The built in Windows System Image still works although the cognoscenti would advise against it.

 

The Cognoscenti advises against it. You got a nice computer here, I would hate for anything bad to happen to it, Capisce!

A drive that is failing in the Caution stage has uncorrectable Bad Sectors. I you can get a Clone/Image app to work, it will import all the corrupted data on the bad sectors. It's best to copy the C:\Users\UserName files (ie) Desktop, Downloads, Documents etc and save them to an External USB Drive. You will not be able to save any apps, they would need to be reinstalled
Then replace the bad drive with a new one, and do a Clean Install of Windows, then restore your files back.

 

Thanks for the replies, guys.
I keep reading conflicting info on whether bad sectors are copied if I clone a bad drive. Some people say they will and some say they won't but anyway I can't even find a free cloning software. I've tried every single one I found but none is free. It's a sad world we live in. Not only are they charging for their programs that used to be free but they're all going in the direction of making it an annual fee to use the programs, which I'm never going to do.
I've never copied a whole drive file by file but it looks like I have no choice.

 

Bad Sectors are physical hardware anomalies on the Disk itself. Sectors whether Good or Bad do not copy to another Disk, rather the Data that is on each sector is copied.
Data on a Bad Sector is most likely corrupt. If your drive is a Windows disk, and it is not booting the computer, then the Windows Directory resides on the Bad Sectors and is Corrupted Data So, copying over Corrupted data to a new drive is useless.
Macrium Reflect used to be Free, but now they only offer a free 30 day trial. Which is Good for your purposes, but again, it will not copy Corrupted Data on Bad Sectors.
HDD Raw Copy HDDGURU: HDD Raw Copy Tool is free, and will skip Bad Sectors. However, data recovered from a Bad Sector may not work correctly or as you would like. Also, It is not as easy to use as the paid apps. But it is what you are looking for. It's no longer a sad world.

 

You can still download Macrium Reflect Free v8 from Third-parties like TechSpot and MAJOR GEEKS

Download Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - MajorGeeks

With Macrium Reflect Free Edition you'll be able to easily make an accurate and reliable image of your HDD or individual partitions. Using this image you can restore the entire disk, partition or...

www.majorgeeks.com

Macrium Reflect Home

Disk image, file backup and disk cloning for Windows.

www.techspot.com

AOMEI Backupper Standard still has the freeware version, and it does cloning and skips bad sectors. Free Backup Software for Windows | AOMEI Backupper Standard

If you wish to go open source, Clonezilla is still very much alive, so is its GUI frontend Rescuezilla.

There's Hasleo Disk Clone too, available here Completely Free Windows Migration and Disk/Partition Cloning Software in 2023

 

You can still download Macrium Reflect Free v8 from Third-parties like TechSpot and MAJOR GEEKS

Download Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - MajorGeeks

With Macrium Reflect Free Edition you'll be able to easily make an accurate and reliable image of your HDD or individual partitions. Using this image you can restore the entire disk, partition or...

www.majorgeeks.com

Macrium Reflect Home

Disk image, file backup and disk cloning for Windows.

www.techspot.com

AOMEI Backupper Standard still has the freeware version, and it does cloning and skips bad sectors. Free Backup Software for Windows | AOMEI Backupper Standard

If you wish to go open source, Clonezilla is still very much alive, so is its GUI frontend Rescuezilla.

There's Hasleo Disk Clone too, available here Completely Free Windows Migration and Disk/Partition Cloning Software in 2023

Oh thanks, Stancestans for the links. I will try them. I actually tried to find an older version on Majorgeeks yesterday but I was unable to find anything. I'll be trying them later.

 

Thanks, spunk. Yeah I realize it's not the sectors themselves that are copied -since they're physical parts- but the data on them, but thanks for the explanation.
I just tried HDDguru and it didn't want to work. Forgot what the message was ...

I have Windows 7 CD and I installed it with the intention to upgrade to Win 10 but I'm unable to connect to the net. I have a wireless USB adapter (Netgear) and had no problem installing it on a fresh Win install before but for whatever reason I'm unable to get it to work this time. I have the Netgear adapter CD and I downloaded the driver but the stupid PC says can't find the adapter even though it's connected to the PC . This is very frustrating and I don't know what to do. It's like the USB ports aren't working (maybe there are no drivers). But my mouse and keyboard work. So, I don't know what the hell is wrong with the PC because it just won't detect the wifi adapter when I connect it.

 

Are we speaking of the same PC? If you just installed Windows 7, then there are no personal files or apps that you need to backup so there is no reason to clone the drive? Or am I missing something?

As far as your USB adapter is concerned in Windows 7, go to Search or Run and type devmgmt.msc and press Enter. In the Device Manager, Expand Network Adapters, is your WiFi Adapter listed here? How about under Universal Serial Bus Controllers? If there is a yellow mark next to it, it needs drivers.
if you can get online with an Ethernet Cable, or on another internet computer. Go to the Netgear Download sight Download Center | Downloads and Documentation | NETGEAR type in your make and model #
And install the driver. If you download from another computer, then save the Setup file to a USB Flash drive and transfer it to the troubled computer.
If the Netgear adapter is not showing, restart the computer and try it in another USB port. Also try it on another computer if it doesn't come up, it may have failed.

Since you just reinstalled, there is no reason to clone or make an image of the computer, but again, if Crystal Disk Info SMART info says Caution then the drive is failing and needs to be replaced. We suggest an SSD drive.

 

Thanks again for the reply, spunk.
Yes. I'm talking about the same PC. Unfortunately, the drive just went downhill all of a sudden and lost more than half of the programs and files I was trying to keep (by cloning). So, there was no point of trying to clone the drive any more and decided to use another spare HDD to install a new Win OS (I have a Win 7 CD). So, I installed the Win 7 but like I said I'm unable to connect to the net.

I have the Netgear wifi adapter installation CD but when I install the driver and then it tells me to connect the adapter to the PC I keep getting a message telling me Neatgear adapter couldn't be found even though it's connected to the PC. I never had this problem before. Basically when I insert the adapter cable into the USB port nothing happens. No connection sounds. I already tried other USB ports but nothing happens. I know nothing is wrong with the adapter itself. I know this because it's working fine on the failing HDD or if I connect it to my laptop but it won't work with the newly installed Win 7 OS. I dont know what the problem is.

 

Did you follow the instructions in Post #9?
Go to the Device Manager and see if the adapter is showing? I

 

Of course it's not showing. None. Like I said, there's no way to copy the wifi adapter driver to the new OS because none of the USB ports would work. The installation CD was the only way but again, the PC couldn't find the adapter once inserted into the USB port.
Anyway, I just installed Win 10 using Media Creation tool. Luckily I had a copy of some of the files I had on the failing drive. So, I'm just copying and pasting. I might consider an SSD for the OS. I'm sick and tired of all these drives suddenly dying within a few months for some reason. They used to go for years and years .

 

We have no idea what hardware you're working with, so you need to post your PC's specs here.

If all your ports are working, and the wifi adapter also works on another PC, then you just need to install its drivers. However, I don't see why the adapter is not detected even if there are no drivers present yet. It's a plug and play adapter, so the PC should automatically detect it as a network adapter, unknown device or other device. I don't understand why presence detection is not working for the adapter only, on this PC, while other USB devices are being detected just fine by the same PC and the adapter is also getting detected just fine on another computer. Post a screenshot of Device Manager with the adapter plugged in.

 

We have no idea what hardware you're working with, so you need to post your PC's specs here.

If all your ports are working, and the wifi adapter also works on another PC, then you just need to install its drivers. However, I don't see why the adapter is not detected even if there are no drivers present yet. It's a plug and play adapter, so the PC should automatically detect it as a network adapter, unknown device or other device. I don't understand why presence detection is not working for the adapter only, on this PC, while other USB devices are being detected just fine by the same PC and the adapter is also getting detected just fine on another computer. Post a screenshot of Device Manager with the adapter plugged in.

