HDD cloning, need help

[HeyPleaseDie]

I need to clone my current HDD onto another HDD. I downloaded DriveImage XML to clone it but it says "Note you must put the image into an existing partition. If necessary create a new partition with Windows Disk Management."

What do I do?

Update: It says "Clone failed" "Failed to volume snapshot. Result code 0x80042306"

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Try Macrium Reflect FREE.
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

 

[USAFRet]

Macrium Reflect, as noted above.

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

Is it better than the one I was going to use?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Yes it is better.

 

[USAFRet]

Is it better than the one I was going to use?

Yes. I've used both, as well as others.
Macrium Reflect is my current go-to application for this.

 

[mcnumpty23]

another thumbs up for macrium from me

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll post a reply with weather or not I am successful.

Update: It says "Clone failed" "Failed to volume snapshot. Result code 0x80042306"

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

Yes it is better.

It says "Clone failed" "Failed to volume snapshot. Result code 0x80042306"

 

[mcnumpty23]

this may help

http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50029.aspx

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

this may help

http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50029.aspx

What am I suppose to do with it?

 

[mcnumpty23]

it tells you what to do

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

Do I need to create a DOS batch file or is there already one?

 

[mcnumpty23]

copy and paste that into a file in wordpad

name it fix.bat

save it as all files--not text formats


then click it to run it

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll post a reply with weather or not I am successful.

Update: It says "Clone failed" "Failed to volume snapshot. Result code 0x80042306"

Without knowing the exact steps you took and what you started with, it is pretty hard to determine where it went wrong.

I used this literally 2 days ago. Worked just fine.

 

[USAFRet]

So, let's diagnose:

How much total used space is on the current drive?
How large is the new drive?

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll post a reply with weather or not I am successful.

Update: It says "Clone failed" "Failed to volume snapshot. Result code 0x80042306"

Without knowing the exact steps you took and what you started with, it is pretty hard to determine where it went wrong.

I used this literally 2 days ago. Worked just fine.

Well, I also have no idea what I'm doing. I selected the disk I want to clone and select the disk I want to clone to. I click next 3 or 4 times and then it wants me to create a back up. I don't want to create a back up I just want to clone it.

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

So, let's diagnose:

How much total used space is on the current drive?
How large is the new drive?

The current drive is 450gb, there is 203 gbs of free space.
The new drive is 1tb.

 

[ArtPog]

Forget about "batch" files; forget about using Macrium for the moment. I have a better idea.

But first...a bit more info from you, OK?

What are the TOTAL CONTENTS of the HDD you plan to clone? (That's the "source" disk).
What is the disk-space capacity of the HDD that will be the recipient of the clone? (That's the "destination" or "target" disk).

We'll go on from here if you want to.

And I'm assuming there's NO problem with your source disk. It boots & functions just fine, right?

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

Forget about "batch" files; forget about using Macrium for the moment. I have a better idea.

But first...a bit more info from you, OK?

What are the TOTAL CONTENTS of the HDD you plan to clone? (That's the "source" disk).
What is the disk-space capacity of the HDD that will be the recipient of the clone? (That's the "destination" or "target" disk).

We'll go on from here if you want to.

My OS (Windows 10), steam games, movies, music. It's 450gb with 203gb free.

The current disk is the one that came with the computer when I bought it 6 years ago. I have upgraded many components in my computer since then and the only original thing left is the HDD. Couple months ago it failed to boot properly but it's fine now. Recently it's been making a clunking sound randomly. And I just got a better HDD for free. So that's why I'm upgrading.

 

[ArtPog]

Please...
When I ask you a question, answer it, OK?
I asked you to indicate the disk-space capacity of the HDD that will serve as the destination disk, i.e, the recipient of the clone? What is it?

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

Please...
When I ask you a question, answer it, OK?
I asked you to indicate the disk-space capacity of the HDD that will serve as the destination disk, i.e, the recipient of the clone? What is it?

Did I not answer it? Are you refering to my current HDD or the new one?

I'm sorry.

 

[ArtPog]

The new one. The recipient of the clone.

 

[HeyPleaseDie]

The new one. The recipient of the clone.

The new one is 1tb.

 

[ArtPog]

Well, I'm not thrilled with hearing about that "clunking" sound and the previous problem(s) you had with the currently installed boot drive but we'll assume the best and trust the disk is non-defective containing non-corruptible data. (There's an old disk-cloning adage - "If you clone garbage, garbage is what you get")

So let's go on...

1. Download/install the Casper Trial Edition v8 disk-cloning program from https://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/trial/

2. Before undertaking the disk-cloning operation close all open programs. (Generally you need not disable your anti-virus program). Ensure your destination drive - the proposed recipient of the clone - is properly connected in the system.

3. Double-click on the Casper 8.0 icon to open the program.

4. Click "Choose other options", then "Copy Drive" on the following window.

5. On the next window click "Perform a different copy".

6. The next window will list the drives connected in your system. The source (C:\) drive (the drive you will be cloning) will be highlighted. Click Next.

7. The next window will list your proposed destination disk - the recipient of the clone. If you have more than one potential destination disk currently connected in your system they will be listed as well. Ensure the disk you want to serve as the destination disk is highlighted. Click Next.

8. If the destination disk contains data the next window will indicate a warning that this data will be lost as a result of the disk-cloning operation. Click Next.

9. The next window gives the user an option to assign a name to the destination disk for future Casper disk-cloning operations involving that disk. If no name is desired uncheck the box. Click Next.

10. The next window reflects how the cloned data will be distributed on the destination disk. The default proportionate distribution option will suffice in nearly every case. Click Next.

11. A message will appear indicating that this Casper Trial Edition does not support "volume resizing" - basically user manipulation of partitions on the destination disk. This feature is available on the Casper commercial version.

Click Continue.

12. On the final user screen click "Perform the copy now".

13. Exit from the program after receiving message that the disk-cloning operation was successful.

NOTE: The Trial Edition has a partition-resizing restriction that you should be aware of...

In your situation the program will create a 450 GB partition on the 1 TB destination HDD to contain the approx. 250 GB of data that reside on your (500 GB? HDD). The remainder of the disk-space on the 1 TB HDD will be unallocated. Obviously there's no practical negative implication in this scenario since it's a simple & quick process for you to access Disk Management following the disk-cloning operation to extend the created 450 GB partition to encompass the entire disk space of the 1 TB destination drive if that's what you want. Or you could create other size partitions on that disk should you desire.

The commercial version of Casper does *not* contain this restriction - the program will (by default) create a partition incorporating the entire disk-space of the destination drive to contain the cloned data. So that in this scenario a 1 TB partition would be created to contain the 250 GB of data from the source drive. Or you could use the program "on-the-fly" to create different sized partitions as long as one of them was large enough to contain the cloned contents from the source drive.

Following the successful disk-cloning operation shut down the PC and disconnect the source drive from the system. Boot ONLY to the cloned disk (the 1 TB HDD) to ensure all is well. Work with the cloned drive for a reasonable period of time BEFORE making any changes to your old HDD.

Good luck.