Replace HDD & transfer data

[BarryMurphy]

Both my hard discs are nearly full, and I want to replace the smaller one, which has 37GB of data. Is there any way to transfer the data to the new drive without backing it all up first? (I'm running Win98 SE and I'll upgrade to XP Pro when the new hard disc is installed). "640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- Bill Gates, 1981

 

[Mulga]

Install your new drive as an extra slave drive, if you already have 4 IDE devices temporarily remove one such as CDROM drive and simply copy the data you want to keep from the old to the new in Windows Explorer or My Computer All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

...unless, of course, the drive in question is the one with the O/S installed, in which case you'll either need to back up and restore, use imaging software or re-install... CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[Mulga]

I had the impression for some reason that the drive in question is not the boot drive, don't know why... if it is then it complicates matters but you can still do it by installing the second drive as above and then boot to DOS and use xcopy to copy the files across. All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

 

[fib2358132134]

There is also a program called ghost were you can slave a second drive and transfer everything including o/s

 

[CitrixEngineer]

IME you can't simply copy (or xcopy) io.sys or msdos.sys - you need to do a sys a: c: from a boot floppy to get them to copy to the correct location in the boot sector.

Just 'cause I've never got it to work, however...

CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[Enkrypted]

Most new hard drives nowadays come with utility disks that have specific programs on there that will allow you to copy drive to drive.<That is if you buy the retailed boxed version> If you do happen to purchase a retail hard drive you won't have to worry about tracking down a program that will allow you to do that. I personally like Western Digital's Drive Utilities. They seem to be real stable in the file transfer process and I've never had a transfer not go through properly. If you do happen to purchase an oem version hard drive, here are some links for free drive utility programs that way you don't have to look for any on the net:

Western Digital

http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp

Maxtor

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/index.htm

IBM

http://www.ibm.com/support/us/

Seagate

http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/

Enkrypted
A+
Let others know how much help they are by marking the helpful posts.

 

[Mulga]

CitrixEngineer,
Actually I think you are correct here, its a while since I have done this but from memory I always made the hdd bootable using the sys command before doing the xcopy thing. All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

 

[edfair]

You can copy them and the other system files without problems on most systems, but I've found that it is better to remove the attributes before you do it. The system command copies them , but also puts the link in the boot sector.
Earlier versions of DOS pretty much wanted stuff in specific places but I think that went away around 5.0. Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[BarryMurphy]

I thank everyone for their suggestions. I should have said that the disc I am discarding is not my boot drive (Mulga's impression was right).

My new disc is a Western Digital WDC WD1200JB-00CRA0. It is an OEM disc, so it does not come with an installation disc, but I downloaded a bootable floppy disc with Data Lifeguard software from wdc.com.

As recommended, I removed my CD-ROM and attached the hard disc to my secondary IDE cable as a slave to my CD-R/RW. Using the Data Lifeguard installation utility, I attempted to partition and format the disc, but it hung while preparing the first partition, which I set to 80GB (at least I presume so, since it has been claiming to be preparing Partition 1 for the last twelve hours). I am wondering whether 80GB is too big for a FAT32 partition. &quot;640K ought to be enough for anybody.&quot; -- Bill Gates, 1981

 

[Mulga]

80GB is fine as far as FAT32 is concerned in general but it may not be fine with your motherboard BIOS. Only fairly late models will support a partition that big. You may have to get a BIOS flash upgrade from your motherboard manufacturer. If you do this ensure that
1. You download the upgrade for your EXACT model of motherboard.
2. You follow the instructions for flashing the BIOS to the letter.
A failure to observe either of these points can result in a permanently dead motherboard. All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.