Cloning Hard Disk

[DrMaestro]

Hi,

I am planning to buy a new computer. The old one is going to go to my father. I am very happy with my present operating system configuration and I don't want to install windows, all the drivers and my actual settings again. I have two hard disks. One has three partitions (C,F,G) , the other one doesn't have any partition (I). I am planning to transfer my second hard disk (I) to my new computer. I'll leave the first one (C,F,G) to my father (after formatting it). As my operating system is in drive C, I also want to copy all of the contents of C,F and G to a new harddisk. What is the best way to copy all of the content of a hard disk to a new one? I thougt about adding the new hard disk to my actual setup, using windows explorer to copy all the partitions (well, of course after creating the same partitions on the new drive). But I am not sure if I can add a new hard disk because I have 2 SATA disks, 1 DVD writer and one CD writer. Removing (I) may be a solution but I am not sure about it. I heard about Norton Ghost. Will it be helpful in my situation?
To summarize:
What is the best way to copy an entire harddisk's contents to be able to use the same software configuration.

Thanks...

 

[4Ryan6]

Acronis True Image 10 / 15 day free trial

 

[RJ]

Hi,

I am planning to buy a new computer. The old one is going to go to my father. I am very happy with my present operating system configuration and I don't want to install windows, all the drivers and my actual settings again. I have two hard disks. One has three partitions (C,F,G) , the other one doesn't have any partition (I). I am planning to transfer my second hard disk (I) to my new computer. I'll leave the first one (C,F,G) to my father (after formatting it). As my operating system is in drive C, I also want to copy all of the contents of C,F and G to a new harddisk. What is the best way to copy all of the content of a hard disk to a new one? I thougt about adding the new hard disk to my actual setup, using windows explorer to copy all the partitions (well, of course after creating the same partitions on the new drive). But I am not sure if I can add a new hard disk because I have 2 SATA disks, 1 DVD writer and one CD writer. Removing (I) may be a solution but I am not sure about it. I heard about Norton Ghost. Will it be helpful in my situation?
To summarize:
What is the best way to copy an entire harddisk's contents to be able to use the same software configuration.

Thanks...

It sounds like you're doing more work than necessary. Are you thinking that your old hard drive and OS will be on your new comp? You do realize that it will ask to be reactivated by Windows? Changing that much hardware will definitely tilt the OS. Then you'll have to load all of the necessary drivers, like chipset, ethernet, etc. What OS will your father have? You mentioned formatting his drive. That'll leave it blank.

Why not just use file and settings transfer wizard? That'll put all of your desktop and start menu tweaks on your new comp. Put F & G on the "I" drive, since you'll be taking that with you. you could ZIP the 2 partitions if room is an issue.

If there's a "lack of available connector" issue on the new comp, you could buy an external case for your "I" hard drive and simply plug it into an available USB port to transfer the files to the new comp.

I "THINK" this is what you're looking to do... I hope it helps.

 

[DrMaestro]

Hi,

Thank you very much for your answers.

I heard about Acronis. It seems to do what I intend to. I wonder how much free space do you need to make an image of yoru hard disk? Does it use compression? Also how do you "expand" the image if there is no operating system present on the new computer (using a bootable CD maybe?)

The reactivation process should not be a real problem. I'll have to call Microsoft support and tell them about my new setup. Maybe they'll ask for some kind of proof about my situation.

The driver problem bothers me a lot. I am planning to change my CPU (probably a core 2 duo), my mainboard (actually an Asus P4P 800), buy 2 Gigs of ram, a new harddisk (300 Gigs or so), and also change my display adapter. I'll use my old sound card (X-Fi), my ADSL modem, printer, scanner and one of my older harddisks (hopefully). If you look at it that way, it looks like a big upgrade instead of a new computer. The display adapter should not cause a big problem. Before cloning I intend to go to a lower resolution and uninstall my former adapter's drivers. This way, it'll be able to boot with the new card. The new CPU, the new harddisk,the ram will not require any drivers or installation. I don't remember if I installed anything for my mainboard 3 years ago when I built the system, then I'll have to uninstall it also (maybe the network adapters). The OS for my father will probably be a new OEM Windows (I have been told that if I buy an OEM component, which I'll do, I am entitled to buy an OEM version of Windows XP, which is cheaper. I may also consider Linux because my father won't install any games or PC compatible software and Linux has a lot of free software for surfing or word processing, etc.

I don't have a lot of information about file and settings transfer wizard. While I want to be able to preserve my Windows setup and preferences, it is more important for me to transfer my work related files to my new computer. As I have 4 hard disk partitions, I fear I'll forget some of them and when,later, I'll need them it will be too late. This is why I want to transfer my "I" drive and clone my C,F and G drives. This way, I have everything with me, and I also have much more free space due to the bigger size of my new harddisk (C,F and G's total size is approx. 120 Gb. The new harddisk'll probably be 300 Gb. ,which will leave me 180 Gb. free after the cloning process).

About "the lack of available connector" issue: I always thougt I'd need a connector on my old computer but you mentioned this issue for my new computer. Finding a connector on my new computer wouldn't be a problem. So can I mount my old harddisk to my new computer and also the new harddisk, boot with windows and then clone the drive to the new harddisk, shutdown, remove the old harddisk, boot with the new harddisk?

Thank you very much and sorry for the long post.

 

[alcattle]

Yes doing a clone is not that bad, and also what you are thinking about mounting both drives should work also. You need to de-activate the boot sector on the old drive. XP will try to do this or there are many programs that work. You could even use a Live CD in Linux for part of the work. I have Partition Magic 8 but Ghost does cloning also.

 

[RJ]

I've got partition commander on a floppy for any partition copying or backups I do. You could always try loading the new drivers on the old comp, just so they're in the system, before you copy your OS to a new hard drive, then install it in the new comp.

OEM Windows means it won't have any "tech support"...that's why it's cheaper. If you were building a bunch of computers and selling them....YOU'RE the tech support.

Is that why you come here anyway?....for tech support?

 

[Mondoman]

... So can I mount my old harddisk to my new computer and also the new harddisk, boot with windows and then clone the drive to the new harddisk, shutdown, remove the old harddisk, boot with the new harddisk? ...

Probably not. Since you are switching to a new motherboard and CPU, presumably with a completely different chipset and other hardware, you will likely have to first reinstall Windows, either from scratch or as a "repair install". This is because when you install Windows, part of the installation process is the creation of a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) specific to the hardware on your motherboard. Changing this hardware (new MB) without changing the HAL is likely to result in failure of Windows to boot properly and/or instability once it boots. I certainly wouldn't want to be copying important data in either of those scenarios.
I would suggest going the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard route.