Using cloning software on a HDD drive

Hi,

I bought a Sandisk Conversion Kit to convert both my PC and laptop to SSD. I now have a further use for the software and cables that came with the kit and would appreciate advice on how best to tackle it, assuming it’s even possible.

I have a Windows XP laptop (standard HDD drive) with technical software on it and need a back up in case this quite old machine fails, as some of the software will not upgrade to W7 or higher. I’ve bought an identical XP-powered laptop, also with a standard HDD drive. Is it feasible to clone the existing laptop on to the new machine’s HDD using the USB-to-SATA Wire cable supplied with the kit? My main concern is whether the cable will enable powering up the new laptop’s HDD if I remove it for that operation.

Thanks,

Ian

HDD use a bit more power than than SSD but if the HDD can be recognized by the PC when connected to the SATA to USB cable it should work unless there is some sort of product lock in the software that will only see a sandisk drive. 

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Hi drlucky,

Thanks for that.  I’ll give it a go and see what happens.  I guess I’ll have to format the HDD first, assuming I can get laptop to recognise it.  If I need to register the XP software, I assume I can use the licence that comes with the “new” laptop or that for a copy I have from an old PC.

I’ll report back in due course, in case anybody else can benefit in future.

Thanks again,

Ian

Hi again drlucky,

I’m glad to report that the cloning process worked just fine on the HDD.  The laptop recognised the HDD and there was power through the special connector to run it.

The only part of the cloning that didn’t work entirely as hoped was that a piece of software on the original laptop that required a dongle version of the licence will, for now, only work in demo mode, but that’s enough till I can get to the dongle to make the change complete.  I didn’t even have to format the HDD, but guess that must have been part of the process as there’s no longer any sign of the original XP installation.

Thanks again,

Ian