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The previous day I ran some hardware tests, only to find that my hard drive was failing and needed replacements. So I called my computer manufacturer to receive a fresh hard drive under warranty.

I'm not very good with computers though, and I don't know how to swap all my files from the bad hard drive to the good hard drive WITHOUT the use of an external hard drive.

Is there anyway for me to port contents from an old hard drive to the new hard drive without the use of other hardware?

Also, I can't use my CD Drive, because in a fit of rage, I snapped the flimsy plastic on the thing, and completely disconnected it from my computer

Thanks.

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  • If you want to transfer your data, your only choice, is to get an external hdd. If you had an optical drive that could have been a solution, you could also replace it, easy enough to do since you already removed it.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Oct 30, 2012 at 12:34
  • just to clarify - you need 1. old HDD 2. new HDD 3. your cloning tool (4. depending on the tool and if you still can boot and use your old HDD, you'll need a DVD/USB or an external drive.
    – Jook
    Commented Oct 30, 2012 at 12:49

1 Answer 1

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Yes there is.

A tool like Acronis Disk Director or any comparable would do this.

You will need however to boot from eighter CD, or USB or attach your drives to antother PC.

There might be a way with some tools (like acronis) to install them, then configure your cloning operations and run it (might need a restart).

Other suggestions - look here: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/09/05/5-free-apps-to-clone-your-hard-drive/

And by the way - why don't you just reattach the cable of your CD/DVD?!

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  • If I reattach it, but leave it in the open (it wont go back in the computer), will it still work? All the optics and everything are still fucntioning
    – yuritsuki
    Commented Oct 30, 2012 at 12:21
  • also, my biggest usb is a 4gb usb, which I doubt will even help me out at all
    – yuritsuki
    Commented Oct 30, 2012 at 12:21
  • your DVD needs a data & a power cable, which both has to be connected to your PC. It should (just for your comfort) lie flat and right side up somewhere. 4GB would be sufficient for a number of rescue systems, which provide hdd cloning ;) in my opinion it was just always a bit more complicated, than just using a boot-cd
    – Jook
    Commented Oct 30, 2012 at 12:25
  • Thanks for the support, is there a tutorial for this?
    – yuritsuki
    Commented Oct 30, 2012 at 12:30
  • e.g. youtube.com/watch?v=Ib99WihC8qI
    – Jook
    Commented Oct 30, 2012 at 12:33

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