Whirlpool

Hi all,

This is not really a hardware question, but involves this:

I have finally finished fine tuning windows and have my computer running just the way I like it.

However tomorrow I will be buying a new hdd to replace the one I am currently using.

I want to transfer everything onto the new hard disk (system files, windows, documents, everything really) so that it just takes over from the current disk (which is failing) and works the way I am using it now. I just want to swap disk.

What would be the best way to do this? I am currently using windows vista ultimate.

Do I need to re-install windows and use windows recovery and backup to restore everything?

Or is there a way I can make an exact image of my current disk, transfer it to the new disk and hae everything running hunky dory, just the way it's running now.

Please, any help would be greatly appreciated.

wackyD writes...

Or is there a way I can make an exact image of my current disk, transfer it to the new disk and hae everything running hunky dory, just the way it's running now.

Yep, doing this should suffice. An imaging program such as Acronis or a cloning program such as Casper XP should work fine.

If the new hdd that you buy is a Seagate, or your old hdd is a Seagate, you can download their free disk wizard which will create and copy the image from the old hdd to the new one. Maxon also has a free one as well I think. I don't know if the other hdd manufacturers also offer a wizard, I only buy Seagate, for the long warranty.

Casper XP

" I want to transfer everything onto the new hard disk (system files, windows, documents, everything really) so that it just takes over from the current disk (which is failing) and works the way I am using it now. I just want to swap disk. "
""""""""""""""""""""""""
I would partition your new drive in Vista
into 2 partitions.

Then I would copy over all of your new install
with Puppy Linux to partition D:\

As Puppy Linux live CD boots into memory,
it can rescue hard drives easily.

I would take the drive out of the compuer when you are ready to go...put it in a USB case and mount it after Puppy boots.

If you play around in Windows too long with a crook drive...
goodbye data.

I would then use the free DriveImage XML
Image and Backup logical Drives and Partitions

http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

and just copy your drive to the new drive.
///////////////////////

/forum-replies.cfm?t=998716

"Try Puppy Dingo 4..... 87 megs?...May 2007

http://puppylinux.ca/
.............
OZ Internode mirror...fast download.

http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/puppylinux/

puppy-4.00-k2.6.21.7-seamonkey.iso­ 05-May-2008 03:01 87M

//////////////////////////////////­ ­ ­

Burn the downloaded ISO file with:
BurnCDCC...small..fast.

www.terabyteunlimited.co...ree-software.htm

////////////////////////////
Boot Puppy...select US Keyboard.
Puppy boots to the desktop.
Select 1024x768...screen size.

Take out the CD....Puppy is running in memory.....
CD not needed.

On the desktop...mount the hard drives....."

" Just enlarge/stretch the file managers window....

Select the files you wish to keep.

Hit the Control Key and click on the mouse to highlight them.
Right click the mouse and drag your needed files to the second file manager.

Rox file manager will ask you
to move or copy.
Select Copy.

If you can't shut Windows down
properly it may come up with a red warning.
Ignore this...and if it won't copy...you select FORCE in the
properties.

Do a little test first.
Copy just one small folder over
first.

////////////////////////
Most Important:

Unmount any drives before shutting Puppy down.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Because you have formatted your new drive
with Vista and everything is a new copy of your
current hardware anyway, if it does die you could
just boot Puppy again and copy all of Partition D:\
to your C:\ drive.

Also if anything goes wrong in the future with Vista,
viruses etc...you have an easier restore.

I would name your copy in drive D:\
as something like:

1 New Vista 2008 ....etc
so as to be easily visible in your file manager.

If everything works with DriveImage XML the first time,
or anything else advised here, you might consider
that you have wasted some time.
But this gives you a different way to backup
if everything goes pear shaped.

Chris.

Drummer Вoy writes...

An imaging program such as Acronis

+1 for Acronis clone.

wst700x writes...

If the new hdd that you buy is a Seagate, or your old hdd is a Seagate, you can download their free disk wizard which will create and copy the image from the old hdd to the new one.

