Changing drive setup, adding separate boot drive, thoughts?

[wahnula]

Hi all,

I have decided that with the onslaught of Conroe and Vista on the horizon I will not be building my new rig for a while, just want to pep up the old boy, Asus P4S8X, P4 2.53 OCd to 2.87, XPpro, ATI AIW8500 (not a gamer!) , Maxtor SATA 250GB, 1 GB RAM. This machine was assembled in 2002 and still is quite peppy, but...

I have a spare WD Raptor 36GB that I would like to use for just the OS & apps. I have been cleaning up the C: drive and do not want to do a clean install, instead choosing to clone if possible.

Here is my plan:

1. Clone existing 250 Gb drive (150GB used) to 300GB backup drive. Disconnect Maxtor and boot into backup drive to check function. Reconnect Maxtor (C

2. Empty the document containers on Maxtor, but leave the empty folders (like My Documents etc.) That will get the C: drive down to about 13-15GB.

3. Clone the Maxtor to Raptor using either Acronis True Image or Ghost 2003, probably Acronis.

4. Disconnect Maxtor and boot into Raptor, check function.

5. Reconnect Maxtor and reload containers from backup. Delete "Windows" folder.

6. Re-map existing shortcuts in Documents And Settings to point to correct folders

I know the clean install would be the best path, but I did recently do that and now have everything as I like it, plus I would need to call in to MS to get XP and Office activated, I hate doing that.

Does anyone see any flaws in my plan or have any suggestions for a smoother procedure? Thanks!

Tony

 

[kestrel1]

Looks like a fairly good plan. I would certainly use Acronis True Image over Ghost, though. Would this be version 8 or 9?
an older version may work OK, but I think 8 or 9 would be better.

 

[wahnula]

Acronis True Image 9.0

 

[kestrel1]

Good plan then. Acronis is far superior to Norton Ghost, in my opinion.