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Best way to clone one external USB drive to another
Hi,
I have an external USB drive, 2TB, and it's almost full of material that I need. Lots and lots and lots of files. I want to make an exact copy of the drive.
I was using xxcopy, or robocopy, but it seems to take weeks, and there are issues of path lengths that get in the way, resources of the computer, etc. etc.
So I thought I'd make an image of the original drive and then restore the image to a new drive. I'm trying to run it now, with DriveImage XML, but it's been running for 16 hours, and it says it needs another 92 hours to complete.
Shouldn't there be a faster way to do this process? The computer is running XP and only has USB 2.0, but still ...
Any advice for me? Is this just how long these things are supposed to take, or am I using the wrong software? I want to end up with a second USB drive, not with a backup file, but with all the files and directories just like on the original.
Thanks!
I have an external USB drive, 2TB, and it's almost full of material that I need. Lots and lots and lots of files. I want to make an exact copy of the drive.
I was using xxcopy, or robocopy, but it seems to take weeks, and there are issues of path lengths that get in the way, resources of the computer, etc. etc.
So I thought I'd make an image of the original drive and then restore the image to a new drive. I'm trying to run it now, with DriveImage XML, but it's been running for 16 hours, and it says it needs another 92 hours to complete.
Shouldn't there be a faster way to do this process? The computer is running XP and only has USB 2.0, but still ...
Any advice for me? Is this just how long these things are supposed to take, or am I using the wrong software? I want to end up with a second USB drive, not with a backup file, but with all the files and directories just like on the original.
Thanks!
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David
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clone zilla
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ASKER
Hi, Eirman,
Now we're getting interesting. How would I connect my XP laptop to the external SATA-III drive, port-wise? I only have USB and Ethernet ports on this laptop. Is there still a way, or do I have to wait until I upgrade to another laptop to use this solution?
Now we're getting interesting. How would I connect my XP laptop to the external SATA-III drive, port-wise? I only have USB and Ethernet ports on this laptop. Is there still a way, or do I have to wait until I upgrade to another laptop to use this solution?
Hello Steven, Obviously the racks I mentioned are not designed for laptops.
Maybe you need an adapter like this
http://www.amazon.com/Patuoxun-Converter-Adapter-Cable-Drive/dp/B008ASF5MC/ref=sr_1_1?tag=skim0x3152-20&ie=UTF8&qid=1411401872&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+to+sata+adapter
Have considered a stand-alone Duplicator?
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-Hard-Drive-Duplicator/dp/B003WV5DLA
Maybe you need an adapter like this
http://www.amazon.com/Patuoxun-Converter-Adapter-Cable-Drive/dp/B008ASF5MC/ref=sr_1_1?tag=skim0x3152-20&ie=UTF8&qid=1411401872&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+to+sata+adapter
Have considered a stand-alone Duplicator?
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-Hard-Drive-Duplicator/dp/B003WV5DLA
Your laptop's USB 2 ports stay USB 2. As I mentioned earlier, if you want to clone or image at higher speeds, you need to connect the disks internally to a PC, and not via USB. Also, even if your other PC has USB 3 ports, the USB disk will likely still be a USB 2 disk, so also there you'd need to connect the disks internally to get better speeds.
and as i said - the extremely long time can indicate disk problems - test it
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