Clone a Windows 7 Partition

Ok so I have done some research but would like to put my mind at ease and go over this little scenario first before I put it in action.

I have a 500GB disk which has three partitions on it:
C: - Windows 7
D: - Software
E: - Everything else

I am looking to move my Windows 7 partition to it's own disk, a 160GB disk on it's own and then use the remaining space to span across to D: and E: .

Now I have looked at Acronis, Ghost, PING and EASEUS Partition Master. What I am not 100% certain on is which one of these is the tool I want to be able to complete my task?

From what I can tell, Ghost and Acronis will only backup physical disks? EASEUS seems like it would do the job I want .

Am I right in thinking that EASEUS is the right tool to go for and will I still have to set the MBR once the Windows 7 partition has been copied across to the new disk?

Thanks in advance

*** 1st: Backup your data ***

Acronis will do the job for you.

Create an image of C:\ and a restore DVD and burn.

Plug in your 160Gb HDD to mobo.

Boot from DVD and restore the image you have created to your 160Gb HDD

Set your 160Gb HDD as the 1st Hdd to boot from.

Use gparted to reconfigure partitions.

You should achieve what you want.

When using Acronis would I need to backup the System Reserved partition as well as the C: partition?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Areku

When using Acronis would I need to backup the System Reserved partition as well as the C: partition?

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Yes you do. Don't forget to 1st backup you important data.

Nice one, was really simple actually. Basically the same as cloning a drive so I don't know why I got so confused by it all.

Thing to mention though is after I setup the new partitions and copied over the system reserved and Windows 7 partitions you need to use the Windows 7 setup disk and run a repair which then sorts out the MBR. The new copied partition should come up as a recovered installation.

Thanks for the extra conscience Pardal.