Clone my hard drive using macrium-reflect free help please gurus

[norman1967]

Hello everybody

 

New here and not to up on this type of thing to be honest but willing to learn, i tend to read guides and follow tutorials.

 

Ok here is my situation i have a dell e6500 i wish to make a exact duplicate of the hard drive as a spare that i can just slide it and it will work as the original so all my instaled software are functioning as the origonal

 

So the origonal hard drive is using 120g of its 250g space, I went onto ebay and i bought a 160g hard drive compatible with my dell. I also bought a 700g extrnal hard drive

 

I downloaded macrium-reflect free and i read plastic nev tutorial among a few other guides online. I manged to clone my hard drive to the external, and it all went fine

 

:D

 

So i thought my next move here would be to swap the original drive for the blank new internal drive and power up whilst having my external drive connected i thought windows would boot from the external just like the dell worked normally with the original drive in,, then plan was to run macrium-reflect free from the external drive with the clone and clone that to the internal.... (hope you follow! :confused: im confusing myself)

 

But i was wrong the laptop wont boot from the external, so i cant get to the stage above..... What have i done wrong or what am i missing, could somebody please help me out here

 

Thanks in advance to all whom are willing to provide me with a solution

 

Thanks again all Norman

 

:D

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Norman and a welcome to Free PC help.

Sorry to say it will not work that way. I did say in the tutorial that the intended clone drive should be connected via an adapter, an enclosure temporarily, or the slightly more expensive docking station.

 

However, you have made a small mistake in buying the replacement internal drive as a smaller size, it should be as big as or larger than the original drive. Can you get it swapped?

Macrium or any other cloning software cannot shrink the unused space to fit that smaller drive, it copies all of the drive including unused space, as unused space is still formatted and allocated for use.

 

Secondly, you will next need to get to the boot options page or the full BIOS and find out if you can select "Boot from USB" if you want to try booting from the external drive. The usual way to get to the boot options page is to keep tapping the F12 key from the minute you press the start button. However, you still will not be able to swap the clone onto the computer from the external, and only be able to boot from the external if the option is available on the BIOS system, a lot it isn't.

 

The only way to do that is to put an image (Not a clone) onto the external and then use the disk you have to create for moving an image to the computer. However whichever way you do it, you still need a drive as big as or larger than the original.

Let me know if there is anything else you wish to know.

 

Nev.

[norman1967]

Hello Nev,

 

Thank you very much for the reply i really appreciate the information you have provided. Yes I think i can do something about the error i have made by ordering a smaller hard drive. Thanks for the pointers i have a few questions there basically newbie questions!

 

You say

 

"the intended clone drive should be connected via an adapter, an enclosure temporarily, or the slightly more expensive docking station."

 

I have no idea what an adapter enclosure is could you expand or even post ebay item so i can get one ordered please, I have seen the docking stations for dells but again not really up on what they do, In fact i thought they were for providing netbooks with a dvd player/cd burner I am out of my depth here!

 

I will keep hold of the external hard drive i bought as i am sure it will come in handy.

 

 

 

This morning i went into bios as suggested and yes there was an option to boot from usb great i did just that and for a few moments windows was booting up just as per normal, but then i got a error message

 

windows error recovery

 

the windows files have been damaged or configured incorrectly.

 

options were

 

Launch startup repair

start windows normally

 

Second option always reverts to this page. First option i tried and it eventually told me that the repair could not be carried out. It then gave me a box for system recovery options

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1427.vB5-legacyid=2503[/ATTACH]

 

 

Is there a solution to get the external hard drive booting correctly until my bigger internal arrives with the adapter you mention?

 

Thanks again for all your help

 

Norman,

[kevh]

Hi Norman

 

Nev is helping me also in the previous thread.

 

This is what I am going to be ordering soon (hard drive larger capacity than you need )

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-external/harddriveenclosures/zh3528.html

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-internal/sata1tbto1.5tb/wd10ezex.html

 

Hard drive just slots inside enclosure to form an external hard drive but can removed and fixed internally to pc if needed to just replace a faulty drive and hopefully up and running almost straight away. :)

 

 

Cheers Kev :cool:

[Plastic Nev]

Thanks Kev for the link to an enclosure, here is a link to a USB to SATA adapter, one end connects to the new or spare hard drive, the other end connects to two USB ports, one is for the data, the other USB port is to provide power to run the hard drive.

 

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-external/harddriveenclosures/zht01.html

 

Also here is a link to a SATA to USB docking station, I have one of these, though a bit more expensive they do have a separate mains power supply which make things a lot more stable.

