I understand that upgrading a hard drive can be a pain in
Windows XP. I'm running a 40 GB hard drive now and want
to change 40 GB drive out for a new 80 GB. Is there any
special procedures in XP Home to follow to do this?

"Steve" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I understand that upgrading a hard drive can be a pain in
> Windows XP. I'm running a 40 GB hard drive now and want
> to change 40 GB drive out for a new 80 GB. Is there any
> special procedures in XP Home to follow to do this?

The simplest way is to use a simple disk copy utility from the drive
manufacturer. Many manufacturers have free software specifically for
your intended purpose -- such as Seagate's "Disk Wizard", Maxtor's
"MaxBlast", and WD's "Data Lifeguard Tools". If you don't get a floppy
disk with your new HD, you can download it from the manufacturer's
website. To use, it's as simple as plugging in both HD's, boot from the
floppy, copy one HD to the other, remove old HD, put new HD in its
place, and reboot. Do not install the new HD first and try to format it
with XP; just put it in bare and boot the utility floppy. (Many people
make this mistake, which gives XP a chance to give the new HD a
different drive letter, which can screw things up.)

Very important: do *not* leave the old HD installed as a slave when you
first boot the new HD. Get the system back up and running with the new
HD by itself first. After the new HD is running properly as a single-HD
system, you may reformat and install the old HD as a slave if you want.