file transfer

ELITE1013

New Member
i got a new hard drive and i transfered everything with an iso image and everything seems to have worked, but in my computer, it still says i have a 120GB HDD and that i only have 30GB left just like on my old one. my new one is 200GB. how do i fix this?:confused:

EDIT: actualy i scaned it with this other software and it said that i had 74GB (the rest of the memory) unallocated. what does that mean?
 
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The explaination for that is very basic. When installing a new hard drive you first have to partition and format it to make it usable. The image from the 120gb drive was much smaller then the drive space available on the new 200gb model. The unallocated space remaining is simply empty space lacking a partition.

With a drive partitioning you may be able to expand the area with files on it out to the full extent of drive space or have to create a second partition to see that unpartitioned space available for use. Which version of Windows are you running?
 
vista

and also did i do everything else right? will it spin at 7200rpm instead of 5400rpm like the last one? will the cache be 16mb on this one instead of 8mb like the last one? will it be like i never used an image iso and it was always like this?
 
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The 5400 and 7200rpm speeds are not the constant but max speeds the platters inside a drive will spin at. If everything else has remained the same as far as hardwares Windows should run normally if the cloning was successfull. The best results are still seen when performing a clean install since a different size and even different make of drive is still a major hardware change.
 
whats a clean install?

and are you suggesting that everything except the unallocated thing is working properly?

and also if i cloned it will windows think its the same hard drive as the old one? or will it recognize that its a different one?
 
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The disk image will unpack on a larger drive like it was still on the same size. That means there will be plenty of unpartitioned and unformatted drive space left over.

A clean install insures a brand new hardware profile for the new drive. Windows apparently is still working but the transfer sees itself on the original size. The unpacked image is simply using the same amount of space while a fresh partitioning and installation would see the entire drive space available.

At this point you can try simply resizing the partition or creating a second new one for storing files on it. If you start seeing the "you may have a counterfeit copy of Windows blah blah blah" appearing on the screen when going for updates you will then have to decide whether to call into MS or install Vista all over again in order to see Vista activated. I went through that when the first of two boards quit on the new build here recently.
 
well i extended my c drive into the unallocated space using the c drive manager thing from the start menu and i now have no unallocated space and everything seems to be working fine. will windows recognize that not only is it biger, but it has a bigger cache and a farter max speed?
 
Windows itself will show the amount of used and free space when clicking on the drive's icon in either myComputer or the Windows Explorer found in Start>Programs>Accessories. That comes up as a pie chart in blue and a pink color with blue showing the amount of drive space used.

For specifics on any hardwares or even softwares Windows isn't that thorough. A great freeware for information is the SIW(System Info for Windows) tool found at http://www.gtopala.com/siw_on_pc_world.html This one provides specifics on the make and model of each drive as well as board, cpu, memory, video and sound cards, and even will display temps for the cpu, board, and hard drives.
 
As long as Windows is up and running good you know the drive itself is working well. At some point you may have to reinstall Windows if software glitches or other problems come up being a cloned copy. This is where having a second drive can be a help if you end up repartitioning the new one in order to see a clean install of Windows on a fresh partition.

The disk image of the important things can then unpacked without worry if Windows and a new primary are going to see headaches later. When adding in a new drive here the first thing done is partitioning and formatting it to see a fresh copy of Windows unless the drive will be designated for storing files. Once I see a good price drop a 1tb drive will replace the 500gb sata now used for this and can be split up for multiple OSs.

Since you still have the files available on the old drive you can use the Disk Management tool to create and format a second partition to safe keep files there. Or you can use the free Linux drive tool GParted to try to extend into the remaining drive space. This will depend on what you want to do with the remaining drive space.
 
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