Hi, I was planning to buy a new + larger harddrive and I wondered if I'd be
able to make an exact copy of everything on my old drive onto the new one.
I can have both drives connected at the same time at first, but then I'll be
getting rid of the old one.  What's the best way to do it?

Cheers.

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"ralph" <nospam@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:2je5igF118m2sU1@uni-berlin.de...
> Hi, I was planning to buy a new + larger harddrive and I wondered if I'd
be
> able to make an exact copy of everything on my old drive onto the new one.
> I can have both drives connected at the same time at first, but then I'll
be
> getting rid of the old one.  What's the best way to do it?
>
>
Make sure one of the drives is made by Western Digital and use their
excellent drive copy tool.  It will take care of partitioning and copying
for you.  It is part of DLG:

http://support.wdc.com/download/


Most drive makers have a tool for doing this task.  Third party software is
also available.

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Maxtor and Samsung also provide free downloadable hard drive cloning/copying
 utility programs. However,a disk
or CD is usually included with retail purchases of new hard drives.
Rick
"Kay Archer" <kayhyphenarcher@mail.com> wrote in message news:2jeedrFtd6t8U1@uni-berlin.de..
.
> "ralph" <nospam@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:2je5igF118m2sU1@uni-berlin.de... 
> be 
> be 
> Make sure one of the drives is made by Western Digital and use their
> excellent drive copy tool.  It will take care of partitioning and copying
> for you.  It is part of DLG:
>
> http://support.wdc.com/download/
>
>
> Most drive makers have a tool for doing this task.  Third party software i
s
> also available.
>
>

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"Rick Hanson" <nospam.sandyez@deletespam.golden.net> wrote in message
news:9IOdnb1Ps6Hzq0_dRVn-vg@golden.net...
> Maxtor and Samsung also provide free downloadable hard drive
cloning/copying utility programs. However,a disk
> or CD is usually included with retail purchases of new hard drives.
> Rick
> "
Some of us don't buy retail (g)...

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

Thanks for the replies people.  Will it be ok to just copy everything
exactly to the new drive or will the fact that the new HD will be a
different size, make, etc cause any problems when some software runs?

"Rick Hanson" <nospam.sandyez@deletespam.golden.net> wrote in message
news:9IOdnb1Ps6Hzq0_dRVn-vg@golden.net...
> Maxtor and Samsung also provide free downloadable hard drive
cloning/copying utility programs. However,a disk
> or CD is usually included with retail purchases of new hard drives.
> Rick
> "Kay Archer" <kayhyphenarcher@mail.com> wrote in message
news:2jeedrFtd6t8U1@uni-berlin.de... 
I'd[vbcol=seagreen] 
one.[vbcol=seagreen] 
I'll[vbcol=seagreen] 
copying[vbcol=seagreen] 
is[vbcol=seagreen] 
>

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

"ralph" <nospam@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:2jfldtF114kp8U1@uni-berlin.de...
> Thanks for the replies people.  Will it be ok to just copy everything
> exactly to the new drive or will the fact that the new HD will be a
> different size, make, etc cause any problems when some software runs?
>

If you just use cut & paste or a copy command, the boot files will not be in
the correct place on the new hard drive (and may not copy at all being
system and hidden files).  Your new hard drive would not be bootable.

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

Then just download the FREE utility!
Thanks
"Kay Archer" <kayhyphenarcher@mail.com> wrote in message news:2jf6k3FvtcpaU1@uni-berlin.de..
.
>
> "Rick Hanson" <nospam.sandyez@deletespam.golden.net> wrote in message
> news:9IOdnb1Ps6Hzq0_dRVn-vg@golden.net... 
> cloning/copying utility programs. However,a disk 
> Some of us don't buy retail (g)...
>
>

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

"ralph" <nospam@ntlworld.com> schreef in bericht
news:2je5igF118m2sU1@uni-berlin.de...
> Hi, I was planning to buy a new + larger harddrive and I wondered if I'd
be
> able to make an exact copy of everything on my old drive onto the new one.
> I can have both drives connected at the same time at first, but then I'll
be
> getting rid of the old one.  What's the best way to do it?
>
> Cheers.
>
>
The best way to do this is using Norton Ghost.
This tool even adjust the partitions on your new harddisk, depending on its
size.
Suppose your old harddisk has 3 partitions, say 15 + 15 + 10 GB. If your new
harddisk is 120 GB, (3 times as big as the old one), Ghost automatically
partitions your new drive by 45 + 45 + 30 GB.
In case you'd ask: Norton Ghost isn't freeware. You asked for the BEST way
to do this, not for the cheapest way.

Wouter.

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