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/2535-inch-sata-usb-dock-a83hq

 

The good thing about the SATA standard being that connections for both the small 2.5 inch laptop drive, are exactly the same as for the larger 3.5 inch desktop drives. This means that even for a desktop, a small 2.5 inch laptop drive can be fitted with a suitable mounting bracket as the connecting plugs are exactly the same. 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch adapter mounting brackets are quite often supplied by the dealers selling the hard drives.

 

 

Now for the questions you asked.

 

My first impression of the clone on the external hard drive is that it didn't work properly and may be corrupted.

When the clone finished, did you use the "Safe to remove" function on your computer? disconnecting a drive without doing that can even damage the drive if there is still data being transferred.

 

The second question to answer, once you do have either adapter, enclosure, or docking station, each time you create a clone onto the spare drive, it automatically reformats and wipes the previous clone off the spare drive and puts a complete fresh clone onto it.

That means any additions since the last clone was made will be included on the fresh clone, that also includes all the latest Windows updates that were installed on the computer as well as any new data you have put on such as pictures, music, video, documents, etc.

 

One good thing about a clone is that being a complete and full copy of everything on the computer, you can connect and access it any time and inspect the contents, and if only a small amount of extra data, that also can be copied over to the same folder on the clone. Though updates or programs cannot be installed, they have to be copied over when a new clone is made.

 

If you wish, you can use the external hard drive as a storage medium for a complete image of your computer as a different form of backup.

An image is a lot different from a clone in the fact that it is a compressed format, therefore takes up less space on the external hard drive, though the down side is that you cannot access the content of the image, you can only use Macrium to verify it is OK.

 

To reinstall an image, you need what Macrium calls the "Rescue Disk", this disk should be created when you first make the image and stored safely till it is needed.

 

If wanting to know more about making an image as well as the clone, let me know.

 

Nev.

[norman1967]

Hello chaps

 

Thanks Kev, I picked up your reply this afternoon and that got me thinking, I just bought this external drive for this job, but it looked different to the other external (which were a lot more expensive) i have with photos ect stored in, So i took it apart ;) this evening, and i think its what you said to buy, photos below, so it is basically the same as an internal drive, so yep i stripped it down and slotted it into the laptop, unfortunate i has the same error as when it was connected via usb.....

 

Which bring me to Nev's reply, cheers Nev for reply, would appear your theory may be correct then and i have perhaps not waited long enough until i unplugged the drive, i do not recall it saying to me safe to do so...

 

So chaps is this the new plan, format my external again (it was 700g when it arrived its now 250g like the laptop) and try again to clone but this time be sure i wait for the laptop to tell me its safe to remove.....

 

Oh the joys its all a learning curve.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1432.vB5-legacyid=2508[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1433.vB5-legacyid=2509[/ATTACH]

[Plastic Nev]

Hi and a case of whoops on my part here as I didn't look up the Dell number so didn't realise you had a laptop, however no problem for the moment.

 

However, it doesn't tell you it is safe to remove, you have to tell the computer to safely remove it. To do this in Windows 7 look at the bottom right of the task bar, you may see a USB plug Icon, or the small up pointing arrow which is for hidden icons if you don't see the USB icon, wherever the USB icon is click on it and select Eject USB ATA device or some other similar wording. You will then get a notification that it is safe to now remove it, or if it is still in use and cannot be removed. If that message stays there that it cannot be removed, shut down the laptop completely, that will safely terminate any process and it can then be removed.

 

The safe to remove process should be used for any recording devices, thumb drives, SD cards as well as external hard drives. You do risk damaging data or worse the operating system if you don't follow that process.

 

So, considering the external case is dismantle-able and that drive can be used as it is bigger than the original I believe make Macrium create another clone onto it and also make sure that Macrium is set to verify the finished clone.

Once Macrium has fully finished, then use the above process to make it safe to disconnect it all.

Remove the drive from the case and slot it into the laptop.

If the laptop then boots up OK then all is well

 

However it still might refuse to boot.

If so let me know as that may be due to the BIOS system being of the UEFI type and we will then need to alter something in the BIOS for it to accept the new drive.

 

Nev.

[norman1967]

Hello Nev, Right Sunday is upon us and i have some spare time for a play, plan today is to format the external 700gb drive which i have the suspected corrupted clone on. and then start a fresh clone but of course this time eject the external drive in the correct manor.

