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How do I transfer all the contents of one external hard drive (only data files here) to another external hard drive?

Anonymous
2020-08-26T03:10:35+00:00

I want to empty a 1TB external drive onto a new 2 TB external drive. I have another need for the 1 TB unit. There are no programs on the 1 TB drive, only data files. What's the simplest or fastest or easiest way to accomplish that task?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-08-26T03:16:48+00:00

    Hi and thanks for reaching out. My name is William. I'm a Windows technical expert. I'll be happy to help you out today.

    Connect both drives to the same computer > open 2 instances of file explorer > copy the files from the 1TB drive to the 2TB drive. You may then quick format the old 1TB drive to make all the space available again.

    Note, although you can move the data instead of copy, I recommend against it. I have done a few data migrations and have seen a few done by co-workers where move was done instead of copy and the process would "hiccup" leaving both source and destination missing data.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-08-26T03:13:42+00:00

    I want to empty a 1TB external drive onto a new 2 TB external drive. I have another need for the 1 TB unit. There are no programs on the 1 TB drive, only data files. What's the simplest or fastest or easiest way to accomplish that task?

    Hi, just connect both hdds to windows and drag/drop all files using file explorer, in file explorer choose all the files you need by dragging over them, and dropping them to your other drive, please mark my answer as accepted if it worked.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-08-26T11:39:36+00:00

    Thanks, everyone. Consistent answers. I was hoping for a quick fix, but it sounds like those who have the experience are of one mind. More than good enough for me.

    Really surprised by the quickness of the responses. Makes a forum like this worthwhile.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2020-08-26T03:29:39+00:00

    Hi and thanks for reaching out. My name is William. I'm a Windows technical expert. I'll be happy to help you out today.

    Connect both drives to the same computer > open 2 instances of file explorer > copy the files from the 1TB drive to the 2TB drive. You may then quick format the old 1TB drive to make all the space available again.

    Note, although you can move the data instead of copy, I recommend against it. I have done a few data migrations and have seen a few done by co-workers where move was done instead of copy and the process would "hiccup" leaving both source and destination missing data.

    Everyone who has responded so far recommends the same method. So, I guess that's what I'll do. Thanks.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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