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Hard drive cloner

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:59 pm
by kylepaddock
I have a hard drive running vista. I need to clone it so I can replace the hard drive with my new ssd. I am looking for A Free program.

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:22 pm
by Major_A
What manufacturer is the current drive? As far as I know WD and Seagate offer a free version of Acronis True Image. Acronis is similar to Norton's Ghost but much more user friendly.

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:33 am
by KnightRid
http://www.todo-backup.com/

Seems to be a nice one - I have not used it to clone yet but I did install it when i thought i may get a SSD (never did).

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:47 am
by smack323
I have been using Clonezilla since recommended here on LR a few years ago. Its free and works very well. I have cloned a few hard drives with no problems.

http://download.cnet.com/Clonezilla/300 ... 76672.html

how to guide: follow directions for disk to disk clone: http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live-doc.php

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:41 am
by kylepaddock
I am going from a WD to a Samsung. I'll try those links.

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:45 am
by Major_A
I'd try this first...
http://support.wdc.com/product/download ... p?swid=119

I've had nothing but GOOD experience with Acronis. And from the time I started using it, 2006-ish, it has only gotten better.

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 5:20 pm
by Sparky
I've always used the Acronis free version that comes with new HD's, just bought a copy of Acronis Home 2011 so I can have more flexibility with my backups and cloning my clean install on my SSD in case anything goes wrong.

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 5:24 pm
by kylepaddock
Does acronis free allow cloning tho?

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:16 pm
by Major_A
Yes, I needed to clone a drive and that's how I found Acronis.

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:33 pm
by Sparky
kylepaddock wrote:Does acronis free allow cloning tho?
Yes, as long as the version you are using recognizes on of you drives as being theirs. In other words, if you have WD's free version you need to have a WD drive I believe.

Re: Hard drive cloner

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:34 pm
by Major_A
Acronis' demo software is fully functional too. It's not like you need it for future backup purposes. If WD Acronis boo-hoos about the drive just use the trial version of Acronis.