Swapping HDDs, drive letters

[tbonesteak4dinner]

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to make sure my logic was correct. I just replaced an internal 500GB HDD (on drive letter G: ) with an internal 3TB one which will now take its place on drive letter (G: ). OS is Win 7 64-bit.

My process:
Plug in new 3TB drive, which is assigned letter (H: ) after boot
Format 3TB HDD in GPT
Manually copy files from 500GB HDD (G: ) to 3TB HDD (H: ) using windows explorer
Change drive letter of old 500GB HDD from (G: ) to (I: )
Reboot
Change drive letter of new 3TB HDD from (H: ) to (G: )
Reboot
Wipe old 500GB HDD

Is this an okay method for this exchange? I was worried about registry issues, but since the new 3TB HDD has the old drive's letter (G: ), I assumed that the OS wouldn't even notice.

Also, the copy was from a 512b sector drive to a 4kb sector drive. Am I correct in assuming that there won't be any issues copying files manually through the standard windows explorer? I understand sectors are used internally by the HDD, so the OS shouldn't/doesn't care about sectors to begin with?

 

[sully5981]

I would not recommend it as there could be some registry files lost, misplaced, hidden, or in use. Best bet would be to just use a HD cloner. Or a fresh install always helps and speeds up the computer a little bit.

 

[Hawkeye22]

I would not recommend it as there could be some registry files lost, misplaced, hidden, or in use. Best bet would be to just use a HD cloner. Or a fresh install always helps and speeds up the computer a little bit.

This shouldn't be a problem if it's just a storage drive. If he has programs installed on this drive there is a good chance it will still work since the drive letter will be the same. He would just need to keep the directory tree structure the same. Cloning would eliminate any doubt.

 

[Paperdoc]

The sequence of installing and changing drive letter names is OK, but I agree that cloning is more reliable than simple copying to ensure ALL of your files are copied. Three points to help with cloning:

1. To do cloning you need a software utility. There are good ones you can buy, and some freeware. But the easiest and FREE way is often from the website of the maker of your NEW (3 TB in your case) HDD. For example, if you bought from Seagate, get their Disk Wizard. If you bought from WD, get their Acronis True Image WD Edition. For other HDD makers, check their websites. Download and install on your system. Next READ the manual that comes with - it will really help you understand what to do, AND all the other things these utilities can do beyond cloning.

2. The cloners I have used always have a default structure proposal for the new HDD (size and placement of Partitions, etc.) that they offer for your approval before proceeding. (You see, the first job is to Create one (or sometimes more) Partition (s) on the new HDD and Format it (them) so the info can be copied over.) I usually find the defaults are not suitable, and you need to NOT approve them and use the menu system to set it your way. For example, in your case the cloners I've used would propose to create on the new 3TB unit a 500 GB Partition - the SAME SIZE as your old HDD - to copy data to, leaving most of the new space as Unassigned Space for later use. My own preference (likely yours) is to have the new HDD all one huge Partition. So you'd have to change the size spec before allowing the cloning utility to proceed. If your original HDD has more than one Partition, the default scheme often is what's called Proportional Partitioning, which also is often wrong in my view. This is one place where reading the manual will help!

3. In selecting a cloning tool, make sure it can Create a Partition(s) using the GPT system. (I would hope that an HDD maker's utility can do this, since the sell HDD's over 2TB, but CHECK to be sure.) Alternatively, check that the cloning utility CAN use an HDD that has already been Partitioned and Formatted in GPT and then will just make the complete clone copy. In other words, it does not insist on making its own Partition before cloning.