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Thread ID: 15701 2002-02-14 20:47:00 One drive to another Guest (0) Press F1
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35682 2002-02-14 20:47:00 Hi,
I have purchased a larger hd drive for my computer. Can anybody tell me the easiest way to get everything off the old drive and onto the new one, without reinstalling all the programs etc.
Will it also move all the registry entries etc.

Is there any danger to the info. on the old drive?

I have about 2gig to move.

I will have to format the new drive first won't I?

I know how to set up them up as slave/master.

Thanks for any help. 		Guest (0)
35683 2002-02-15 00:40:00 You need a program, to copy it over. Usually one comes with a new HDD, or you can try to download one from the manufacturers website.

I use Ghost PE, but it's not free.

Basically it copies every bit to the new drive, so you can then make the new drive a master, and just boot from it.

As it is only a copy, there is no danger to the info on the drive you copy from. 		Guest (0)
35684 2002-02-15 01:17:00 Thanks for that.

So would I install ghost on my present drive and it will transfer everything to my new one.

It is Norton Ghost you are talking about isn't it?

Thanks 		Guest (0)
35685 2002-02-15 02:37:00 Couldn't you plug the other drive in as slave; then start in DOS and type:
copy C:\*.* D:\*.*

I thought this would work???
Windows would adjust as it loads.

I am sure someone could confirm.

Scotty 		Guest (0)
35686 2002-02-15 05:55:00 I'd use Norton Ghost but if you want to do it the hard way, you can copy across from DOS. Presuming you are using Win98 & not ME and your new drive will temporarily be d:

1)Make a Windows boot disk to use later on (if necessary)and make sure your bios is able to boot from your floppy drive.

2) Boot into DOS and format your new drive using the command <format d:/s>

3)Still in DOS, type <xcopy c:\*.* /e/h/k/r/c d:> & press enter.

The /e switch copies all subdirectories even if they are empty, /h all files with system & hidden attributes, /k/r copies all files with read-only attributes retained & /c tells the system to ignore errors.

4) Shut down and change jumper settings to make the new drive the master and the old the slave.

5) Reboot and assuming that your bios is set to autodetect your computer should boot up with all your settings and programs intact.

OR

6) If your new drive has more than one partition, insert your boot disk, start up and at the a: prompt type <fdisk> and select option 2 to make the primary partition the the active partition. Exit fdisk, remove floppy & reboot.

Of course this system will transfer all the problems currently living on your old drive to the new one so be sure everything is stable before you start.

Cheers

Billy 8-{) 		Guest (0)
35687 2002-02-15 09:22:00 I am not familiar with how Ghost works but there may be a problem with copying absolutely everything from the old drive to the new (? is it an image copier). If it copies the mbr then unless it is smart enough to detect that it is copying to a larger drive, and adjusts the partition table accordingly, you will presumably finish up with your new large drive being formatted to the same size as the old one. Hence you may need to format your new drive first. If it is a Seagate make sure that you follow their instructions for doing this - some Seagates leave the factory with temporary non-standard formatting which is overwritten only if their instructions are followed. Another good programme for disc to disc copying is Fastlynx II, but I am not sure whether it can cause problems with long file names.
Can anyone else answer that? You need a Fastlynx cable to use that prog but it does have the advantage that it error checks and corrects on the fly though this makes it a bit slow. You can turn off error correction if you wish. 		Guest (0)
35688 2002-02-15 21:23:00 Here's some interesting reading on the subject. (why not to use xcopy)

www.pcguide.com

It also has a link to a free download of xxcopy, which should do what you want NL.

Also the four main HD manufacturers have utilities for free. Maxtor, IBM, Seagate, Western Digital 		Guest (0)
35689 2002-02-18 11:16:00 Have just been reading up at pcguide site submitted by KO 16/02. If you go to pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/prog.htm you can read about Drive Copy - a util for doing just what you want. It is a portion of Partition Magic. Yet another option to add to your stack! Guest (0)
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