How to clone boot drive to larger disc with less partitions ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter $Bill
  • Start date Start date
$

$Bill

I have a new Seagate SATA 320 GB drive that I want to replace my Seagate
PATA 120 GB drive with. After I clone the 120 to the 320, I want to use
the 120 as a second drive (maybe reformat and drop it down to 4 partitions
at most).

I want to increase the size of each current partition to ~60 GB and decrease
the number of partitions from 6 to 5.

Old 120 GB: New 320 GB (after cloning and making prime):
C: 18.62 GB ----------> C: 58.59 GB
D: 18.62 -------------> D: 58.59
E: 18.62 -------------> E: 58.59
F: 18.62 -------------> F: 58.59
G: 18.62 -------------> G: 63.71
H: 18.68 ---------------^ (copy H to G after cloning)

I have Seagate's Disk Wizard, but I can't seem to find a path through
it to do other than cloning equal partitions from the old drives.

I tried Disk Management tool to partition the new drive and that seems
fine (haven't formatted it yet or assigned letters). What's the best
way to clone the first 5 partitions from the old to new disc (I can
handle the extra old partition with a manual explorer copy later) ?

So please tell me which tool to use and specific order of tasks to
accomplish the cloning (including making bigger partitions and dropping
one partition). Also is there anything special I need to do regarding
making the new drive bootable and renaming the old partitions on the
120 to different letters so I can use it as a secondary drive.

Can I do this from a running XP Pro system or do I need to clone from
a standalone OS/CD like Seagate's Disk Wizard ?

Will registry fix itself (adjust partition sizes etc) when the new disc
is made prime (made into the boot drive) ?

And is there anything I need to do (tricks) to make the new disc prime
so XP adjusts flawlessly to the new drive (how to change drive letters
while still running in Windows so switching boot drives will work) ?

TIA
 
$Bill said:
I have a new Seagate SATA 320 GB drive that I want to replace my Seagate
PATA 120 GB drive with. After I clone the 120 to the 320, I want to use
the 120 as a second drive (maybe reformat and drop it down to 4 partitions
at most).

I want to increase the size of each current partition to ~60 GB and
decrease
the number of partitions from 6 to 5.

Old 120 GB: New 320 GB (after cloning and making prime):
C: 18.62 GB ----------> C: 58.59 GB
D: 18.62 -------------> D: 58.59
E: 18.62 -------------> E: 58.59
F: 18.62 -------------> F: 58.59
G: 18.62 -------------> G: 63.71
H: 18.68 ---------------^ (copy H to G after cloning)

I have Seagate's Disk Wizard, but I can't seem to find a path through
it to do other than cloning equal partitions from the old drives.

I tried Disk Management tool to partition the new drive and that seems
fine (haven't formatted it yet or assigned letters). What's the best
way to clone the first 5 partitions from the old to new disc (I can
handle the extra old partition with a manual explorer copy later) ?

So please tell me which tool to use and specific order of tasks to
accomplish the cloning (including making bigger partitions and dropping
one partition). Also is there anything special I need to do regarding
making the new drive bootable and renaming the old partitions on the
120 to different letters so I can use it as a secondary drive.

Can I do this from a running XP Pro system or do I need to clone from
a standalone OS/CD like Seagate's Disk Wizard ?

Will registry fix itself (adjust partition sizes etc) when the new disc
is made prime (made into the boot drive) ?

And is there anything I need to do (tricks) to make the new disc prime
so XP adjusts flawlessly to the new drive (how to change drive letters
while still running in Windows so switching boot drives will work) ?

TIA
Acronis True Image is my program of choice.
It allows you to clone and move to a larger partition.
I upgraded my laptop from 80 gig 5400 to 100 gig 7400. Simple.
I even did it a 2nd time with a 90/10 partition to test it.
 
