New HD install (upgrade) using Windows XP...???!!!

[MadMax350]

Had XP Pro for about a month or so now. I just now got a 100gb HDD to replace my small 15gb unit and found out that I had made a mistake!

Appearantly, Windows XP does not allow for the use of "most" hard disk copy utilities. Western Digital's DLG will not even touch the NTFS file system and the MAXTOR Maxblast II software will attempt to copy the partitian but will hang when it gets to the end of the copy.

I have heard that there are progs available like Ghost and Casper XP that will allow for an HD copy but of course, these cost money.

I contacted Microsoft support and spoke to them about my issue. According to the tech rep, Windows XP has many integrated security and copy protection features that do not allow for the copying of an HDD. The tech rep wasn't sure, but did say that I would probably have to uninstall windows XP from my original drive, then call the windows activation hotline to have them reset my XP version.

Once this is done, I would have to install XP onto my new HD, then manually reinstall all of my applications and programs from scratch. The tech did note that perhaps there might be another way around this issue but I would basically have to pay for "advanced" support to find out how to do it, if it could be done.

I expressed my concern that Microsoft designed an OS that basically could only be installed on one hard drive that could not be upgraded easily. I further stated my disapproval that microsoft should list some kind of notice on their packaging letting the end user know what perils lie ahead if they wished to perform such upgrades after the installation was performed.

My question to this BBS: any way to upgrade my HDD without buying other software and without spending a lot of time reinstalling stuff to end up with a funky drive letter that isn't c:?

[Raid762]

You could try searching the net for one of these programs , you may find a demo version that can perhaps solve your problem , You will need a 9x boot disk to run Ghost from DOS but after that should be able to backup your old drive to the new one, After that try removing the old drive to see if the clone was successfull.
best of luck.
edited to correct the context

[Tomboy]

Hi,

You CAN transfer your current Windows XP installation from one HD to another. It requires the use of PowerQuest's DriveImage Pro, or Norton Ghost (see Raid 762's suggestion if you don't have either of these programs) and a CDRW drive.

1. Burn an image of your old drive to CD using PQDI or Ghost.
2. Install the new drive and create some partitions using FDISK, or the installation software that came with your drive. You do not have to format the partitions. The restore operation doesn't need it for the primary partition and the other partitions can be formatted from Windows XP after you transfer the OS.
3. Restore the CD image to the primary (i.e. bootable) partition. Both PQDI and Ghost will allow you to resize the image to the size of the partition, so don't worry about any size differences.
4. Reboot, and your system should come up as normal but with a LOT more space. Format the other partitions and your done.

If your system hangs while booting, you will probably need to boot from your Windows XP CD and do a "repair" installation to redetect your hardware and update your drivers. This repair operation does not harm your programs or base configuration. Also, take note that THIS repair option is not the first one you see when you boot from the CD, but appears after you say you want to install Windows XP to your C: drive. You get the option when it detects that you already have a copy of Windows XP installed.

If you are using a retail copy of Windows XP instead of the "Corp" version you might have to reactivate through M$ after making this change, but there is a good chance you won't.

I have successfully moved and updated a Windows XP installation from a PIII to an Athlon system this way.

Good Luck,
Tomboy

[mikeh420]

I just finished using Drive Copy to copy from a 60 GB to an 8 GB (the 60 GB is going for repair). I had to use Partition Magic 8 to shrink the 60GB partition to 8GB to fit on the 8GB drive. Then I used Drive Copy 4 to copy the partition. It worked flawlessly: I'm using the 8GB right now.

PS, don't forget to change the jumper on the destination drive to 'master' (and disconnect the source drive) after the copy is done. Drive Copy neglects to tell you to do that, and booting up to a "PLEASE INSERT BOOT DISK TO CONTINUE" message is frightening!

Also, if you're thinking of buying an IBM Deskstar hard drive because you think IBM makes it, think again! It's made by HITACHI! After 10 months the heads jerk around for a second or two every day. Quite unsettling to hear!

[miko11]

I have used ghost successfully many times - just from a floppy
Disk to disk as well as cloned CD to disktis really quite easy -
With the clone burnt to CD via the floppy the only condition is that the 'new HDD' is at least the same size as the original source
miko

[VonGlugner]

Hi,
For all this kind of movements, disk to disk, use Ghost 2003.
Simply set it under xp and launch the disk ghost to cd.
After rebooting, you will have to insert blank disks into your burner.
Use as many disk as needed.
Change your disk, partition it and format it.
Boot with the first ghost cd and you will be back to your xp.
Works great since version 2003