Move XP to second drive

B

Belprice

Hi folks ,

I am running Microsoft Windows XP Professional , Version 5.1.2600 Service
Pack 2 Build 2600 , Processor x86 Family 15 Model 1 Stepping 2 GenuineIntel
~1694 Mhz and I hope thats all you need. I have two hard drives , C: & E: and
windows is stored in and starts up with drive C:. However , its an old
computer and drive C; has only twenty GB and drive E: has 40 GB of free
space. With this in mind I would like to move XP to drive E: and free up some
space on drive C; and hopefully increase the speed and reliability of my
computer. Can anyone suggest how to o this , if it is possible.

Thanks very much in advance
Ta.
JC
 
S

smlunatick

Hi folks ,

I am running  Microsoft Windows XP Professional , Version 5.1.2600 Service
Pack 2 Build 2600 , Processor   x86 Family 15 Model 1 Stepping 2 GenuineIntel
~1694 Mhz and I hope thats all you need. I have two hard drives , C: & E:and
windows is stored in and starts up with drive C:. However , its an old
computer and drive C; has only twenty GB and drive E: has 40 GB of free
space. With this in mind I would like to move XP to drive E: and free up some
space on drive C; and hopefully increase the speed and reliability of my
computer. Can anyone suggest how to o this , if it is possible.

Thanks very much in advance
Ta.
JC

You will be better off if you were to completely transfer the
installed XP onto the larger hard drive. This is known as "cloning"
the hard drive and will completely "erase" the E: drive. You should
backup all important documents, address book, email messages and any
other file that you need to keep. Then look at Acronis True Image.
 
J

JS

You might want to try these tips first.
If after following the steps below you
still want to use the 40GB drive for
Windows I'll show you want you need
to know.

First use Windows 'Disk Cleanup' to create more space on your C: drive.
Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

Next: Empty the Recycle Bin.

If you recently installed Windows XP Service Pack 3:
Look for an odd folder name which is located here
C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\cf8ec753e88561d..........\
Note: the apparent random set of letter and number may vary from my
example above but whatever the name is, it will be more than
600MB in size and can be safely deleted.
You may also see a number of other folders or files located in the:
C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\ directory
They also can be deleted.

You can also free up more disk space by reducing
the number of 'System Restore' points:
Select Start/Control Panel/System, then in the System Properties window
click on the System Restore tab.
Next select the drive letter where Windows is installed (usually C:),
Then click on the Setting button
Now in the Drive Settings window move the Disk space usage slider to the
left to reduce the amount of drive space System Restore points will use.
This will remove some of the older restore points and free up some space.

Disable Hibernation and delete hiberfil.sys file (If you have it enabled):
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/...sys-hibernation-file-in-windows-xp-and-vista/
and:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/hibernate.mspx
and: http://www.softwarepatch.com/tips/hiberfil-sys-xp.html

If you are using IE7 and then installed SP3 read the info below.
IE7 users will find the folders listed below on their hard drive:
$NtServicePackUninstallIDNMitigationAPIs$
$NtServicePackUninstallNLSDownlevelMapping$
They are needed to uninstall IE7. However, if you installed IE7 and
then installed XP SP3 you can no longer uninstall IE7 and these
folders can also be deleted.

Note: The recommended procedure before installing XP SP3 is to
uninstall IE7, then install XP SP3. Now you still have the ability to
install and uninstall IE7.

Next if you still need more space:
Remove the files used to uninstall updates to Windows
These folders and associated files in these folders are safe to remove,
however once deleted you will no longer be able to un-install a patch or
update that was associated with the deleted folder/files.
I would keep the most recent set (last two months just in case) of folders
and delete the older updates.
As a safety net I burned these folders to a CD before deleting them.
These files are located in the Windows folder and have folder names
like $NtUninstallKBXXXXXX$.
They are hidden folders so enable viewing of hidden files in Windows
Explorer.
Warning: One folder you should not delete is: $hf_mig$
Also See the following web pages on this issue:
http://www.pagestart.com/ntuninstall.html
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

If you upgraded your PC from Windows 98 to Windows XP.
The $Win98UpdateUninstall$ can be deleted.

You can reduce the size of the Internet Explorer Disk Cache:
How and Why to Clear Your Cache:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/customizing/clearcache.mspx
Just follow the instructions but instead of increasing the size
(as stated in the article) decrease it.

Can I move or delete my C:\I386 directory to free up some space?
See:
http://ask-leo.com/can_i_move_or_delete_my_i386_directory_to_free_up_some_space.html
Note: C:\i386 is not to be confused with the
C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386 folder which should not
be moved or deleted as Windows File Protection needs those files

Finally: Check the Recycle Bin one more time and empty it
if necessary as some of those files you deleted in the steps
mentioned above may find there way into the recycle bin.

If you have more than one partition or drive then:
How to Change the Default Location of Mail and News Folders:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307971/en-us

Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder
(Example: move it to the D drive)
See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310147
Also:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/how_to_move_my_documents.htm

How to move the Spool folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q308666

MS Office: Move the Local Install Source (MSOCache) location
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825933
(See the section titled: Move LIS Cache folder to a new drive location)
Note: If your computer already had more than one hard drive or partition
when you installed MS Office, Office will place the MSOCache on the drive or
partition with the most available free space during the install process.
 
D

db

you might try to moving
"my documents" off the
c drive.

to change the default,
right click on it and get
the properties page.

then simply change the
default from c to e.

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

you can also upload
many of your documents,
files and pics to microsoft's
free site called "skydrive".

where you can have 25gigs
of free space to store your
files online in private folders

thus freeing up your disk
space as well.

