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    Disk Cloning Software

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Zeeman28a, Jun 24, 2012.

  1. Zeeman28a

    Zeeman28a Newbie

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    Looking for a simple to use disk cloning software. Something along the lines of what Ghost was before Symantec took them over 15 years ago.

    I just want to be able to plug in Drive A and Drive B, run the software and say clone Disk A to Disk B. Maybe have the ability to resize partitions like Ghost was able to do.

    Must work with IDE and SATA drives. Work with HDD and SSD. And work with USB2/3 and eSata. Support Fat/Fat32/NTFS and HFS+.

    Anything out there like that? I'm not asking for a lot am I?

    Thanks.

    Z.
     
    Zeeman28a, Jun 24, 2012
    #1
  2. __-_-_-__

    __-_-_-__ God

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    clonezilla
     
    __-_-_-__, Jun 24, 2012
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  3. 6730b

    6730b Notebook Deity

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    6730b, Jun 24, 2012
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  4. StormJumper

    StormJumper Notebook Virtuoso

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    I would say Acronis has worked well for me to clone and make backup and restore images of my laptops and desktop.
     
    StormJumper, Jun 24, 2012
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  5. Zeeman28a

    Zeeman28a Newbie

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    Well I've run into a bit of a roadblock.

    Part of the problem I need resolved is being able to clone from a larger disk to a smaller disk.

    For instance, I have an HP Laptop with a 750GB drive. It has approximately 100GB of used space. HP has 4 partitions. System Recovery and System are less than 5GB. There is a 100MB Windows 7 System partition and then the remaining space is the active partition.

    Because the active partition is larger than the disk I am copying too, it won't clone. I have tried this with acronis, easueus and clonezilla. They all want the destination to be larger than the source. I've also tried reducing the active partition on the source drive to be smaller, way smaller, the the destination drive, which does not help.

    Man I miss Ghost. It was able to do this with IDE and SCSI drives.

    Any other ideas?

    Thanks.

    Z.
     
    Zeeman28a, Aug 7, 2012
    #5
  6. The_Observer

    The_Observer 9262 is the best:)

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    DriveXML perhaps? Anyways if you make small partition of ~100GB in the HP laptop and clone it to the other HDD and then expand the partition?Just a thought.
     
    The_Observer, Aug 7, 2012
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  7. Hiker

    Hiker Notebook Deity

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    Many hard drive manufactures offer a stripped down version of Acronis that works fine for cloning. I've used it a couple times with Seagate drives and it worked flawlessly. When cloning to a larger drive, default is to increase the partitions proportionality. I imagine when reducing the drive it will do the same thing. It also allows manual manipulation. I know they also make version for Maxor and WD and possibly others which can be found on the manufacturers website. Only one of the drives need to be from a specific manufacturer.

    Once installed you can upgrade to Acronis Tru Image for 40-50% off.


    http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/257177-32-clone-hard-disk-smaller-drive

    I also found this...

    http://geekyprojects.com/storage/how-to-clone-hard-drive-to-smaller-drive/

    .
     
    Hiker, Aug 8, 2012
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  8. 6730b

    6730b Notebook Deity

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    Have done this many times, and as mentioned\linked in the post above, start with some planning, then use partition software + imaging software, have been using the excellent Easeus Partition Master & Todo Backup for such jobs.
     
    6730b, Aug 9, 2012
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  9. darxide_sorcerer

    darxide_sorcerer Notebook Deity

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    i know firsthand that Norton Ghost can indeed clone a large partition/drive to a smaller disk. i've done it myself when i imaged my 500GB HDD to my new 256GB SSD.
     
    darxide_sorcerer, Aug 10, 2012
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