Copying contents of Hard drive

[danbeaver]

The quickest way is not the easiest way, that being said, your HDD is likely set to master, so the IDE-to-CF card adapter should be set to slave; using a two connector IDE cable (Amigakit or ebay) once the CF card is all formated and set to be boot able, set its boot priority to less than that of the HDD; then just use the copy command: >COPY HDD:  CF: ALL CLONE QUIET

If you have extra memory, then add a buffer to help with using the same bus for both drives: >COPY HDD:  CF: ALL CLONE QUIET BUF=1000.

Once the copy is finished remove the HDD and set the CF card to master.

[danbeaver]

The OS uses RAM for the cache/buffer.  442_Mike is correct, a PCMCIA is an excellent option as the transfer uses one bus for reads and another for writes.

[danbeaver]

Emulation, the soul of mankind!

[danbeaver]

Unless your failing hard drive can last a year doing so, Parnet is not the way to copy a hard disk, a few files, maybe.  If you have been emulating before and understand all the ins-&-outs of handling a HDD, then this is a fast option. If you need to "come up to speed" learning emulation, then it will take quite a while.  With a double connector IDE cable, after you make your copy, you can connect an IDE CDROM and install some software (OS3.9, games, internet browsers, and just copy thing from a PC by just burning a CD).