So on my laptop running XP, I have Autocad and LDD 2007.
The harddrive is starting to make grinding sounds, so it's on its way out. I have found the Autocad disc, but not the LDD disk.
Is there any way at all I can mirror my failing drive, so I can keep LDD and Autocad without reinstalling?
Look at Macrium Reflect.
You can get the shareware version, install a new second hard drive in your machine, and migrate the old drive to the new drive.
Acronis is a long established cloning program and free if you are transferring to a new Western Digital Drive http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119
The problem you may have is that laptops don't often have 2 hard drive slots.
The use of a separate USB or eSATA linked hard drive enclosure or adapter will then be necessary. Get the fastest one you can use on your machine ie eSATA, usb 3.0, usb 2.0, usb 1.0 (ouch!) in that order of preference. Depends on what connections you have on your machine. usb 2.0 can be a bit temperamental with drivers etc; as well. It may not be set-up right on your laptop.
http://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/migrating-to-ssd-get-yourself-a-new-computer-without-getting-one/
Alternatively you should be able to put the old (and new) drive into another machine to do the cloning operation. I would be slightly nervous that the other machine might do something to the old drive though, ie change it just a tiny bit when it reads it for the first time.
i missed the word "laptop". Never mind. :-$
I wouldn't recommend cloning a 10+ year old machine, too much windows bloat, not to mention XP is no longer supported.
Instead make sure your backup is good, and in addition, start copying your custom files like symbol manager and borders etc to a cloud system like Dropbox.
Find the discs and prepar for new machine.
Windows 7 is getting hard to find, but it is a superior OS for laptop memory management and battery conservation.
It's like working on a studebaker in your shop. Sure, it's a fun hobby, but you still have a daily driver to get to work.
