Is it possible to copy a hard drive?

Nemeskal · TweakNOOB Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Posts: 139

I recently purchased a new 120GB hdd to replace my old 60GB and i was wondering if there is any way to completely and fully copy EVERYTHING from my 60GB to my 120. I thought of just simply copying and pasting however i thought that would be too easy... Or if any of you know exactly how i would set up a "raid" then i'll just do that instead.However i dont have a clue about raid and i assume it is relatively complicated sooo i'm just warning in advance you'll need to be very clear with this n00b

As always, any help i recieve is extremely appreciate. Thanks.
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geekzta127 · Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 10:15 pm Post subject:

yes you can by using the software that came with the 120gig HD. BOOT from that software and you should find it somewhere thats says something like copying HD to new HD.

have both HD'S attached.

Nemeskal · TweakNOOB Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Posts: 139

Alright thank you very much for the speedy response. One problem, i purchased the HDD friend and he for some reason or another never gave me any software. Is it possible to download the software online for free? Again thank you very much I will be looking.
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[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

I would partition the 120 into 4 30gig drives so you can have separate partitions for programs files etc.

Put the OS on it's own partition

Install a fresh copy of windows on your new drive, it's the best way to do it.
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Yoshida · UberTweaker Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Posts: 1219

You could easily just hook up both hard drives, any copy and paste might work, but i have never tried it that way. Another option is if anyone you know has an external hard drive. You can transfer your files to that, then to the new hard drive. My best opinion would be to keep and use both the 60 and 120gb hard drive, the more the merrier

hochoi · TweakNOOB Joined: 22 Jun 2003 Posts: 212 Location: auburn

If you use the software sold with the hard drive, you may have some problem at the end of the process. I experienced this. It can copy "almost everything" except the last 2% !!! (the whole process just hang when there is 2% more to copy !!!) It made me crazy :). I do not know why that happened (Nathan can explain? ). I guess XP does something with that??? Finally, I did a fresh installation. As Nathan said (you should do what he advise :) ) , fresh installation is always the best way :)
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geekzta127 · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 1:06 pm Post subject:

yes, but i'm not sure what software would be the best? anyone have a suggetion... Please Post. THX

and yes i'd say go with the fresh installation.

but i'm not trying to persuade you to change your mind.

anyone posting try to not suggest any other way. and just post on whatever help he needs.
(if i were in his place i would want an answer to my question and not a suggestion)

Nemeskal · TweakNOOB Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Posts: 139

well i'm all set now. I did what everyone suggested and went with a fresh installation.But first i made sure to burn all those oh-so-important saved game files onto a disc

Now i have one last question is Maxtor always this loud or is the thing just broke? I thought i remember someone saying that they were gonna get WD instead of maxtor because of how loud maxtor was.
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Roger · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 4:50 pm Post subject:

invest in a program like ghost from norton or drive image pro from powerquest. with those, you can do a disk to disk which will transfer all files from one to the other in a perfect mirror image... or you can create backup images with or without compression. you don't need to worry about the size difference as it will take care of that.
you can't just do a cut and paste of all files, as some are protected and simply will not copy over... unless you drop into dos (win98) or the recovery console(win2k onward).
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gk22coe · TweakNOOB Joined: 10 Nov 2003 Posts: 210 Location: TN

yes, norton ghost ... very good program
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PolarPyro · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 7:44 pm Post subject:

hi...im hacking onto polarpyro's computer......Hsssaaaaa
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Roger · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 7:52 pm Post subject:

Mathew · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2004 12:10 pm Post subject: Norton Ghost

I just recently used Norton Ghost to copy a hard drive and I was impressed! It was very straightforward and did an error-free job, as well as re-arranging the files on my computer while it copied them over, so i ended up with better hard drive file organization in the end.
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PolarPyro · Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2004 2:34 am Post subject:

wtf.....sry guys, my friends were over and drunk.....whatever

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HoseB · SirTweaksabit Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 260

If you have a Maxtor HD, you can download and use "MaxBlast 3" v3.6. If you don't have a Maxtor HD, the software comes free with HD purchase.

I've used this regularly for a couple of years on a Win2000 machine and on another WinXP rig and it works quite well.

JayDubya · Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2004 9:19 pm Post subject:

i would use norton ghost like Roger said. very good, very easy, very straightforward.
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[TN] Nathan · ALMIGHTY PWNER! Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Posts: 7406

or you can use XP's file and settings transfer wizard.
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