Question Cloned hard drive

[Tabstract Studio]

I had a HDD (completely broken connections for SATA and power). I wanted to use a clone (mirror image/duplicated) so that I could continue using my version of Windows 7 with all of my very expensive programs. Does anyone know whether or not I could do this? The broken HDD did not have any problems before, like booting up and running. The platter spins after I connect it to an external storage device, the same that I used to copy the broken drive (OS included) over to a new HDD. Both are 3tb drives. The broken one was a white label drive that I have not been able to find a replacement pcp board for (was probably a Western Digital before it was serviced and a Mediamax label stuck onto it for resale.) I would say that the replacement drive (the duplicate) works and boots up and everything but I have not been able to get the 3 mobos to show a display even though all mobos seem to be in working order. None of the mobos have on-board graphics so I cannot even attach an old VGA monitor to see if the replacement/duped mobo boots up to the OS.
I already know that I will have to buy all new RAM and probably a new mobo but I don't want to waste anymore time trying to get up and running if the duped HDD is not a viable option and is not going to work period.

For the specs: old HDD - Mediamax 3tb (7200 rpm), new drive is a never used Seagate Barracuda 3tb (7200 rpm), two of the mobos are Asus m5a97 le r2.0's and I have one Asus ROG Crosshair V formula Z (I know all of it is old technology.) The cpu is an FX-8350. Graphics card is an MSI ATI Radeon R4350. The first ma597 le r2.0 is my old original board, the other one as is the Croshair V are used boards. I have already done the replacement of the CR2032 battery (sat out for several days, the jumpers, EVERYTHING several time over with now success. I have not yet tried the Crosshair V as I am afraid I will run into the same issue/s/. I was using 12gb (4gb x3) of CrucialBallistix Sport DDR3 RAM before everything went to hell.

I plan on getting 32gb's of new RAM, but if I am going to have the same end result (no working computer,) then I would rather cut my losses (Win 7, programs and fifteen years of my ART,) and save up for a couple of years and start new with a newer mobo and QVL memory.

I only need a yes the duped mobo will work or no it will not work so I know where to go from that. I DO NOT want to waste anymore time and effort on this if any of this is not going to work! It sucks being poor and disabled, so even an upgrade will only put me years behind current technology. Anyone need a Crosshair V?

PS: the original set-up worked great, no issues, had the last of Windows 7 fixes and updates (and I love using Win 7) but the cpu fan bracket broke off and dislodged the fan from the cpu (1 of 2 FX-8350's that I have,) and discovered that the HDD SATA and power coonections were beyond any ability to repair w/o an exact match of the drive's pcp. This is what put me on this futile journey these past six months.

I use my pc to edit my my digital art creations, photography and some video editing and rendering (all of which are very large files, the smallest run about a few MB's and the digital art files can run up as high as 120mb. I already know I will have to look at a board that is designed for video, etc.

 

[USAFRet]

Cloning a possibly broken drive and moving to a new motherboard are two whole different things, and absolutely cannot be done at the same time.

So, lets tackle one at a time, motherboard first.
Changing to a new board often/usually requires a full OS reinstall.
What are the specifics on the old board and new board? Make and model, please.

 

[USAFRet]

Next, the busted drive.

This drive that has the broken connections is the source drive for a possible clone?
Pictures of the damage, please.

 

[Tabstract Studio]

Next, the busted drive.

This drive that has the broken connections is the source drive for a possible clone?
Pictures of the damage, please.

Next, the busted drive.

This drive that has the broken connections is the source drive for a possible clone?
Pictures of the damage, please.

Yes it is the source drive (3tb Mediamax). I can get it to fit snugly enough to see its contents and it worked perfectly before catastrophe struck. I obviously cannot boot from this drive from the external storage device (a Calvary Retriever SATA hard drive duplicator dual-Bay dock.) The clone drive is a brand new Seagate Barracuda 3tb drive.

