Move Windows to New Hard Drive Without Installation CD or DVD

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Note: These instructions require a windows installation already exists. if your windows install needs repair, try using the cd linked at the bottom of this page to fix the problem.

1. Complete Factory Windows Install
2. Download and Burn GParted & CloneZilla Live CDs
3. Download and Burn Windows System Repair ISO
4. Install New Hard Drive
5. Boot to GParted
6. Resize Existing Partition(s)
7. Create New Partition to Hold Image Files
8. Create Partitions for New System Restore
9. Boot to CloneZilla
10. Backup Existing Windows Partitions to the Partition for Image Files
11. Restore Partitions to New Hard Drive
12. Boot to Windows System Repair
13. Run Startup Repair Wizard
14. Boot to New Windows
15. Edit Boot Config using Msconfig (Win7; modify boot.ini for XP or lower)
16. Check Partition sizes in Disk management against Hard Drive Properties
17. Boot to Gparted
18. Skrink and then Expand Partitions as needed
19. Delete Any Unneeded Partitions

Recently, the company I work for purchased a new hp workstation for me. Along with it, I requested a Crucial Solid State Drive. My idea is to add the SSD as the boot drive and keep the factory hard drive as a storage drive and to hold my page file.

I received the hardware. I tried to run a system recovery using the hp recovery media. However, it errored out stating that the hard drive that I was restoring to was smaller than the original drive. This is true as SSDs are more expensive per GB so I bought a smaller drive. So now what? I didn't have any Windows OEM media. I could try to extract the installation files out of the HP cds, but that's a major pain to deal with.

Here's what I did. I picked up a copy of GParted and Clonezilla LiveCD ISOs and burned them to disc. I have two partitions on this pc because it was loaded with Windows 7 out of the box. I completed the windows Setup, booted into Windows, and shutdown the pc. I physically installed the new SSD as the boot drive. I booted into GParted and shrank the OS partition. I created a new partition on the factory drive to hold the image files that would be created later. I created two new partitions on the SSD that would be used to restore data to from the image files. I shutdown the pc.

I booted into Clonezilla. I couldn't perform a disk to disk clone because my destination drive was smaller than the source drive. I backed up both the system and os partitions to a image stored in the third partition. I restarted clonezilla to restore the image to the new drive. I reboot. Oh Crap! Non - System Disk Error. I cussed out the machine and went home.

Later on, I figured the MBR needed updating. I found Windows System Repair CD Isos online (linked below). I selected the first radio button and clicked next. Then Ran the Startup Repair Wizard. I rebooted and seen that the Boot Manager showed two instances of Windows to choose from. I chose the top item and confirmed it was on the SSD. Once inside Windows, I used msconfig to delete the unneeded boot option.

Yay! I got every up and running. But wait, I still need to resize the partition as to use all its space. I goto disk management and see the image in the pic attached to this post. The size shown in disk management didn't match the size shown in the properties dialog box of the hard drive. Hmm, noodle scratcher. I booted back into GParted and it shows the partition as filling the remaining space on the drive. I shrunk the partition again and rebooted. Now all sizes matched in Windows. I opened disk management and extended the volume to its max size.

Download Windows 7 System Recovery Discs — The NeoSmart Files



 

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Nice. I will be needing to do something similar in a few weeks but it will would have to be from a populated partition. I may end up having to start over but would much rather not have to do so...
 
edit - cleaned up formatting, added summary of steps, added pic hosted by 3rd party

Note: These instructions require a windows installation already exists. if your windows install needs repair, try using the cd linked at the bottom of this page to fix the problem.

1. Complete Factory Windows Install
2. Download and Burn GParted & CloneZilla Live CDs
3. Download and Burn Windows System Repair ISO
4. Install New Hard Drive
5. Boot to GParted
6. Resize Existing Partition(s)
7. Create New Partition to Hold Image Files
8. Create Partitions for New System Restore
9. Boot to CloneZilla
10. Backup Existing Windows Partitions to the Partition for Image Files
11. Restore Partitions to New Hard Drive
12. Boot to Windows System Repair
13. Run Startup Repair Wizard
14. Boot to New Windows
15. Edit Boot Config using Msconfig (Win7; modify boot.ini for XP or lower)
16. Check Partition sizes in Disk management against Hard Drive Properties
17. Boot to Gparted
18. Skrink and then Expand Partitions as needed
19. Delete Any Unneeded Partitions

Recently, the company I work for purchased a new hp workstation for me. Along with it, I requested a Crucial Solid State Drive. My idea is to add the SSD as the boot drive and keep the factory hard drive as a storage drive and to hold my page file.

I received the hardware. I tried to run a system recovery using the hp recovery media. However, it errored out stating that the hard drive that I was restoring to was smaller than the original drive. This is true as SSDs are more expensive per GB so I bought a smaller drive. So now what? I didn't have any Windows OEM media. I could try to extract the installation files out of the HP cds, but that's a major pain to deal with.

Here's what I did. I picked up a copy of GParted and Clonezilla LiveCD ISOs and burned them to disc. I have two partitions on this pc because it was loaded with Windows 7 out of the box. I completed the windows Setup, booted into Windows, and shutdown the pc. I physically installed the new SSD as the boot drive. I booted into GParted and shrank the OS partition. I created a new partition on the factory drive to hold the image files that would be created later. I created two new partitions on the SSD that would be used to restore data to from the image files. I shutdown the pc.

I booted into Clonezilla. I couldn't perform a disk to disk clone because my destination drive was smaller than the source drive. I backed up both the system and os partitions to a image stored in the third partition. I restarted clonezilla to restore the image to the new drive. I reboot. Oh Crap! Non - System Disk Error. I cussed out the machine and went home.

Later on, I figured the MBR needed updating. I found Windows System Repair CD Isos online (linked below). I selected the first radio button and clicked next. Then Ran the Startup Repair Wizard. I rebooted and seen that the Boot Manager showed two instances of Windows to choose from. I chose the top item and confirmed it was on the SSD. Once inside Windows, I used msconfig to delete the unneeded boot option.

Yay! I got every up and running. But wait, I still need to resize the partition as to use all its space. I goto disk management and see the image in the pic attached to this post. The size shown in disk management didn't match the size shown in the properties dialog box of the hard drive. Hmm, noodle scratcher. I booted back into GParted and it shows the partition as filling the remaining space on the drive. I shrunk the partition again and rebooted. Now all sizes matched in Windows. I opened disk management and extended the volume to its max size.

Download Windows 7 System Recovery Discs — The NeoSmart Files





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