My mother has a pc that is relatively old, and the hard drive is about 85% full. I want to buy her a new hard drive and move her existing info to the new drive.
The end result is I want the pc to boot up with the same OS and programs but with much more space. I don't want to have to replace all of the software because it would cost a small forture.
There has to be a way to accomplish this, I hope someone can help. I've tried the obvious, coping all of one drive to another, but the new drive won't boot.
any help would be great.
thanks ron
2006-11-23 12:51:18 · 5 answers · asked by ? 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
Ghosting one disks contents to another is the best way. A simple copy won't do it.
2006-11-23 12:59:36 · answer #1 · answered by Radagast97 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
S...
why is someone an idiot for suggesting adding a second drive. if the pc is so old that it cannot support a second drive then it very likely won't have the resources to support a dvd drive either, internal or external. why so aggressive? the guy is trying to help out his mum and is trying to find a simple solution. others have tried to offer that with the limited information provided. don't know why that makes them an idiot.
as for an answer, the ones provided i think pretty much cover it. it is a good idea in any case to make a backup of any data somewhere, either onto floppy or cd/dvd, a usb external drive, or maybe even uploading it somewhere onto the internet. that way you could just replace the drive, re-install the operating system to the new drive and then copy the data back to that. Applications/programs such as Microsoft Office would also need to be re-installed.
All that being said, if you are able to add a second hard disk to the motherboard or attach a usb drive externally, that would be the easiest solution because you wouldn't need to change anything that you already have, and you will have the extra space you need. Good luck!
You could also just buy your mum a new PC! :p Christmas is coming!
2006-11-23 21:53:21 · answer #2 · answered by Shunshu 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You can simply add another hard drive into the same CPU without replacing it. From there, you will have 2 physical drives and one of it which is old, will still have all the data stored.
Alternatively, consider getting an external hard disk or a thumbdrive to store documents or other files, which is one idea too.
2006-11-23 20:54:11 · answer #3 · answered by cvn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your question is TOOOOOO vague.
A pc that is relatively old? What does that mean? Is it an 8088? DEFINE OLD.
How about backing her crap up onto DVD with an external DVD burner. No one can give you an honest answer with the vague question you have posed.
And dont listen to idiots who assume that your moms system can support 2 drives. If its OLD, it probably CANNOT. Youre just going to have to be more specific.
2006-11-23 20:54:12 · answer #4 · answered by . S 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Here's the solution:
http://kb.iu.edu/data/aamj.html
That'll do it!
2006-11-23 20:54:54 · answer #5 · answered by love2travel 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