I will have to use my partner's computer to access the print and scan functions of my printer. The problem is that once his pc goes into hibernation mode (and the screensaver starts) it takes at least 20 minutes before the computer is useable and oftentimes it freezes so that Dell can do their thrice daily updates so I consider his computer to be practically useless for anything. I wish I knew how to get rid of any and all traces of the Dell build just so that he/we could use it more than the hour or two before it freezes. We usually just have to force stop by unplugging or pressing and holding the power button until it turns of.

 

[Tabstract Studio]

Yes it is the source drive (3tb Mediamax). I can get it to fit snugly enough to see its contents and it worked perfectly before catastrophe struck. I obviously cannot boot from this drive from the external storage device (a Calvary Retriever SATA hard drive duplicator dual-Bay dock.) The clone drive is a brand new Seagate Barracuda 3tb drive.

I will have to use my partner's computer to access the print and scan functions of my printer. The problem is that once his pc goes into hibernation mode (and the screensaver starts) it takes at least 20 minutes before the computer is useable and oftentimes it freezes so that Dell can do their thrice daily updates so I consider his computer to be practically useless for anything. I wish I knew how to get rid of any and all traces of the Dell build just so that he/we could use it more than the hour or two before it freezes. We usually just have to force stop by unplugging or pressing and holding the power button until it turns of.

I forgot, the original mobo is an Asus m5a97 le r2.0 w/ 12 gb (4gbx3) CRUCIAL Ballistix sport DDR3 RAM, one to two blu-ray writers and an MSI ATI Radeon R4350 graphics card. Everything worked flawlessly until the CPU bracket broke on one side thus dislodged from the CPU. That is when I purchased the duplicator as it advertised that you could create a bootable copy of the original drive. I tried to replace the mobo w/ the exact make and model hoping to bypass some of the problems I expected to run into. I made the mistake of using the same RAM that I had on the old mobo. It seems the dupe drive does all that it is supposed to do (like boot) but since the mobo has no on-board graphics I am unable to verify this as I just get a blank screen, so no way to access the BIOS.

I gather that I will just have to let go of my Windows 7, all of my software and fifteen or so years of art that I have created just to gain a working computer with a fresh install of Windows 10 (ick!).

 

[USAFRet]

1. Changing motherboard often/usually requires a clean install. Of whatever OS.
2. Win 7 is completely off any support from MS. No more security updates. Time to move to Win 10.
3. An OS change or reinstall should NOT mean loss of whatever software you use. You DO have the license keys documented, right? And hopefully can obtain the install files. And most importantly, you DO have backups of all your personal data and projects, right?

 

[USAFRet]

I wish I knew how to get rid of any and all traces of the Dell build just so that he/we could use it more than the hour or two before it freezes. We usually just have to force stop by unplugging or pressing and holding the power button until it turns of.

That's easy.
What OS is on it?

If Win 10, just do a full wipe and reinstall of a bare OS.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Tabstract Studio]

Cloning a possibly broken drive and moving to a new motherboard are two whole different things, and absolutely cannot be done at the same time.

So, lets tackle one at a time, motherboard first.
Changing to a new board often/usually requires a full OS reinstall.
What are the specifics on the old board and new board? Make and model, please.

Original board: Aus m5a97 le r2.0, replacement board: Asus m5a97 le r2.0
Old (broken connectors) HDD is a MediaMax 3tb 7200rpm and cloned all of it to a 3tb Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm.

I tried the cloned drive on the original board and then the exact model replacement board.
I used a drive duplicator that worked perfectly making an exact clone. I tried to plug it in, but could not get past the No video/is anybody home blank screen, and I tried several screens with the same result. Asus told me the memory needed to be replaced. The memory came w/The board, I put the original parts together myself and had bo issues ever until the cup cooling fan clip broke and became disconnected from the cup, then I discovered that the Data and power connections were irreparably broken, how it managed to stick together is beyond me as it never ever had a problem reading and writing to. It always started up perfectly every single time. I can only think that I broke the connections when dismantling it, but more like finished the break process as it was always a little jiggly.
I wondered if a separate boot disc might work. The sad thing was I was relying on Restore to last good configuration and the day before the crash. I had cleared my back-up disc as I had reorganized my files (just my image. files-my photography and digital art files.)