Big said:
Acronis True Image is my program of choice.
It allows you to clone and move to a larger partition.
I upgraded my laptop from 80 gig 5400 to 100 gig 7400. Simple.
I even did it a 2nd time with a 90/10 partition to test it.
Seagates Disk Wizard is Acronis, or a flavor of it. I am guessing that
you lack all the bells and whistles of the full version. I know the
full version will.
Sorry I did not follow your tend of thought. I don't think you will
clone C: to H: however if that was your intent. When I did it, it
cloned my C: to D: but then booted and changed it back to C:. That is
what I wanted and luckily it did that. I would not have wanted my C:
drive to become H: as all my software is configured for H:. It would
be suicide.
On the 2nd attempt, I partitioned the drive to 90/10 and then cloned the
C: to D: and did nothing with E: (10 gig) After the OS was up I just
did the rest with windows drive manager.
 
I have a new Seagate SATA 320 GB drive that I want to replace my Seagate
PATA 120 GB drive with. After I clone the 120 to the 320, I want to use
the 120 as a second drive (maybe reformat and drop it down to 4 partitions
at most).

I want to increase the size of each current partition to ~60 GB and decrease
the number of partitions from 6 to 5.


It's not an answer to your question, but with five partitions on your
320GB drive and four on the 120, that's a total of *nine* partitions.

That's *enormous* overkill to me. Unless you're multi-booting to lots
of operating systems, I can't imagine why anyone would have anywhere
near that number of partitions.

My view is that almost everyone should have either one or two
partitions, total. Two if your backup scheme is data only. One if your
backup scheme is to image the drive. With two physical drives, a
single partition on each is right for almost everyone.

Read my thoughts on partitioning at
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314
 
Ken Blake said:
It's not an answer to your question, but with five partitions on your
320GB drive and four on the 120, that's a total of *nine* partitions.

That's *enormous* overkill to me. Unless you're multi-booting to lots
of operating systems, I can't imagine why anyone would have anywhere
near that number of partitions.

My view is that almost everyone should have either one or two
partitions, total. Two if your backup scheme is data only. One if your
backup scheme is to image the drive. With two physical drives, a
single partition on each is right for almost everyone.

Read my thoughts on partitioning at
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314

Sorry, Ken, but I can't agree with all that you say.
Why would you have a filing cabinet with only one drawer and all that data?
My elderly PC has 6 partitions over two physical disks which works well.
My C drive is just 10 GB, which I quickly and easily image every week using
Drive Image xml.
Karen's Replicator then sends contents of both HDDs to an external HDD.
My partitions include Music, Photographs, Programs and a Work partition
where I create slide shows etc.
I have friends who were persuaded to have just one HDD and make it all
C drive. How easy is that to image?
They regret this now, as they have no flexibility in storage.
A second HDD helps in other ways. I use mine for XP's virtual
memory, and as memory storage for PhotoShop Elements to use, while main
editing is being done on Disk 0.

Jim.
 
Jim said:
Sorry, Ken, but I can't agree with all that you say.
Why would you have a filing cabinet with only one drawer and all that
data?
My elderly PC has 6 partitions over two physical disks which works well.
My C drive is just 10 GB, which I quickly and easily image every week
using
Drive Image xml.
Karen's Replicator then sends contents of both HDDs to an external HDD.
My partitions include Music, Photographs, Programs and a Work partition
where I create slide shows etc.
I have friends who were persuaded to have just one HDD and make it all
C drive. How easy is that to image?
They regret this now, as they have no flexibility in storage.
A second HDD helps in other ways. I use mine for XP's virtual
memory, and as memory storage for PhotoShop Elements to use, while main
editing is being done on Disk 0.

Jim.

Yeah, I think the key is balance. Have just a few partitions, like for
some of the things (and reasons) you mentioned. I have the C: partition
(40GB) for all programs, windows, and most data. But I also have a
separate partition reserved just for Music files, and another partition just
for Video files (and each of those partitions can fill up pretty readily at
times, because the files are so large).

So when it's time to image a backup (which I do very often), I can quickly
save the cirtical stuff *altogether* in one installment by just imaging the
C: partition. (If I had all the other stuff in there, it would take
forever). (I also have another spare partition to save other stuff that I
rarely use, so that makes a total of 4 partitions).
 
Sorry, Ken, but I can't agree with all that you say.


No need to be sorry; there's room for more than one opinion.

Why would you have a filing cabinet with only one drawer and all that data?


Mostly because partitions, like filing cabinet drawers, are static and
fixed in size. Since it's hard to predict in advance how much space
you need in each, it's easy to run out of space on one while still
having lots left in another.

