# Can I clone old hard drive and transfer contents to new drive.



## Delta6326 (Jan 1, 2012)

Well I have a WD Black 500GB and a New WD Black 2TB(from a external HD) I want to clone my 500GB to the new 2TB drive.

I know most people will say the best way is to just reformat and install it all on to the 2TB, but I have a lot of Applications that take up lots of space and have slow internet to re-download.

The old 500GB will go into a new office computer build that will only be using small stuff so I don't want to have this 2TB go to waste.

I have no idea on how to do this and if their is a free software out that is reliable if not then I will go the hard route.

Also if I could get someone's advice if this is a good idea here are my current drives, the ones in red is my main drive WD Black 500GB.

1. So what I want to do is take my WD 500GB and put it in a new build. 
2. Make the WD 2TB my Main drive.
3. Take the WD 500Gb Blue and put it in the External case from the 2TB.
4. Do I need to re-format the 2TB? So it doesn't show up as a WD Elements?


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## digibucc (Jan 1, 2012)

you shouldn't use the 2tb as your main drive.

i am one of the ones that would say reinstall, but aside from that - your os drive should be small and just have basic stuff on it. any big programs or games should be on a different drive. then if your system goes down you still have everything installed - and repair is at least possible in most cases.

There is an icon file somewhere on the drive making it look like that, you can just remove it.


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## IINexusII (Jan 1, 2012)

Acronis True Image has features to clone disks and stuff, its not free though, but check it out


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## Solaris17 (Jan 1, 2012)

http://clonezilla.org/downloads.php

use it all the time.


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## Delta6326 (Jan 1, 2012)

digibucc said:


> you shouldn't use the 2tb as your main drive.
> 
> i am one of the ones that would say reinstall, but aside from that - your os drive should be small and just have basic stuff on it. any big programs or games should be on a different drive. then if your system goes down you still have everything installed - and repair is at least possible in most cases.
> 
> There is an icon file somewhere on the drive making it look like that, you can just remove it.



So should I just leave it like this.
1. WD Black 500GB stays as main drive.
2. Put WD Blue 500GB in the New computer.
3. Just keep the WD Black 2TB in its External case?

Know matter what 1 of the 3 drives has to be My main drive, One has to be in the New build as the main drive and one has to be a External.

Also does any body know why this is showing that it has used space? There are no folders on the drive.


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## jsfitz54 (Jan 2, 2012)

*Use the free WD clone application from Acronis*.  Must have I WD drive in system that the software will see.

http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119&wdc_lang=en


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## DaveBee (Jan 2, 2012)

Delta6326 said:


> So should I just leave it like this.
> 1. WD Black 500GB stays as main drive.
> 2. Put WD Blue 500GB in the New computer.
> 3. Just keep the WD Black 2TB in its External case?
> ...




The used space is the system volume information (though this usually is not visible on this screen as is viewed as 'net available space') - the only other option is that it will be the restore points stored
If you go to properties/disk cleanup then the 'more options' tab - you can then remove all but the most recent restore point - obviously, this only applies if you previously had data on this drive, if not, then I am not entirely sure myself !!!


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## Delta6326 (Jan 2, 2012)

Disk cleanup didn't do anything. There was files on the drive but the all got copied to the 2TB.


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## DaveBee (Jan 2, 2012)

That was exactly the problem I was encountering - used space, but explorer showing no files ... clearing all but the most recent restore point worked for me - It seemed too similar NOT to be that !!! 
Sorry ...


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## digibucc (Jan 2, 2012)

you likely have system files hidden, and something in the recycle bin on it.

i guess then the best would be as you listed, but if in the future you can get a smaller drive to be the external and throw that 2tb in your main rig alongside the 500gb black.


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 2, 2012)

Programs put necessary files in the registry when you install them the right way. When u move programs you dont get everything and when u clone a drive you clone the partition too which then leaves you with a 500GB partition on a 2TB drive, that 1.5TB needs a partition then. You are best off to install all from scratch. Doing it the way you are is pure laziness, take the time and install everything right, you will be thankful you did when everything works efficiently and properly. Efficiency is speed and use of minimum ram in this case


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## Delta6326 (Jan 3, 2012)

Ok, I don't think im going to clone it anymore If change them up I will do it the slow way. 

Also on my WD Blue drive with the missing space I did a error check it said there where problems and claimed it fixed them but im still getting this. Should I just reformat it NTFS?


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## digibucc (Jan 3, 2012)

yeah if it's supposed to be empty anyway i'd just format rather than screw with it.


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