into one slot and the drive to be cloned into the other, then press a button. Bingo, cloned drive.

Here's an example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wavlink-US...734832?hash=item362350d870:g:kK0AAOSwP-5Z3v3l

Bill

I heard of Clonezilla, but never used it. It's good to know about that. Thanks!

Those dual devices are great, but when I went looking for them, the store didn't have them and instead I got two BlacX devices by Thermaltake. These are much older models and only support a single drive up to 2 TB. There are newer ones that handle much larger drive and are much faster as well, but 12 years ago they were modern technology. I agree they're great devices to have. I have also used the external boxes to read older SATA drives to pull the data off.
 
One of the many advantages of Clonezilla is that it will run on almost any computer which can boot from DVD or USB port. It boots into memory and does NOT do anything to internal or external drives, then give you a DOS-like menu, leading you through the steps necessary to clone the drive. Each step is explained before you allow the process to continue by hitting a key. There is even a mode which will try its very best to draw data from a balky disk using several different methods before moving on to the next block of data. Quite a piece of useful software to have in your toolbox.

Bill
 
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