Duplicating hard drive for new PC

[OiO]

Hello,

I would appreciate help/tips about this. I am getting a new PC (don't know what kind yet, nothing spectacular). I have a lot of programs on the PC I am using now (windows). I have a backup hard drive of the entire system. It would be ideal if I could just plug in my hard drive in the new PC. I do not think this is possible if I buy a premade PC. If I built my own system I do not know what has to be exactly the same as my current PC for it to work. The motherboard, cpu, video card? Or can someone recommend a nice program that would replicate my hard drive to the new PC.

 

[Texun]

If you want to clone your current drive to the new system you can set up both drives in the new PC and use MAXBLAST to copy all files and partitions. However, you would need to install drivers for the new hardware.

 

[OiO]

The Maxblast on download.com has a 2.1 gig limit. My hard drive is close to 30.

 

[JC]

I'd use Norton Ghost to copy the old HD. Or you could just use the 30 gigger in a new sys you build...the new hardware shouldn't make much difference to the old software, except for drivers, which will come with the new hardware. Of course, the best way to start a new system is with a freshly-formatted HD, and a fresh install of Windoze. But you'd have to reinstall all the software.

 

[GAZZA]

Win2k/XP are more forgiving when it comes to swapping over peripherals or even a pc but still not a guarantee that everything will work whether you ghost or maxblast it .

I personally would do what JC mentioned , least that way you have a nice clean system.

posted by JC Of course, the best way to start a new system is with a freshly-formatted HD, and a fresh install of Windoze. But you'd have to reinstall all the software

 

[OiO]

I am using win98 and the reason I would not want to do a fresh install is because I want the .wav files associated with my audio tracks from a music program to be located correctly. If I did a fresh install of win98 on a new primary drive (c) could I just open up my audio tracks from my backup drive if I added it as a secondary drive (d or e). Or would there be a conflict because the secondary drive has the operating system as well?

 

[RatedR]

If you have a cd burner I would just burn all the wavs (and whatever other files you want to save) on the CD and load them into the proper directory when you have your new system up and running. Definatly do a fresh install though. You said you have alot of software, so my guess is you've also been through alot of software . Which means your computers probably got leftover files and registry info thats just crowding things. That reminds me, I gotta do a fresh install on my comp to, I do it once a year regardless. Anywho, good luck and whatever you do.....I just hope it works .

 

[sportykev]

Try using Norton Ghost, think they are up to 7.0, but any of them will do. You can image a whole partition. I forgot the switch, think its ghost -z for max compression

 

[GAZZA]

One thing you could possibly do is copy some of the folders/files you want to keep and once you have installed your new OS and the apps you want then copy and past those folder/files , obviously you need to be very careful in making sure you paste them in the correct directories (but you knew that any ways).

Norton Ghost is a superb program for restoring your pc in you have a serious issue with your OS , I have never tried using it to Clone a PC but I know it is possible .

If your interested in using this program then the best guide out on the net belongs to
Radboy .