What is the command prompt for copying my hard to another hard drive ?

Started by Zohreh, March 30, 2022, 03:46:42 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Zohreh

I haven't access to windows or safe mode :( so can I copy the information from the hard to another hard drive by command prompt?

Geek-9pm


ngc2392

put the disk to another (working) pc and there copy all the data?

DaveLembke

The drive can be installed into another healthy computer as a 2nd drive to access data as  ngc2392 stated assuming data is not encrypted on drive. If encrypted you will have to unlock it.

If you dont have a 2nd computer an alternative is to get a Live Linux USB stick or DVD. Boot the system off of the USB Stick or DVD and when Linux is loaded such as Linux Mint Live Distro or another Live distro of choice. You can then navigate the hard drive to access data on it and Linux will not alter the drive unless you tell it to. You can then plug in another USB stick or an External Hard Drive and copy the data from the HDD internal to system to an external storage device. When done you simply can shut down the computer by normal means of telling it to shut down. Remove the Linux Live Distro and I am assuming you will be installing a new clean install of Windows to the drive that you want to back the data up from. Make sure the media/external drive that was connected when backing up data is removed from system and install Windows clean. Then insert the media/external drive and copy your data back to a clean install of Windows.

It will be way easier to use the GUI of Linux Desktop OS to navigate to your data and you can copy/paste it to destination of choice instead of going the route of trying to do all this from a command prompt environment!

https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/burn.html

https://linuxmint.com/download.php


Lisa_maree

You can use the xcopy command the syntex is as follows:

Windows 10 and 11 syntax and switches
XCOPY source [destination] [/A | /M] [/D[:date]] [/P] [/S [/E]] [/V] [/W] [/C] [/I] [/Q] [/F] [/L] [/G] [/H] [/R] [/T] [/U] [/K] [/N] [/O] [/X] [/Y] [/-Y] [/Z] [/B] [/J] [/EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...] [/COMPRESS]
source   Specifies the source of the file(s) to copy.
destination   Specifies the destination location or name of the new files.
/A   Copies only files with the archive attribute set; it doesn't change the attribute.
/M   Copies only files with the archive attribute set, turns off the archive attribute.
/D:m-d-y   Copies files changed on or after the specified date. If no date is given, copies only those files whose source time is newer than the destination time.
/EXCLUDE:file1 [+file2][+file3]...   Specifies a list of files containing strings. When any of the strings match any part of the absolute file path to be copied, that file is excluded from being copied. For example, specifying a string like \obj\ or .obj excludes all files underneath the directory obj or all files with the .obj extension, respectively.
/P   Prompts you before creating each destination file.
/S   Copies directories and subdirectories except for empty ones.
/E   Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones. Same as /S /E. It may be used to modify /T.
/V   Verifies each new file.
/W   Prompts you to press a key before copying.
/C   Continues copying even if errors occur.
/I   If the destination does not exist and copies more than one file, it assumes that the destination must be a directory.
/Q   Does not display file names while copying.
/F   Displays full source and destination file names while copying.
/L   Displays files that would be copied.
/G   Allows the copying of encrypted files to a destination that does not support encryption.
/H   Copies hidden and system files also.
/R   Overwrites read-only files.
/T   Creates directory structure but does not copy files. Does not include empty directories or subdirectories. /T /E includes empty directories and subdirectories.
/U   Copies only files that already exist in the destination.
/K   Copies attributes. Normal xcopy resets read-only attributes.
/N   Copies using the generated short names.
/O   Copies file ownership and ACL information.
/X   Copies file audit settings (implies /O).
/Y   Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file.
/-Y   Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file.
/Z   Copies networked files in restartable mode.
/B   Copies the symbolic link itself versus the target of the link.
/J   Copies using unbuffered I/O. We recommend for very large files.
/COMPRESS   Request network compression during file transfer, where applicable.

so the syntex to copy the users folder is
xcopy c:\users  d: /E /F
You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."
― John Bunyan

DaveLembke

QuoteI haven't access to windows or safe mode

Biggest issue is that they need to have a OS that is functional to being able to use XCOPY... and if going through all the trouble of a functional OS to copy data, that's why I suggested the ease of the Linux path to copying data from a drive that has a broken Windows OS to another external device.

Lisa_Maree's method works if able to get a Windows up to a healthy state or some other method of getting to DOS with NTFS large disk and USB support to copy data.