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| Thread ID: 60910 | 2005-08-17 16:25:00 | Is this possible and if so how? | Mantis (3703) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 381872 | 2005-08-17 16:25:00 | I currently have a 120 gig hdd that is partitioned into 3 partitions. On one of the partitions is my operating system (win xp home sp2) and all my programs etc... I would like to backup the whole 120gig hdd, system and all onto another 120 hdd and then swap them over so I have a fresh hdd installed but with all my programs, windows, partitions etc untouched. So basically a complete copy of my current hdd onto a new hdd from Dick Smith. Ima a little worried that my current hdd isn't getting any younger and the thought of a complete fresh install of all my programs settings etc is a nightmare! Is this possible and if so how would I go about doing it... Thanks as always... M. |
Mantis (3703) | ||
| 381873 | 2005-08-17 17:59:00 | yes it's possible, and some hard drive makers even have downloads available to do this for you. Here (www.duxcw.com) is a tutorial on how to do it. |
4bes (2848) | ||
| 381874 | 2005-08-18 07:31:00 | yes it's possible, and some hard drive makers even have downloads available to do this for you. Here (www.duxcw.com) is a tutorial on how to do it. Great the tutorial looks good... Only thing is ... I also have another hdd installed as a slave to my 120gig hdd. I also have two dvd/cd drives installed so I don't think I have any spare ide cables... Would it best to disconnect say the slave cd writer and connect the new 120 gig in its place to create the exact copy? :waughh: Hoped that made sense. Thanks for the help. M. |
Mantis (3703) | ||
| 381875 | 2005-08-18 07:33:00 | And could anyone recommend good software to create an exaxt copy or "image" of a drive? Thanks again. M. |
Mantis (3703) | ||
| 381876 | 2005-08-18 07:55:00 | norton ghost maybe? | CorbinH (37) | ||
| 381877 | 2005-08-18 08:05:00 | And could anyone recommend good software to create an exaxt copy or "image" of a drive?Norton Ghost is good. There is also DriveImage which does the same sort of thing. Backing up to a spare HDD is a very good idea. It doesn't take long to create or restore an image when it is saved to a HDD rather than to removable media. I wouldn't worry about your current disk getting old, if it has survived the first few months then they tend to last for a reasonable life span. You are just as likely (if not more) to get failures from brand new disks. Just have a regularly backup (image creating) plan, say monthly, so that you have a recent image on hand if things go bad. It is also handy for recovering from software system corruptions. If you have important documents on your machine, then back them up daily (or weekly) onto a CD or DVD rather than relying on a saved image which might be out of date. | Jen (38) | ||
| 381878 | 2005-08-18 08:29:00 | Try PartImage, available on the INSERT Rescue CD, or the SysRescueCD. Both are Linux discs, however no linux knowledge is required to do the image. Select HDD A and then HDD B and it'll work its magic |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 381879 | 2005-08-18 10:46:00 | so If I make an image of my current 120gig hdd onto a new 120 gig hdd from Dick Smith using 'Partimage' or 'Norton Ghost' can I then simply swap my new hdd for my old hdd in my pc? I basically wanna create an exact copy so I can just swap them over... Is that what an image is for? Thanks again. M. |
Mantis (3703) | ||
| 381880 | 2005-08-18 10:55:00 | From my understanding of Ghost, what it does is make an image of all binary data on the drive (or within the partition) and then transfers it to the destination of your choosing. Therefore after you make an image of your old drive to your new drive; you will be able to swap drives and everything will work as it should. We do this all the time. |
Myth (110) | ||
| 381881 | 2005-08-18 10:58:00 | Yes, you can do that. As mentioned, some hard drive manufacturers have a tool which allow you to migrate (clone) your system over to a new disk which is normally a free download. The commercial products such as Ghost or DriveImage also do this, but allow more options and greater flexibility by offering images as well as clones. A clone is a byte for byte copy size wise, while images can be compressed to save space and that file is saved as a image and then uncompressed when restored. They are also good for providing a handy backup tool. | Jen (38) | ||
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