How to move operating system to a new hard drive?

[Dennman6]

I have an e-Machines T-1120 bought new in 2002. Over the last month,
it will function normally then after 30-45 minutes goes to a blue
screen that says "hardware malfunction". I presume that the hard drive
is dying, but when I try to tranfer the contents of the HDD to a
Maxtor 500 GB external drive, the computer doesn't stay on long enough
for the Maxtor program to finish the transfer. I have had time to
extract any files I wanted to keep(documents, music, photos), but I
want to continue using this PC. About a year ago I bought a 120 GB
Maxtor internal drive to add to this PC & never got around to
installing it(yeah, I KNOW!). I have the restore discs for this PC,
but don't know what use they can be to the newer HDD. I tried running
them onto it with the new drive connected to the CD-RW drive's cables
& then as the HDD, with no positive results.

The motherboard is still good, & I had intended to put in a 500 watt
Antec power supply to replace the original one. I bought the Antec PS
as a "fix" to rejuvenate a 4 year old PC that went dead. That PC never
came back, so it's motherboard must've been fried when the original PS
failed. If I could figure out how to move the XP operating system onto
the newer HDD, after adding the 500 watt PS the T-1120 could still be
a useful unit. I have no shortage of PCs in the house, with a Compaq
laptop & two other e-Machines desktops bought last year. I even still
have a Compaq Presario 5460 from 1999 that still works fine with it's
original Seagate 10 GB HDD-obviously that is a limited machine. But I
hate waste & want to salvage this T-1120.

 

[Andrew E.]

Well you really dont want the OS on an external drive anyway.For an
internal hd OS transfer,use xp XCOPY,it only takes about 5 minutes.However,
if the old hd is corrupted,then you may transfer its problems to the new,but
try it..Simply set the new hd as slave to current C: hd on the same IDE
cable,
old being the last plug on cable.Once in xp you need to format it,or maybe
format it in recovery console..Once formated,go to run,type:
XCOPY C:\*.* D:\ /c/h/e/k/r Agree to all in the DOS window.Also,D: being
the new hd letter,if asigned diffrent latter,then use that instead,for all
XCOPY
cmds/etc, go to: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491035.aspx

 

[John John - MVP]

And you've actually tried this Xcopy thing, Andrew?

 

[DL]

If you know the make of HD currently installed, that hd maker will have a
free bootable utility with which to test the hd.

And if the hd is failing any clone of the o/s may fail also

 

[Smiles]

download hdsdos.zip from

http://www.hdsentinel.com/ it will tell you how your drive is

 

[Twayne]

In

Well you really dont want the OS on an external drive anyway.For an
internal hd OS transfer,use xp XCOPY,it only takes about 5
minutes.

Uhh, xcopy can NOT copy an operating system to another drive in any manner
that will make for a usable, bootable drive. Files that are "in use" can NOT
be copied, edited, moved or delted while they are in use. And there are
always files in use when windows is running, and they are necessary files to
the system.

The easiest way to copy a drive is by having booted from ANOTHER drive, say
a DVD, which does not depend on, nor need any of the files on the normal
boot drive. The process is known as "cloning" a drive. Many imaging and
backup applications come with the clone capability; I've heard that Casper
is an excellent one for when the budget is tight if you don't already ahve
something.

IFF the important data has been backed up, and IFF the recovery programs are
NOT on the failing hard drive, then the best option would be to just install
XP up to the SP level needed, and once running well, just restore all the
data back and reinstall the programs and applications you want to use. Takes
a couple days in most cases but it will work.
If the recovery operations are all stored on-disk instead of as separate
DVDs and CDs, then it's best to check with your manufacturer for the best
way to handle it. If the drive hardware is actually failing it may not be
possible to get to the recover partition, but it's worth a try.
Even if you do copy some corruption to the new disk, it won't be physical
damage, just simple software corruption that can be managed once the new
drive is up and running.

