[SOLVED] Clone hard drive without OS

[Strafez]

Greetings!
My friend is building a new PC and currently, he has a 2 TB hard drive with his OS and all of his other files.
For the new build, he is going with a 1 TB SSD for OS and some games and a 4 TB HDD for all of his work/personal files.
So my question is: Is there any way to clone/transfer all of his files from the 2 TB hard drive to the 4 TB hard drive without the OS (Windows 10)?
Also, he can't use any type of CD to do it

Apologies if I posted this in the wrong section! Many thanks!

 

[USAFRet]

"transfer all of his files "

Depends on what you mean by "files".

His personal files? Sure. We can go into details on that.
If you mean the OS and applications, no.

 

[Strafez]

Files meaning like word documents, PDF files, images, videos, and of the like.
He doesn't plan on transferring applications (such as Spotify for example) and games because he can easily re-download them.

 

[USAFRet]

Files meaning like word documents, PDF files, images, videos, and of the like.
He doesn't plan on transferring applications (such as Spotify for example) and games because he can easily re-download them.

Once the system is built, connect the 2TB. Copy what is desired.

If these files are in the old Libraries folders, you will have to TakeOwnership. Those folders are linked to the original NTFS user.

 

[USAFRet]

Or, if the old system is still running, a better way is to connect the new 4TB, and copy them.
Selecting only the files, prevents that whole Ownership thing once the 4TB is in the new system

 

[Balefire]

That's actually quite easy...

This might sound a little idiotic but why don't you just build the new pc, get it running. then plug in the old hdd and go copy paste.

I've done that loads of times. i still have a few files from my first pc (way back in 2006)

 

[Balefire]

"transfer all of his files "

Depends on what you mean by "files".

His personal files? Sure. We can go into details on that.
If you mean the OS and applications, no.

Now wait a moment....


the're is a way to move an os. just use
EaseUS Partition Master
(Sorry for the size - copied it from google)

it's really easy - i've done it once.
the reason i didnt mention it was because he said that he didnt want to move the os

 

[USAFRet]

Now wait a moment....


the're is a way to move an os. just use
EaseUS Partition Master
(Sorry for the size - copied it from google)

it's really easy - i've done it once.
the reason i didnt mention it was because he said that he didnt want to move the os

Yes, I've cloned the OS to a new drive many, many times.
I even have a whole tutorial written up, for exactly this.

However....we are talking about a whole new system. In that case, a clone is NOT recommended.
A clean install of the OS, on trhe desired drive, in the new system is what is needed.

 

[SkyNetRising]

the're is a way to move an os. just use
EaseUS Partition Master

It copies whole partition (OS and bootloader). It doesn't just pluck out OS files and copy them to target drive.
This is standard cloning. Nothing special in EaseUS Partition Master.

 

[SkyNetRising]

So my question is: Is there any way to clone/transfer all of his files from the 2 TB hard drive to the 4 TB hard drive without the OS (Windows 10)?

Of course, you can clone secondary storage drive.
You'll just have to delete all the remaining bits of old OS on target drive manually.
This can get tricky with access permissions. But it's possible.

 

[Strafez]

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

Of course, you can clone secondary storage drive.
You'll just have to delete all the remaining bits of old OS on target drive manually.
This can get tricky with access permissions. But it's possible.

So for this "method", is there any way to make sure that the OS gets deleted fully when cloned?
I'm going to be talking with my friend about the locations of his files because he has had this drive for 4 years, so copying individual files/folders might just be a bit tedious. But, I'm sure he's willing to take the time to do so. Just wanted to know if there are any "faster" ways.
Sorry for these questions. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to this

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for the replies, everyone!



So for this "method", is there any way to make sure that the OS gets deleted fully when cloned?
I'm going to be talking with my friend about the locations of his files because he has had this drive for 4 years, so copying individual files/folders might just be a bit tedious. But, I'm sure he's willing to take the time to do so. Just wanted to know if there are any "faster" ways.
Sorry for these questions. I don't have much knowledge when it comes to this

Either way, you're going to have to separate out the individual files and copy them elsewhere, before removing the OS.

Much, much easier to do that and then wipe that drive completely, rather than clone the whole thing to a new drive, and still have to do it.

 

[SkyNetRising]

So for this "method", is there any way to make sure that the OS gets deleted fully when cloned?

Get rid of those folders from clone target and old windows is gone:

\Program Files​

\Program Files (x86)​

\ProgramData​

\Windows​