Hello technically gifted people-

I have a computer with win xp that is telling me SMART failure PREDICTED on my MASTER hard drive. This hard drive has my system on it.

I have recently purchased a new IDE hard drive exactly as the one in the computer now (WD800JB).

The problem is- I've never done this before! I need to clone the old hard drive to the new one and install it.

Does anyone know of a good program for cloning or a web page i can visit and learn from? Or is it simple enough maybe someone could explain how?

Thanks everyone, much appreciated.
~JYou could try SEARCHING for it on google or wiki..

Try this one:
http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtmlGoogle Free Clone Software and you come up with a lot.
Here is one that is informative.
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/clone_software_software/

I has a list of some of the ones they say are good.the western Digital Drive you purchased should have come with "Data Lifeguard Tools" software.


first, you need to install the new drive while keeping your old one intact.

first, you would need to remove the case

if your drive is SATA, find a free plug and pop it in. If it's IDE, you'll need to decide how it must be jumpered.

if the other device is jumpered for Master, set the new drive to slave. if it's set to slave, set it to master.
If it's set for CS (Cable Select) set the new drive for cable select.

Once all is connected, start the machine. If your case opens via the removal of it's sides, I recommend leaving them off for this short period; you'll need to get in there soon.

Your CURRENT operating system should boot as usual. Now install the data lifeguard tools from the CD.

when you run the software, it should automatically find the new drive and ask you wether you want to set it up.

Using the software's "drive clone" feature should be a breeze. Once you've cloned your system drive to the new drive, power down the machine, remove the old drive, and install your new drive in it's place (remember to change the jumper if necessary).

power back up, and you should now be running with the new drive!

HOPE this helps you out Thank you very much for your replies.

The only problem is the drive i purchased from newegg.com did not come with any kind of cloning software, just the drive. That's why i was curious what people around here use for cloning.

Maybe I could find this software on their website.... Quote from: five40josh on January 16, 2009, 12:36:47 PM

Maybe I could find this software on their website....