Transfer?

[TomProx]

Hey, im planning on buying a new harddrive, and i was wondering if its possible to transfer over my operating system so i dont have to buy a new one? if so how? cheers

 

[tecmo34]

You can clone your current drive to place on the new drive, which should eliminate the need for a reinstall. Some programs to use include:
* Norton Ghost
* Acronis True Image

 

[purple stain]

I actually did the same thing 2 weeks ago.It will work but it takes a very long time.I moved the Windows OS to the new drive and a few other applications.But some of the applications kinda freak out so you might have to reinstall them.Simple drag and drop.

 

[TomProx]

So i could put the whole drive onto an external hard drive and once ive booted up my new computer with the new hard drive i can simply drag acrosss the say for instance " c " drive and the OS will come with it?

 

[purple stain]

Actually no.I forgot that you cannot copy over the OS because windows is using it.You'll have to re-install windows on that HD but everything else you can copy over.Or what tecmo34 said use one of those programs so you don't have to reinstall.

 

[TomProx]

The OS came with the computer, so will i have to re buy one? D:

 

[tecmo34]

You computer should have came with an OS disk or contact your manufacturer for a disk. You should not have to buy a new one for a "reinstall".

 

[TomProx]

In this case, the OS of my pc is 32 bit, think if i just buy 64bit itll improve my performance?

 

[tecmo34]

Only if you currently (or plan to) have 4GB or more of RAM in your system. If you are running less than 4 GB of RAM, it'll make no difference.

 

[purple stain]

What type of PC do you have?

Sometimes companies will partion part of the HD so theirs a copy of Windows on it.

 

[TomProx]

I currently have an Acer Aspire M3201

 

[purple stain]

Can you tell if your HDD has been partioned?

 

[tokencode]

Try R-drive image (r-tt.com) they have a 30-day free trial I believe.

 

[TomProx]

it appears that my HDD hasnt been partioned

 

[purple stain]

Well if their is no Windows CD and no Copy of Windows on your PC that isn't in use then theirs no way to copy it to the new Drive.

 

[TomProx]

God sake, so im going to be using only 4gbs of ram, a 32 bit OS will be enough for that yeah? its http://www.ebuyer.com/173122-corsair-4gb-2x2gb-ddr3-1600mhz-pc3-12800-xms3-i5-memory-kit-cl9-9-9-9-24-1-65v-cmx4gx3m2a1600c9 that should be enough to not bottle neck a 6870? if so can you link me windows 7 32 bit and windos vista 32 bit cheers

 

[purple stain]

I would reccomend staying with Windows 7.It's a lot less buggy than Vista.And you should only need the 32-bit version.

Do you have RAM already to add to or are you buying that RAM for a new system?
Are you sure it's the right RAM for the mobo?

It depends about the rest of your system for a bottleneck.What CPU do you have?

 

[TomProx]

ill post the whole system im going for

case: http://www.ebuyer.com/143854-antec-300-three-hundred-case-0761345-08300-3

CPU: http://www.ebuyer.com/190673-amd-phenom-ii-x4-955-black-edition-socket-am3-3-2-ghz-6mb-hdz955fbgmbox?affid=78888&affname=Skimbit%2F+Skimlinks&awc=2690_1312594658_ee812115115d6464d4581d4b05ad588c

GPU: http://www.ebuyer.com/271292-sapphire-hd-6870-1gb-gddr5-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-graphics-card-11179-09-20g?affid=78888&affname=Skimbit%2F+Skimlinks&awc=2690_1312594674_0825a11f8a6256eb6cfdb3e38ed18835

HDD http://www.ebuyer.com/173804-samsung-hd103sj-spinpoint-f3-1tb-hard-drive-sataii-7200rpm-32mb-cache-hd103sj

MOBO: http://www.ebuyer.com/206152-asus-m4a87td-usb3-870-socket-am3-8-channel-audio-atx-motherboard-m4a87td-usb3

PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/246651-antec-620w-high-current-gamer-psu-80plus-bronze-13-5cm-fan-3x-0761345-06209-1

RAM: http://www.ebuyer.com/173122-corsair-4gb-2x2gb-ddr3-1600mhz-pc3-12800-xms3-i5-memory-kit-cl9-9-9-9-24-1-65v-cmx4gx3m2a1600c9

 

[purple stain]

No that setup won't bottleneck at all.Although since you have a BE it's always reccmended to O.C. for even more performance.

 

[Zenthar]

With a 32 bits OS you maximum RAM will be slightly less than 4GB, probably in the range of 3.5-3.75GB depending if your video card uses part of the RAM.

Moreover, an OEM license is tied to the motherboard, not the HDD it was installed on so you can legally install it on another HDD on the same PC. However, I think many OEM ship them preactivated so I don't know how easily it can be reinstalled if you could get a hold of an installation DVD (license # should be on a sticker somewhere on the PC). A Windows 7 license is also valid for both 32 and 64 bits so switching should cause any licensing issue. I suggest you contact your PC's manufacturer and ask them how you should proceed to reinstall if you change the HDD; they might send you a "kit" for a few dollars (~20-30$).

 

[TomProx]

So with a 64 bit vista OS i can add more ram?

 

[tecmo34]

Yes, you can add more RAM up to the limit of your motherboard. With a 64-bit OS, it can utilize all your RAM, where as stated above, 32-bit is limited to 3.5GB.

 

[TomProx]

in that case i may aswell purchase a 64 bit edition, due to the fact i cant find any possible way of getting my OS onto the new hard drive, even after contacting acer

 

[Zenthar]

So with a 64 bit vista OS i can add more ram?

64 bits OS can use a tremendous amount of memory (over 16 Exabytes I think), but Windows imposes "artifical limitation" based on version; home premium is limited to 16 GB.

 

[TomProx]

Well i was gonna go for windows 7 64 bit home premium, because its the cheapest version i can find