Copy hard drive??

eurovw89 · 12-21-2006, 12:02 AM

I just bought a new HD 120g upgrading from my old 10g, and a new MB as well. Is there anyway to copy my OS from my old hard drive to my new one? I cant find my org. CD that has the OS. Please let me know

PC eye · 12-21-2006, 12:17 AM

There are programs like Acronis for disk cloning. But there you are cloning 10gb onto a 120gb drive. Plus you are going to run into problems since that will be in a new build. You will find it far better to have a brand new fresh primary partition with a clean install of the OS you are running. You will also need to freshly install the drivers amd softwares(usually optional) for the new board that will be installed. For the money spent on a disk cloning software you could buy a new copy of the OS or upgrade to XP if you were running an older version of Windows since the prices have fallen sharply.

**The_Other_One** · 12-21-2006, 12:21 AM

The only free programs I know to do that right off come with the hard drive. if you didn't buy retail, the software's probably on the manufacturer's website.

But, as PC eye said, if you changed more than just the HD, you're probably going to have some problems. Windows XP doesn't like major hardware changes and typcialyl won't boot after such changes are made.

PC eye · 12-21-2006, 03:09 AM

Even on 98 builds some years back whenever a case was put together a fresh installation of Windows became the rule. The files and some folders would be copied from the old to the newer and often larger drive directly. XP later came with the production activation requirements where a hardware snapshot only allows for the periodic upgrade of some hardwares over a period of time. It is one fussy OS that loves a clean partition to go on.

But XP is another version of Windows since you didn't specify which OS you are trying to copy. Cloning an installation with Windows especially older versions is usually seen with identical systems having the same hardware configurations. Businesses mainly. I'm not just how far you could get with Apple/Mac not having spend any real time there. Linux could see this work since it far less hardware dependent.

12-21-2006, 12:02 AM	#1 (permalink)
eurovw89 Bronze Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 44	Copy hard drive?? I just bought a new HD 120g upgrading from my old 10g, and a new MB as well. Is there anyway to copy my OS from my old hard drive to my new one? I cant find my org. CD that has the OS. Please let me know

12-21-2006, 12:21 AM	#3 (permalink)
The_Other_One Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lexington, NC Age: 23 Posts: 12,362	The only free programs I know to do that right off come with the hard drive. if you didn't buy retail, the software's probably on the manufacturer's website. But, as PC eye said, if you changed more than just the HD, you're probably going to have some problems. Windows XP doesn't like major hardware changes and typcialyl won't boot after such changes are made. __________________ Desktop * Athlon X2 4200 \| 2G RAM \| 160G HD \| 7600GT Laptop1 * C2D T5550 \| 3G RAM \| 120G HD \| Intel x3100 Laptop2 * C2D T5250 \| 2G RAM \| 160G HD \| Intel x3100

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12-21-2006, 12:17 AM	#2 (permalink)
PC eye Diamond Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Inside a pc Posts: 19,226	There are programs like Acronis for disk cloning. But there you are cloning 10gb onto a 120gb drive. Plus you are going to run into problems since that will be in a new build. You will find it far better to have a brand new fresh primary partition with a clean install of the OS you are running. You will also need to freshly install the drivers amd softwares(usually optional) for the new board that will be installed. For the money spent on a disk cloning software you could buy a new copy of the OS or upgrade to XP if you were running an older version of Windows since the prices have fallen sharply.

12-21-2006, 03:09 AM	#4 (permalink)
PC eye Diamond Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Inside a pc Posts: 19,226	Even on 98 builds some years back whenever a case was put together a fresh installation of Windows became the rule. The files and some folders would be copied from the old to the newer and often larger drive directly. XP later came with the production activation requirements where a hardware snapshot only allows for the periodic upgrade of some hardwares over a period of time. It is one fussy OS that loves a clean partition to go on. But XP is another version of Windows since you didn't specify which OS you are trying to copy. Cloning an installation with Windows especially older versions is usually seen with identical systems having the same hardware configurations. Businesses mainly. I'm not just how far you could get with Apple/Mac not having spend any real time there. Linux could see this work since it far less hardware dependent.