If a drive clicks, disconnects, or makes Finder hang, every read can wear it further. Scanning it again and again is the riskiest thing you can do. Reco’s Copy first reads the whole drive once, start to end, into a single disk image on another drive. Then Reco scans the copy, not the drive. A tired drive is read one time instead of many.
This is the same idea data recovery labs use: image first, then work on the image. Copy first is free, like the rest of Reco.
When to use it
- The drive makes clicking or grinding noises, or disconnects on its own.
- Opening it in Finder hangs, or copying files off it stalls.
- An earlier scan returned unreadable sectors. Reco notices this: the next time you choose that drive it says it may be failing and turns on the copy for you.
- Drive Check-up says Copy it now or Worth watching. It offers a Copy this drive first button.
For a healthy SD card or USB stick, a normal scan is fine.
How to copy a drive first
- Connect a second drive with at least as much free space as the whole failing drive holds.
- Open Copy first from More ways Reco can help or the Tools menu, choose the drive, and click Set up a new copy. You can also turn on Copy the drive first, then scan the copy when you choose how to scan.
- Choose where to save the copy. Reco shows how much room that drive has and warns if it isn’t enough.
- Let it copy. The screen shows how much is copied, the speed, the time left, and how many spots couldn’t be read. Spots that can’t be read, or take too long, are stepped over and come back to at the end, so one bad patch doesn’t hold up the rest.
- Reco deep scans the copy. From here it’s a normal recovery: review, then recover to a different drive. You can unplug the failing drive once the copy is done. The copy stays until you delete it.
Stopping and carrying on
You can stop whenever you like. The copy keeps a .map file beside the .img, recording what it already has. To carry on, open Copy first, choose the same drive, click Pick up an unfinished copy… and pick the .img file. Reco continues from where it stopped. Without the .map file beside it, Reco can’t tell what’s already copied, and asks you to set up a new copy.
Honest limits
- It needs a lot of room. The copy is the size of the whole drive, not just the files on it.
- It can’t read what the drive can’t. Unreadable spots stay missing in the copy, and files stored there may come back partial or not at all.
- It’s for external drives and cards. Copy first isn’t offered for your Mac’s built-in disk.
- Drives macOS can’t see can’t be copied by any software. If a drive doesn’t show up in Disk Utility, or gets worse quickly, stop and talk to a data recovery lab.
Questions
How do I know if my drive is failing?
Clicking or grinding noises, disconnecting on its own, Finder hanging when you open it, or files that take ages to copy are all warning signs. Reco’s Drive Check-up shows what the drive reports about its own health.
How much space do I need to copy a drive?
As much free space as the whole drive holds, on a different drive. A 500 GB drive needs 500 GB free, however little is stored on it.
Can I stop the copy and carry on later?
Yes. Stop any time; the copy remembers what it already has. Open Copy first again and choose “Pick up an unfinished copy…” to carry on.
What if the drive doesn’t show up at all?
If it isn’t in Disk Utility, macOS can’t read it, so no software can copy it. A data recovery lab is the next step.