Computer Help and Support

losing the good clone you had is rough.

I have had decent success on damaged drives with http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

If it fails as well the quickest way to move your personal data is to just copy the user folder. You will have to reinstall any software but unless you saved stuff to custom places that will get all your pics and docs. Be careful when restoring it though there is a hidden folder in there called app data that can bring over issues you had from your old install. I typically just drag the folders that have the data I want back to the new drive(pics docs etc) and leave out the app data folder.

The user folder is typically in c:users and then the folder will either have your user name or sometimes will be called default. there should only be a couple of user folders if you dig around in there you will will find the right one fairly quickly.

On the plus side as long as you don't erase the old drive you can always go back to it if you missed anything important.

Rebuilding is a pain but at least you have a nice fresh install that is error free.