Problem partitioning new HD for cloning

[rescuegirlms]

I have a Dell Optiplex 990 with a 250gb hard drive. The drive is nearly full and I want to clone it to a larger drive. I bought a 1TB drive to do this. I have been unable to partition on the larger hard drive to be a small enough partition to enable the cloning (windows 7). I would like to be able to use the entire 1TB disk as my system disk. What do I need to do?

 

[Eximo]

FAT32? Windows 7 32bit?

What cloning tool are you using?

Simplest would be to clone it as is. Then extend the partition using something like AOEMI partition assistant.

Most cloning tools should automatically be able to handle expanding the partition to fit the new drive on the fly.

 

[Paperdoc]

I agree with Eximo's last paragraph - the cloning tool itself should be able to make ALL of the new HDD into ONE large volume on which it places the clone. That allows for MUCH more Free Space in the large HDD that becomes your C: drive.

HOWEVER, in my experience, many of the cloners do NOT do this automatically - in fact, many suggest that the clone be placed in a Partition the SAME size as the smaller original. YOU must intervene and NOT just approve the suggestion. Use the menu system to change the proposed new Partition size to what you want BEFORE letting the cloning operation proceed.

 

[rescuegirlms]

FAT32? Windows 7 32bit?

What cloning tool are you using?

Simplest would be to clone it as is. Then extend the partition using something like AOEMI partition assistant.

Most cloning tools should automatically be able to handle expanding the partition to fit the new drive on the fly.

 

[rescuegirlms]

I have Windows 7 64bit. I am attempting to use the Windows 7 partition tool. When I attempt to copy the source to the new disk an error message pops up that the partition size is not compatible. I have tried making a smaller partition and still receive the same error message.

 

[Eximo]

Not a tool I am familiar with. Are you talking about Disk Management? That doesn't really have the capability to clone a drive in the way you are thinking. You can setup software RAID 1(Mirroring), and then potentially remove a drive, but I've not given that a try.

If you are just copying the file structure of the drive, that is not adequate for cloning.

The drive should be unformatted ideally. Then a clone tool will create a partition as part of the process, it is normally at this point it will ask you or visually show you what the size will be.

Acronis Trueimage is very simple, but costs money. A version of this is what many OEMs send out with Solid State Drives for laptop upgrades.

I normally use Clonezilla since it is free. It has a limited GUI that can make it fairly easy. It is a bootable Linux based application. With the right settings selected this can copy a smaller drive to a larger one, but not the reverse. The default settings are also quite successful. This would make a byte for byte copy of what you have, then you can use Windows or AOEMI Partition Assistant to expand the volume up to rest of the drive.

 

[Paperdoc]

OK, I did not realize you were trying to "clone" by creating a Partition and then COPYING to it. That cannot make a clone. The cloning process is done by utilities that ensure that the new HDD has a correct Partition that IS bootable, is Formatted, has all its key files in the right places, and has a complete copy of EVERYTHING from the old HDD. When its job is done right, the new HDD can completely take over as the C: drive; the old C: drive is no longer needed at all. It can be re-used later for something else.

Eximo has pointed in the right direction. Some HDD makers will give you (as a free download from their site) a customized version of Acronis True Image (or something similar) as an inducement for you to buy their drive. The customization becomes the inducement: usually the freebie will only make a clone copy TO a drive made by them. They don't care whose old HDD you are abandoning.

So, IF your new 1TB unit was made by WD, download and install on your existing C: drive their Acronis True Image WD Edition. If your new unit was made by Seagate, get their Disk Wizard. If by another HDD maker, check their website for a free cloning utility. In any case, make sure you also get (it should be included) and read the user manual for the software. It does LOTS of things more than cloning. Read the chapter on cloning, and that will help when you do the job.

Six hints:
1. Make VERY SURE when you start it up that you specify the SOURCE and DESTINATION drives correctly. The Destination unit will be completely wiped out by this operation, so you don't want to do that to the wrong unit!
2. If the 1 TB unit already has a Partition on it from your previous work, use the menu system to delete any and all Partitions before proceeding.
3. As I said earlier, ensure the cloning operation will use ALL of the 1 TB unit's space in one volume.
4. The whole process takes a long time. Most of that is the job of doing the Full Format, which checks EVERY Sector on the new unit before using it. So be patient and do something else.
5. When the process is finished, shut down. Disconnect power and data cables from the old HDD. Change around the data cable so that the new HDD is connected to the SAME mobo port the old one was on. That way when you boot up again, the BIOS will look for the bootable drive in the same place as before and FIND it, so it all works.
6. You can leave the old HDD in the case or remove it. It is a perfect backup of your system up to the cloning time. After a while when you're SURE everything worked perfectly, you can wipe that unit clean and re-use it as you wish.