Changing harddrives.... cloning the harddrive question....

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
redfishsc

redfishsc

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2006
Messages
2,545
Location
North Charleston , SC
I've gotten a LOT of good computer advice around here, and I could use just a bit more.

My old fossil has a LOADED harddrive and it's slowing the thing down a lot.


The harddrive is an old 30 or 40 gig ATA100, and I have a West. digital 320g ATA100 to arrive today or tomorrow.

I also have ordered Acronis True Image backup/cloning software.


My computer does have a redundant (and very small) harddrive, plus a 640g external harddrive.

So, my plan is to clone my old 40g drive onto the new 320g, and then use the 40g drive (which still works fine) as the redundant drive.


So..... how should I go about doing this?

Clone the 40g onto the External harddrive.... or plug the new 320g into the redundant drive slot and clone directly to it, and then swap the two drives around...???


Or should I just expect the Acronis software to have detailed instructions?


Any advice is appreciated!!
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
The easiest thing would be to install both hard drives in the computer and partition the new drive. Once everything is verified as working then copy everything from your old hard drive into a partition on your new hard drive. That's what I've always done in the past. I've never needed any software to do this other than what's provided with a windows based computer.
 
What operating system are you using?

ETA: Why not ask one of the guys/gals in the IS department. I did stuff like that for students (especially those who worked for the school) all the time when I was there.
 
Acronis True Image is the best way to go in my opinion especially if you want to keep programs and info exactly as they are. The free version by the way would have done everything you needed.

If you are looking at a fresh install that's fine to as you could clear out the junk that accumulates over the months of using the computer. Re attach the old hard drive and copy across the documents and information you want to keep.

Typically when I'm doing anything like hard drive upgrades of re builds I follow a set sequence which works for me

1. Install all motherboard drivers
2. Install graphics card drivers
3. Install office software
4. Install antivirus / firewall / security software
5. RESTART
6. Install non critical programs.
7. Make a backup which can be restored encase anything goes wrong

hope this was of some use

matthew
 
The few times I have done this, I have used Symantec Ghost and just made an image of the old harddrive and copied mit onto the new harddrive. This is also the program that they use at work to do the same thing, plus they have an image of each machine in storage just incase. All our machines are supposed to have a ghost image taken of them weekly, I don't know if that actually happens since noone has ever touched my laptop and I pulled the harddrive when I turned in my old one.
 
hewunch said:
What operating system are you using?

ETA: Why not ask one of the guys/gals in the IS department. I did stuff like that for students (especially those who worked for the school) all the time when I was there.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Hadn't thought of that, but now that I got it all in front of me... gonna do it myself :rolleyes: and call them when I screw it all up:mad-tongue:.

Thanks!
 
jleiwig said:
The easiest thing would be to install both hard drives in the computer and partition the new drive. Once everything is verified as working then copy everything from your old hard drive into a partition on your new hard drive. That's what I've always done in the past. I've never needed any software to do this other than what's provided with a windows based computer.
Click to expand...


I've tried to do that using my external hard drive, and it will not copy much of anything. Apparently it can't copy programs and files that are in use (ie, since Windows is running while doing the copy).


Oh, and I'm running XP, with all the latest updates. I refuse to mess with the new Windows (forgot what it's called) b/c I know how to use XP (and work around it!), plus I've heard all the gripes about the flaws in the new one (how it can slow the machine down.... XP is bad at that too.)
 
The only thing I think you'd need to be aware of is how closely MS is cracking down on the "liscense agreement" for computers that come with software installed. If you are transfering your MS XP operating system to a new hard drive - your not going to be able to do that if you don't have the original software - without buying a liscense to run it on the new hard drive.

I just went through that mess and ended up having to buy the OS software for the new hard drive.
 
Check the hard drive manufacturers website, they usually have free software that will clone your old drive directly to the new one with no problems. Usually the only restrictions are that one of the drives must be theirs and the new one must be equal or larger in size.
 
CSue said:
The only thing I think you'd need to be aware of is how closely MS is cracking down on the "liscense agreement" for computers that come with software installed. If you are transfering your MS XP operating system to a new hard drive - your not going to be able to do that if you don't have the original software - without buying a liscense to run it on the new hard drive.

I just went through that mess and ended up having to buy the OS software for the new hard drive.
Click to expand...


Were you running the software on two different hard drives at the same time, or a new harddrive in a new computer (meaning, the old drive not being used in any computer)?


My understanding is that cloning the software from and old hd to a new hd doesn't violate any copyright laws.


If Microshaft tries to pull this kind of crap, I'll switch to Linux.
 
Oh, I did get the cloning done. Was pretty easy with the Acronis software.

My computer is working better than it EVER has!!! I have this model about as "upgraded" as it can be. This harddrive is plenty big enough for us, and I already upgraded the RAM to 1 gig (which is all it will hold and recognize).

So far no Windows/Microsoft issues.
 
Great Matt! I'm really glad to hear that. Congrats!

Just for the record, I'd cloned and transferred all data on the original drive onto a 400GB drive. The new hard drive was as external HD. Then when I took out the old hard drive and replaced it in my old computer with the new hard drive, I was rerouted to MS website for "Verification" or something like that. MS agreement with authorized installed MS OS such as XP is no longer valid now that I was using a new hard drive.

I'm glad you didn't have that headache. (smiley)
 
Last edited:
Lol, Sue, I'm wondering now why I didn't get re-routed.


Big question though. When you cloned your old drive to the external (which I have, and thought about doing), and then you put the new harddrive in, how did the computer boot up? Did the computer automatically recognize the external drive as the main drive?

What I did was plug the new internal drive into the CD slot, and the Acronis software detected this drive and cloned the old main onto the new one. Then I just swapped them and took the old drive out and reconnected my CD drive (well I hope I did...!?).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom