[Solved]Best way to clone a dying HDD.

[Grayfox]

A family relative has this really old Windows 98 laptop which has some accounting software that they need and I suspect the hard drive is dying as the laptop was coming up with please insert boot disk for a while until the drive decided to load Windows 98.

The drive is a 4GB IDE they also have another laptop with a 40GB IDE drive and I want to clone the 4GB drive to the 40GB one.
I plan on using Linux Mint XFCE as a live session to enter the system.

I know that dd can do cloning but I also read that it can also wipe the drive too if used incorrectly.

Is this guide accurate for its use?
https://opensource.com/article/18/7/how-use-dd-linux

And do I need to do anything special since I am going from a 4GB drive to a 40GB drive?

Or am I safer off to use the make image in the disks application and then writing that image to the 40GB one.

I am aware of the complications that can happen with a dying HDD.

Thanks

[AndyMH]

I'd avoid dd simply for the reason you identified - too easy to trash the disk. It's not long ago when we had a post where someone had done exactly that!

I'd look at any of clonezilla, redo, macrium reflect, acronis to try and take an image. Assume you have enough USB ports to copy to a thumb drive.

[Grayfox]

I'd look at any of clonezilla, redo, macrium reflect, acronis to try and take an image. Assume you have enough USB ports to copy to a thumb drive.

I do have Acronis True Image Home 2011 as a bootable DVD.
But it may not boot on a Windows 98 machine where linux has a better chance, which is why I am also looking at linux options.

The laptop has USB 2 ports so writing the image will take time but that is not the issue on my mind.

[Hoser Rob]

That's a WIndows box, it's probably formatted ntfs, Do NOT EVER use Linux tools for fixing ntfs drives (and I'd be reluctant to use the on other WIndows formatted disks too).

ntfs has some of those, ahem, "undocumented features" that Microsoft loves so much. As such Linux tools are just not useable. Use a WIndows based recovery disk, I use Hiren's boot disk for this myself, actually used it a couple of weeks ago. Here's the sourceforge dl link:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/hirenscd2bootableusb/

[Grayfox]

That's a WIndows box, it's probably formatted ntfs, Do NOT EVER use Linux tools for fixing ntfs drives (and I'd be reluctant to use the on other Windows formatted disks too)

While it is a windows machine, it is a Windows 9x machine so the hard drive is most likely formatted as FAT32.

[kukamuumuka]

I have used Etcher. Set Unsafe Mode if wanting to copy hard drives.

unsafe mode.png

[philotux]

I have used Etcher. Set Unsafe Mode if wanting to copy hard drives.
unsafe mode.png

That was new! Thanks for sharing!
Do you know if it is used to clone the entire OS, then the resulted cloned system will be bootable?

[kukamuumuka]

I have used Etcher. Set Unsafe Mode if wanting to copy hard drives.
unsafe mode.png

That was new! Thanks for sharing!
Do you know if it is used to clone the entire OS, then the resulted cloned system will be bootable?

Yes it makes bootable (mostly). Windows 95 and 98 can require to make system bootable by running sys c: via floppy drive (and floppy of course).

[philotux]

Yes it makes bootable (mostly). Windows 95 and 98 can require to make system bootable by running sys c: via floppy drive (and floppy of course).

Great! That's good to know.
Thank you!