Partitions create an organizational structure, but so do folders. And
unlike partitions, folders (whether on hard drives or in filing
cabinets) are dynamic and flexible in size, growing or shrinking by
themselves to meet your changing needs.

Yes, it's possible to resize partitions, but it requires third-party
software (usually at a cost) and is not without danger.

I'm not always against multiple partitions. There are special cases
where they make sense. But for the vast majority of ordinary users, no
more than two is needed or desirable.
 
$Bill said:
I have a new Seagate SATA 320 GB drive that I want to replace my Seagate
PATA 120 GB drive with. After I clone the 120 to the 320, I want to use
the 120 as a second drive (maybe reformat and drop it down to 4 partitions
at most).

I want to increase the size of each current partition to ~60 GB and
decrease
the number of partitions from 6 to 5.

Old 120 GB: New 320 GB (after cloning and making prime):
C: 18.62 GB ----------> C: 58.59 GB
D: 18.62 -------------> D: 58.59
E: 18.62 -------------> E: 58.59
F: 18.62 -------------> F: 58.59
G: 18.62 -------------> G: 63.71
H: 18.68 ---------------^ (copy H to G after cloning)

I have Seagate's Disk Wizard, but I can't seem to find a path through
it to do other than cloning equal partitions from the old drives.

I tried Disk Management tool to partition the new drive and that seems
fine (haven't formatted it yet or assigned letters). What's the best
way to clone the first 5 partitions from the old to new disc (I can
handle the extra old partition with a manual explorer copy later) ?

So please tell me which tool to use and specific order of tasks to
accomplish the cloning (including making bigger partitions and dropping
one partition). Also is there anything special I need to do regarding
making the new drive bootable and renaming the old partitions on the
120 to different letters so I can use it as a secondary drive.

Can I do this from a running XP Pro system or do I need to clone from
a standalone OS/CD like Seagate's Disk Wizard ?

Will registry fix itself (adjust partition sizes etc) when the new disc
is made prime (made into the boot drive) ?

And is there anything I need to do (tricks) to make the new disc prime
so XP adjusts flawlessly to the new drive (how to change drive letters
while still running in Windows so switching boot drives will work) ?

TIA


Bill:
Assuming the responses you've rec'd to date haven't resolved your
objective...

And without going further into the whys & wherefores of your
multi-partitioning scheme and just assume you have good & sufficient reasons
for organizing your HDD the way you describe...

But before getting to the operation involving transferring the contents of
your 120 GB HDD to your 320 GB HDD...

You've indicated that while you have six partitions on your 120 GB HDD your
objective is to have five partitions on your 320 GB HDD - combining the
present 5 & 6 partitions into a single partition. Probably the most simplest
& practical way to accomplish this is to initially merge the *present* 5 & 6
partitions prior to your data transferring operations. Unfortunately XP does
not have the capability to accomplish that. You'll need a third-party
partition-management type of program such as Partition Magic to accomplish
this. There are other similar type of programs available - some of them free
or have trial versions available. We use PM exclusively so I'm not really
familiar with those other programs - hopefully someone will comment on them
and, of course, you can Google for them.

Let me say at the outset that it has been a long while since I used the
Seagate DiscWizard program so I trust the information I'm providing you
about using that program is correct insofar as it relates to your situation.
If I have provided you with incorrect or incomplete info I trust someone
coming upon this thread will correct any such info should that be necessary.

The problem (if it *is* a problem) you'll run into using the Seagate
DiscWizard software (it's a derivative of the Acronis True Image program as
I recall) as a *disk-cloning* program is that it's designed as an
"all-or-nothing" proposition in terms of creating a disk-to-disk clone. That
is to say that you can clone the contents of your 120 GB HDD to your new 320
GB HDD, however, the partitions created on that latter "destination" drive
will be proportionally identical (percentage-wise) to the disk-space
occupied by the partitions on your "source" drive - the 120 GB HDD.

So that in your case assuming you've merged the 5th & 6th partitions of your
source drive as suggested above, the resulting clone created by the Seagate
program on your 320 GB destination HDD will reflect five partitions each
about 20% of the available 310 GB disk space of that drive (give or take a
few GBs - the 5th partition will be sized slightly larger than the preceding
four partitions based upon the disk space you've allotted to that final
partition). If that's acceptable to you - fine.

