HD transfer (1 Viewer)

I have an old 20 Gig HD that I want to replace with a new 200 Gig HD. Can I install the new HD as a slave, transfer all the (bootable)info to the new HD and then make it the master? Is there a program that will do this? I had re-installed the OS a few months ago and want to avoid doing that again. The 20 Gig is bound for a USB drive enclosure to swap files between PC's.

Thanks,

Dan M

I think you'd be better off removing the 20gb drive and doing ai fresh install on the new disk, then hooking up the old drive as a slave and copying your data off of that.

I'm sure there are programs that will do what you want, but it seems that you'd be less likely to run into problems if you install fresh on the new drive.

I agree with Mike. Install the 200G as your primary with a fresh install of the OS. Then install the 20G as your slave and transfer the data over from it to your 200G.

It is always nice to have a back up drive in your PC anyway.

You could use Norton Ghost to make your 200G HD a exact clone of your original 20g HD. Then all you would have to do is designate your 200g HD as master and 20g HD as slave. Doing this would not require you to reinstall anything.

Edited for this correction:

If using Norton Ghost the 20g HD will be the master and the 200g HD will be the slave. However, after using Norton Ghost then you would make the 200g HD the master and the 20g HD the slave.

Go here....

http://www.pricewatch.com/

and type Norton Ghost in the search box.

My Western Digital drives all came with a setup utility that offered to transfer the OS automatically. I think other brands do too.

Some computer makers like Dell installs hidden partitions which most utilities that come with replacement HDs won't copy. That's why you need something like Norton Ghost it copies everything ala clones the original HD.

Thanks everyone. My drive is an OEM drive, no cables or software. I'll check out Norton's Ghost.

-Dan M~