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Thread ID: 36486	2003-08-11 11:33:00	Copy hard drive contents	Mohammad Al-Sahaf (4008)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
166831	2003-08-11 11:33:00	Hi I have just purchased a new 120GB HDD to replace a failing 20GB HDD in an Athlon 1800XP CPU PC running XP Home -- I am trying to find some reliable drive migration software in order to copy the entire contents of the old drive (eg: O/S, Appns, Data, Games etc) to the new one. From the research I've done it would appear to me that drive migration rather than drive imaging is the safer, more comprehensive way to go in order to ensure that ALL data is xferred over to exactly replicate my current PC configuration on the new drive. And here is my main problem -- I am struggling to find a reliable, reputable piece of drive migration software that works with Win XP. I ideally would like to utilise Powerquest's DriveCopy 4 but it doesn't support Win XP!! Any suggestions/comments?? Thanks in advance.	Mohammad Al-Sahaf (4008)
166832	2003-08-11 11:45:00	Tried Norton Ghost?? Failing that, maybe NTI DriveBackUp 3 (www.ntius.com) ?? Trial version gives full capability... Lo.	Lohsing (219)
166833	2003-08-11 11:47:00	I can agree with and vouch for Ghost 2003 Personal for doing just the job :-)	Chilling_Silently (228)
166834	2003-08-11 11:52:00	So Ghost 2003 will make a COMPLETE copy of my hard drive (Incl. o/s, hidden and in use o/s files) and then I can copy it back to the new drive and safely discard the old one?	Mohammad Al-Sahaf (4008)
166835	2003-08-11 11:55:00	Both progs will... I know NTI Drivebackup will do live files without a need to reboot... don't know if Ghost is a free download or not. Lo.	Lohsing (219)
166836	2003-08-11 12:01:00	Nope, its not :-( but I think there's a trial!	Chilling_Silently (228)
166837	2003-08-11 12:35:00	I use xxcopy with the lone option just run xxcopy with the required switches and in a few minues it is all done	videoguy (1351)
166838	2003-08-11 21:27:00	This info may help you decide, but I cetainly recommend Ghost . If you data integrity is at stake, I wouldn't play with free options: From Terry Porrit in a post on transferring your OS and programs to a new computer with a different hardware configuration: With Norton ghost you make a boot floppy with the Ghost program on it, and do all your ghosting from the floppy, with the drives hooked up as master and slave . Much more importantly though, your OS on the C: partition will spit and cough if you try to run it in the new machine after copying over, because all the hardware is different . What you want to do BEFORE removing your existing drive, OR copying to the new one, is to go to Device Manager, and remove EVERY single device from there, including all the PCI stuff, every bit, mouse last of all . Then you can copy over the partitions using Ghost images with the 2 drives hooked up as master and slave, but dont let the stripped down drive boot into windows while it is attached to the old computer or it will put all the devices back again . When the drive is put back in the new machine and booted Windows will re-detect all the hardware . If you want to keep the original computer operational as well, you will then have to restore the original configuration using your most recent full image, so don't forget to make an image of your C: drive before you start removing devvices . It sounds a bit long winded but its the best way . Further useful advice: I've been singing the praises of Norton Ghost for many moons on Press F1 . I have never (repeat never) had to do a reinstall of Windows even, let alone reformat and reinatall everything from scratch . Computer is a P166 running Win98 original which gives you an idea of the time scale here . I bought Ghost as soon as it came on the market, long before Symantec took it over . As soon as you have made anything more than a cosmetic appearance change to your computer you should re-ghost it so that the image reflects the current software/hardware configuration and is always up to date . Between ghosts I write every change I make into a notebook so that I can get back to work quickly if I have to restore . The images are stored on another drive too so even if my HD drops its bundle I can have a new one in and be up & running in under two hours including driving time to buy the Disk . Go figure! Why would anybody want to reformat & reinstall when for a couple of hundred bucks you can keep the same sweet configuration you started with . I only have two or three rules: 1) Always keep an image of the virgin installation of OS & programs in case creeping errors build up (the notebook is worth its weight in gold for ensuring that you don't forget patches and configuration changes . ) 2) Always keep at least one extra image from a stable period in the life of your computer, mine is about 12 months old . 3) Always created a new image as soon as you have established that any new programs or hardware you have installed are working OK . 4)OK, so I can't count! Always delete all unnecessary files then run scan disk & defrag before creating your ghost image . Run IE or other Browser options to delete temporary internet files and if you feel brave enough, you can write a text file that excludes a variety of (selected) file specs to keep your image size down . Don't ghost rubbish . 5) Use two HDs & keep only OS & programs on C, put all data on D . You can partition drive 1 as C & E and drive 2 as D & F if you don't want to waste space . Cross-Ghost C: to D: and D: to C: to ensure that you cannot be wiped out by a HD failure . 6) Image regularly!!!!!!!!!!! Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
166839	2003-08-11 22:09:00	Interesting Billy/Terry, I always wondered how Ghost would deal with the new hardware on a different computer. I think in Mohammad's case he could just remove the old hard drive from device drivers??? Does ghost copy any master boot records??? I had a problem with DriveImage2002 when re-imaging. Windows wouldn't boot, cos it wasn't in MBR??	PoWa (203)
166840	2003-08-11 22:24:00	I too use Notorn Ghost and would not use anything else now . I use it mainly for upgrading HDD's as it makes an exact copy of the original HDD . So once you have ghosted to new HDD just pull old one out and boot up on the new one! It also gives you the chance to adjust partition sizes if you have partitioned your original HDD or you can stick with the default sizes which it automatically adjusts to the same percentage of disk space . i . e . if your original HDD is 20GB with 5GB and 15GB partitions, Ghost will automatically adjust partitions on new HDD (say it is 80GB) to 20GB and 60GB	CYaBro (73)
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