Anybody know any good FREE cloning software?

[Batman]

Evidence is accumulating that Windows hasn't just been paranoid these last 2 years, my primary hard drive is dying. As we're talking a)some 600GB of data (yeah, I know, not much by modern standards but still) and most especially b) having to reinstall the OS, and all the applications that don't survive an OS reinstall, and all the expansions for those applications, I'd really rather avoid having to do all that.
So, does anyone know any good free software for cloning a hard drive?

[B4UTRUST]

Drive Image by Runtime

[Batman]

I'll keep it in mind, but for the time being, no thanks. The size of the download indicates it's just an installer and call me old-fashioned but I prefer actually downloading the software as advertised, not an installer that will download whatever they think I need.

[B4UTRUST]

You could always go the less ethical route(ie what everyone else everywhere seems to do) and torrent something. Paragon Drive Copy Pro seems like a good choice.

[rhoenix]

Well Bats, your only other options are free software utilities, and they usually have arcane manuals.

In the meantime, there's this link from LifeHacker: The five best free system restore tools.

[White Haven]

So...you've been getting warnings for two years that your hard drive was failing...and you're just now, right now, A) confirming them, and B) thinking that it might be time to do some data backup. Gotta hand it to you, Bats, I've had dumber customers at work, but not many.

If either of the drives you're using (old, failing one or new replacement) are either Seagate or Western Digital, you can use the versions of Acronis disk imaging software that both of those companies provide in burnable form. You may, however, be out of luck, depending on how bad-off your drive has become while you faffed about waiting to see what would happen; with any luck, it's still possible to take a good image. Good luck.

[Hotfoot]

I'll keep it in mind, but for the time being, no thanks. The size of the download indicates it's just an installer and call me old-fashioned but I prefer actually downloading the software as advertised, not an installer that will download whatever they think I need.

Bats, your stupidity is only overshadowed by your incompetence. Good luck! I hope you lose everything on that hard drive because you have decided to remain willfully ignorant to the world around you. Maybe once you suffer consequences for your laziness, you'll change.

I mean, probably not even then, but fuck, at this point, it's all I can go on.

Enjoy your catastrophic hard drive failure, son!

[frigidmagi]

Okay, that's enough. No one post in this thread unless they have something constructive to add. No insulting bats is not constructive.

For my own part Bats, I would suggest either taking B4's advice as it is your best bet or if you have some spare cash go out and buy an external harddrive and move your stuff there. Yes, I know you don't trust installers but bluntly, you don't have many options at this point, as you have literally been gambling everytime you turn on your computer for the last 2 years. If you're wondering where all your luck as gone, it all went into keeping your computer running.

[rhoenix]

Well Bats, your only other options are free software utilities, and they usually have arcane manuals.

In the meantime, there's this link from LifeHacker: The five best free system restore tools.

I'll quote my own reply here. The article linked above has reviews and links for five different free system restore tools - one of them, if B4's suggestion didn't work, should be an option for your system.