I'm not aware of any way you can manipulate the partitions on the
destination HDD using the Seagate program as a *disk-cloning* program. At
least based on the last time I used it which was some time ago. However,
since I haven't used the program in some time it's possible that
partition-modifying capability has been added to the program. Perhaps a
current user can comment on that.

However, you can use the Seagate program as a *disk-imaging* program. So
that you could create a disk image of each of the partitions on your source
HDD and store the resulting disk images ("archives") somewhere on your
source HDD assuming the disk has sufficient available disk space for that
storage. So that each "disk image" would be a single file containing (in
effect) the total contents of a single partition. (The disk imaging process
compresses the data in a wide variance - anywhere from 10% - 60% as I
recall; it depends upon the type of data involved). Of course, if you had an
external HDD - say a USB external HDD - you could store the images on that
drive. You cannot store the disk images on the drive you intend to restore,
i.e., the 320 GB HDD.

So the Seagate DiscWizard disk-imaging process may be a viable solution to
meeting your objectives since there would be no need to use any third-party
disk-merging program as described above. Actually, the more I think about it
the more I think that's the way to go in your particular case.

Here's what you could do...

1. First, using XP's Disk Management utility on your 120 GB HDD you would
partition/format your 320 GB HDD along the lines you've indicated, i.e.,
setting up the five partitions.

2. Using Seagate's "image backup" capability, backup (create a disk image)
of each of the first five partitions on your source HDD - the 120 GB HDD.
Hopefully you would have sufficient disk space available on the source drive
to accommodate each one of the partition's backup files (remember it will be
a compressed file).

If you had sufficient available disk space on your first (C:) partition you
could store each backup file (image) of each partition there. Or you could
use available disk space on your other partitions to store the images.

3. So you'll have five disk image files (I know Acronis calls them
"archives" - don't know if Seagate uses the same terminology) comprising the
first five partitions of your source HDD.

4. You'll use the program's "image restore" process to (in effect) copy the
contents of each of those five partitions to the five partitions you've
created on your 320 GB HDD.

5. After doing so, you can simply copy the contents of your sixth partition
(the H: partition) on the source drive to the fifth partition on your 320 GB
HDD.

Based on some older notes I have when I used the Seagate DiscWizard, here
are some tips...
a. During the image restore process...
Select the "Active" option for the disk image that contains your OS - your
boot system - the C: drive.
You can select the "Primary" option for the second & third disk images that
will contain the second & third partition data.
The "Logical" option will be selected by default for your fourth & fifth
options.

b. During the image restore process select the "No" option indicating you do
not want to assign a drive letter to the restored partition. The system-boot
partition on your destination HDD will automatically receive the C: drive
letter assignment. And through Disk Management you can change the drive
letter assignments for the other four partitions after the image recovery
process has been completed.

c. Toward the end of the each partition's image recovery process you're
asked whether you would like to restore another partition. Select the "No"
option even if you haven't finished restoring all the partitions. We found
it better to complete the process for each partition and then begin anew for
each succeeding partition.

As an aside...
The program we use for disk-cloning purposes (it does not have disk-imaging
capability) is the Casper 4 program. That program *does* have the capability
of *cloning* data on a partition-to-partition basis. So that there is no
need for the disk-imaging & recovery process referred to above. However,
given your example, there still would exist a need for a third-party program
in order to merge the two partitions that you desire.

As to your query about making the new 320 GB HDD "prime" (apparently you
mean bootable/functional, right?) there's really nothing very special to do
other than connecting that SATA HDD to the motherboard's first SATA
connector (it will be designated either SATA0 or SATA1). I assume you'll
retain your 120 GB PATA HDD as a secondary HDD. Check the BIOS boot priority
order to ensure that the SATA HDD will be first in HDD boot order before the
PATA HDD. No registry modification is necessary.

Later you can manipulate the partitions on that secondary HDD but again you
will need to use a third-party partitioning tool to do so without losing
data. On the other hand if you plan to simply format the drive (losing all
its data of course), then you can use Disk Management for
partitioning/formatting along the lines you want.
Anna
 
While you have several interesting suggestions, my 120 is pretty much crammed
with data and I don't want to chance losing it prior to the copy, so I'm
shying away from the more esoteric solutions like image/restore and combining
partitions.