--
db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- @hotmail.com
"share the nirvana" - dbZen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
H

HeyBub

Belprice said:
Hi folks ,

I am running Microsoft Windows XP Professional , Version 5.1.2600
Service Pack 2 Build 2600 , Processor x86 Family 15 Model 1 Stepping
2 GenuineIntel ~1694 Mhz and I hope thats all you need. I have two
hard drives , C: & E: and windows is stored in and starts up with
drive C:. However , its an old computer and drive C; has only twenty
GB and drive E: has 40 GB of free space. With this in mind I would
like to move XP to drive E: and free up some space on drive C; and
hopefully increase the speed and reliability of my computer. Can
anyone suggest how to o this , if it is possible.

Thanks very much in advance
Ta.

The simple answer is: you can't.

The more complex answer is: you can if you want to jump through innumerable
hoops.

With 80Gig hard-drives now being found in the bottom of Cracker-Jack boxes,
you'd be way ahead to replace your C: drive with a larger capacity one. It's
trivial.
 
B

Belprice

Hi JS

and others whom have been kind enough to post replies. I am in the process
of following this instructions you outlined in your reply JS and so far , so
good. I have created a lot of space and am now going to run defrag to see if
that improves things anymore. If this all works out , thanks a lot for all
your help. If not, then I'll move unto the next responce.

Thanks a million.

Ta
JC
 
P

Patrick Keenan

Belprice said:
Hi folks ,

I am running Microsoft Windows XP Professional , Version 5.1.2600 Service
Pack 2 Build 2600 , Processor x86 Family 15 Model 1 Stepping 2
GenuineIntel
~1694 Mhz and I hope thats all you need. I have two hard drives , C: & E:
and
windows is stored in and starts up with drive C:. However , its an old
computer and drive C; has only twenty GB and drive E: has 40 GB of free
space. With this in mind I would like to move XP to drive E: and free up
some
space on drive C; and hopefully increase the speed and reliability of my
computer. Can anyone suggest how to o this , if it is possible.

Thanks very much in advance
Ta.
JC

If you want to increase speed and reliability, clone the C drive to a brand
new hard disk. Where I am, bare drives are cheap - 160 gig drives are
about $50 - and you can download demo versions of cloning software to
perform the task. You'll be done in a very short time.

I have great results with Acronis True Image and there's a free demo
version; download and install, clone the disk in manual mode so that you can
specify that the clone uses all of the new, larger disk. From that point,
you'll have a fully running system on the larger drive in about half an
hour.

HTH
-pk
 
A

Anna

Belprice:
While it's understandable that you would like to achieve better performance
with your current system, the likelihood is that you're not going to
experience any significant improvement in the overall "speed" of your system
through the manipulation of data from one HDD to another.

You're obviously dealing with a very modest system here. There is really
little to gain in terms of "speeding up" your system by purchasing a larger
HDD at this time as one responder to your query has suggested. So I would be
hesitant before making any sizable expenditure to "upgrade" your system
unless it's absolutely necessary.

You didn't indicate how much RAM the system presently has. Hopefully you're
not working with less than 512 MB. If your currently installed RAM is only
256 MB and you can increase your RAM to 512 MB and you might want to
consider doing so if you can pick up another stick for about $20 or so.

It probably would be worthwhile, as has been suggested to you, to clone the
contents of your present boot drive - the 20 GB one - over to your 40 GB
HDD. I assume the latter's total disk space is 40 GB (or more accurately
about 37 GB, although you mentioned something about "40 GB of free space").
You could easily accomplish this by using the trial version of Acronis True
Image as has been also suggested to you. If you do go that route you
understand that the *present* data residing on your 40 GB HDD will be
deleted as a result of the disk-cloning operation, so you'll have to find
some way to save whatever data is presently on that drive which you want to
retain (by either copying the data over to the 20 GB HDD assuming there's
sufficient disk space on that drive to retain the data or copy the data over
to some other media as a temporary measure).

So as a consequence you'll have a single-partitioned 40 GB HDD as your boot
drive containing all your programs and personal data, and of course, your
OS. You can than use the 20 GB drive as a secondary HDD for backup/storage
purposes. Seems to me that's the most sensible way to go given your
circumstances.

This is not to say you shouldn't follow the suggestions of other responders
to your query re cleaning up your system as best you can, i.e., purging the
system of any unnecessary programs/data, avoid running programs in the
background unless absolutely necessary, general disk-cleanup measures, etc.
The usual types of PC "housekeeping". By all means follow those suggestions.

But when all is said & done, while the suggested measures are probably
worthwhile, it's doubtful whether you'll see any significant increase in the
performance of your system. However, you did also mention the objective of
increasing the "reliability of my computer". I'm not sure what you have in
mind here. I'm assuming that your present system is "reliable", i.e., it
boots without incident and functions without any problems, albeit slower
than you would want. But if your present system is "unreliable", that's an
altogether different situation.
Anna
 
L

Lil' Dave

I use Disk Cleanup almost everyday. Emptying the recycle bin is one of the
options for cleanup as part of the program.
 
M

Mike Torello

Lil' Dave said:
I use Disk Cleanup almost everyday. Emptying the recycle bin is one of the
options for cleanup as part of the program.

Congratulations on the success of your sigectomy.
 
R

Randall Flagg

You enjoy creating words?

WTF is your problem? I thought it was funny.

"Li'l Dave" was trying on a humongous sig for a while until he started
receiving flak for it.
 

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