How to copy one hard disk to another (and xfer windows)?

[Tac]

I just got my new 640gb hard disk and would like to transfer all files from my old 250gb to it.

I no longer have my winxp64 disc (lost it when moving to new home ) . Although I have a windows xp disc, I want windows 64bit because (I think) my new cpu is 64 bit (phenom 2 X4 black edition 3.2ghz). Plus its a hassle to copy and reinstall all that crap.

Is there any way to do this within windows? I read the xcopy command from a dos line cannot be used anymore because it kills long system file names.

[Tigger29]

Yes it can be done... it's called "disk cloning".

There are many free versions of software that will do this for you, "clonezilla" being one of them.. but as far as I'm concerned, the 'king of all kings' when it comes to cloning software is Acronis.

Normally you have to pay for Acronis, but if you use Western Digital drives, you can download a free copy HERE.

[cattb]

As mentioned before by someone else there is a free version called clonezilla, also other payed versions ghost by norton and paragon has cloning software program. Google paragon and look, I think they may even have a free version but not sure.

Also Acronis is also very good cloning softwre.

[Tac]

Normally you have to pay for Acronis, but if you use Western Digital drives, you can download a free copy HERE.

YES!!! both my old and new are WD disks. THANKS. That solves it 

[Ghastly]

I want windows 64bit because (I think) my new cpu is 64 bit (phenom 2 X4 black edition 3.2ghz)

If I read between the lines (which are far enough apart that you could drive the Queen Mary between) correctly, what you are really asking is if you can clone your existing Windows Installation onto a new computer system?

If so, then the answers is "very likely not" - or more accurately, something on the order of "Yes, but you could spend 4 hours a day dinkin' and die of old age before it ever actually works right - if you can even get it to boot in the first place, which is somewhere around the same odds as winning the Trifecta."

<S>
 

[Tac]

well.. it works.

im typing now running only the new HDD on my pc all my stuff was copied from my old HDD, windows included, and its working mighty fine 

[Tigger29]

If I read between the lines (which are far enough apart that you could drive the Queen Mary between) correctly, what you are really asking is if you can clone your existing Windows Installation onto a new computer system?

If so, then the answers is "very likely not" - or more accurately, something on the order of "Yes, but you could spend 4 hours a day dinkin' and die of old age before it ever actually works right - if you can even get it to boot in the first place, which is somewhere around the same odds as winning the Trifecta."

Actually, no he was asking if he can clone his EXISTING 64bit installation because he no longer has the 64bit disk to reinstall with (only 32bit).. so a backup/wipe/reinstall is not an option for him.

Tac, I'm glad it worked out for you.  Yes it's some nice software.  Use that same software to make a image of your hard drive now and store it on a separate partition on your new drive (if you have the space), that way you can restore if from that if need be... either that or cough up a WinXP 64 disk somewhere...

[Sundowner]

As noted above this method is reliable only for backing up one box.

I have several clones of my C: drive.
One in a fire safe, one off site and the one installed.

I've not formatted and reinstalled XP for years now....it's too much hassle.   

This happened recently;

NTldr not found
Press Any Key to Restart.

Repair the XP installation?

Maybe. (In this case XP repair efforts failed.)

I pop in a clone HD and I'm back!

Do people still wipe and reinstall windows? J/K 

Regards,
Sun

[cattb]

I have been using norton ghost for years, my brother uses acronis. I tried acronis once and it screwed up my second hard drive putting in the saftey recovery zone, why it happened I don't know,  I have never used acronis since.

It seems to me you can take the i1386 file from windows cd and put it on your hard drive and repair the ntlrd problem from the Windows recovery mode. There are exceptions of course.

Yes it is easier if your data is backed up that you reimage the drive. Simple and fast.

[Sundowner]

Yes it is easier if your data is backed up that you reimage the drive. Simple and fast.

When I say a cloned C:drive I mean a bootable, runable, clone of the drive.

By "reimage" do you mean a compressed image that needs to be extracted before use?

Archived disk images that must be extracted to recover make me nervous..as you tend to find out it's a hosed image when you need it the most....during extraction at recovery time.
Not a good time to find out you have no backup.

You can be sure the clone runs immediately after you make it, no image extraction required.

With a "cloned" drive it's an exact copy of the system drive ready to plug in and boot.


Regards,
Sun

[cattb]

Sorry, I use a different term.  Clone from what you describe is what I call a image. I use ghost which will make a clone of the OS or whole partition of the hard drive and it does also compress the image or clone if desired.

Anytime a person clones or copies a drive there is always a chance of corruption. I have been down that road before and had it happen, actually more then once.
When I install my OS and basic updates and what I call my primary software applications I will make usually 4 clones or images . Once finished  with final install of everything I need I make a final image, and I will peridically make new images. Yes I will delete some of the old images as I go, I always keep the first 4 images, if one is corrupt I can fall back to the next.