I need help swapping hard drives.

[Xionide]

Well I got my brand spankin new WD1200JB drive today and I want to take all my files and the OS onto the new drive. What software should I use to do this? can I just drag and drop?

 

[Budman]

Easiest I way i know of is using Norton Ghost,But not eveybody has that.

I think Western digital has a program that will do this but i am not certain,try getting the util from WD's site.

 

[DaveSimmons]

This is really an Operating Systems and/or Software question, but anyway:

drag-and-drop won't work for your Windows / C: drive.

WD website drive setup tool might have a copy-the-partitions function. Partition Magic, Drive Image, Ghost should all also be able to copy your partition(s). PM would also let you resize C: after copying instead of just using the extra space to create a D: drive.

 

[Budman]

looks like the Data lifeguard tools will do it for you & it's free.


The Downloadable Data Lifeguard Tools was written specifically for Western Digital EIDE hard drives. It can perform the following tasks on a drive: tests it for problems and errors, fixes certain errors, scans for bad sectors, and provides drive information (serial and model number).
New features:

Certified to work on all current WD drives (model numbers starting with "WD")
Friendly user interface and easy to use
GUI Interface Drive Installation Software
Compatible with Promise card and driver solution for 137 GB barrier
Drive to Drive copy capability with new NTFS support
Fast Format Installation for 98 and ME

 

[Xionide]

Originally posted by: Budman
looks like the Data lifeguard tools will do it for you & it's free.


The Downloadable Data Lifeguard Tools was written specifically for Western Digital EIDE hard drives. It can perform the following tasks on a drive: tests it for problems and errors, fixes certain errors, scans for bad sectors, and provides drive information (serial and model number).
New features:

Certified to work on all current WD drives (model numbers starting with "WD")
Friendly user interface and easy to use
GUI Interface Drive Installation Software
Compatible with Promise card and driver solution for 137 GB barrier
Drive to Drive copy capability with new NTFS support
Fast Format Installation for 98 and ME

THANKS!

 

[Xionide]

Alright I did the copy over. It took 3 hours. And it doesnt work. Is it because its ntfs? Is it because windows wants it to have the serial number and model number of the old drive? It boots but to the point where it says windows xp in the middle of the blue screen then basically freezes. I can move the mouse but there is almost no hard disk activity. Should I just wait longer? I really dont want to have to re do windows because SP1 is a 30+MB download which isnt 56k friendly.
Help!

-Xionide