Yes I know it's a mystery. I remember a few months ago I had another HDD fail, which usually is not a problem for me since I always keep a clone of the HDD but not that time. But I thought OK, I'll just do a new install, something I'd done several times without a problem. But when I tried installing Windows (I have a Win 7 CD) I had the same problem I'm having now -PC didn't detect the USB wireless adapter even though it's installed and the icon is on the desktop. The installation process using the Netgear adapter goes well until it says connect the USB cable to the PC and when I do I keep getting a message telling me the adapter couldn't be detected. And now it's the same problem again. It's weird because there's nothing wrong with the adapter itself as I've been using it for over 4 years and even used it with new installs of Win 7 until last time a few months back and again yesterday. So basically the PC doesn't want to recognize it only with a new installation of Win 7. When I insert the adapter cable into the USB port nothing happens. No connection sounds (device connection). So, I thought maybe the port but I tried all the ports but nothing. But how come the mouse and keyboard work ? So, I have no clue what the problem is.
Anyway, I just installed Win 10 on that spare drive I had using Media creation tool I had on a USB and all is fine now. For whatever reason it's Win 7 that doesn't want to work with my wifi adapter any more. The Win 7 CD is an authentic original copy bought from a store and like I said I'd never had a problem installing the adapter until recently.
Thanks again for the help

 

I just installed Win 10 using Media Creation tool.

It sounds like your computer and Wifi are working correctly now with the Windows 10 installation. Even though you reinstalled to a Spare HDD.
We suggest doing a clean install to a brand new SSD which will improve performance and will be a lot better then using a Used HDD who knows how old that is?
Anyways, it looks like your OP seems to be answered now.

 

It sounds like your computer and Wifi are working correctly now with the Windows 10 installation. Even though you reinstalled to a Spare HDD.
We suggest doing a clean install to a brand new SSD which will improve performance and will be a lot better then using a Used HDD who knows how old that is?
Anyways, it looks like your OP seems to be answered now.

Yes they are. I just gave up on trying to get the adapter to work with a new install of Win 7 -even though for years it was no problem. I just installed Win 10 instead and it works just fine.

Yeah I think I'm going to have to look into SSDs. I had like 4 HDD fail on me in the past year, which is very unusual and I'm tired of this. I've never used SSDs before and I'm not sure what to look for that would work with what I have (an older PC with Asus Prime Z270-A and an i7 6700K cpu and an rtx 2060 gpu and 16 gig of RAM), if that matters.

 

It doesn't really matter, mostly dependent on storage capacity and budget. Amazon.ca : 2.5" SSD drives Any standard 2.5" SATA SSD will work, but get a Name brand. You may need to get Mounting Case adapter to fit a 2.5" inch drive into a 3.5" bay but other than that, it will work.

 

It doesn't really matter, mostly dependent on storage capacity and budget. Amazon.ca : 2.5" SSD drives Any standard 2.5" SATA SSD will work, but get a Name brand. You may need to get Mounting Case adapter to fit a 2.5" inch drive into a 3.5" bay but other than that, it will work.

OK. Thanks for the info. I'll be looking for one.

 

Once again you have never told us the hardware which makes me believe it is over 10 years old and you are embarrassed to admit the age. I bet the motherboard has new issues, which is to be expected with such old hardware. Sooner or later you need to update all your hardware it's not "bullet proof" and does not last forever! Hard drives die booting to Windows which puts the most stress on a hard drive and none of them are warranted more than 5 years mostly 2 and 3 years. It's been more than 5 years since any new pc came with a hard drive vs Ssd drive of some type. Hardware ages by first losing some functionality, then dropping dead all together at some point. The only way a hard drive can last 20 years is if it never boots to Windows and even then that is "iffy"..

