Apricorn's DriveWire is one of the devices that, once in our possession, makes us wonder how we could do without them previously. The regular users that give it a try will smile with please while they transfer their data to the new hard drive, but it's the true veterans to rejoice.

No one likes to re-install and configure from scratch their operating system when replacing an old hard drive, not to mention that you won't be able to listen to your favorite MP3s until you install your soundcard drivers.

The Apricorn DriveWire will spare you the hassle and suggests an one-click hard-drive cloning operation. Business cloning software is usually expensive and somewhat difficult to master. Apricorn's solution takes a new approach at data cloning in a package including both the necessary hardware and software.

"As the leader in hard drive upgrade kits, our goal was to provide our customers with a truly universal upgrade kit that was both cost effective and easy-to-use," said Mike McCandless, Apricorn's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "When you combine the flexibility of DriveWire with the capabilities of Apricorn's Upgrade Suite you have the perfect data transfer solution for all of today's desktop and notebook computers, eliminating the need to purchase unique enclosures for every hard drive."

The cloning solution is comprised of the DriveWire universal hard drive adapter and the EZ Gig II cloning software. The hard drive adapter allows the user connect any SATA or PATA drive to the computer via an USB cable, and then access the data as they would have normally done. The hardware adapter may not seem so special, but it's the software to unleash its power.

The EZ Gig II software comes on a bootable CD that allows the user to clone the external drive, connected via the adapter. Since the computer boots from the disk, there is no restriction regarding the operating system. It is equally easy to clone your disk, no matter you are running Mac or Windows or Linux. Moreover, the software will surely not interfere or affect your operating system files.