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Thread: Copying hard drives.

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    Copying hard drives.

    My dad has just put a new HD in his PC to replace the ancient 5400rpm 40GB dog that currently is 'the one'.

    What I would like to know, can we just do a straight 'copy all' from the old drive to the new drive, or, as I suspect, would this lead to booting problems?

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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    Smile

    Well what would be best would both the drives in, make the old hdd a slave, and then boot from the new hdd with your os installed. I must say i dont no how to do that and it may not be the best way. (well the best would be to backup your own files onto some media or a removable hdd).
    Try typing it in on google, and wait for someone to carry on. (Just thought i would get it started.)

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    A straight copy will not work as this will not copy the registry, swapfile and hidden stuff. The best way to do it is to use a program that will copy everything including hidden stuff.

    I know programs like norton ghost will do this really easily but that is about £30.

    There might be a free program that does this so ill have a look.

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    Found one!!!

    Seagate has a great program called DiscWizard, just download it, install it while still using your old hard drive and select a drive clone or something like that. The drive will be copied from the old one to the new one.

    Here is the link to the program: http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/...s/discwiz.html

    (Download DiscWizard for Windows, the one in the middle)

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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    Oh i see what you mean now. Well i would recomend a new install andyway, you should do one every 6 months, it will boost your performance and it will be more reliable + it will get rid of all spyware and viruses.

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    No way is a reinstall needed every 6 months! To remove spyware just use adaware/spybot.

    Performance will only decrease with time if loads of crappy programs are installed and bloat the registry. But to fix this just use a registry cleaner, or just dont install the crappy programs - a hell of a lot easier than reinstalling.

    I never reinstall windows anymore, I use norton ghost with everything the way I want it.

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    MD
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    btw timmy that installs the drive, nothing in the description states it will ghost an image.

    nvening, 6 months is a falsity, if you know what you are doing you can easily make a windows install last years, its all about making sure its kept lean and you don;t install suff for the sake and you make sure that when you do you do it in a constructive way.

    I have not reinstalled for two years and the only reason I am going to now is because I am moving over to SATA

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    Quote Originally Posted by visidigi
    btw timmy that installs the drive, nothing in the description states it will ghost an image.

    nvening, 6 months is a falsity, if you know what you are doing you can easily make a windows install last years, its all about making sure its kept lean and you don;t install suff for the sake and you make sure that when you do you do it in a constructive way.

    I have not reinstalled for two years and the only reason I am going to now is because I am moving over to SATA

    m@
    Yes it does. Press the learn more link and it will state that an option is to clone a hard drive! (Make sure it is for 32 bit version in the middle)

    Here it is:

    "As the Boot drive removing the old drive from the system

    The next screen will inform you that you must change drive settings (jumpers, bios) when prompted to. Click next to proceed.
    DiscWizard will now partition, format, and copy all your files from the old drive to the new one. Additionally a Custom Installation Manual will be created.
    DiscWizard will give you an opportunity to print the manual on the next screen. This manual contains detailed instructions on how to make the new drive the master, follow them closely. Make your selection and click next to proceed.
    DiscWizard will now turn off your computer. Make the changes outlined in the Custom Installation Manual and restart your computer.
    Your computer will now boot to the new drive. He drive is now ready for use."

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    oops, sorry...

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    Quote Originally Posted by visidigi
    oops, sorry...

    m@
    no problem lol, I do that all the time!

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    Senior Member skuzgib's Avatar
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    You could also use ghost, acronis true image, drive image, the list goes on.

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    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    I got alot of time on my hands lol and i like to keep my pc perfect, i defrag every week! Well ok so i normally reinstall every year not very 6 months, but i do like a new fresh system.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Timmy!!!
    Found one!!!

    Seagate has a great program called DiscWizard, just download it, install it while still using your old hard drive and select a drive clone or something like that. The drive will be copied from the old one to the new one.

    Here is the link to the program: http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/...s/discwiz.html

    (Download DiscWizard for Windows, the one in the middle)
    So this free program can create a proper image of a drive?

    sounds too good to be true

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    Now with added sobriety Rave's Avatar
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    I have so far bought WD and Maxtor drives as replacement boot drives; both have freeware progs to do a wholesale copy from your old drive. I'd place a bet that Seagate, IBM and Samsung have similar progs available from their websites

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    So, let me just confirm this.

    Lets say I install windows on Drive A. I set it up and tweak it to my liking, install all the usual programs etc. Can i then use one of these free programs to create a proper image of that installation and save that image to DVD or another HD to use when i next format? Its a lot lot quicker and easier if its possible

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rave
    I have so far bought WD and Maxtor drives as replacement boot drives; both have freeware progs to do a wholesale copy from your old drive. I'd place a bet that Seagate, IBM and Samsung have similar progs available from their websites

    There all based on ontracks software

    They are all one and the same

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