CLONE multiple drives to individual partitions on a single 4TB HDD?

I have three computers, each having a System drive and a Data drive:
Win7 laptop
Win10 desktop
Win11 minicomputer

I want to clone both drives from all three computers (6 drives in total) to a single 4TB HDD (mechanical drive).
The idea is to store the clone of each drive in its own directory/folder on the 4TB HDD.
I want to easily restore from a HDD directory to a reformatted (or fresh) drive in the original/source computer.

Three questions:

1. Can I do this?

2. What is the best FREE utility/software to accomplish cloning in both directions as described?

3. Is Western Digital WD40EZAX a solid choice in terms of reliability?
It seems a mechanical HDD is the right choice for dependable, long-term storage.
I read mixed reviews of WD drives lately. I read mixed reviews of ALL drives lately.
The WD40EZAX is CMR rather than SMR, but I won't RAID this drive, so problem...right?

Create system image backups rather than clones.

Also more space efficient.

cereberus said:

Create system image backups rather than clones.

Also more space efficient.

Click to expand...

I second this suggestion, cloning will be much more kludgy than doing image backups.

Thanks to you both, but no answers to my questions...

1. I assume I can simply save the system image files to the 4TB HDD.
As long as each has a unique name, that'll work.
No individual directories required.
Right?

2. I think I'll go with Hasleo Backup Suite Free.
Any warnings against it?

3. I see some troubling reports of DOA and QuickDeath regarding
the Western Digital 4TB WD40EZAX
and the 8TB WD40EZAX.
Any suggestions, for or against?

BothHands said:

Thanks to you both, but no answers to my questions...

1. I assume I can simply save the system image files to the 4TB HDD.
As long as each has a unique name, that'll work.
No individual directories required.
Right?

2. I think I'll go with Hasleo Backup Suite Free.
Any warnings against it?

Click to expand...

Sounds fine.

I cant help with reliability of the various HDD manufacturers

Spend more money per TB, you get a longer warranty and probably a bit longer life. Also, for maximum reliability, consider choosing a CMR based drive over an SMR based drive.

CMR vs SMR Hard Drives: Which one to Choose?

Having only 2 partitions is rare.
The default partitions for MBR is 3 and the default partitions for GPT is 4.


When functioning, a relatively quick method to view drive options for comparison may be the Crucial scanner:




Other factors depending upon risk assessment / insurance needs

a) acts of mother nature (California and Hawaii fires, Texas floods) > backup to the cloud (varying costs)

b) Threads in TF and EF > backup drive failure or damage (a drive that remains attached to the computer for active backup imaging has a power outage risk profile different from a drive offline or in another location)

c) Threads in TF and EF > failure to restore a backup image


Additional options:
An additional backup of only important files.
Backup registry
Backup drivers
etc.

gunrunnerjohn said:

Spend more money per TB, you get a longer warranty and probably a bit longer life. Also, for maximum reliability, consider choosing a CMR based drive over an SMR based drive.

CMR vs SMR Hard Drives: Which one to Choose?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the article. I had a general understanding of the two different technologies. Reading the article put a finer point on it. The Western Digital drive I have in mind uses CMR, and all things considered, I think that's probably the way to go.