There are several reasons why someone may want to copy all the data from one hard drive to another:
Upgrading to a larger drive – As applications and storage needs grow over time, the existing hard drive may run out of space. Copying files to a new, larger capacity drive allows you to continue storing data without constantly juggling space. According to Backblaze, hard drive sizes have increased dramatically in recent years, with 8TB+ drives becoming more common.
Creating a backup – Making an exact copy of a drive serves as a backup in case the original fails or data gets corrupted or deleted. Backups allow you to restore your system to a previous known working state.
Transferring data to a new computer – When getting a new computer, copying files from the old hard drive provides a convenient way to migrate data like documents, photos, music, and other personal files to the new system.
Upgrading drive technology – Copying from an older, slower hard disk drive (HDD) to a newer solid state drive (SSD) can provide huge performance improvements. SSDs have become increasingly popular in recent years. Per Tom’s Hardware, over 30% of users now use SSDs as their primary drive.
Prepare Both Drives Before Copying
Before copying everything from one hard drive to another, it’s important to prepare both the source and target drives. First, check the health of the target drive by running the CHKDSK utility in Windows or Disk Utility on Mac to scan for and repair any errors (Hard Drive Handling). Then format the target drive to ensure it has the proper file system for your needs, such as NTFS for Windows or HFS+ for Mac.
Next, organize the data on the source drive before copying. This might involve creating folders, deleting unnecessary files to save space, or consolidating data into fewer locations. Having an organized source drive will make the copy process faster and simpler. You may also want to run a disk cleanup utility on the source drive like Disk Cleanup in Windows to remove temporary files and optimize the hard drive.
Properly preparing both the source and target drives before copying can help prevent errors and ensure the copy process completes smoothly.
Connections and Cables
There are several different types of cables and connections used for hard drives that support different speeds and uses:
USB – Universal Serial Bus is one of the most common connections for external hard drives. USB 2.0 supports speeds up to 480 Mbps, while USB 3.0/3.1 supports up to 5 Gbps and USB 3.2 up to 20 Gbps. USB is easy to use plug and play for storage and backups.
Thunderbolt – Thunderbolt 1 and 2 uses Mini DisplayPort connectors and supports 10 Gbps and 20 Gbps speeds respectively. Thunderbolt 3 uses USB-C connectors and supports speeds up to 40 Gbps. Thunderbolt is great for high performance storage and displays.
SATA – Serial ATA is the most common internal hard drive connection type with speeds from 1.5 to 16 Gbps for SATA revisions 1 through 3. SATA is also popular for external drives. SATA Express supports up to 16 Gbps.
eSATA – External SATA is designed for external hard drives and offers nearly the same performance as internal SATA connections.
SCSI – Small Computer System Interface comes in varieties supporting speeds from 5 Mbps to 320 Mbps. SCSI is an older standard still used for enterprise and industrial applications requiring high performance.
For the fastest copy speeds, Thunderbolt, USB 3.2, eSATA, and SATA connections are good choices. Make sure to match your drive interface and computer connections.
Using Robocopy for File Copy
One of the most common and powerful commands for copying all files and folders from one drive to another is Robocopy (Robust File Copy). Robocopy is a command-line tool built into Windows that provides superior reliability and flexibility compared to dragging and dropping files in File Explorer.
To mirror the contents of one drive completely onto another drive with Robocopy, you can use the /MIR parameter. This will copy all files and folders recursively from the source to the destination while also deleting anything from the destination that no longer exists on the source. Here is an example Robocopy command to mirror drive C: to drive D:
robocopy C:\ D:\ /MIR /MT:8
This will copy C: to D: mirroring the entire directory structure. The /MT:8 parameter will multithread the copy using 8 threads for faster performance.
Some key things to note with Robocopy:
- It will not delete files from the destination that are marked as read-only. You may need to remove the read-only status first if you want Robocopy to overwrite those files.
- You can use the /E flag to copy empty directories. By default Robocopy will not copy an empty directory.
- Include the /B parameter to run Robocopy in “backup mode”, which allows it to backup files with the Archive attribute set without changing the attribute.
Overall, Robocopy offers a reliable way to mirror the contents of one drive to another through an automated command-line process. It has many options to customize how the copy takes place. Refer to Robocopy: Syntax and examples for details on all of the available parameters.
Drag and Drop File Copy
One of the simplest ways to copy files from one hard drive to another is using drag and drop in your operating system’s file manager. To copy files using drag and drop:
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Open up two File Explorer or Finder windows side by side, with one showing the source drive and the other showing the destination drive.
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Select the files and folders you want to copy from the source drive. You can select multiple files by holding Ctrl (on Windows) or Command (on Mac) while clicking.
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With the files selected, click and drag them over to the destination drive window and release to drop them into place.
