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Cloning or just copying, difference?

Bakgrund
By Bakgrund
in Storage Devices
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So I'll soon be replacing a hard drive with another one, I got some programs and stuff on it, so would everything work if I just copy all the files in that hard drive and paste them in the new one, and then change drive letter? Or do I have to use some fancy cloning tool?


 



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If its not OS disk, then I can say cloning is easiest and slowest option. It causes some trouble but solved mine withing 1h. Difference between cloning and copying is that latter leaves out hidden and protected files plus files that are being used. Cloning copies everything (done before OS loads).

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So I'll soon be replacing a hard drive with another one, I got some programs and stuff on it, so would everything work if I just copy all the files in that hard drive and paste them in the new one, and then change drive letter? Or do I have to use some fancy cloning tool?

 

Hey Bakgrund,
 
What are your old and new drives?
Depending on what drive are you swapping and what is the new drive, you have a couple of different options.
A fresh install of the OS is always recommended as you would avoid any driver issues and compatibility problems as well as you will get rid of any unused and unnecessary programs and files.
Cloning is another option that creates an exact copy of your current disk on a new one. For cloning, it is strongly recommended that you use a similar or a larger drive because you might end up with corrupted data or file losses. 
Another option is to create an image of your drive (or part of it) and restore it on the new one.
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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Hey Bakgrund,
 
What are your old and new drives?
Depending on what drive are you swapping and what is the new drive, you have a couple of different options.
A fresh install of the OS is always recommended as you would avoid any driver issues and compatibility problems as well as you will get rid of any unused and unnecessary programs and files.
Cloning is another option that creates an exact copy of your current disk on a new one. For cloning, it is strongly recommended that you use a similar or a larger drive because you might end up with corrupted data or file losses. 
Another option is to create an image of your drive (or part of it) and restore it on the new one.
 
Captain_WD.

 

 

Hey, I'm not going to clone my os disk, only my storage disk which I got some programs and other media on, the current one is a 1TB Seagate Barracuda, and my new one will be a 2TB Seagate SSHD desktop drive, so I guess I'm good to go then?


 



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Hey, I'm not going to clone my os disk, only my storage disk which I got some programs and other media on, the current one is a 1TB Seagate Barracuda, and my new one will be a 2TB Seagate SSHD desktop drive, so I guess I'm good to go then?

 

You should be good to go then. Once the cloning procedure is done, you can go to disk management and extend the current 1TB partition or simply add another one.
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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