Can I move everything from one hard drive to another?

[kpd151]

Here's the issue... My PC has a 40GB hard drive and I made some upgrades so that I could use my PC as a DVR. As a result I needed extra storage space. I bought an extra 250GB hard drive. Obviously the new drive is bigger, but it is also faster. I would like to move all the data, including the XP OS, on the 40GB drive, to the new 250GB drive. This would allow me to use the bigger/faster 250GB drive as the boot drive/ primary and use the 40GB drive as a dedicated storage area for DVR recordings.

So, is there a way to move EVERYTHING from one hard drive to the other then make the new drive the primary? I figured that among the many computer gurus on the board someone will have an answer to this one.

THANKS!!!

[shellebelle]

I don't have the exact answer, but we had to replace my hard drive over the summer. We just installed XP on the new drive and made CD copies of all files needed and dumped them onto the new drive. If all else fails it seems you could do this.

Perhaps someone more familiar with computers can answer your question.

[iglesias]

Originally posted by kpd151
Here's the issue... My PC has a 40GB hard drive and I made some upgrades so that I could use my PC as a DVR. As a result I needed extra storage space. I bought an extra 250GB hard drive. Obviously the new drive is bigger, but it is also faster. I would like to move all the data, including the XP OS, on the 40GB drive, to the new 250GB drive. This would allow me to use the bigger/faster 250GB drive as the boot drive/ primary and use the 40GB drive as a dedicated storage area for DVR recordings.

So, is there a way to move EVERYTHING from one hard drive to the other then make the new drive the primary? I figured that among the many computer gurus on the board someone will have an answer to this one.

THANKS!!!

I know there are products out ther to do what you want, but I'm not familiar with any of them so I can't recommend one.

One thing you might want to think about: While the 250gb drive is faster, you may find that the 40gb drive isn't large enough to hold all the
stuff you want to record at higher quality levels, especially if you go away on vacation. If it was me, I'd use the 250gb drive for the DVR drive.

[bluto408]

Hi,

Yes you can mirror your drive. The best product to use is Norton's Ghost. This will create an exact copy of your drive, including all of your software and operating system. Assuming that your only upgrading the hard drive, this should pose no problem

However, depending upon the age or who made your computer, it may require a BIOS upgrade or another hard drive controller to see the new drive. Most older computer won't properly see a drive greater than 139MB, and as a result, even though the drive may mirror properly, it will never boot.

My recommendations would be to purchase a secondary controller with the new drive, make it a master on the new controller while keeping your old drive a master on the bus controller, then run GHOST from a bootable floppy. Once done, just unplug your old drive and you should be good to go.

[iivtecracerii]

retail drive kits usually come with software that enables you to mirror the old drive to the new one. i know my WesternDigital drives did (WD Data Lifeguard or something). i'm pretty sure maxtors and seagates will come with something similar too.

i agree with iglesias though, i would use the 40gig for the os/boot drive with the 250 to put all the DVR recordings and other files and media. video takes a LOT of space, especially if you want higher quality.

edit: make sure you format with the NTFS file system. FAT32 is way old and doesnt handle large files well...

[john802]

Hard drives manufacturer usually have the utility tools to transfer all the datas from 1 hard drive to another. Just go the the HD manufacturer's website and download the utility.

[kpd151]

This is a Wetsern Digital Drive and it comes with the Data Lifeguard Utilities disk. I'll probably try to make the install tonight. However, I think I will follow the advice that many of you have offerred and set the new drive up as the secondary. This would be much easier and I could always make it the primary later if needed. Thanks!

[krygny]

Originally posted by kpd151
...
I would like to move all the data, including the XP OS, on the 40GB drive, to the new 250GB drive. This would allow me to use the bigger/faster 250GB drive as the boot drive/ primary and use the 40GB drive as a dedicated storage area for DVR recordings.
...

The new drive may be faster, but I would think you'd want the larger drive to store video data since the files will be so large. You could end up with no room on the 40Gb drive and 230 Gb of free space on the primary.

Anyway, I would just re-install everything from scratch, rather than ghost the new drive. Regardless of how old your system is, you've already accumulated a bunch of garbage on the existing drive that you don't need, never needed, and probably don't want.

Just my 2¢.

[colorider]

IMHO, keep the OS and the program files on the smaller drive and use the new large (250GB) drive for all your data files.

Also, next time buy a Maxtor drive and not a WD!!! (Sorry - but I gotta get a plug in for them since they give me a paycheck every two weeks!!)

[PNW-Pilot]

Everybody else hit this on the head. But I can offer another alternative.

Why not just use only the 250GB. Yes video does take alot of space, I have a ATI allinwonder that I use for DVR, and unless you keep the videos for ever, the TIVO machines come with 160gb max, and that is good for about 150hours of video. So my advice is to use Norton Ghost/data life guard/Drive Image and copy the 40gb, and keep it in a drawer for a few days to make sure the new system is good, then fogettaboutit.

In the shadow of 250gb, 40gb is pretty small, and if you use 80gb for DVR, your still left with 170gb to use for os, games, programs, and whatever.

[sfhondapilot]

Not to muddy the waters, but I thought I recall that if you slave a faster drive to a slower master drive, the slave will not perform at its peak speed.

I'd do a fresh install on the 250 drive and make the 250 my master drive. Slave the old drive to 250 and use the slave to perform periodic backups of your important data.

[john802]

Originally posted by kpd151
... I think I will follow the advice that many of you have offerred and set the new drive up as the secondary. This would be much easier and I could always make it the primary later if needed. Thanks!

As others suggested, try to do a clean install of the OS. You'll be surprise how much improvement you'll get in the overall performance of your PC. Also update the drivers of your hardware.