Hard drive cloner

[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.

[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.

[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).

[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

[kylepaddock]

I am going from a WD to a Samsung. I'll try those links.

[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.

[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.

[kylepaddock]

Does acronis free allow cloning tho?

[Major_A]

Yes, I needed to clone a drive and that's how I found Acronis.

[Sparky]

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.

[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.