Question What is the quickest way to transfer 4TB of data from a failing external HDD to a new one ?

[Silverwolf_Lee_2]

Hello everyone.

What is the quickest way to transfer 4TB of data from a failing external HDD to a new one?

I'm not super knowledgeable on this stuff and I want to make sure I know what I am doing and know what I need to do.

Both are WD Easystore drives. The old one seems to be having bad sectors and I am worried that if I leave it plugged in while transferring everything to the new one, the numbers of bad sectors will increase which I at least know isn't good. I would like to know what program is the easiest to use and is fastest to transfer everything. Also, is it possible to know how long it could take?

I would like to do this as soon as possible so I can return my old one to WD since I did an advance RMA. Thanks for any possible help.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If I were in your predicament, I'd make a copy of the data on my PC first, since the drive I'm trying to take it off of is compromised(failing), then disconnect the drive and then hook the new drive to the PC/laptop and then migrate the data to the new drive.

 

[Silverwolf_Lee_2]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If I were in your predicament, I'd make a copy of the data on my PC first, since the drive I'm trying to take it off of is compromised(failing), then disconnect the drive and then hook the new drive to the PC/laptop and then migrate the data to the new drive.

Thanks for a reply. I got no space to do that. I did however put some of the most important data on to another drive I had. Couldn't I just transfer the data to the new drive using a program that would be faster than Windows Explorer? I mean why put it on my PC which has no space for all of it when I can just put it on the new drive right away anyways?

 

[CountMike]

Thanks for a reply. I got no space to do that. I did however put some of the most important data on to another drive I had. Couldn't I just transfer the data to the new drive using a program that would be faster than Windows Explorer? I mean why put it on my PC which has no space for all of it when I can just put it on the new drive right away anyways?

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/ultracopier.html

Download FastCopy - MajorGeeks

FastCopy is the Fastest Copy/Delete Software on Windows. It can copy/delete Unicode and over MAX_PATH(260byte) pathname files.

www.majorgeeks.com

 

[Lutfij]

I mean why put it on my PC which has no space for all of it when I can just put it on the new drive right away anyways?
So you don't lose your data in the event that the failing drive decides to say goodbye while you're transferring data. Moving data from one drive to another that are tethered via USB ports will be slow. From your post's stylization it seems like the data holds some value to you which is why you can't afford to lose it, per my observation.

 

[Misgar]

Both are WD Easystore drives.

Your WD drives are both USB 3.0 which has more than enough bandwidth to cope with 2.5in hard disk transfer rates. Provided you have a decent computer with a couple of free USB 3.0 ports, start transferring files immediately.

I am worried that if I leave it plugged in while transferring everything to the new one,

There's very little you can do to stop more bad blocks appearing. Try not to power off the bad drive until you've copied all files possible.

Instead of using Windows File Manager, which has a tendency to "hang" when it encounters "unreadable" files with CRC errors, may I suggest FreeFileSync to copy the failing drive to the new drive.

It won't be any faster than File Manager, but it copes gracefully when errors are encountered and allows you to continue, after warning you some files are unreadable.

https://freefilesync.org/

If, for example, your failing USB drive is assigned drive letter E: by Windows and your new USB drive is assigned drive letter F:. you simply browse to the root directory of drive E: in the left window of FreeFileSync and select it as your source. Repeat in the right hand window and select the root directory of drive F: as the destination drive. Select Compare, then click the Synchronise to start the copy.

When finished, buy another drive or USB memory stick and backup any files where you have only one copy. You really should have at least three copies on different drives/media/cloud of all your valuable documents and family photos. Hardware failure, Ransomware Attacks, floods, fires, theft, lightning strikes, can all affect your data.

 

[Silverwolf_Lee_2]

Thanks for all the responses. What about Clonezilla? Would that be better, quicker or easier? or it is used for something else entirely? Will Freefilesync help with bad sectors? Is there something like DDRescue which I see is for Linux but is there something like that for windows? Seems like a program like that would be better? As far as I know nothing is corrupted, unreadable or missing due to the bad sectors when I last had it plugged in. Just that programs tend to be slow on it I will try and transfer everything tomorrow

 

[CountMike]

Thanks for all the responses. What about Clonezilla? Would that be better, quicker or easier? or it is used for something else entirely? Will Freefilesync help with bad sectors? Is there something like DDRescue which I see is for Linux but is there something like that for windows? Seems like a program like that would be better? As far as I know nothing is corrupted, unreadable or missing due to the bad sectors when I last had it plugged in. Just that programs tend to be slow on it I will try and transfer everything tomorrow

