Replacing a storage drive... What's the best way to go about copying and deleting my files?

[FoxxyRin]

TL;DR: Sorry for rambling. I have an SSD for base programs and OS. HDD for everything else. I'm replacing the HDD. I should be fine just copying everything over to the new drive without the need for fully cloning everything, correct?

 

I'm new to having multiple drives, so I've found myself a bit confused on the best route to handle replacing a storage drive, but I think I'm just over-thinking it. I have an SSD for main programs and my OS, and my HDD (the one that failed) is simply for pictures, videos, games, etc. What is the best way to go about copying the drive? Due to it mostly being games and media files, I'm assuming I can just copy everything over without having to fully clone it, but I don't want to do that and then find that I accidentally corrupted things. So, should I go ahead and use a cloning software? If so, which is the best? I'm really hoping that I can get away with copy/pasting everything, as I don't have access to another SATA cable or a SATA to USB. If possible, I'd like to throw everything on my ext. HDD and then copy it over tomorrow.

 

Another quick question is what's the best way to wipe the drive? I'm assuming Windows' or CCleaner's format options should be more than fine, right?  I've got nothing to hide, but the idea of someone recovering personal photos or something is just creepy to me, so I want to make sure it's wiped pretty thoroughly.

 

Note: I'm on Windows 10 Pro and I have the HDD as my D: drive, just in case this helps with answers.

 

Edited March 25, 2016 by FoxxyRin
Took out excessive info and made it easier to read. Sorry for rambling!

[SparkyRain]

Very confused by the wall of text..

 

Copy files from a non-os drive to another? Just copy them over, that's it. For wipeing ccleaner 3 times write should be enough. Doubt they would recover it. 

[zMeul]

if it's just a storage drive, just copy the files and folders to the new drive

cloning will take a whole lot longer and doesn't guarantee anything more than a copy

 

for wiping, just do a zero fill

but, if you're concerned with them recovering you need to do a whole lot more passes

[Roawoao]

If you want to wipe the drive and then make sure it is really wiped then wipe it completely and then try to recover the data. If no data recover tools can do it then your data is almost 100% not recoverable.

 

Copy and backup your data first (min two copies)

Use any wiping tool you want to completely wipe the drive (as many times as your paranoia factor balances against patience)

Then use something like PhotoRec ( http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec ) to see if it can recover any of your pictures or files.

 

If nothing comes up then you drive should be erased. If your ultra-paranoid take the drive apart and burn the platters or drive a pin through everything. Throw it into an active volcano if your insanely paranoid (obviously no returning if you physically destroy it).

 

[FoxxyRin]

4 minutes ago, SparkyRain said:

Very confused by the wall of text..

 

Copy files from a non-os drive to another? Just copy them over, that's it. For wipeing ccleaner 3 times write should be enough. Doubt they would recover it. 

Sorry, I edited the text. I tend to ramble sometimes, haha~

 

I was assuming simply copying everything over would be fine, but I was over-thinking the situation. For some reason I was expecting copy-pasting to be too easy of a solution that would leave me with corrupted paths or something. Thank you for confirming that it really is as simple as I first thought.

[SparkyRain]

3 minutes ago, FoxxyRin said:

Sorry, I edited the text. I tend to ramble sometimes, haha~

 

I was assuming simply copying everything over would be fine, but I was over-thinking the situation. For some reason I was expecting copy-pasting to be too easy of a solution that would leave me with corrupted paths or something. Thank you for confirming that it really is as simple as I first thought.

Yeah it's simple as that. By games, if you have your steam library on that hdd you would have to check it in steam settings if it's the correct drive later. But that's no big deal.

Edited March 25, 2016 by SparkyRain
Stupid autocorrect