Simple Way to Switch Boot Drives but Keep Config?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi. I have three hard drives:
-a C drive from which I boot XP and run the majority of my programs
-an I drive where I keep my pagefile, temporary directory, and various
other files
-and an F drive which I use for other storage, and where I've
installed some programs

My F drive (250 GB, 130 GB free) is much larger and newer than my C
drive (40 GB, 16 GB free). I'd like to know the simplest, surest-fire,
least-hassle way of rejigging things so that my system boots off of my
F drive and yet DOES NOT lose any programs or configuration...

Perhaps move enough stuff from F to I that the stuff on F is <40 GB,
then make images of C and F and switch the drives they're on, then
switch the BIOS boot sequence? Or is there a simpler or better way? If
that's the best way, would PartitionMagic be the best program to do
it?

Does it have an easy way of flip-flopping the images? Would drive
letters remain the same? Would DriveImage or Ghost be essential?

This just seems like a pain and I would hate to have a working
configuration go into conniptions just because I made the stupid
decision to try make it last a bit longer than it otherwise would.

Thanks.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

"Akilesh Ayyar" <shivohum@nobletree.com> wrote in message
news:i7dce15e6dmoj96m99qrqnq0pr3dq6km8m@4ax.com...
> Hi. I have three hard drives:
> -a C drive from which I boot XP and run the majority of my programs
> -an I drive where I keep my pagefile, temporary directory, and various
> other files
> -and an F drive which I use for other storage, and where I've
> installed some programs
>
> My F drive (250 GB, 130 GB free) is much larger and newer than my C
> drive (40 GB, 16 GB free). I'd like to know the simplest, surest-fire,
> least-hassle way of rejigging things so that my system boots off of my
> F drive and yet DOES NOT lose any programs or configuration...
>
> Perhaps move enough stuff from F to I that the stuff on F is <40 GB,
> then make images of C and F and switch the drives they're on, then
> switch the BIOS boot sequence? Or is there a simpler or better way? If
> that's the best way, would PartitionMagic be the best program to do
> it?
>
> Does it have an easy way of flip-flopping the images? Would drive
> letters remain the same? Would DriveImage or Ghost be essential?
>
> This just seems like a pain and I would hate to have a working
> configuration go into conniptions just because I made the stupid
> decision to try make it last a bit longer than it otherwise would.
>
> Thanks.


AA:
There are a variety of ways to achieve your objective. I note Galen has
recommended the clone maxx program and Timothy Daniels the Caspar XP
program. No doubt they should be considered by you.

For what it's worth here's another suggestion...

Why not move *all* your data from your F: drive to the I: drive. You didn't
indicate the capacity of your I: drive, but I'm assuming it would be
sufficient to hold its present contents together with that of your I: drive.
And I'm further assuming you could successfully move any programs from one
drive to another. But that *could* be a problem if you don't have the
installation media for some or all of those programs. Migrating program
files between drives is frequently problematical without the installation
media.

But assuming the above poses no problems, then, using a disk imaging
program, e.g., Symantec's Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image, or perhaps the
ones previously recommended, clone the contents of your C: drive to the F:
drive and connect/configure your F: drive as the booting drive. Now you can
use your former C: drive for add'l storage or whatever. Does that sound
practical?

If you decide to go that route, after you've connected/configured that 250
GB drive, make sure you disconnect the other two drives *before your first
boot* with your new bootable drive. Assuming the boot is successful, and it
should be, then re:connect the other drives, making sure they're
connected/configured properly.
Anna