Replacing C Drive

My 10 GB C drive keeps sneaking a little more of the GB pie out so I`m going to replace it with a new 40 GB HD.
I`m running XP S2 Home. I`ve got two hard drives, this one "C" that I`m replacing The other is a 60 GB divided into three partitions D,E,F, my two optical drives are G and H.
My question is this.
Do I remove the cable and power feed from the second 60GB drive and install the new 40GB as a slave and let the bios sort it out and then use my XP CD to transfer the OS to the new drive?
Then take the 10GB out and reconnect the cables to the 40 and 60 as they were with the 10 GB and the 60Gb?
Is that even close?
Dick

 

Using the proper software you can also COPY the 10GB to the 40GB.

I will not attempt to say what software I used but I am sure someone on here will know.

This 80GB HD that I am working from is a copy of the 40GB in another machine. It had Win98SE on it.

I copied the HD but I DID NOT allow the machine to boot directly the HD the first time. I booted to the floppy and did a re-install/repair of 98SE from the setup files that were already on the HD.

I did of course have to change/update video and audio drivers but that was about it.

Some have asked me why I did that ? My answer was two fold.

#1 I wanted to see if it would work.
#2 I had nothing to loose and a lot to gain by not having to start all over.

It now has been upgraded to XP Pro.

BillyBob

 

When you tell me to back up my files folders Etc. Do I drag and drop them fron C to D ?
Move, or Copy?
What can I safely move/copy if this is the case?
Can I burn some of the smaller ones to a CD and use that to move them back to the new drive?

 

Unplug all your old hard disk(s) and install the new one. Install Windows & then plug in your old C: drive. Now you can copy/move the data safely. After moving the data, remove the old C: drive and hook up your second drive.

 

Moore

Why not make life easier for yourself and just set the new HD as a Slave ?

It will set itself up with the next drive. If you only have C: then it will start at D: and up depening if you partition it or not.

Then you can just move stuff over and/or install new stuff to it.

No need to mess with the OS at all.

BillyBob

 

My 10 GB C drive keeps sneaking a little more of the GB pie out so I`m going to replace it with a new 40 GB HD.
I`m running XP S2 Home. I`ve got two hard drives, this one "C" that I`m replacing The other is a 60 GB divided into three partitions D,E,F, my two optical drives are G and H.
Hi Billy Bob, The above is from my first post, the last post from "rsinfr" sounds too easy but I think that`s the route I`ll go.
If I knew for sure what windows could live without on the C drive I might move enough stuff for right now to put this off for a while.
At the present time Program files are using 1.2 GB
Documents and settings are using2.37

My Total C drive Capacity is 9.31 GB
Free space is 2.61.
Is there any magic formula that tells me what I Can`t move?

Thanks,
Dick

 

Which I did not read completely it appears.

Scrap my wild idea then.

BillyBob

 

For future reference, the tool that would allow you to do this is Norton Ghost. It's let's you duplicate a drive or partition to another drive or partition. As such, your 40 GB drive would be a mirror image of your 10GB drive except the partition would be expanded to 40GB (not 10GB). It would even be bootable.

Note that if you do as Rsinfo says (which is the way to go if you don't own Norton Ghost or something like it), when you hook up your old hard drive to copy files from, Windows XP will find both your new and old operating systems and ask you which one you wish to boot. Once you figure out which is which, you can boot the new one and copy files from the old one.

Regarding copying files, only worry about your data, not anything related to Windows. You're going to have to reinstall all your software again anyway and then reimport any data you need.

Gary

 

Thanks to all hands. Learned a, lot. I`ll no doubt be back. I`m off to check out this Norton Ghost.
Dick

 

Hi Moore.

This is the sequence I would use to replace your C drive with another drive.

Before beginning, go to the new drives's manufacturer's site and download software to copy (or transfer) (or clone) your current C drive to the new drive. All manufacture sites have this software.

1. Unplug the ribbon and power cable from the 60Gb (D, E, and F drive).
2. Change the jumper on your new drive so it is SL (or slave).
3. Stack up some books and put the new drive up to a height that is convenient to plug in the ribbon and power plug that came from the 60Gb (D, E, and F drive). The new drive can sit on the books, it doesn't have to be mounted in the computer. Don't forget the stripe on the side of the ribbon cables goes towards the power plug on the drive.
4. Change your bios so you boot from a floppy. While in the bios, I would ensure that the IDE ports are set to AUTO detect.
5. Boot from a floppy that has FDISK and FORMAT programs on it. Note that a lot of the clone software from the manufacturers have fdisk and format facilities built in and all you have to do is run that software for everything.
6. Run FDISK. CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION Be sure and change the drive in FDISK to drive #2, otherwise you'll wipe out your C drive. You might even uplug the C drive for this part of the procedure.

I would recommend you set up the new drive as a single drive. If you split it up it will change the designations for the D, E, and F drives and cause a lot of headaches.

7. After FDISK is complete you must reboot so the system can read the new info on the new drive.
8. Run FORMAT. DO NOT use the familiar "/s" which puts system files on the new drive. Those files are for DOS and are useless for windows.
9. After format shut down. If you did pull the power plug on the C drive, replace it.
10. Run the copy, transfer, or clone software being careful to copy C to D (the new drive is now D).
11. When finished, shutdown, remove the old C drive, change the jumper on the new drive to MASTER and install it where the old C drive was. Replug the ribbon and power cable for the 60Gb (D, E, and F drive).
12. On Boot up, go to the bios and change the boot sequence to boot from C rather than the floppy. It makes booting faster. Enjoy.

Hope this helps.

Giles

 

Piece `a Cake

Got my new hardrive, Maxtor 40 GB, downloaded their Maxtor Blast 4 Install floppy, followed those instructions , plus the advice from this board, got`er in, registered and activated all at one clatter. Painless. I always feel a great sense of accomplishment when things go smooth!
Thanks once again.
Dick

 

Thanks for the good news.

BillyBob