Hard Drive Question

[Amish Marauder]

Good point, but can't he create a new partion on the new HDD to be the same as the one on the old HDD? I really do not see why this would not work. But i've been wrong before.

in the end it doesn't hurt to try.

If it were me id just install the new HDD and format and install windows on it. then i would hook up my old HDD as a slave and just pull over everything I needed, including saved files from my games.

 

[Tro1086]

When I bought a new Seagate HD to replace my old one, just like your doing, it came with software that copied the old drive to the new one and set the new one up to be bootable so all you had to do when it was done copying the old drive to the new was switch the jumpers arround and then you would be booting off the new one. So I know its posible to copy windows over to a new drive without reinstalling. And norton ghost should do pretty much the same thing.

What im saying is dont waste your time reinstalling windows when you dont have to because your idea should work perfectly. If norton dosnt work then just go to Seagate.com and find "DiscWizard for Windows" and download it, its free. It will help you setup the new HD as a bootable drive without reinstalling anything.

I dont get why people dont think you can copy windows over to another HD. Its not like windows is so special you cant copy it from one drive to another. Its just an ass load of files that create an operating system, no difrent then copying an assload of other files, there still the same after you copy thim. The only reason you cant just Ctrl+C and copy one HD to another is because the windows swap file wont copy over because its always in use. Norton will just mirror the old HD to the new one. How do you think people use norton to back up and restore their computer? Its the same thing. And all Seagate dose is stop the OS from loading first so it can copy all the files before they are "inuse" by windows and after its dont it loads your OS and tells you its complete and switch your jumpers arround and you will be booting off the new drive.

 

[DevilsChild]

Do you think you could get the name of the program?
thanks mate

 

[Tro1086]

The name of the program is 'DiskWizard'. Click HERE to download it. On that page there are a few diffrent versions to DL. The one I used to setup my new drive was the 'for Windows' version but it looks like they have an online version even, which is pretty amazing. You will have to fill out there little registration form to download it, just your email and a few questions is all it asks. One question is "Drive model number," the modle number of the 80Gb drive I got from them is ST380013A so you guys could just use that if you want.

It is a good program I think and is easy to use, give it a try if you cant get anything else to work, worked great for me.

I looked at the online version of it after I saw they had it and it looks pretty sweet, give it a try. If you do, click "Setup New Drive" to get start after it opens.