HDD reading errors, Can I clone it to a SSD?

[NoobAtWork]

Hi,

I'm just curious if I could clone my hard drive from my ASUS Q302LA. I believe it read errors b/c my brother dropped it on the cement, so it's probably damaged. I've taken it to get diagnosed at my local campus and they told me it's reading errors. So my only repair option is to replace the HDD. Their pricing for the repair and labor is $70, excluding the replacement HDD or SSD. So I am thinking about getting an SSD and putting it in myself. Would it be possible to clone a HDD that read errors to SSD? If so, what would the steps be?

I'm thinking about getting the Kingston SSDnow V300 SATA 3 kit. I was researching online and it came with it's own cloning software, but i'm not sure it'll work. Or, I was also debating about getting the Samsung 850 EVO to replace it. But I just don't know how to start the cloning process since my HDD is dead. If you guys could help me answer my question, that would be great!

Thanks!

Michael

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

If the drive is faulty or failed or giving read errors (which after a drop on to concrete it is certain to be) you most definitely cannot clone another drive from it, so I'm afraid that is not an option.

What you should have done is created a backup image from it when it was in a healthy condition. That image could then have been restored to a new drive and you would have Windows up and running again within an hour or so.

You might want to consider adopting a similar backup strategy in the future, I would probably be right in thinking that at present you have no backup strategy at all.

 

[ArtPog]

As Phillip has informed you it would be a very, very bad idea to clone the contents of that apparently defective HDD to a new drive. While technically a clone could be created (depending upon the disk-cloning program - many programs will balk when a defective source drive is encountered) the likelihood is the clone would cause unending headaches for you.

You indicated that your campus repair shop will charge $70 for the repair. Believe me that's a very reasonable cost for undertaking that repair job assuming that the repairs will return the HDD to a functional state. Perhaps you should avail yourself of that route.