Question 1

Can this Dock/Dup.  SATADOCK2REU3 clone from HDD to SSD?

Accepted Answer

For a direct clone (i.e., dock not connected to PC, using its built-in copy function) then yes, it will clone HDD to SSD as long as the SSD is at least as large as the HDD. If the HDD's raw capacity  is larger, direct copy won't work. However, if the HDD's occupied space is small enough, you can connect the dock to your PC, mount the drives, then use 3rd-party partitioning software to resize/copy the partitions as needed. This does require some knowledge about how to move/resize/copy partitions, while the direct copy requires just a single button press on the front panel.

The speed of the copy is limited by the speed of the HDD, so it may take a while for large drives, a couple of hours or more for large, slow HDDs.

Yes, if the HDD is smaller, you should make a second pass with the dock connected to your PC along with appropriate partitioning software to resize the copied partition(s) as needed/desired. The more free allocated space the SSD has, the longer it will last.
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I have successfully used both methods with my dock.

Question 2

I would greatly appreciate it if some owner helps me the following:

1) Have you had any issue with "USB Device Not Recognized" by Windows 7?
2) Can Windows 7 read/write each HDD independently?
3) Does the Destination HDD need to be blank for cloning?
4) Does the Destination HDD need to be same size as the Source HDD?

Thank you.

Accepted Answer

Once I learned how to use it I have had no issues.  You have to decide whether you are using it as a dock or using the duplicator software installed in it independently.  Works fine with Windows 7

Yes Windows 7 can read/write each independently.
No the destination does not need to be blank.
No the destination does not need to be the same size.

Note, I used Casper 8.0 which does not require/limit the drive to be the same size and it allows the disk to be copied with the remaining space free regardless of size of drive.

Some of the other software requires you to change the size of the partition after, which is a two step process and Casper makes it a one-step process.

Question 3

does this come with good instructions on how to operate it and any software for it ???

Accepted Answer

I agree with all of the other answers. You don't even have to connect it to a computer to clone and erase drives. It will do these functions as a stand-alone device.

I believe the instructions are an easy-to-follow one-page flyer printed on front and back. (I can't find it now, but you can download it from the manufacturer's website.) Also, the device provides good feedback so you can tell if you are doing it correctly or not.

Question 4

Can you use this for laptop harddrives also?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Although the slots on the top of the unit are big enough for "desktop-sized" hard drives (3.5"), the two spring-loaded doors covering each slot are engineered so that when you insert a "laptop-sized" drive (2.5") correctly, only one of the doors is opened, and the other fills in the extra space and keeps the undersized drive from flopping around.

Question 5

I want to clone my hard drive. The DVD drive in the computer I have is broken. Does this device require installing any software ? If so can the drivers be downloaded ?

Accepted Answer

If you remove your hard drive from your computer, insert the source in HDD1 slot and your new drive in HDD2 slot then you can clone without using software.

Please note that these two hard drives should be the same capacity (both 500 GB for example) or at least the destination drive must be higher capacity (greater GB or TB) than the source drive.

To have your hard drive still in your computer and only the new drive in this StarTech dock you will have to use software do do the clone as the docked hard drive is only acting like an external drive at that point.

Question 6

Is this only for cloning or could I use this to make use of some old HDDs?  They are perfectly good and I could use the extra storage space.  Thanks!

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can use it as an external hard drive dock. I currently have a 2TB drive inserted into it for extra storage and it works perfectly.

Question 7

Will this product clone any 2.5  ssd to any 2.5 hdd?7 I want to copy videos on my ssd to a 1tb hdd for storage purposes.    This is a question

Accepted Answer

Yes so long as both drives are recognized by the dock. It does not have to be connected to a pc either.

Notice: Cloning to a larger drive it will only clone the size of the smaller drive and all partitions of the smaller drive.

Question 8

How long will a clone of a 1Tb 7200 RPM SATA Drive take?

Accepted Answer

I think the largest disk I have copied is 512GB and I really don't remember how long it took.  I don't think it was more than an hour or two.

Question 9

does this handle different size.  for example disk 1 is 500GB and disk 2 SSD only 250GB.  Does clone function work?

Accepted Answer

This does not support downsizing partitions. The destination drive has to be => the source drive. If you do clone to a larger drive, the partition will still be the size of the source but can be expanded in windows to utilize the un-partitioned space.

Question 10

Does the target HDD need to have a partition ready? Or can I just buy one from New Egg Plugin and start to clone?

Accepted Answer

Drives are cloned - no partition on target required. If partition on target exists, it is overwritten during cloning process.

Target drive should be the same size or larger than the source drive. Even if your source has a small partition. In other words if you have a 100GB source drive with a 25GB partition and the remainder is free space, you will need a 100GB drive to clone to. If you only want that 25GB partition to be cloned to say a 40GB drive, then you will need another tool.

This dock can be connected to your computer directly as well and your O/S will see the drive(s) much like an external USB drive.

Questions & Answers