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Software Thoughts For Cloning your CNC Harddrive

3/1/15       
Paul S

I think It would be wise to make a clone of your CNC computers hard drive. Was wondering I everyone has done this ? What's the easiest software to use ? External or secondary internal hard drive ?

3/1/15       #2: Software Thoughts For Cloning your ...
Jr Lee  Member

Website: http://www.leeconsultants.info

Paul,
I use Partition Magic or Ghost to clone my HD. You can do a Search oN the Web for it. I forget who the SW company is. Good luck. I think cloning is great idea,

3/1/15       #3: Software Thoughts For Cloning your ...
Brian

you can download Clonezilla, its free and it works. Make an image of the drive. A copy will not do the trick.

3/1/15       #4: Software Thoughts For Cloning your ...
Mark

Honestly this is critical, and too cheap not to do. I learned that lesson recently the hard way. For 100 bucks in hardware and downloading some very reliable freeware I could have saved nearly a week of aggravation.
A lot of CNCs have the ability to back up parameters and you should back up parameters regardless of having a clone. Many also have a second partition on the main hard drive with a full back up of the system. That would help in many instances but not in the case of a full hard drive crash.
For next to no cost and very little trouble you can put a second physical drive in your computer and clone the main drive. In the event of a hard drive crash a simple cable switch will have you back and running in minutes, minus a few tool lengths or maybe a zone adjustment. It can also serve as a diagnostic tool in some instances. Additionally, if you really screw up in some other way, say delete a critical file, or any of the other 1000 ways to damage an operating system or some critical setting there is a way to go back.
Acronis is not free, but well worth the price. 50 bucks maybe? EaseUS Todo is free and adequate for most purposes. Do not delay. After you are done, do a test. Unplug the old drive and put the new one in it's place. Boot up and be confident you are covered in the event of a major failure.

3/2/15       #5: Software Thoughts For Cloning your ...
Gerry

Website: http://oldstyleww@gmail.com

I would recommend Acronis True image and a portable hard drive. I keep version history of our hard drives with a new image before any major software update or install. This saves countless hours reinstalling software.

The best way to use this type of software is from a boot disc so your operating software is not running

Acronis will allow file restore also so you don't need to restore the complete image.

Gerry

3/3/15       #6: Software Thoughts For Cloning your ...
JM

Our machine uses WinCNC. We keep a backup of the WinCNC folder on Google Drive. Free, and its just a drag and drop.

3/4/15       #7: Software Thoughts For Cloning your ...
B.H. Davis Member

Acronis True Image is quirky. If you go that route you want to boot to the CD you'll create when first installing the software. Trying to do a clone from Windows is very likely to fail. No damage but time wasted.

Even with that I can do Aronis clones on my office PC but it fails every time on my wife's desk PC. Both are running Windows 8.

I had even worse luck with Easeus Todo. Worked the first one or two times I did clones with it then never worked again.

In spite of all that you are definitely on the right track going the clone back up route. I just wouldn't leave the cloned HDD in the PC. A power surge that gets through would fry both the original and cloned HDDs. I do my cloning through a HDD docking station and keep the cloned drive on the shelf. I do a new clone once a month.

BH Davis


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