windows 2000 Company to clone a very valuable irreplaceable HDD

[George V.]

As the title suggests I work in a company that uses an old windows 2000 Chinese PC that contains irreplaceable data that are nowhere else to be found or backed up (that's a fault from our side I know). The old HDD is currently working and we are looking to clone it sector by sector believing that if something happens to the old the cloned HDD will just need to be plugged in and will be working fine (the harware of the pc is supposed to be tethered software inside that's why we need the secteor by sector method). We would like to avoid installing anything on the old HDD as much as possible cause the software that is currently running doesn't like any new software.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[RONOTHAN##]

There are cloning tools like Clonezilla that run off a flash drive that clone directly from drive to drive. You can also use it to create images of the drive that you can then store in multiple locations as a proper backup. 

[Robchil]

Or for even simpler cloning, get a cloning station. 

like this one. 

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Duplicator-Standalone-Sanitizer-SATDOCK2REU3/dp/B00G6TG5YE/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=cloning+station&qid=1679296285&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzUVJRNjFDNzBOUjFSJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzUzOTAwMU5JVVRGUUVVMUY5UCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODI5NjIzODE4UzZXVlJNSTg3JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

[George V.]

26 minutes ago, Robchil said:

Or for even simpler cloning, get a cloning station. 

like this one. 

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Duplicator-Standalone-Sanitizer-SATDOCK2REU3/dp/B00G6TG5YE/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=cloning+station&qid=1679296285&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzUVJRNjFDNzBOUjFSJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzUzOTAwMU5JVVRGUUVVMUY5UCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODI5NjIzODE4UzZXVlJNSTg3JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Thanks for the heads up, appreciate it. 

[George V.]

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

There are cloning tools like Clonezilla that run off a flash drive that clone directly from drive to drive. You can also use it to create images of the drive that you can then store in multiple locations as a proper backup. 

Will look into it thanks!

[Chronified]

Hire a local IT firm to do it, they'll likely even offer to host an off-site backup incase your backup gets corrupted/damaged/missing . Also takes any/all liability off of you and ensures it gets done properly

[George V.]

After doing a thorough research we agreed upon trying on a old pc some of the software below and using the one that will work best:

Macrium 

Aomei 

Clonezilla

Easeus 

Norton ghost 

Drive SnapShot

 

Thanks again for all the info and recommendations.

[Chronified]

Protip: It's bad practice on the LTT forum to mark your own reply as the answer when someone provided that answer. 

[George V.]

15 hours ago, Chronified said:

Protip: It's bad practice on the LTT forum to mark your own reply as the answer when someone provided that answer. 

Thanks for the info I will keep it in mind.