Can I just use the Disk Manager to create my partitions and manually copy the
contents from each partition on the 120 to the 320 (combining P5/P6 in the
process) ? Or is there a problem using Explorer to do this with the system
running ? Maybe problems with the swap file and such ?

NOTE: I managed to find a way to almost do it in DiscWizard - skip down to
after the ----------- line below if you like.

The reason there were 6 partitions is in part due to the time it took to check
a partition when you have a crash and have to check the filesystem on reboot
plus to isolate alternate OS, Windows system, installed programs, data and
my stuff.

I have Windows on D, my stuff on E and program apps installed on F. G and H
are data drives, so it doesn't matter much what happens to them - no registry
entries should point there. I can't move D or F without a big hassle.
C is an alternate OS installation (UNIX/Solaris).

So what I need is to copy D-F to the new drive and make sure it's bootable.
The other partitions can easily wait. My 120 shows C as Healthy (System) and
D as Healthy (Boot) and the rest as Healthy. My new drive is showing just
Healthy for the 5 partitions I created (haven't formatted them or anything
yet - just tried making partitions the right size).

I could do an Add Disk in DiscWizard, but then how to make the boot and
system partitions ? <I hate programs that aren't flexible>
The clone would be better since it would handle the boot/system stuff I assume.

When I do the clone in DiscWizard and choose 'manual' relayout, it shows 49.65
for each partition and 49.80 on last P. So I check 'Proceed relayout' and start
with the C drive and it won't let me change the 49.66 GB to 60 GB (I assume
because there is no room to expand into due to it being backed up to the next
partition). It would seem I would have to somehow get rid of the last partition
before I can do anything, but then it won't do the clone since it wants the same
number of partitions (catch 22). So without a mod to the program it appears
an alternate method is needed.

So repeating myself a bit, can I do this all manually ? And how do I handle
the system/boot settings for the new C and D drives if I do it manually ?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stet the above - I found a way to get all but the last two partitions up to
60 GB - by going from the back and shrinking each partition to 17-18 GB (the
min allowed), I managed to then go left to right and increase C-F to 60 GB.
That leaves 40.83 GB and 17.25 GB for the last two. Is there a Windows tool
(Disk Manager maybe) that will allow me to combine those two after the clone ?

Here's what DiscWizard is ready to do (note the last 2 partitions would need
to be re-partitioned into 1 (Disk Manager ? - delete last 2 Ps and make new
logical from now free space) and probably manually recopied later from old
drive after mounting with new letters - not a big problem hopefully) :

(I assume I could avoid the rebooting with a bootable version of DiscWizard.)

Operation 1 of 8
Clearing disc
Hard disc:2

Operation 2 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:C:
File system:NTFS
Volume label:SYSA120
Size:18.62 GB -> 60.00 GB

Operation 3 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:D:
File system:NTFS
Volume label:SYSB120
Size:18.62 GB -> 60.00 GB

Operation 4 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:E:
File system:NTFS
Volume label:DATA120
Size:18.62 GB -> 60.00 GB

Operation 5 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:F:
File system:NTFS
Volume label:PROG120
Size:18.62 GB -> 60.00 GB

Operation 6 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:G:
File system:NTFS
Volume label:SPAREA120
Size:18.62 GB -> 40.83 GB

Operation 7 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:H:
File system:NTFS
Volume label:SPAREB120
Size:18.68 GB -> 17.25 GB

Operation 8 of 8
Copying MBR
Hard disc:1 -> 2

Thanks for your response and any new ones coming.
 
$Bill said:
While you have several interesting suggestions, my 120 is pretty much
crammed
with data and I don't want to chance losing it prior to the copy, so I'm
shying away from the more esoteric solutions like image/restore and
combining
partitions.

Can I just use the Disk Manager to create my partitions and manually copy
the
contents from each partition on the 120 to the 320 (combining P5/P6 in the
process) ? Or is there a problem using Explorer to do this with the
system
running ? Maybe problems with the swap file and such ?

NOTE: I managed to find a way to almost do it in DiscWizard - skip down to
after the ----------- line below if you like.

