copy data to new hd

[Guest]

I just got a new 250gig SATA hd. I have a 80gig ide hd that is partitioned
C: D:. What I want to do is move all my files from the D: to the new hd then
make the new hd D: and change the D: partition to another letter. Then later
remove the partition on my 80gig using 3rd party software. A friend of mine
said he was told that you can't move programs like that and it wouldn't work.
I don't see why not since the new hd will be the D: drive in the end before
running any program.

 

[LVTravel]

Install, partition and format the new drive and assign it any available
letter. Copy (using windows explorer) all the files from the old D: to the
New drive. Once all the files are copied, change the letter of the old D to
something else and then the new drive to the D: drive. You then need to
check that all programs can still access the files and folders. There
should be no problem since you are not "moving" the files. If there are any
files in use the copy will fail. If there are any hidden files they
probably also won't be copied and a program referencing that file will also
probably fail to run. Once all programs and files are accessible you can
remove the partition (old D and stretch the original C.

If you have a drive cloning piece of software (ghost or the like) you can do
this with much more reliability than trying to copy the files with explorer
and I would recommend this method. The difference is that a cloned drive
should be exactly like the original drive and it will copy hidden and system
files.