Need a new HD and want to swap OS onto it

[hardyb]

I have a 160gb 16mb, 7200rpm Raid Edition WD drive with everything on it and I want to get a faster drive for my os and applications and turn the one described into a data drive. Is there a way to get everything on the new one and erase the old one? I was looking at the 74gb raptor, any suggestions for a fast os/app drive. Is Sata150 compatible with sata3.0gb? I have OEM xp on the old drive and I just want to copy everything and run it identically. Thanks guys

Brock

 

[choirbass]

use a program like norton ghost to create a disk image of your OS hdd... i havent used norton ghost myself, but that way you should be able to carry over everything to your new hdd, in the same condition it is when you created the image, an exact duplicate essentially... and then you can use your 160GB as just a data hdd

also, the 74GB 16MB ADFD raptor is an excellent OS hdd (and a current top performance consumer hdd, faster than the 150GB raptor even), its a tad pricey, considering the capacity (~$140-150), but what raptor isnt?... sata300 is infact backwards compatable with sata150. no current hdd is fast enough to saturate the bandwidth of either interface anyhow

 

[evongugg]

I recommend Acronis True Image. I have done that transfer many times with no problem.

 

[hardyb]

If I use a program like that, I dont have to worry about the copying of the os? Do I have to reregister and all of that by calling MS and getting key renewed?

 

[aBg_rOnGak]

I have both Norton Gost 8.2 and Acronis True Image Home 10.0.Both Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image are good, but with Acronis, you can use mouse when booting from cd, it's easier to understand and use IMO.


About the os and apps, don't worry about it. They are image/ 100% same as the source (your original hard disk with the os and apps installed)

 

[zjohnr]

There's also DriveImage XML from Runtime Software. As far as features and usability go, I am sure that it is not as good as the others mentioned. However, it does have one feature which really makes it shine ... at least for me.

It's free.

I've been able to use it to create a compressed image of my OS partition and then "restore" that image to another hard drive. Seems to work fine. My biggest problem was that I had to have the hard drive connected directly to my motherboard. I tried using a USB attached external drive bit it also failed with some undecipherable error message. But aside from that annoyance, it worked fine.

It supports using XP's "Shadow Copy" capability so you can do a "hot copy" from a partition currently in use (e.g. the OS partition). That's the mode I used it in. Runtime also claims you can put on a WinPE boot CD-ROM which would be another way to make a copy of the OS partition.

-john, the ostensibly clueless redundant legacy-in-transition dinosaur

 

[zjohnr]

If I use a program like that, I dont have to worry about the copying of the os? Do I have to reregister and all of that by calling MS and getting key renewed?

That depends entirely on whether or not Microsoft thinks you've changed your hardware "too much" or not. If you're just moving to another hard drive I wouldn't expect them to require you to to reauthorize your system. But they might.

You shouldn't need to call them up to do it though. As was said previously, because it's an image of your current OS, all your drivers should be there and you'll have network access to the Internet so you can do the re-authentication that way if you need to.

-john

 

[hardyb]

Right now I am running the 160gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136062

With a single partition. I just built this on Saturday because I needed a pc now. I want to add a second hdd and make this one the data drive. All I need to do is make an image on the second drive and it works identically to the first one??? That easy???

How much space do I need for a os/app drive and is really worth getting a raptor? will I notice a difference. My main goal is load time, install, just quick all around. I hope im not getting over my head (this is a first time build)

Thanks guys,
Brock

 

[Hawkeye22]

Acronis has a 15 day free trial that is 100% functional (just like retail).

I have TrueImage9 and it works great.

 

[hardyb]

I noticed the data recovery xml software states I cant restore an image to a smaller partition so I would need to repartition my hdd down to a 74gb if I wanted a 74gb raptor for os/app. How can I repartition to get my current drive down without erasing...