 

Ok i have just used the format feature on windows 7, the drive has been formated but it still shows as 232gb as apossed to the origoanl 700gb.

 

I downloaded a tool called Atola Technology HDD Restore Capacity Tool and ran it on a win xp pro machine i have knocking about, unfortunately the program does not see the hard drive (the external) although in start menu computer the drive shows in there and is accessible.

 

So that my first problem

 

Any ideas what i can do to get the full capacity back

[KenB]

Hi Norman

 

If I understand correctly - you formatted this drive on a Win7 machine.

 

If this is correct - attach the drive to the machine again then Start > type in .......diskmgmt.msc ......Enter

You will get information on all connected drives.

Your main drive will be "Disk 0 "

 

What does it say regarding the attached 700GB drive ?

[norman1967]

Hi Norman

 

If I understand correctly - you formatted this drive on a Win7 machine.

 

If this is correct - attach the drive to the machine again then Start > type in .......diskmgmt.msc ......Enter

You will get information on all connected drives.

Your main drive will be "Disk 0 "

 

What does it say regarding the attached 700GB drive ?

 

 

Hi Kenb

 

Screen shot for you of the diskmgmt.msc and start my computer screen shot, when i plug in the external it shows as disk G and there is also a disk H!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

What can i do to make the whole of the disc usable once again?

[KenB]

Hi Norman

 

Thanks for the screen shots - most helpful :)

 

You have a 232 GB Partition ......and 405 GB "Unallocated" on the same drive.

Basically this is part of the disk that is unable to be read as it is not in a formatted state.

We can correct this.

 

Try this:

Go back to Disk Management.

Right click on the "Unallocated" part and select "New Partition"

 

Now select ...."Logical Drive" or "New Simple Volume" .....whichever is given as an option.

Click Next until you are given the option of selecting a drive letter.

Let Windows do this for you ( it will be going later anyway )

 

Click Next again and then select "Format this partition"

Select NTFS as the file system type click Next

Click on "Finish" .....this should format the 405 GB partition and it should show in "Computer" as a drive letter with 405 GB available.

 

We will need to expand the small partition into the 405 one but for the moment let me know how you get on with this.

 

Your Drive C: is almost full.

Windows needs about 10-15% free space to function properly.

[norman1967]

Hello KenB

 

operation step 1 successful thank you. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1436.vB5-legacyid=2512[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1437.vB5-legacyid=2513[/ATTACH]

 

 

Now need to combine all 3 G H I disks into one drive again?

 

thanks for all help

 

This site is really really good so happy i found it.

 

p.s drive c i know not looking forward to dealing with that to be honest its been getting shoved to back of my mind for weeks, i suppose i have to deal with it soon, on the up side i am the right place to figure out the best solution with a dollop of help from the chaps on here

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Norman and Ken, I started writing this then saw your reply Norman.

 

So there is also an alternative to that where you allow Macrium to remove all the partitions and start again from scratch.

 

That will get rid of the now unwanted partitions H and G as I think that at least that Partition H is the left over from the first and corrupted clone attempt.

 

When you open Macrium with the 700GB drive connected it will show you the same layout as you show in your screenshots

You should then see Delete existing partition as per these screen shots.

 

First is the main Macrium window take note of the red instructions.

 

http://i19.servimg.com/u/f19/14/68/69/96/a_macr10.jpg

 

Once you click on Clone this disk this window should open. Click on "Select a disk to clone to"

 

http://i19.servimg.com/u/f19/14/68/69/96/a_macr11.jpg

 

Once the external 700GB drive is found it should look like this

 

http://i19.servimg.com/u/f19/14/68/69/96/a_macr12.jpg

 

As in red just click on the area and it should then show this, if you then click anywhere in the partition "H" you should see a blue line appear under it if not there already., then click the delete this partition. Next is again click anywhere in the "G" partition and again click delete this partition and so on till all the 700GB drive is showing empty.

 

http://i19.servimg.com/u/f19/14/68/69/96/a_macr13.jpg

 

All you need do after that is click the "Next" button on bottom right and it should then start the clone from your original drive to the 700GB drive as normal.

 

Once you have the 700GB drive Installed into the laptop, we will worry about extending the partitions into the unused space then, as I see the recovery partition and the tools partition is the last and will have to be moved firstly before extending the "C" partition.

 

Nev.

[KenB]

Sorry Nev - I jumped in with both feet before you had a chance to add your post :)

 

Norman - I will leave Nev to continue.

[norman1967]

Hello KenB thanks for all your help....