The reason there were 6 partitions is in part due to the time it took to
check
a partition when you have a crash and have to check the filesystem on
reboot
plus to isolate alternate OS, Windows system, installed programs, data and
my stuff.

I have Windows on D, my stuff on E and program apps installed on F. G and
H
are data drives, so it doesn't matter much what happens to them - no
registry
entries should point there. I can't move D or F without a big hassle.
C is an alternate OS installation (UNIX/Solaris).

So what I need is to copy D-F to the new drive and make sure it's
bootable.
The other partitions can easily wait. My 120 shows C as Healthy (System)
and
D as Healthy (Boot) and the rest as Healthy. My new drive is showing just
Healthy for the 5 partitions I created (haven't formatted them or anything
yet - just tried making partitions the right size).

I could do an Add Disk in DiscWizard, but then how to make the boot and
system partitions ? <I hate programs that aren't flexible>
The clone would be better since it would handle the boot/system stuff I
assume.

When I do the clone in DiscWizard and choose 'manual' relayout, it shows
49.65
for each partition and 49.80 on last P. So I check 'Proceed relayout' and
start
with the C drive and it won't let me change the 49.66 GB to 60 GB (I
assume
because there is no room to expand into due to it being backed up to the
next
partition). It would seem I would have to somehow get rid of the last
partition
before I can do anything, but then it won't do the clone since it wants
the same
number of partitions (catch 22). So without a mod to the program it
appears
an alternate method is needed.

So repeating myself a bit, can I do this all manually ? And how do I
handle
the system/boot settings for the new C and D drives if I do it manually ?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stet the above - I found a way to get all but the last two partitions up
to
60 GB - by going from the back and shrinking each partition to 17-18 GB
(the
min allowed), I managed to then go left to right and increase C-F to 60
GB.
That leaves 40.83 GB and 17.25 GB for the last two. Is there a Windows
tool
(Disk Manager maybe) that will allow me to combine those two after the
clone ?

Here's what DiscWizard is ready to do (note the last 2 partitions would
need
to be re-partitioned into 1 (Disk Manager ? - delete last 2 Ps and make
new
logical from now free space) and probably manually recopied later from old
drive after mounting with new letters - not a big problem hopefully) :

(I assume I could avoid the rebooting with a bootable version of
DiscWizard.)

Operation 1 of 8
Clearing disc
Hard disc:2
Operation 2 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:C: File system:NTFS Volume label:SYSA120 Size:18.62 GB ->
60.00 GB

Operation 3 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:D: File system:NTFS Volume label:SYSB120 Size:18.62 GB ->
60.00 GB

Operation 4 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:E: File system:NTFS Volume label:DATA120 Size:18.62 GB ->
60.00 GB

Operation 5 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:F: File system:NTFS Volume label:PROG120 Size:18.62 GB ->
60.00 GB

Operation 6 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:G: File system:NTFS Volume label:SPAREA120 Size:18.62 GB ->
40.83 GB

Operation 7 of 8 (Reboot required)
Copying partition
Hard disc:1 -> 2
Drive letter:H: File system:NTFS Volume label:SPAREB120 Size:18.68 GB ->
17.25 GB

Operation 8 of 8
Copying MBR
Hard disc:1 -> 2

Thanks for your response and any new ones coming.

Bill:
(Background - the OP currently has a multi-partitioned 120 GB HDD containing
six partitions. He wants to clone the contents of that drive to a larger 320
GB HDD, but create only five partitions on the new HDD, in effect combining
the data on his current 5th & 6th partitions into a single partition - the
fifth partition on the new HDD. At least that's my understanding of his
objective).

First of all - without getting into the "mechanics" of what you want to
do...

You say "The reason there were 6 partitions is in part due to the time it
took to check a partition when you have a crash and have to check the
filesystem on reboot plus to isolate alternate OS, Windows system, installed
programs, data and my stuff."

I'll skip your reference to the "in part" rational as to why you're
multi-partitioning your HDD and just say that perhaps you should reexamine
your reason(s) for multi-partitioning your HDD along the lines you have
chosen for the reason(s) you have indicated. In my view - and I really think
this is the *crucial* element here - what you're focus should truly be is to
prevent the onerous tasks of reconstructing your system after a "crash",
i.e., if & when the HDD involved becomes defective or system corruption of
one sort or another results in your system becoming unbootable and/or
otherwise dysfunctional.