The files will now copy from the source drive to the destination. You can monitor the progress in the destination folder.
Drag and drop is convenient for quick transfers, but lacks some features like verification and error handling. For those, backup software is recommended instead.
Using Backup Software
One of the easiest ways to copy all files from one hard drive to another is by using dedicated backup software. There are many good options available for Windows and Mac OS:
On Windows, some popular backup tools include Acronis True Image, EaseUS Todo Backup, and Paragon Backup & Recovery. These allow you to perform a full backup of your hard drive and restore it to another drive. They provide options like incremental backups, scheduling, and imaging.
For Macs, Apple includes the excellent Time Machine software for free. This makes it easy to backup your entire Mac system to an external hard drive. The software lets you go “back in time” to restore previous versions of files.
Third-party Mac tools like Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper! also offer full cloning capabilities between drives. They provide enhanced scheduling, scripting and other advanced features.
The key benefit of dedicated backup software is it handles all the underlying complexity of ensuring a complete, bootable clone between drives. The tools are designed specifically for drive-to-drive copying and backups.
Verifying the Copy Worked
After copying all the files, it’s important to verify that the copy was successful and no data was corrupted or lost in the process. Here are some ways to check:
Do a file count comparison between the source and destination drives using a utility like ls, find or tree. The file and folder counts should match exactly.
Spot check random files, especially larger ones, by opening them on both drives to verify they are intact. Look for videos that play fully, photos that open, and documents that contain text.
Use Windows built-in error checking tool chkdsk to scan the destination drive and check for file system errors.
Run a third party file verification utility like Robocopy, FreeFileSync or md5sum to automatically compare checksums between the drives.
The key is being thorough and using multiple verification methods to ensure no data corruption or incompleteness. Once satisfied, the copy can be considered successful.
Post Copy Cleanup
After completing the file transfer process, it’s important to do some cleanup on both the source and destination drives (https://www.lifewire.com/upgrade-a-laptop-hard-drive-without-losing-data-and-programs-2378113). On the source drive, you’ll want to delete any files and folders that were copied over to the new drive. This frees up storage space on the original drive. Use the same file manager or command line tools to delete the folders/files.
For the new destination drive, you may want to reformat or repartition it after the copy is complete. This removes any existing partition structures or file systems and creates a fresh blank slate. Use the Disk Management utility on Windows or Disk Utility on Mac to reformat the drive. Choose the file system (NTFS, exFAT, etc) based on your needs.
Reformatting ensures proper alignment and optimization for the drive’s full capacity. It also wipes the drive clean in case there was any sensitive information left over from previous usages.
Troubleshooting Issues
Despite careful planning, problems can still arise when copying data from one hard drive to another. Here are some common issues and solutions:
If the copy process is unusually slow, try using a different SATA cable or USB cable if applicable. Faulty cables can throttle transfer speeds. Switch to a shorter cable for faster throughput if possible. Also ensure both the source and destination drives are defragmented beforehand.
If you encounter bad sectors or read/write errors during copying, first attempt using disk repair tools like CHKDSK or Spinrite on the source drive to fix any filesystem errors. If the drive is failing, it may need to be replaced before a successful copy can occur.
Should files fail to copy properly, double check whether certain files are marked read-only or have incorrect permissions preventing copying. Try adjusting permissions settings on problematic files/folders on the source drive first. Also check for malware or viruses that could be blocking access.
If the computer crashes or loses power mid-copy, simply restart the process from the beginning. The copy should pick up where it left off without recopying already transferred files. Just be patient as this can lengthen the process. Use a UPS if power failures are common.
For a bootable clone, if the copied drive does not boot properly, go into BIOS and ensure the new drive is set as the first boot device. If it still won’t boot, use boot repair tools like Boot-Repair in Linux to reconfigure UEFI/BIOS settings automatically.
As a last resort, repeating the copy process from scratch often resolves unexplained errors. Save log files from the copy software to help diagnose flaws for future troubleshooting.
Summary
Cloning a hard drive is a straightforward process that allows you to make an exact copy of one drive’s contents onto another drive. The key steps include:
- Prepare both source and destination drives before copying by cleaning up space and formatting the destination drive.
- Use the right cables and connections like SATA, USB 3.0, or Thunderbolt for fastest transfer speeds.
- Use disk cloning software like Clonezilla, Macrium Reflect, or built-in Windows Robocopy to efficiently copy all files and partitions.
- Perform a drag and drop file copy for simple file backups.
- Verify the clone worked by booting from the destination drive.
- Delete unnecessary files on the clone and format the source drive for reuse if desired.
- Troubleshoot issues like slow speeds by trying a different cable or port.
Following these steps carefully allows you to create a bootable clone backup or transfer your system to a new drive with minimal hassle.
