Imaging a Hard drive

[johnn]

I have a hunch that I may possibly have to replace my hard drive.
Obviously, installing the OS, as well as all the programs on a new drive is a time-consuming PITA.
Will an imaging program (such as Acronis True Image or Image for Windows) help make the job easier?
IOW: Can I take an image of my exsiting hard drive (say on an external HD), transfer the image to a
new hard drive, and just keep on using the computer with the new drive without having to reinstall
the OS and the programs?
For the $ 50 - $ 65 which those imaging programs cost, this seems to be a really good solution.

Knowledgeable opinions, please?

Thanks!
__________________________________
johnn
__________________________________
"God is dead"
- Nietzsche (1844-1935)
"Nietzsche is dead"
- God

 

[Leonard Grey]

Yes, however retail hard drives include the same type of software for no
extra charge.

 

[The Real Truth MVP]

The op asked for Knowledgeable opinions.

 

[Leonard Grey]

Then what are /you/ doing here? The only "knowledge" you have is what
you copy from other people and pretend to be your own.

 

[Milt]

Johnn,

As Leonard Grey said, many manufacturers of hard drives have a free tool
available to image your old drive to the new one. Check and see if the
manufacturer of either your new or old hard drive has one available.

I've imaged old hard drives to new ones several times using Norton Ghost.
And I've done it several times using Western Digital's free utility. Both
have worked well for me.

MIlt

 

[Twayne]

The op asked for Knowledgeable opinions.

So what the hell are you doing here?

 

[Twayne]

I have a hunch that I may possibly have to

replace my hard drive.
Obviously, installing the OS, as well as all the
programs on a new
drive is a time-consuming PITA. Will an imaging
program (such as
Acronis True Image or Image for Windows) help
make the job easier?
IOW: Can I take an image of my exsiting hard
drive (say on an
external HD), transfer the image to a new hard
drive, and just keep
on using the computer with the new drive without
having to reinstall
the OS and the programs?
For the $ 50 - $ 65 which those imaging programs
cost, this seems to
be a really good solution.

Knowledgeable opinions, please?

Thanks!
__________________________________
johnn
__________________________________
"God is dead"
- Nietzsche (1844-1935)
"Nietzsche is dead"
- God

Either Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image will get
the job done for you. Not familair with the other
one.

Also, your new drive should come with, or the mfr
should have available free, a "clone" program
which will create an image of the old drive to use
on the new drive. Those are pretty reliable
cloning programs in my experience and have never
had one fail to do the job.
You still might want to consider Ghost or True
Image though;

HTH,

Twayne

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have a hunch that I may possibly have to replace my hard drive.
Obviously, installing the OS, as well as all the programs on a new drive is a time-consuming PITA.
Will an imaging program (such as Acronis True Image or Image for Windows) help make the job easier?
IOW: Can I take an image of my exsiting hard drive (say on an external HD), transfer the image to a
new hard drive, and just keep on using the computer with the new drive without having to reinstall
the OS and the programs?

Yes. The best such program, in my view, is Acronis True Image, but new
hard drives often come with free programs that do this, so if yours
does, you might want to try that first.

 

[Rich/rerat]

johnn,
If you have a Seagate or Maxtor HDD installed on your PC, you are eligible for a
free copy of Seagate's Disk Wizard. It is a stripped down version of Acronis
True Image.

By reading the info sheet on the program, it is Acronis True Image. With the
following exceptions, compared to the full version of Acronis True Image.

1. Cannot create Acronis True Image "Secure Zone", and its features. You will
need to create bootable media, to restore backup images during Boot Sequence.
Application to do this is included.
2. Cannot schedule automatic backups.


--
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Rich/rerat
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<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>


I have a hunch that I may possibly have to replace my hard drive.
Obviously, installing the OS, as well as all the programs on a new drive is a
time-consuming PITA.
Will an imaging program (such as Acronis True Image or Image for Windows) help
make the job easier?
IOW: Can I take an image of my exsiting hard drive (say on an external HD),
transfer the image to a
new hard drive, and just keep on using the computer with the new drive without
having to reinstall
the OS and the programs?
For the $ 50 - $ 65 which those imaging programs cost, this seems to be a really
good solution.

Knowledgeable opinions, please?

Thanks!
__________________________________
johnn
__________________________________
"God is dead"
- Nietzsche (1844-1935)
"Nietzsche is dead"
- God

 

[Lil' Dave]

I have a hunch that I may possibly have to replace my hard drive.
Obviously, installing the OS, as well as all the programs on a new drive
is a time-consuming PITA.
Will an imaging program (such as Acronis True Image or Image for Windows)
help make the job easier?
IOW: Can I take an image of my exsiting hard drive (say on an external
HD), transfer the image to a
new hard drive, and just keep on using the computer with the new drive
without having to reinstall
the OS and the programs?
For the $ 50 - $ 65 which those imaging programs cost, this seems to be a
really good solution.

Knowledgeable opinions, please?

Thanks!
__________________________________
johnn
__________________________________
"God is dead"
- Nietzsche (1844-1935)
"Nietzsche is dead"
- God

Usually not a problem as long as the imaging software can address the
external hard drive or any other location of said image file(s). Other such
locations can be CDs/DVDs, add-on cards with onboard or removable hard
drives.

And must be able to address the target hard drive as a bootable entity for
restoration.

 

[johnn]

Thank you to all who responded. It has been very helpful.
I'm keeping your helpful remarks against the day I will actually ned them.

Thanks again!

I have a hunch that I may possibly have to replace my hard drive.
Obviously, installing the OS, as well as all the programs on a new drive is a time-consuming PITA.
Will an imaging program (such as Acronis True Image or Image for Windows) help make the job easier?
IOW: Can I take an image of my exsiting hard drive (say on an external HD), transfer the image to a
new hard drive, and just keep on using the computer with the new drive without having to reinstall
the OS and the programs?
For the $ 50 - $ 65 which those imaging programs cost, this seems to be a really good solution.

Knowledgeable opinions, please?

Thanks!
__________________________________
johnn
__________________________________
"God is dead"
- Nietzsche (1844-1935)
"Nietzsche is dead"
- God

__________________________________
johnn
__________________________________
"God is dead"
- Nietzsche (1844-1935)
"Nietzsche is dead"
- God