 

Nev cheers pal.

 

Them screen shots made things easy to understand (Pictures do say a thousand words as they say) as we speak the machine is cloning to the 700gb external just like first time around, will post results in over a hours time once complete and tested and of course i remove the usb using the correct method this time around!!

 

Thanks chaps

[Plastic Nev]

OK Norman thanks for the update. Once the clone has finished, close Macrium, then have a look at the files and folders on it to check they look OK before you go for the safe removal.

 

Next thing is to try it in the laptop, don't forget to disconnect power and remove the battery first.

 

If it does refuse to accept the new hard drive let us know before going further as we will need to look at changing a setting in the laptops BIOS system if that is the case.

 

Nev.

[norman1967]

Ok all working now, clone was successful, things i have noticed is the machine now runs a fair bit slower, and some of my programs fails to load. I have a total of 8 programs i use regualar on this machine 6 load up slower but usable two are struggling to start.

 

However from were i was i class this as a success

 

Thanks to kevb and nev who have spent time and effort to guide me threw this

[Plastic Nev]

OK Norman, the only reason things could be slower is maybe the new 700GB drive itself has a lower speed, somewhere on the label there should be a figure in RPM, as a for instance my spare says 7200RPM. Check the new drive and also the label on the original and let us know.

 

Also, to go back to the original drive that was very close to full, we could give help for getting some more space on that drive if you wish, being so full there just may have been problems with it making the clone correctly as well.

I can't see any other reason for why at least one of your programs is having problems in loading now.

Nev.

[norman1967]

OK Norman, the only reason things could be slower is maybe the new 700GB drive itself has a lower speed, somewhere on the label there should be a figure in RPM, as a for instance my spare says 7200RPM. Check the new drive and also the label on the original and let us know.

 

Also, to go back to the original drive that was very close to full, we could give help for getting some more space on that drive if you wish, being so full there just may have been problems with it making the clone correctly as well.

I can't see any other reason for why at least one of your programs is having problems in loading now.

Nev.

 

Good morning Nev

 

Yes your correct original 7200rpm 250gb new clone 5400rpm 750gb. That would explain the difference i have noticed, it is surprisingly noticeable aswell. certainly something i will look out for in the future.

 

A few weeks ago i had two dell e6410 sat next to each other one had 4gb memory with a regular hard drive whilst the other had 8gb memory with a static hard drive.

 

I powered them both on at exactly the same time, the difference was extremely noticeable, the static drive was showing the desktop whilst the other machine was still showing the windows 4 colors twirling, fascinating the performance difference. (i decided to pay the extra £60 and keep the static 8gb for myself :D)

 

I would be interested to learn how to now expand the space on my clone drive to its original 750gb if this is possible. Of course i can now afford to make an error as i am working with my back up drive.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Norman, open the disk management page that you showed earlier on your screen shot.

You should now have a large chunk on the right hand side that is "Unallocated" Can you show us a screen shot of that please as it is now?

 

If you can explain what you wish to do with that space, I think Ken might be better at explaining how to it for you, not something I am too familiar with and don't want to give wrong advice.

 

Nev.

[KenB]

Hi Norman

 

If it is showing "Unallocated" as Nev suggests - do nothing with it.

There should be a way of expanding the existing partition into the unallocated space directly

 

Another screen shot would be useful :)

[norman1967]

Hello chaps

 

Apologies for the late reply, I have been on holiday not ignoring you chaps.

 

Nev, I spend many hours yesterday cleaning up space on my machines hard drive as you noticed it was almost full, it was mainly photos and videos, wow surprising how many hours goes into backing up and moving onto a external, i have a wd 1,8tb external i have not used it a while a big lump of a drive its all safely backed up onto that and now i have a whopping 382gb free

 

;)

 

Kenb i shall post a screen shot later on and of you could cast your eye on it and see of its possible to expand the drive back to 700gb that would be great, cheers chaps i be back soooooon

 

oh and p.s since i have been away i know have an icon near the battery/wifi/clock/date bar saying i can update to win 10 full for free!!! Hmmm whats the catch?

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Norman, good to see you managed to clear some space.

 

A screen shot will be of help for Ken as it should be reasonably easy to expand into the free space, however it may need a third party patition manager such as EasUS Partition master, however Ken will put you right with that.

 

As for this wonderful Windows 10 for free, yes indeed and does seem to be no catch as such, I recommend looking at the new Windows 10 forum we have started to learn all about it.

 

Nev.