Replacing C: Drive

[Dave]

Not sure this belongs on this list - any suggestions as to where I should go
with this one would be welcome -

Anyway, my 4 year old Dell 3000 is plugging along satisfactorily, but my
main C: drive (40 g) is full. I have numerous other drives installed, but
leaving all those out of the discussion (hard to do), is there a practical
way to replace my main HD? The obvious problem - that's where my operating
system is installed.

Since I assume the main HD is also the source for most desktop fatalities, I
though this might also give me a few more years on the rest the hardware-
which seems to be running OK. Of course, everything does until the day in
crashes. :-(

Thx

Dave

 

[Malke]

Not sure this belongs on this list - any suggestions as to where I should
go with this one would be welcome -

Anyway, my 4 year old Dell 3000 is plugging along satisfactorily, but my
main C: drive (40 g) is full. I have numerous other drives installed, but
leaving all those out of the discussion (hard to do), is there a practical
way to replace my main HD? The obvious problem - that's where my
operating system is installed.

Since I assume the main HD is also the source for most desktop fatalities,
I though this might also give me a few more years on the rest the
hardware-
which seems to be running OK. Of course, everything does until the day in
crashes. :-(

Sure. Buy a nice large hard drive. Retail drives usually come with cloning
software, or you can download the utility from the drive mftr.'s website.
Or other cloning/imaging software such as Acronis True Image (a great
program, BTW) will do the job.

You just clone your original hard drive to the new one, leaving the original
hard drive in place and attaching the new one as slave or secondary if
SATA. After the cloning process (usually very quick), shut down the
computer and remove the original drive. This is the important bit. Now
attach the new cloned drive where the original drive was and boot into
Windows. If all went according to plan, things should look exactly as they
did with the old drive but you'll have more space. You can then attach the
old drive as secondary and format it from within Windows if you want to use
it as storage.

Malke

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Not sure this belongs on this list - any suggestions as to where I should
go with this one would be welcome -

Anyway, my 4 year old Dell 3000 is plugging along satisfactorily, but my
main C: drive (40 g) is full. I have numerous other drives installed, but
leaving all those out of the discussion (hard to do), is there a practical
way to replace my main HD? The obvious problem - that's where my
operating system is installed.

Since I assume the main HD is also the source for most desktop fatalities,
I though this might also give me a few more years on the rest the
hardware- which seems to be running OK. Of course, everything does until
the day in crashes. :-(

Thx

Dave

I'm not sure whether your C: drive is full (i.e. the partition that
you use for drive C, with other partitions on the same disk
having lots of spare space, or whether drive C: spans the whole
disk. This is why it is often clearer to speak about a disk (=the
physical thing) and a drive (e.g. drive C:, drive D.

If the partition is full and you have other partitions on the same
disk then a partition manager, e.g. Acronis DiskDirectory, would
help you. If the disk itself is full then the cloning program that
most disk manufacturers have on their home site would be the
answer.

 

[3c273]

Most new hard drives come with cloning software. (MaxBlast for Maxtor
drives.) Follow the instruction with the new hard drive and it is easy. Hook
new drive up as slave, clone drive, remove old drive and replace with clone,
done!
Louis

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Easiest method is to Clone your old drive to your new one. Most new drives
come with some form of cloning software.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Dave]

Good point 'Peg'

The original HD was partitioned by Dell; a small partition containing their
special features/misc/etc (and recovery routines which did not work!). We
lost that early on in a blue-screen-of-death event, so now it's just one big
(full) disc. Good point, though, thank you for making that observation.



Dave

 

[Dave]

Thanks everybody - looks like I'm in good shape and ready to go the cloning
route. Didn't know it was that easy.

Dave

 

[John Barnett MVP]

You're Welcome

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..