Brock

 

[hardyb]

Thanks for all of your input guys...I couldnt have built and certainly couldnt be doing this without you guys


Brock

 

[choirbass]

a program such as partition magic should allow you to shrink your existing partition down to the 74GB required (thats the unformatted amount though), formatted with NTFS, itll have to be shrunk down to 68GB (which is still more than is needed for an os hdd, if youre only storing the os and applications on it)

as far as performance difference between it, and a marginally slower, yet much larger (current) 7200rpm drive... there isnt a whole lot, to be honest... with a raptor, youll be able to access files quicker, and load them quicker, and boot into windows quicker, but again, it will only be by just a few seconds on average (making your os that much more responsive as well)...

if youre more concerned about the price/performance/capacity ratio though (compared to other consumer hdds)... raptors as a whole are way outmatched... a more ideal hdd in that case would be a hdd such as a seagate 320GB 7200.10 sata hdd, for <$100... its closer to the performance of the older 36GB/74GB 8MB GD series raptors, which is still fast nonetheless, but offers much greater capacity

not to mention the seagate runs cooler and is quieter as well, primarily due to the RPM difference (10k to 7.2k)

 

[hardyb]

So are the raptors just benchmark beast and nothing more for highnormal users (not a freak but I like it)? I really like WD but if the only thing that is better than what I have being the raptors then I might just leave it alone and add a larger version of what I have for data.

Brock

 

[AdamBomb42]

Ghost 8 is my fav.

 

[hardyb]

I dont know now, I have been reading and a raptor seems kinda worth it?!?!? I dont know what to do, I just want a really fast os/app but I dont know if it would be much faster then what I have

brock

 

[choirbass]

they dont have the WD 160GB 16MB raid edition listed, but they do have the WD 250GB 16MB SE version... so, it should be fairly close in performance, within a few MB/s either way... but, here is the 74GB raptor, and the 250GB SE compared:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage.html?modelx=33&model1=580&model2=136&chart=34

the 74GB ADFD raptor (with NCQ both enabled and disabled) averages anywhere from ~30-50% faster, depending on which benchmark you choose

 

[hardyb]

That was a great reference....that makes me want the raptor. I was leaning toward getting a 250 version of what I have and making it the data and leaving it alone. But that makes me want the raptor...Im stuck

Brock

 

[choirbass]

, yeah, you certainly wont be disappointed with its performance, thats for sure... itll probably be a little louder and run a tad hotter than your existing hdd though, but those aside, its the ideal OS and application hdd...

theres another version too if youre open to it... the 36GB 16MB ADFD raptor, it should be faster than the other raptors even still, because it uses the same size platter as the 74GB and 150GB versions, just half disabled, and its only around $100... but the downside is its capacity, it may not be enough... but if speed is the main concern, its definetly worth considering... i just have to find a review on it, then ill be certain if it really is faster or not, i wouldnt doubt it though

edit: heres a pic someone took of performance on their 36GB adfd raptor using hdtach 3.0.1.0, on this forum: http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=426310&page=2

well, its about the same speed as the 74GB, almost exactly... i guess its main benefit is cost, lol... it has half the capacity, for about $50 less

 

[zjohnr]

I noticed the data recovery xml software states I cant restore an image to a smaller partition so I would need to repartition my hdd down to a 74gb if I wanted a 74gb raptor for os/app.

Sorry about that. It didn't occur to me when I recommended this app. My OS partition runs around 16GB so I never had any problems creating a destination partition which was large enough to hold it. 16GB may not seem like much for the OS partition, but so far it's been enough for me. It helps that I always change the "My Documents" folder to be on a folder of one of my data partitions/drives so it's not occupying any space in the OS partition.

Your best bet ... if you're still pondering an image file transfer ... may be to get and use the Acronis 15 day free trial which HawkEye22 described. If it is 100% functional then you should be able to find a way to backup your data and then restore it into a smaller partition.

Out of curiosity, just how much of the space on the 160GB drive are you currently using?

-john

 

[hardyb]

right now im using almost none because im getting it set up. I partition into 60 and 100 for now until I get new system drive