 

In the process of finding an SSD for my desktop as I've had it with HDDs. Not looking for anything fancy. Saw the Kingston NV2 (1 TB) but I'm seeing a lot of bad reviews on these as far as reliability and longevity and wondering if I'm better off with a Samsung 980 or 970. I used to think Kingston was a good brand but I have no experience with them other than using their RAM. Any advice ?

Thanks.

 

Once again you have never told us the hardware which makes me believe it is over 10 years old

What is the Make and Model # of your Motherboard? if it is older, then you will not have an NVME port on the motherboard. All of the drives you suggested are NVME drives.

It doesn't really matter, mostly dependent on storage capacity and budget. Amazon.ca : 2.5" SSD drives Any standard 2.5" SATA SSD will work, but get a Name brand. You may need to get Mounting Case adapter to fit a 2.5" inch drive into a 3.5" bay but other than that, it will work.

Kingston, Crucial, Samsung, Standard SATA SSD drives are all good brands.

 

What is the Make and Model # of your Motherboard? if it is older, then you will not have an NVME port on the motherboard. All of the drives you suggested are NVME drives.

Kingston, Crucial, Samsung, Standard SATA SSD drives are all good brands.

Yeah I know they're both nvme. I'm pretty sure my motherboard does have nvme ports. Two of them, I think. It's Asus Prime Z270-A. Not an obsolete motherboard by any means.

I don't know but I read a lot about the Kingston ssd and it seems there are a lot of negative comments about it failing prematurely.

I was leaning towards the nvme, not sata ssd.

 

It has 2 M key m.2 slots,

One of the reasons why ssd seem to be getting poor reviews is possibly because they don't like heat. If they get warm whilst in use, they throttle back, similar to CPU's. If they are mounted in a warm area, which doesn't get sufficient cooling, this can cause them to fail prematurely. This could be a reason that some purchasers are having problems with their devices. Heat problems can also be caused by subjecting the ssd to long workloads, transferring massive amounts of data over long periods, pushing for maximum speeds. Ssd's, according to articles I have read, do not like this. Initially throttling back until a better temperature is reached. Which could be mistaken for bad performance.
Ssd's, if treated properly, have an expected lifetime of around 10 years. If they are used as long term disconected storage, it is possible that data degradation may occur due to non use.

 

Your motherboard has two NVME M.2 slots.

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

PRIME Z270-A - Tech Specs｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA

So Carry on
You should also get an NVME Heatsink for your drives to disipate heat Amazon.com : nvme heat sink pad

 

Double check what those slots can handle ... the motherboard has markings near each slot. One might be SATA 3 or PCIe, the other only PCIe

 

Thank you guys for the replies.
So you think Kingston should be OK. I'll probably just get it since it offers more for the money than the others. I'll probably get a heatsink too even though I mainly use my PC for online stuff with maybe an hour or so of gaming.

 

Heat Sync is inexpensive and extra insurance for you, no matter how you use your computer.

 

Actually of course it's a matter of opinion but I find Kingston the weakest of all those recommended and the only ones I have see die early. I also use Adata in addition to the ones mentioned.

 

On a second thought, I think I'll be buying the Samsung 980 (500 GB) instead of the 1 TB Kingston. There's one selling for $50 CaD, new. I missed a 1 TB selling for $60 new but there are always good deals on the Marketplace or Craigslist.

 

Samsung are believed by most to be the best. It's funny too they made the worst hared drives but the best Ssd drives!

 

I have 4 made by Seagate. I know this from the serial number as they might have been labeled differently by the vendor.

 

Thanks guys. After having 3 or maybe 4 HDDs suddenly fail on me or have other issues this past year, which was really a first since I probably only had 2 failures in the past 10 years or more, I want a reliable SSD, which is why I'm going with a Samsung SSD so I can forget about it for a while even though I believe in Murphy's law "Anything that can go wrong WILL go wrong".

 

Smart move!