Hard Drive Duplicator

Recoil12

I am interested in making a copy of an old hard drive I have to recover some files.I have narrowed my search down to two devices,both in dock format.

Dock 1:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inateck-Including-Comaptible-Backwards-Compatible/dp/B00D1NR9MA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1374227387&sr=8-4&keywords=hdd+duplicator

Dock 2:http://www.amazon.com/Cavalry-Retriever-EN-CAHDD2BU3C-ZB-Standalone-Duplicator/dp/B003ZDLATE/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1374606128&sr=1-1&keywords=hard+drive+duplicator+ide
(Dock 2 can be bought here :http://www.meritline.com/hard-drive-duplicator-cavalry-retriever-en-cahdd2bu3c-zb---p-68377.aspx)

Would a standard ide to sata adapter work with these dock if I needed to copy an ide drive?http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Professional-SATA-HDD-to-Male-IDE-Hard-Drive-Interface-Converter-Adapter-/310411345925?pt=UK_Computing_Drive_Cables_Adapters&hash=item4845f54005


The devices are very similar and both have received good reviews,I would just look an extra opinion to see if one trumps the other.

Khannie

If you're just gonna do this once, consider using a linux boot cd and "dd". It makes an exact replica of the drive.

Recoil12

Khannie wrote: »

If you're just gonna do this once, consider using a linux boot cd and "dd". It makes an exact replica of the drive.

I hope to use it for a few drives,so convenience is key.

gctest50

A hot-swap drive bay ?

http://www.startech.com/HDD/Mobile-Racks/525-Tray-Less-SATA-Hot-Swap-Bay~HSB100SATBK

http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/hard-drives-int/caddies-%28sata%29

Recoil12

gctest50 wrote: »

A hot-swap drive bay ?

http://www.startech.com/HDD/Mobile-Racks/525-Tray-Less-SATA-Hot-Swap-Bay~HSB100SATBK

http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/all/hard-drives-int/caddies-%28sata%29

I don't think that is what I'm looking for,the main purpose is copying/recovering files from one drive to another without using a network.Although if the products you linked to can do that, it would be great if you could tell me how.

gctest50

You put those ones into the front of your PC - no network needed

excollier

Try here
http://www.memoryc.ie/products/type/Storage_Products/HDD_Docking_Stations/index.html

Recoil12

excollier wrote: »

Try here
http://www.memoryc.ie/products/type/Storage_Products/HDD_Docking_Stations/index.html

Both stations linked look decent and are reasonably priced,the only concern I would have is they are both USB 2.0 whereas many at similar priced are USB 3.0.With data transfer,higher transfer speeds would really make a difference.Or is there not a significant difference between the two?

excollier

These docks take two drives and one clones the other, so in that respect, the external connection is irrelevant,you don't even need a computer connected, the dock does it all. As for computer connections, if your computer has an eSATA port then you can connect with that, way faster than even usb 3.0.

Recoil12

excollier wrote: »

These docks take two drives and one clones the other, so in that respect, the external connection is irrelevant,you don't even need a computer connected, the dock does it all. As for computer connections, if your computer has an eSATA port then you can connect with that, way faster than even usb 3.0.

Say in a situation where some files were corrupt,etc and the whole hard drive needed fixing with the use of software,would it be worth having USB 3.0 over USB 2.0 then?

excollier

Well, that's a question if you like. I should say that usb spec only affects file transfer speed between the external drive in the dock and the computer it's attached to, so unless you are actually moving large amounts of data back and forth, then it shouldn't matter. Others on this forum will know better than me, I've never had a corrupted hdd in all the years I've owned a computer, so I couldn't say.

Recoil12

I think I will go with Inateck dock.Hopefully it will arrive soon enough as my main PC hard drive started to make strange noises today!

Recoil12

Khannie wrote: »

If you're just gonna do this once, consider using a linux boot cd and "dd". It makes an exact replica of the drive.

My hard drive is failing right now,I need to make a copy of the system,I have windows backup running,copying to another hard drive.Could you explain the Linux method? And does this format/wipe the destination hard drive?Could a USB be used instead of a CD?Failing hard drive is 80GB destination hard drive is 500GB,280GB free space.

excollier

No you use dd from a bootable Linux cd/usb. It is a Linux command that copies from one device to another - in your case a new or replacement hdd. And yes, it will completely destroy all data on the target device, replacing it with an exact copy of the source device (your failing hdd) but that's what you want, surely. Clonezilla is another programme (free, open source) available for this type of operation, I guess it's a graphical version of the command line dd in essence.
I'm unsure if you can target a partition of a hdd, someone in the Unix section may be able to help, but as your hdd is failing right now, then you may be too late to download, burn to cd/usb and re-boot to live Linux to have it do this for you.
If you can get someone else with a computer to download Parted Magic for you:
http://partedmagic.com/doku.php?id=downloads#.UfUD_3zpuJM
then get them to burn it to cd or usb flash memory as a bootable device, it contains not only Clonezilla but a set of diagnostic tools to test your hdd.