However, if the old hd is corrupted,then you may transfer its

problems to the new,but try it..Simply set the new hd as slave to
current C: hd on the same IDE cable,
old being the last plug on cable.Once in xp you need to format it,or
maybe format it in recovery console..Once formated,go to run,type:
XCOPY C:\*.* D:\ /c/h/e/k/r Agree to all in the DOS window.Also,D:
being the new hd letter,if asigned diffrent latter,then use that
instead,for all XCOPY
cmds/etc, go to:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491035.aspx

Again, xcopy can NOT copy a running windows OS to another drive, so that's
going to fail. It says, right on that same page:
"By default, xcopy does not copy hidden or system files. ", so ... . System
files are NOT going to be copied.

HTH,

Twayne

 

[Twayne]

Hi,

Inline please:

In

I have an e-Machines T-1120 bought new in 2002. Over the last month,
it will function normally then after 30-45 minutes goes to a blue
screen that says "hardware malfunction".

That's typical of an overheating situation somewhere in the machine. Some
things to check are:
-- If it's a heating situation, turning the machine off and then right back
on will not fix it. You have to leave it off for several minutes, maybe 15
minutes or more, for things to cool enough for it to boot again. Or, if it
does start, the time it'll run for is much shorter than the first try,
unless you leave it off for a long time.
Does any of that fit your situation?

-- Are all fans turning and up to speed?
A failed fan, especially on the cpu will cause your symptoms. Almost
everything on the motherboard can cause the symptoms you give if it's
overheating; even disk drives.

If you think it's a heat problem, which it sounds like, leaving the machine
opened up and placing a couple of good box fans blowing into it might well
extend the ON time long enough to get more testing done with it. Just
leaving the cover off won't prove much; it may heat faster or slower,
depending on how it's designed and laid out.


I presume that the hard drive

is dying,

Why do you think the hard drive is dying? Have you run any tests?
It could be heat, or corrupted programs, or even malware causing the
problems. It would be better to be more sure before diving in. You might
introduce another problem by replacing a drive, making multiple problems,
which are much harder to troubleshoot most of the time.

but when I try to tranfer the contents of the HDD to a

Maxtor 500 GB external drive, the computer doesn't stay on long enough
for the Maxtor program to finish the transfer.

IF that 30-45 minutes is repeatable, you might manage a backup by doing it
in pieces. Do smaller sets of folders & files that will complete within the
30-45 minutes. Then let the machine cool for an hour or so, go back and get
another set, and so on until you're done.
What are you using to backup with? I noticed the advice to use
xcopy.exe, but understand that xcopy is NOT capable of backing up the
operating system (XP). It's noted right in the text of the recommended URL
of that other post. Xcopy however IS very good for backing up your DATA.
Be sure to get your address book (.wab), emails (*.dbx) and Favorites
folder/s, unless you don't mind rebuilding them later.

I have had time to

extract any files I wanted to keep(documents, music, photos),

That's a big step done, right there. You'll be glad you did that.

but I

want to continue using this PC.

I doubt there's anything to recommend against it unless it's just not
compatible with XP. I assume XP WAS running OK on it, right?

About a year ago I bought a 120 GB

Maxtor internal drive to add to this PC & never got around to
installing it(yeah, I KNOW!). I have the restore discs for this PC,

GREAT! That's another huge step out of the way.

but don't know what use they can be to the newer HDD. I tried running
them onto it with the new drive connected to the CD-RW drive's cables
& then as the HDD, with no positive results.

I don't understand that paragraph, but the process, simply stated, would be:
-- Install the new hard drive. MOST drives come with instructions AND an
application to set the disk up with an operating sytem. Did this one? If
not, the manufacturer's web site should still have all that information
available for free.

-- Check in Disk Management to be sure the machine sees it.