Cloning programs usually balk when running into bad blocks/sectors, full disk backup with for instance Macrioum Reflect can ignore those bad sectors, data in which is gone anyway, possibly only partially recoverable but generally unusable.
Data rescue programs do not care about OS, only file system if even that

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for all the responses. What about Clonezilla? Would that be better, quicker or easier? or it is used for something else entirely? Will Freefilesync help with bad sectors? Is there something like DDRescue which I see is for Linux but is there something like that for windows? Seems like a program like that would be better? As far as I know nothing is corrupted, unreadable or missing due to the bad sectors when I last had it plugged in. Just that programs tend to be slow on it I will try and transfer everything tomorrow

No, NOT clonezilla.

If anything, try HDDSuperClone.

HDDSuperClone

Welcome to the home of HDDSuperClone, HDDSuperTool, and HDDSCViewer Overview: HDDSuperClone is an advanced Linux based hard drive cloning/imaging tool. HDDSuperTool is an advanced Linux based hard drive utility tool. HDDSCViewer is Linux based graphical viewer for inspecting progress log files

www.hddsuperclone.com

It understands better how to manage a potentially failing drive.

 

[Misgar]

Will Freefilesync help with bad sectors?

No, FreeFileSync won't help recover data from bad sectors. If it encounters any unreadable files during the copy process, it will stop and inform you, then you can continue to copy more files. I prefer it to Windows Explorer which just hangs with an error message. At the end of copying, FreeFileSync displays a list of files not copied.

My main reason for using FreeFileSync when copying files over USB3 is to perform a comprehensive 'byte-by-byte' check after the copy process has ended. This type of comparison takes just as long as the initial file copying, but provides a confidence check that no files have been corrupted by long USB3 cables, faulty USB caddies, card readers, etc.

As far as I know nothing is corrupted, unreadable or missing due to the bad sectors when I last had it plugged in.

That might change the next time you power up the drive. The disk could develop more bad sectors at any time. There may be a number of weak or pending sectors which the drive controller decides to mark as bad sectors.

Corrupted files might not be detected until you try to open them.

 

[Silverwolf_Lee_2]

No, NOT clonezilla.

If anything, try HDDSuperClone.

HDDSuperClone

Welcome to the home of HDDSuperClone, HDDSuperTool, and HDDSCViewer Overview: HDDSuperClone is an advanced Linux based hard drive cloning/imaging tool. HDDSuperTool is an advanced Linux based hard drive utility tool. HDDSCViewer is Linux based graphical viewer for inspecting progress log files

www.hddsuperclone.com

It understands better how to manage a potentially failing drive.

I don't use Linux so this would not work. Unless I can use this on Windows? Hence why I put the name clonezilla as it works for Windows.

 

[Silverwolf_Lee_2]

No, FreeFileSync won't help recover data from bad sectors. If it encounters any unreadable files during the copy process, it will stop and inform you, then you can continue to copy more files. I prefer it to Windows Explorer which just hangs with an error message. At the end of copying, FreeFileSync displays a list of files not copied.

My main reason for using FreeFileSync when copying files over USB3 is to perform a comprehensive 'byte-by-byte' check after the copy process has ended. This type of comparison takes just as long as the initial file copying, but provides a confidence check that no files have been corrupted by long USB3 cables, faulty USB caddies, card readers, etc.


That might change the next time you power up the drive. The disk could develop more bad sectors at any time. There may be a number of weak or pending sectors which the drive controller decides to mark as bad sectors.

Corrupted files might not be detected until you try to open them.

So what do I use then if I want to try and get everything, even from the bad sectors? I'm on windows. Like is copying every folder and file in the root directory copying anything that could be on a bad sector? I want to copy everything if possible regardless and if they are possible ways to maybe even recover anything that possibly may be lost

 

[USAFRet]

I don't use Linux so this would not work. Unless I can use this on Windows? Hence why I put the name clonezilla as it works for Windows.

You create a bootable USB or CD
https://www.hddsuperclone.com/hddlivecd

 

[Silverwolf_Lee_2]

You create a bootable USB or CD
https://www.hddsuperclone.com/hddlivecd

Unfortunately I don’t have another drive to do this but thanks. If I did, I could try

 

[Grobe]

Unfortunately I don’t have another drive to do this but thanks. If I did, I could try

If you have access to another working computer it is a very feasible task.

However, if flashing a usb drive with an iso image is beyond the capability of you or your equipment, I'd strongly recommend you to seek up a company that are professional on data recovery.