Imaging New Master Boot Drive

[Bruce]

I've got a couple of questions about replacing my current master boot
drive with a larger drive. The questions deal with imaging and deciding
partition size. I'd be moving from a 60gb to a 160gb drive. It's an
NTFS, cable select system.

I've got a 2-year old Dell Dimension 4550, 2.4gHz, 1gb ram. It runs
WinXPHome, SP2.

(It came with a 60gb hd (Maxtor, I think), and a DVD-ROM and CD-RW on the
secondary IDE. I've since added an 80gb Western hd as a slave on the
primary IDE, and replaced the CD-RW with a Plextor 708a DVD/+-RW burner.)

Current config is:

Primary IDE
C: 60gb Maxtor hd master, contains OS and applications
D: 80gb Western hd slave, contains data files, i.e. mp3, jpg

Secondary IDE
E: LiteOn DVD-ROM
F: Plextor DVD+-/RW

I just got a new Seagate 160gb Ultra ATA/100 hd. I'd like to image my
current OS from the Maxtor to this new Seagate. I assume the process is
like this:

remove the Western on D:
connect the Seagate on D:

At this point, I don't know what type of partition I should make.
Do I partition as a slave? As a master with a boot record?

I'm familiar with, and have used, WindowsXP Disk Manage to partition and
format new drives. Should I use it to do this, or does an imaging
application include one that should be used instead? Does it matter?

What is the best imaging application to use for imaging? Partition
Magic/Norton Ghost?

What are your comments on number of partitions? On the one hand, I don't
like to see lots of drive letters in Explorer, and it makes it hard to
manage and remember where files are, but on the other hand, once the
160gb drive starts to get filled, defragging a multipartion drive is
quicker.

Once partitioned, I'd remove the original Maxtor on C:, and replace it
with the new Seagate. I'd then put the Western back on D:, and move any
files on it to the new C:. I'd have the original Maxtor set aside, and
in case I have any problems, I can re-connect it.

Thanks for any advice,
Bruce

 

[Odie Ferrous]

What is the best imaging application to use for imaging? Partition
Magic/Norton Ghost?

Casper XP


Odie

 

[John Doe]

If you haven't already, stop what you're doing and take the time to
make a current removable media copy of all your important files.

I've got a couple of questions about replacing my current master
boot drive with a larger drive. The questions deal with imaging
and deciding partition size. I'd be moving from a 60gb to a 160gb
drive. It's an NTFS, cable select system.

I've got a 2-year old Dell Dimension 4550, 2.4gHz, 1gb ram. It
runs WinXPHome, SP2.

(It came with a 60gb hd (Maxtor, I think), and a DVD-ROM and CD-RW
on the secondary IDE. I've since added an 80gb Western hd as a
slave on the primary IDE, and replaced the CD-RW with a Plextor
708a DVD/+-RW burner.)

Current config is:

Primary IDE
C: 60gb Maxtor hd master, contains OS and applications
D: 80gb Western hd slave, contains data files, i.e. mp3, jpg

Secondary IDE
E: LiteOn DVD-ROM
F: Plextor DVD+-/RW

I just got a new Seagate 160gb Ultra ATA/100 hd. I'd like to image
my current OS from the Maxtor to this new Seagate. I assume the
process is like this:

remove the Western on D:
connect the Seagate on D:

At this point, I don't know what type of partition I should make.
Do I partition as a slave? As a master with a boot record?

I'm familiar with, and have used, WindowsXP Disk Manage to
partition and format new drives. Should I use it to do this, or
does an imaging application include one that should be used
instead? Does it matter?

What is the best imaging application to use for imaging? Partition
Magic/Norton Ghost?

PartitionMagic revolutionized (in my little world) the way I use a
personal computer. But using PartitionMagic to its fullest potential
is problematic with Windows XP, in my experience.

I think you will do fine with whatever imaging application. Others
know better about imaging to removable media.

What are your comments on number of partitions? On the one hand, I
don't like to see lots of drive letters in Explorer, and it makes
it hard to manage and remember where files are, but on the other
hand, once the 160gb drive starts to get filled, defragging a
multipartion drive is quicker.

That is a fun question. Others have other opinions.

I would do this.
.... make one partition for Windows XP plus most favorite
applications plus however much more space you might need for
everything else
.... make a big partition large enough for
noncritical files, like temporary storage, downloaded program files,
and multimedia files
.... make another partition the same size as
your largest removable media, I guess that would be 4GB or so to
match your writable DVD drive media... on this partition goes
hardware drivers, personal files (anything you produce, your work),
difficult to find software, and anything else you need to back up

So you end up with three partitions, one for Windows/applications
(at the beginning of your disk), one for temporary and downloaded
stuff (big), and one for important files you back up from time to
time (this one's size matches your recordable DVD size, and it goes
at the end of your disk).

While you install Windows, clone the installation in case you mess
up. There's nothing else like incremental backups when doing a
careful installation/configuration. Make sure they will copy back
correctly. Stop doing backups once you get your most important
programs installed and configured.

Good luck.

 

[Mac Cool]

Bruce:

What is the best imaging application to use for imaging? Partition
Magic/Norton Ghost?

I did the exact same on 4550 recently and I used the Maxtor utility, easy,
worked perfectly.

 

[John Doe]

Bruce:

I did the exact same on 4550 recently and I used the Maxtor
utility, easy, worked perfectly.

On Windows XP? Does that include a successful restoration? Mainly
curious. Thanks.

 

[Bruce]

Bruce:

I did the exact same on 4550 recently and I used the Maxtor utility,
easy, worked perfectly.

Does that utility come with the 4550?

You made an image with it, or just partitioned the new drive?

Bruce

 

[Mac Cool]

Bruce:

Does that utility come with the 4550?
SOFTWARE
http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.3c67e325e0a6b1f6294198
b091346068/?channelpath=/en_us/Support/Software%20Downloads/ATA%20Hard%
20Drives&downloadID=19

or

http://tinyurl.com/4ab7y

You made an image with it, or just partitioned the new drive?

https://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/maxtor.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?
p_faqid=1366

You can make partitions but unless I'm mistaken you will have to ghost
the entire original drive to a single partition and then move things
after. You also may need to reenter serial numbers for some programs
after ghosting.