-- Partition the drive. IIRC XP will only handle up to 2 drives, so if you
have more than two, you might have to unplug the others to get going. Set
the partition to Active, bootable, whatever terminiology the accompanying
application uses; just be sure to indicate it will be a boot drive when you
get the opportunity.

-- Format the partition

-- Once it's working, has a drive letter and Explorer can copy files
to/from it, it should be all set to go.

-- Remove the old drive.

-- Put the new drive in its place. As long as you don't have other drives
plugged in besides an optical drive, it'll assign letter C to it later on.

-- Toss your XP disk into the optical CD drive. Boot from it by restarting
the computer.
If you don't get a message to "press a key to boot from the CD" or
similar, you'll have to go into your BIOS and set the optical drive to be
checked for booting before the C drive is.
Jump right into installing XP and following the instructions onscreen.

That should get XP installed and running. Do NOT connect to the 'net until
you have the firewall in XP turned on, your AV installed, and any
spyware/malware detectors you might have. At least be certain to have at
least the firewall and anti-virus installed BEFORE you connect to the 'net
in any way.
Let auto-update bring your machine up to date. As the updates load, you
can start restoring our saved data back to the disk.

Here's a couple links that might help you out:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/upgrades/f/replace-hard-drive.htm

http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/install-hard-drive.htm (with pics)

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=418 (optional)

The motherboard is still good, & I had intended to put in a 500 watt
Antec power supply to replace the original one. I bought the Antec PS
as a "fix" to rejuvenate a 4 year old PC that went dead. That PC never
came back, so it's motherboard must've been fried when the original PS
failed. If I could figure out how to move the XP operating system onto
the newer HDD, after adding the 500 watt PS the T-1120 could still be
a useful unit. I have no shortage of PCs in the house, with a Compaq
laptop & two other e-Machines desktops bought last year. I even still
have a Compaq Presario 5460 from 1999 that still works fine with it's
original Seagate 10 GB HDD-obviously that is a limited machine. But I
hate waste & want to salvage this T-1120.

lol, sounds like you have at least a couple possibilities to add some
additional storage space to your machine. I only have one thing to say: Do
ONE THING AT A TIME and be sure each is working properly before moving on to
the next one. Things will go a lot smoother.

HTH,

Twayne

 

[kingmaker]

I have an e-Machines T-1120 bought new in 2002. Over the last month,
it will function normally then after 30-45 minutes goes to a blue
screen that says "hardware malfunction". I presume that the hard drive
is dying, but when I try to tranfer the contents of the HDD to a
Maxtor 500 GB external drive, the computer doesn't stay on long enough
for the Maxtor program to finish the transfer. I have had time to
extract any files I wanted to keep(documents, music, photos), but I
want to continue using this PC. About a year ago I bought a 120 GB
Maxtor internal drive to add to this PC & never got around to
installing it(yeah, I KNOW!). I have the restore discs for this PC,
but don't know what use they can be to the newer HDD. I tried running
them onto it with the new drive connected to the CD-RW drive's cables
& then as the HDD, with no positive results.

The motherboard is still good, & I had intended to put in a 500 watt
Antec power supply to replace the original one. I bought the Antec PS
as a "fix" to rejuvenate a 4 year old PC that went dead. That PC never
came back, so it's motherboard must've been fried when the original PS
failed. If I could figure out how to move the XP operating system onto
the newer HDD, after adding the 500 watt PS the T-1120 could still be
a useful unit. I have no shortage of PCs in the house, with a Compaq
laptop & two other e-Machines desktops bought last year. I even still
have a Compaq Presario 5460 from 1999 that still works fine with it's
original Seagate 10 GB HDD-obviously that is a limited machine. But I
hate waste & want to salvage this T-1120.

Thanks for sharing this information..

 

[Dennman6]

I want to thank everyone for responding to my questions, especially
"Tywane". He has given me a lot of options to try out. I will be ready
to tackle some of this later this afternoon. If I am sucessful I will
tell the list members how it all pans out. Thanks!

Dennis