Possible to clone hardrive including OS?

armysgt1

armysgt1

Member
I'm going to buy a 1 TB western digital caviar black internal to replace my western digital 160gb. I really don't want to reinstall the dozens of programs that I have on my computer as well as all the games. Is it possible to duplicate everything from my current hard drive? Or at least after I install windows 7 in my new hard drive, duplicate all my installed programs so I can save all that time and frustration? Thank you
 
If you are installing a new OS then all programs would have to be reinstalled, there is no way around that. However, if all you wanted to do was clone your smaller hard drive to the bigger you can do that. And then do a fresh install of windows 7 which would allow you to i believe save your all your old files and programs, but don't quote me.
 
WD should have a program that can clone your drive. You can download it off their website.

Another option is Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image Home.
 
voyagerfan99 said:
WD should have a program that can clone your drive. You can download it off their website.

Another option is Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image Home.
Click to expand...
This. Look for "DataLifeguard" downloads for your OS. I've done this many times and had zero problems.
 
After cloning my drive, won't i have to format my drive in order to install windows and lose everything anyway? And what exactly does datalifeguard do? It will preserve my operating system?
 
im not sure about the program yet you mentioned. The cloning they are talking will will. Ive used Acronis true image and it will be duplicate. if ya had a virus before then it will be on the new drive. all settings will be save and programs. it will be just like it is now.
 
armysgt1 said:
After cloning my drive, won't i have to format my drive in order to install windows and lose everything anyway? And what exactly does datalifeguard do? It will preserve my operating system?
Click to expand...

Well if you want to install Windows 7, then yes you will have to reinstall everything, no matter what you do.
 
It sounds like you already have windows 7 and everything you want right? All you are doing is moving to a larger HD? If so then all you have to do is use WD's tool or one of the others mentioned to clone the drive, it will copy everything exactly as it is now so you don't have to reinstall windows or anything.
 
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