To that end it seems to me that your main concern (and that of nearly every
PC user) should *not* be on multi-partitioning your HDD in order to
facilitate recovery or restoration in the event of those possibly occurring
nasty events referred to above, but rather to establish & maintain a
comprehensive backup system that you would use on a routine systematic basis
to backup your entire system including your OS, all your programs &
applications, and all your user-created data. In short, *everything* that's
on your day-to-day working HDD.

So that you would have at hand - in effect - a precise copy of your "source"
HDD that would be more-or-less immediately bootable & functional in all
respects. Isn't this what your real aim is? Or should be? To this end is
there really any good reason to multi-partition your day-to-day HDD
primarily or exclusively for "safety's sake"? I understand that there might
be some organizational reasons for multi-partitioning one's HDD although
here again I usually find that in nearly every case there's no reason why
organizationally a user can't use a single-partitioned HDD and simply set up
folders to contain major elements of their programs & other data along the
lines they desire. In any event I really don't want to get into a discussion
of the value (or lack of) of multi-partitioning so I'll leave it go at this.

As I indicated in my previous post to your original query I'm not that
familiar with Seagate's DiscWizard so I'm loathe to offer any more advice
other than what I've provided in my previous response. Perhaps the rather
tortuous process you've outlined above will work to achieve your objective.

As I previously mentioned the disk-cloning program we work with virtually
exclusively nowadays is the Casper 4 program. It's a relatively simple &
straightforward process to accomplish your objective with that program. In
considerably less time than it took to read your latest post and my writing
this response, you (and I!) could have accomplished your basic objective of
cloning your source HDD to the destination HDD and at the same time
establishing the new partition setup you want on that destination HDD.

The Casper 4 program does have a trial version available but I can't
remember if it will permit the manipulation of partitions along the lines
you desire. But you might want to take a look at it. In any event, as I
previously stated we highly recommend this program for disk-cloning purposes
on a routine basis as a comprehensive backup system.
Anna
 
I have a new Seagate SATA 320 GB drive that I want to replace my Seagate
PATA 120 GB drive with.  After I clone the 120 to the 320, I want to use
the 120 as a second drive (maybe reformat and drop it down to 4 partitions
at most).

I want to increase the size of each current partition to ~60 GB and decrease
the number of partitions from 6 to 5.

Old 120 GB:        New 320 GB (after cloning and making prime):
C: 18.62 GB ---------->    C: 58.59 GB
D: 18.62 ------------->    D: 58.59
E: 18.62 ------------->    E: 58.59
F: 18.62 ------------->    F: 58.59
G: 18.62 ------------->    G: 63.71
H: 18.68 ---------------^           (copy H to G after cloning)

I have Seagate's Disk Wizard, but I can't seem to find a path through
it to do other than cloning equal partitions from the old drives.

I tried Disk Management tool to partition the new drive and that seems
fine (haven't formatted it yet or assigned letters).  What's the best
way to clone the first 5 partitions from the old to new disc (I can
handle the extra old partition with a manual explorer copy later) ?

So please tell me which tool to use and specific order of tasks to
accomplish the cloning (including making bigger partitions and dropping
one partition).  Also is there anything special I need to do regarding
making the new drive bootable and renaming the old partitions on the
120 to different letters so I can use it as a secondary drive.

Can I do this from a running XP Pro system or do I need to clone from
a standalone OS/CD like Seagate's Disk Wizard ?

Will registry fix itself (adjust partition sizes etc) when the new disc
is made prime (made into the boot drive) ?

And is there anything I need to do (tricks) to make the new disc prime
so XP adjusts flawlessly to the new drive (how to change drive letters
while still running in Windows so switching boot drives will work) ?

TIA

This seems to be a three step job (with Ghost and Partition Magic(for
steps 2 & 3.)

Step 1 (GHOST)

Clone the drive as is onto the new drive. Disconnect the older drive
and place the newer drive as the new Drive C;

Step 2:

Merge the required partitions.

Step 3:

Expand the partitions, using un-allocated space.


You can then reconnect the older drive after.
 
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