[WireNut]

My drive is getting noisy and won't always boot.

How do I clone it to a new drive?
What software do I need?

I'm using Win 7.

Appreciate any help.

Thanks.

[jmc207]

Many options, here are just two:

You can create a system backup image within Windows 7 that can be restored to a new drive.
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/4241/how-to-create-a-system-image-in-windows-7/

Macrium Reflect Free software can also do this.
https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

[WGH]

Many new hard drives come with either a free cloning disk or you can download the program from their site and burn a disk. Seagate has DiscWizard, other manufacturers have programs for their hard drives.
It is always best to clone from a boot CD.

[dolsey01]

http://clonezilla.org/

Free and fast. 

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Good luck with the cloning.  I just went through the same issue with my daughters high end laptop computer.  She has a 1 year old computer and the HD became slower than poop rolling uphill.  I replaced it with a Samsung 850 Evo SSD. The 850 comes with its own cloning software that I have used before but it did not work.  I also tried Macrium and it was a no go.  I ended up doing a clean install with the SSD.  Of course YMMV.  You may just want to transfer any important info to an external drive or jump drive and them do a clean install with the new drive.  I highly recommend an SSD drive.  I put them in all of my computers, makes them lightening fast.  Some turn on in 8 seconds. Micro Center still has some Samsung 850 evo's available 250gb for $79 on close out.  It is a steal at that price and still at the top of the heap as far as speed and reliability.

[jparkhur]

I am on the Mac OS side, but either way I have a back up of my backup for my music drive, 8TB.  They are so cheap it was worth not having to go through the trouble.   Just wait until we can save TB cheap out on the web and won't need it....     

[Vlad]

I would recommend Macrium reflect - fast and easy to use. I used it to clone several Win7 systems at work and it was great.
It has 30-day free trial, then you need to buy it. I found Clonezilla too archaic/cumbersome/hard to use (I guess you get what you pay for).

Vlad

[Wind Chaser]

I highly recommend an SSD drive.  I put them in all of my computers, makes them lightening fast.  Some turn on in 8 seconds. Micro Center still has some Samsung 850 evo's available 250gb for $79 on close out.  It is a steal at that price and still at the top of the heap as far as speed and reliability.

Yes, SSD drives are super fast. A 5 year old computer with an SSD will run circles around anything current with HD. There is one downside though, once you delete a file, it's gone for good. I accidentally tossed out a huge file before I had a chance to back it up, and now it's gone for good with no possibility of recovery.

[JerryM]

My hard drive wasn't failing, but when I upgraded my HD to a Samsung 850 Evo SSD, migration software came with the drive. It was totally idiot-proof. 

Have fun,

Jerry

[FullRangeMan]

My drive is getting noisy and won't always boot.

How do I clone it to a new drive?
What software do I need?

I'm using Win 7.

Appreciate any help.

Thanks.

First save your data, make a copy in DVD or pendriver(safe 6 months);

[ctviggen]

I would recommend Macrium reflect - fast and easy to use. I used it to clone several Win7 systems at work and it was great.
It has 30-day free trial, then you need to buy it. I found Clonezilla too archaic/cumbersome/hard to use (I guess you get what you pay for).

Vlad

I have Macrium reflect and use it too.  I did not buy it though.  I think it depends what you do with it: some things are free, some are not.

[jpm]

As others correctly observe, replacing an HDD with an SSD is the way to go. Any SSD. Yes, the Samsung's are popular and fast, but the reality is that any SSD will be so much faster that my advice would be to save the $ premium the Samsung commands for a machine that's very likely older for having come with Win7.

An otherwise tech savvy friend of mine chose to ignore this piece of advice with his first SSD upgrade but later acknowledged that he'd basically wasted his money by paying the Samsung premium on his older Macbook Pro, having subsequently experienced the performance difference with just about any SSD versus an HDD.

If it were my computer, I'd skip the Samsung premium and use the difference to buy a Windows 10 license. Even if "official" drivers aren't published by the manufacturer, there's a very god chance that everything you need is supported. Dell can be irritating this way (I pick on them because I am most familiar with their corporate products) when they draw a line between supported and not supported, despite updated / supported drivers being available for very similar models in their product line.

[ctviggen]

Good luck with the cloning.  I just went through the same issue with my daughters high end laptop computer.  She has a 1 year old computer and the HD became slower than poop rolling uphill.  I replaced it with a Samsung 850 Evo SSD. The 850 comes with its own cloning software that I have used before but it did not work.  I also tried Macrium and it was a no go.  I ended up doing a clean install with the SSD.  Of course YMMV.  You may just want to transfer any important info to an external drive or jump drive and them do a clean install with the new drive.  I highly recommend an SSD drive.  I put them in all of my computers, makes them lightening fast.  Some turn on in 8 seconds. Micro Center still has some Samsung 850 evo's available 250gb for $79 on close out.  It is a steal at that price and still at the top of the heap as far as speed and reliability.

I think a clean install, if you can do it, is always better.  There's a lot of crap that gets loaded over time. It's time consuming though, loading all the programs, then configuring them. 

[I.Greyhound Fan]

JPM, at $79 for a Samsung Evo 850 250gb, you wont find anything cheaper with a 5yr warranty and as fast, reliable and power efficient.  The evo use to sell for twice that.  Most other SSD's have a 3 yr warranty.

[bacobits1]

I have one too, it's a 500 gigger, got it for like 139 at new egg.
I put it in a 6 year old i5 and could not believe the speed up!!
Recommended!