Computer forum?

[Ron350]

Thanks the last link about PS2 mouse worked.

Now I will be able to sleep tonight.

 

[stratman]

Thanks the last link about PS2 mouse worked.

A Registry change resolved the issue?

Enjoy your computer!

 

[Ron350]

Yes this link you posted shows how to change the registry to let a PS2 mouse work.

https://hitech-us.com/articles/entry/303/PS/2-mouse-is-not-working-on-Windows-10

Now I have to do more research about how to clone my Hard Drive.

 

[stratman]

how to clone my Hard Drive

Things you need to know before cloning:

• Hard drive to hard drive or hard drive to SSD
• Cloning from smaller disk to larger disk or larger disk to smaller disk.

Things to do before cloning a disk/drive"

• Delete all unnecessary data - why transfer what is not useful
• Check disk for errors and if any found then try to correct them
• Defragment drive - useful if doing a sector by sector clone for better performance

Free apps to clone a drive. Pick the one that looks best to you and read and follow all the instructions.

• https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree
• https://www.easeus.com/backup-software/tb-free.html
• https://www.backup-utility.com/features/disk-clone.html

Make sure to test the cloned drive by changing it to be the boot drive in your BOS / EUFI. If all works as expected then reset your BIOS /EUFI back to the original boot drive and you're good to go.

 

[Ron350]

All I want to do is clone the HD in this refurbished dell 7010 before it has any programs added.

If this HD dies and I don’t have a back up cloned HD I will have to trash the computer.

I am attempting to use MS own cloning utility located Control Panel, System and Security, Backup and Restore (Windows 7), Create a System Image.

I have a good SATA 1.5 80 GB HD but I don’t have a docking station so I can connect to a USB port.

It looks like I will have to buy one of these HD cloners.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sata+har...v=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_p7ft4q91e_e

 

[stratman]

I am attempting to use MS own cloning utility located Control Panel, System and Security, Backup and Restore (Windows 7), Create a System Image.

Disk Imaging is considered different than Cloning.

https://www.partitionwizard.com/clone-disk/clone-vs-image.html

It looks like I will have to buy one of these HD cloners.

Docking stations are great if you have the need. My old Thermaltake BlacX has been terrific, albeit at the now slower transfer speeds of eSATA. I have cloned an SSD through it, but usually it is for back ups.

You may not need a docking station or any external hardware if you only want to clone and not do a system image with incremental backups as cloning is "one and done" procedure. You can open up the computer, use a free SATA plug and power plug to the HD to be cloned. If no SATA or power plugs are available then pull the ones off the DVD drive since they DVD drive is not needed for your purpose. You may not even need to screw it into the case if you can rest it on some surface within the case for cloning, however if using for System Imaging and then incremental backups you would want the drive secured internally or externally usually. (there are always caveats)

SATA 1.5 80 GB HD

What is a SATA 1.5? If you mean a "SATA I" drive then max data throughput of 1.5 Gb/s, but expect much slower if using an external enclosure or docking station connected to a USB port.

 

[Ron350]

Thanks I did not know the difference between clone and image.

OK what I want to do is make a CLONE of this HD forget about making an image.

I want a HD I can stick in the computer when the current HD dies or is so messed up I can’t fix it.

This is important for me to have that Cloned HD.

PS: To run two hard drives in this computer you have to know the secret way to go in and change the BIOS or something. The computer does not see a secong HD that is how I messed up the PS2 MOUSE.

 

[stratman]

To run two hard drives in this computer you have to know the secret way to go in and change the BIOS or something.

If there is a SATA plug and a power plug available to connect to the 2nd hard drive then the BIOS/EUFI should recognize it. The HD may need to be formatted and partitioned in order to use. To make the 2nd drive the "Boot" drive will need you to go into the BIOS/EUFI and select it as the boot drive if there are more than one HD's available and a different HD is the boot drive.

Dell should have instructions on which key to press during boot up in order to get into the BIOS/EUFI, such as Delete or a Function Key. This key may even be displayed on your monitor during the boot up process, or, frustratingly hidden during boot, making the process of entering BIOS/EUFI more difficult. You can search Google for the key press to enter BIOS for your specific make and model computer.

If you do not want to bother with connecting the new HD to be cloned internally then get a docking station or HD enclosure which run off a USB port. You'll still need to get into the BIOS and change the newly cloned drive to being the "boot drive" in order to test it. Or else swap drives internally (more work).

You can also use an external USB cable that has a SATA plug on the other side, such as this cable. I don't know if this is a good cable but it does give you an example.

A very nice alternate option is a hot swap drive bay like this. You can easily install a hard drive and take it out in seconds with this type of bay. Again, don't know if this is good or not, just an example of what there is out there.

So many choices.

 

[Ron350]

Stratman please don’t get mad at me for being so dense.

OK so I need to order a 3.5 inch SATA 3.0 HD 2TB but what brand.

I just found out my cousin that lives 60 miles away has a Sabrent Cloner box I can try to use.

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Exte...ve+duplicator&qid=1554952233&s=gateway&sr=8-6

 

[stratman]

OK so I need to order a 3.5 inch SATA 3.0 HD 2TB but what brand.

This question is not as easy as cloning. People have had good and bad experiences with manufacturers and will stay away from one while others swear by the same. There is a small amount of reasonable testing data on HD longevity, but you could still get a lemon.

I recently bought a 4TB Western Digital Blue drive. It is 5400 RPM and is the updated version of the old Green drives. These slow Blue drives are made for data storage but can work as a boot drive. Instead, I'd recommend a 7200 RPM drives for better performance in a desktop computer. SSD would be best, but the cost on 2 TB is quite high. I use a Samsung EVO 256 GB SSD as my boot drive where Windows and applications are installed. I have hard drives for data storage. Best of many worlds of speed, efficiency and cost.

To answer your question... If I'm getting a hard drive to be a boot drive then I would get the Western Digital Black drive. 7200 RPM and a 5 year warranty. Are there others that would be reasonable? Sure, but the WD Black is the drive I would get.