standalone HDD duplicator

Can anyone recommend a standalone HDD duplicator for home use?

I’ve read that some work well but can damage your drives and the documentation doesn't warn you about it.

 

http://majorgeeks.com/HDClone_Free_Edition_d3809.html

Copying the data from one drive to another won't damage anything that is in working order,just make sure the drive your cloning has smaller or identical capacity to the secondary drive.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. That's another software solution like Acronis True Image or Macrium Reflect. It is one I hadn't heard of before, so I'll look into it.

Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a hardware item like Aluratek 2.5/3.5" Sata Hard Drive Duplicator carried at Office Max or Bytecc 2.5" & 3.5" Hard Drive Stand Alone Duplicator Dock - T-203 carried at Fry's. Has anyone used either of these?

Also, is there anything software or hardware that will allow copying to a smaller target drive? Seems the new drive always has to be as big or larger to allow copying.

 

Only if your doing a direct clone which is an exact image of a drive,many utilities allow you to specify how much size the image takes up on the drive but only if the the used space is smaller than the drive your copying to otherwise you have to manually compress or remove files to make them fit,an alternative way is to shrink the drive volume in disk management to a size smaller than the drive your cloning to.

Hmmm it would be helpful if you could explain what your tryning to accomplish,if you want to simply have two copies of the same drive,one as backup in case of main drive failure you can setup a raid 1 array without purchasing any external hard ware.

Alternatively you can just connect a secondary drive and save a backup image to it or configure windows to schedule automatic backups.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5783794_create-windows-backup-image.html

I'm not familiar with those products.

 

OOPS!How could I have a backup reply without MA's guide.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=27238

 

By standalone do you mean hardware.. like
http://www.cooldrives.com/index.php/sadrclhasosi.html
Simple and Fast SATA to SATA HDD/SSD Sector Copy Device

 

I like the "toaster" (upright design) better.

Here's one with SATA III and USB 3.0 that also allows you to duplicate drives without connecting to your PC (and it's only $35 - less than half of what I paid for a similar USB 2.0 model a little over a year ago):

http://www.directron.com/clenc50038.html

 

Thanks so much for the recommendation, gman863. That is along the lines of what I wanted to know about. It is half the price of the Aluratek at Office Max.

I know I need to do a better job on backing up my computers. I think it would be nice to have a spare duplicate drive, so if any misfortune should befall, I could just pop in the duplicate and update and go on.

 

Thanks so much for the recommendation, gman863. That is along the lines of what I wanted to know about. It is half the price of the Aluratek at Office Max.

I know I need to do a better job on backing up my computers. I think it would be nice to have a spare duplicate drive, so if any misfortune should befall, I could just pop in the duplicate and update and go on.

I haven't decided if I will go with a hardware solution or stick with software for now, but at least I have options.