backup and restore

[drb46]

I tried to search the forums, but couldn't find the answer I need. I need some help to do the following:
1. Backup XP (drive c) to external hard drive
2. Install a new larger oem hard drive (drive c) (no cd)
3. Restore XP to new larger hard drive taking advantage of the extra space.

As a side note, I tried doing it with Acronis, but evidently I don't know how, because it restored to the new hard drive as one small partition 20 gb, thereby wasting the rest of the space on the new hard drive. I have XP backed up now using Acronis, and have tried reading their manual, but I still don't understand how to restore XP to a bigger partition 160 gb. I could really use some help on this! Does anyone know of an easier backup program to use? I know how to format and install the new hard drive, I just don't know how to transfer XP back and forth. Thanks ever so much.

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[Harvey]

I've heard good things about Acronis, but I use Norton Ghost. I can use it to clone a drive to another. It doesn't matter if the target drive is larger or smaller than the source drive, as long as there's enough room on the target for all the content on the source drive.

I usually use Ghost 2002 or 2003, and I run it from a bootable floppy. Later versions of Ghost may run directly from Windows, but I've never used it that way. The only way I use it is to backup or restore my entire drive.

The Ghost copy will run in place of the original so if you're trying to move to a larger drive on the same machine, it will do exactly what you want. If you want to move your setup to another machine, you'll encounter the usual problems. It MAY work going from one board to another using chipsets from the same maker. For example, I was able to move a setup from one motherboard to another when both had VIA chipsets. The system had to be activated again, but it found all the right drivers.

You should format your target drive before Ghosting.

Good luck.

 

[stogez]

Use the clone disk feature in Acronis. Clone your old drive to the new one. Shutdown, replace old drive with new one and reboot. Done.
In the options it will ask you if you want to keep the partitions the way they are or increase them proportionally. Obviously use proportionally. You might also want to keep the data on your old drive until you make sure the new one is working perfectly. READ the directions in Acronis carefully and you wont have any probs.

 

[drb46]

Thanks for the reply, I'll see if I can apply some of that to Acronis

 

[drb46]

Here's the problem, I don't have the original drive, all I have is an acronis image of it. The original drive died and was 20 gb. So I have a 20 gb image. When I try to restore it to the new large hard drive, it sets that drive at 20 gb. I have been trying to restore it using the acronis bootable cd. Thanks for any help.

 

[ITJunkie]

You may be stuck then. As Stogez said, cloning is the way to move from a smaller drive to a larger one.
You may look into Partition Magic to see if it's doable there. I don't use that program but....

 

[RebateMonger]

You can do it the "hard way":

1) Restore the 20GB drive image to the new hard drive.
2) Patch your restored system to SP2, if it isn't already.
3) Use a backup program to make a full System Backup. (Personally, I'd use Windows XP's native NTBackup. It works just fine.)
4) Repartition/reformat the new hard drive to the full capacity.
5) Re-install Windows XP. Use an XP Install CD slipstreamed to SP2.
6) Run NTBackup and restore your old system on top of the new (160GB) XP install.