new and old hard disk

[Darkerthoughts]

hi, just wish to comfirm the fact.
my friend was saying that if i install a new hard disk. i can actually
copy all the files in the old hardisk and just transfer over to the
new hardisk (using imaging) and i can actually use the new hard disk
and the windows system will work as per normal. pls confirm?
confused.
p/s it will also work if my old hardisk is a ide and the new hard disk
is a sata connection

 

[John John]

hi, just wish to comfirm the fact.
my friend was saying that if i install a new hard disk. i can actually
copy all the files in the old hardisk and just transfer over to the
new hardisk (using imaging) and i can actually use the new hard disk
and the windows system will work as per normal. pls confirm?
confused.
p/s it will also work if my old hardisk is a ide and the new hard disk
is a sata connection

Your friend is correct. You can use utilities provided by the hard
drive manufacturer or third party tools to "clone" or image your drive
onto the new disk. You should install the SATA drivers to the current
installation before you image it to the new disk. After you image the
disk remove the old drive from the computer and reboot the computer with
the new disk only. Once you are satisfied that the new disk boots
properly you can add your old disk as a storage drive if you wish.

John

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

hi, just wish to comfirm the fact.
my friend was saying that if i install a new hard disk. i can actually
copy all the files in the old hardisk and just transfer over to the
new hardisk

Yes.


(using imaging) and i can actually use the new hard disk
and the windows system will work as per normal. pls confirm?

Yes, but you need to "clone" the drive to do that, not "image" it.

You need third-party software to do this. New drives othen come with such
software, but if not, I recommend Acronis True Image.

confused.

p/s it will also work if my old hardisk is a ide and the new hard disk
is a sata connection

Yes, assuming that your motherboard supports SATA. Not all motherboards do..

Also be aware that you have the easier and possibly better alternative of
adding the new drive but also keeping the old one. There's nothing to copy
and you can easily use two (or more) drives in your system.