[njdevil]

Hello, I have a WD (western digital) Book 2TB external drive with about 2000 movies loaded and I want to clone/ transfer everything to an identical WD Book drive. The drive has a USB 2.0 out put on it. I was wondering if there is a reliable device other than my computer that i can use to clone/ transfer them. If not what software would do the best job for me to clone. I believe the drive is rated at 480 Mb/s. Thanks for any info that might help.

Andrew

Edited by njdevil, 04 March 2010 - 02:41 PM.

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Hello,

Where did these 2000 movies you have come from?

-Tony

[ersatz]

Hello,

Where did these 2000 movies you have come from?

-Tony

[njdevil]

Tony, I have been collecting movies since the vcr was out and I bought about 1500 from a local video store i worked at before it closed down. It has taken me almost 3 years to put all the movies onto my drive and convert the vcr tapes to dvd. I wasnt thinking when I started and should have used a mirror drive from the beginning put my inexperience has won that battle

[ersatz]

Hello,

Sorry for the delay, I had to get some OK from the bosses. Any talk of movie copying requires a couple read throughs, I'm not going to help anyone do anything illegal. Since these movies are VHS, things go a little differently; It depends if the VHS tapes were protected by a technology known as Macrovision. If so, it is illegal to make a backup. You can read about it here.

As I have been given the OK, what you want to do is make an image of the drive. To do this, you will need some form of cloning software. There are many good, free ones out there, such as DriveImage XML, EaseUs Disk Copy, and XXClone. If you want to spend some money, some alternatives are Norton Ghost, or Acronis.

When you have the compressed image, you burn it to a CD, and boot it onto your other drive. It's a fairly straightforward process, and whichever software you choose will come with some sort of guide to carry you along.

If you need help, or questions on anything, don't be afraid to ask.

[123Runner]

If you are looking to just back up the drive so you have 2 copies, then I would not use whats called an image backup.
I would clone the drive as ersatz is suggesting.

Its the terminology that is in play here. An image is generally in a special format. A clone will give an exact copy.
Easeus Backup is an excellent and free program.

I would then use Syncback Free to then continue to back the drive up. It can back up every file or just ones that have changed. It can also do folders and sub folders.

123runner