Hard Disk to New Hard Disk transfer

[ozrica]

My accountant would like a new hard disk drive but does not want to re-install all the software and programs.

His current system includes:
Asus A8N SLI NForce4
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice Core
1GB (2x512MB Crucial PC3200 CAS 3.0 Dual Channel Kit
256MB XFX GeForce 6800GT PCI-E Graphics Card
80GB Maxtor DiamondMax IDE Hard Disk
Windows XP Home SP2

He would like to upgrade to 400GB Hitachi SATA drive.

I have been reading threads and looking at various software programs like Ghost, DriveImage and CloneMAXX but am unsure whether it's 100% possible.

Does anybody know whether you can successfully transfer XP Home SP2 and all programs to a new hard disk without any problems and which software is the best to achieve this?

Thanks in advance.

[3fingersalute]

I use ghost all the time to pull and load images to SATA drives, so I know for a fact it works fine.

[CeeBee]

Ghost is just fine

[shamus]

Another vote for Ghost... I use it on a daily basis. Definitely '100% possible'

[ozrica]

Thanks for the quick responses.

Can I assume that once ghost has completed I will have to run a repair of XP as the system will not automatically register the SATA drive?

[shamus]

Possibly, although I think XP will see it just fine.

[Damned Angel]

as long as you already have the drivers for the onboard sata controller loaded there should be no problem.

[kennel]

I normally would use ghost, but have had really good luck with Aloha Bob Moving both data and programs from my old pc to the new one without ever missing a beat. We even had to move Lotus notes from one to the other without a problem. Something you might look into if you don't want to reinstall programs.

[slgrieb]

If you're just adding a new drive, I would definitely use Ghost. PC Relocator is more appropriate for tranferring data and software between 2 computers. Like Damned Angel says, if the SATA drivers are installed before the copy, XP will run just fine.

[ozrica]

Thanks for all the replies.

I bought Norton Ghost V9 and tried it with my dual boot Windows 98SE and Windows 2000 PRO system.

The transfer went fine but when the system boots up into 2000 I get a message saying 'Your system has no page file or the paging file is too small'.

It shows instructions how to fix it but 2000 does not start in normal or safe mode to do it.

I assume this file is in use when the copy process runs so is unable to copy it.

Any one know how to resolve this?

[Scooter]

Most of the time, when you purchase a new hard disk (seagate, maxtor, westerndigital, etc.) it comes with OnTrack utility which will transfer drive to drive. This is a pretty reliable utility... I think out of the 1000+ hd's I have installed, and the 500+ transfers I have made, all but maybe 5 or 6 didn't work. The best part is that it is free. If it doens't work for you, then buy GHOST.

--Scott

[ozrica]

I have been trying out Ghost and have one big problem!

After transferring C:\ to D:\ and booting from the new drive Windows XP still sets the drive letter as D:\

This means all programs are still looking at their original location i.e C:\ and therefore won't run.

Is there anyway to copy the disk using Ghost and getting the new drive to register as C:\?

I have been trying different settings in Ghost but can't seem to work it out.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

[CeeBee]

Boot from the floppy before doing the copy. When it's done, remove the original drive from the computer or set the boot order in BIOS with the new drive first. Otherwise the system will find the old drive (C) first and boot from it, then it will find your new drive and asign the next letter (D).

[Kodiak]

Most of the time, when you purchase a new hard disk (seagate, maxtor, westerndigital, etc.) it comes with OnTrack utility which will transfer drive to drive. This is a pretty reliable utility... I think out of the 1000+ hd's I have installed, and the 500+ transfers I have made, all but maybe 5 or 6 didn't work. The best part is that it is free. If it doens't work for you, then buy GHOST.

--Scott

Scooter is correct and if you bought a oem just go online and get the software at there site and it works just fine. You set the new drive as the slave and when the process is finished you set the new drive to master and away you go.