I want to upgrade to a bigger hard drive on my Dell 5100 laptop. 1st, If I do get a new hard drive, I want to move my old files onto my new drive. 2nd, Is this a difficult process and do I need anything else besides a new drive?
2007-02-25 04:45:47 · 3 answers · asked by spencerlew@sbcglobal.net 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Laptops & Notebooks
This process can be tricky, but not a whole lot can go wrong. The best thing you can do is to just make an exact copy of your existing hard disk and write that to the new disk. When I say copy, I mean clone. Make an .iso file of your old hard disk and then transfer that image to the new hard drive. An .iso is not the same as copy and paste to the new hard drive. You will need a way to transfer the .iso image to your new hard drive. One possible way would be to use a USB2.0 or Firewire connection but you would have to have an external hard drive enclosure to connect the new hard drive. Another possible way would be to install the hard drive into another computer and network the two computers together and then transfer the .iso file on the disk. You will need a program to make and burn the .iso file onto the new hard disk. (Symantec Norton Ghost)
The good thing is that all of your files and setting will still be intact once the new hard drive has been burned with the iso image. You would not have to install the OS again or move files manually.
You can always do what the other answer said to do but this way is much faster and easier.
There are lots of articles on the web about this so, I would read a tutorial about this first. Search for cloning a partition or cloning a hard drive or new hard drive installation.
Great article here: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=418
2007-02-25 05:46:03 · answer #1 · answered by iamagenuis 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well your laptop can only fit one drive so yes transfering files between the old and new drive will require an intermediate backup device such as a dvd-r or transfering the files to another PC then swap the drives out and then transfer your files to the new drive.
You'll also need to reinstall the OS on the new drive.
2007-02-25 04:49:18 · answer #2 · answered by Patrick D 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree with Patrick D. From my experience, he's right on the money.
2007-02-26 12:44:39 · answer #3 · answered by xjaz1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