Cloning a Hard Drive?

Does anyone have any idea on how I go about doing this, and how stable my PC will be if I do.

I've just got my new PC fixed and I want to bring all of my old data from my old HD over to this PC, BUT my old computer died, and I have no otherway to do a data recovery, I heard cloning is the way to do it, but I have no idea where to start, can someone please give me some advice.

If cloning isnt the way to go, then can someone please advise me what IS the way to go to recover my old data.

The way I would go about it is just hooking up your old HDD as a slave drive and transfering any/all data across to your new drive that way [ making sure you files are free of malware first ].

Personally, quickest and easiest way I reckon.

I've got no idea what to do, I just opened my case up, and there is no place for a second HD. ARGH, this is driving me insane.

You just need to be able to make a temp link for the slave HDD.

IDE - Set master and slave jumper pins on HDD's connect both HDD's to the same ribbon cable. Master should be on the the end connector, slave on the middle connector [ preferably ].

SATA/SATAII - Set master and slave jumper pins then connect both HDD's to the mobo, SATA1 and SATA2 ports respectivly.

There should be a place to house a second HDD underneath the first HDD.

OK here's the down and dirty.
Like enigmatic said you need to make your old drive a slave drive
There is a jumper on the pins of the back of the hard drive that looks like this



here are some instructions on how to change, but where and how to put the jumper may depend on the manufacturer of the drive. You need to check the hardrive. They all list a picture of where the jumper should be to make it a slave or master.

Since this is a temporary solution, you don't really need a spot in your computer to place it physically. What you do need is an open spot on your primary IDE chain and a power supply hookup to power the drive.

This tute appears to walk you through the whole process
http://compreviews.about.com/od/tutoria ... YPriHD.htm

My PC is a HP, when I opened the case, everything was crammed in, I can only see half of the mother board, and I am not sure I want to risk doing anything that will make this PC screw up.

Where should these pins be located?

Ahhh, do you have one of those HP machines with the removable drives etc [ such as the 7590 ] ? If so, your HDD's are SATAII and you will therefore require a second SATA cable.

The jumper pins are located on the back of the HDD itself [ as ANTO has so kindly visualised in the image above ].

Kelly, if you are really that unsure, then take it to somebody, or a computer repair shop that knows for sure what they are doing. It's really a pretty simple process, but if you don't know what you are doing then don't attempt it yourself.

I kinda know what I am doing, just very worried LOL as I have 4 years of work on the old HDD and I don't want to lose any of it.. I see what you mean about the jumpers, I was really not sure what I was suppose to be looking for. Thanks Mark!

The hard drive type on my new PC is a 7200rpm Serial ATA. I am assuming that means its a SATA HDD?

Ok I've changed the jumpers, do I just install this HDD and then boot the computer? I know how to install the HDD (kind of) thats not the problem, the problem is What do I do after that.

Btw when I opened the PC before, the cord that hooks the HDD to the motherboard (not good with technical terms) has a part in the middle and it is labelled, SLAVE..

I am assuming I plug the old drive there? LOL

But then what do I do after I have done that?

Ok, I've installed the second drive and its currently working, I can access all my old files, etc.

Phew, now have to start copying, this is going to take me hours LOL.

Thanks for your help guys, really appreciated!

Smiles, that would work. Don't forget the power cable connection.

When you reboot, the old "slave" drive should be recognized and then default to D:\ drive. Your CD/DVD drive might move up a notch to E:\ but your slave should default to D:\

Congrats, I think you just passed your A+ certification lol


Glad you got it Kelly

Haha, I doubt it. But at least I know how to install a slave drive now. Learning more and more each day! Thanks Mark

Learning is "fun"damental. And you're welcome