Note that the Seagate Disk Wizard is just an old version of Acronis rebadged, and a couple things disabled.

It's even valid for upgrade pricing to the new Acronis. :S

wackyD writes...

I want to transfer everything onto the new hard disk (system files, windows, documents, everything really) so that it just takes over from the current disk (which is failing) and works the way I am using it now. I just want to swap disk.

What would be the best way to do this? I am currently using windows vista ultimate.

Do I need to re-install windows and use windows recovery and backup to restore everything?

Or is there a way I can make an exact image of my current disk, transfer it to the new disk and hae everything running hunky dory, just the way it's running now.

No third-party tools required...just use the Vista Complete PC Backup utility to make an image of your Windows drive. Then you boot from the Vista install DVD and restore the image to a new drive. Obviously if you are replacing the main drive then you will need to consider where to store the drive image...on a series of DVDs or perhaps an external harddrive if you have one. Note that this approach won't work if you are dual-booting another OS as well as Vista on the same hard drive.

Instructions here for backup: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial145.html

Instructions here for restore: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial145.html

It's also a good idea to store additional copies of important files elsewhere in case of failure.

Hi
The above replies are more advanced than my computer skills(barely average) but i sucessfully changed/swapped my HDD a couple of Weeks ago using Norton Ghost.(Version 12 $A38.00 including post from Ebay USA).The HDD was 5 Years old and getting noisy so i thought i better do something,only problem was new HDD wouldn't boot despite following instructions from Nortons web site,finally got it to go by using Norton repair(on original CD) and the backup up system on old HDD(Norton backup). Everything working fine now.

Cheers

'Brain'

You can do it in two ways:

- connect the new HD as well as the old one. Do a direct disk to disk clone. This method is simple and more reliable.

- or save a compressed image file onto another HD or DVDs. Then restore from that image onto the new HD. This is more complicated and there is more to go wrong. Therefore I would not use the "Vista Complete PC Backup" method recommended by Bearman.

You can do a direct disk to disk clone with many non-Microsoft programs. Casper is good but it's a lot of money to pay for a program which can only do cloning. For the same price, Acronis TrueImage can do cloning and a lot of other useful things too, such as saving images of the system.

If you have a Seagate hard disk, you are eligible to use Seagate's free DiskWizard which is excellent. http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwizard

Alan Martin writes...

- or save a compressed image file onto another HD or DVDs. Then restore from that image onto the new HD. This is more complicated and there is more to go wrong. Therefore I would not use the "Vista Complete PC Backup" method recommended by Bearman.

It's not brain surgery Alan...it would be worthwhile for the OP to at least try the built-in functionality before obtaining the latest and greatest third-party imaging software. Obviously if that proves too difficult then by all means use something else...

Alan Martin writes...

This is more complicated and there is more to go wrong.

One other thing I would point out about a disk to disk clone is the potential for cloning in the wrong direction. That would be disastrous.

Also if not done properly (juggling disks) then the first reboot will boot off the original disk and the clone will become a "D:" drive or whatever and render it useless...meaning it needs to be done again.

So disk to disk cloning isn't without its pitfalls and traps too.

plug the new drive in as a slave, boot the system, download yourself a copy of Roadkil's rawcopy.(it's less than a meg).
go into disk management and check the drive numbers of your original and new drives.

Load rawcopy and select Drive0 to Drive1(change these to suit your drive config) and click copy.

Once it's finished shutdown your system, remove your old drive change your new one to master and fire it up.

All that is left to do is resize the partition and you can do that in Vistas disk management panel.(Just do NOT change it to a dynamic disc).

Ooops, I meant don't change it. Edited to suit.

Warning: Do NOT change it to a dynamic disk. That can cause serious compatability problems later.

Dynamic disks are discussed here
/forum-replies.cfm?t=862859

and in many other threads. If you search for "dynamic" in Windows forum thread titles you can read about problems people have had with dynamic disks.

Edit added:
Thanks for the edit to your message, gippsweb.
glad to see it was just a typo :)