I want to upgrade my hard drive, is there a way to transfer everything to the new drive?

Question

Running Windows XP Pro

Thanks for all the replies, i obviously can't try all of them, so i think i will leave the best answer to voting and maybe pick the winner as the way to go.

Answer 1

Depends what you are trying to do.
Cant you just add the new drive and keep the existing one.
If you cant you can take an image of your existing one and transfer it to the new one.
Or you can re install XP on the new one then copy your files over.
If you only have 1 drive, there are usually enough conectors either IDE or SATA for at least 4 devices. So the chances are you can just add the new one to a spare conector.

Answer 2

Hi. The easiest way to upgrade is to just add an external USB Hard Drive to your system and keep your original internal drive in place.
If you want to totally replace the internal hard drive, you can use the Windows Files & Settings Transfer wizard, which will help you create back-up discs with all your important files, etc, which you can then transfer onto the new Hard Drive once it's installed.

Answer 3

In XP pro you can use the files and settings transfer found in the All Programs>Accessories>System tools
Or make the old drive a slave drive and transfer the files that way

Answer 4

what alot of guys do is when you get your new hard drive you obviously set that to master,then set the old drive to slave,then over the next few weeks just transfer the files over using the normal "copy to folder" method
however there are plenty of 3rd party software avalible that will transfer all your data from your old drive,such as BackPack Professional Standard Edition 4.6(http://www.download.com/BackPack-Professional-Standard-Edition/3640-2242_4-10640880.html?v=1&tag=tab_ur)
BackPack Professional 4 consists of 7 powerful applications in one easy to use software solution. Features include backup and restoring files, burning CD/DVD's and printing directory / folder structures. Newsgroup files can be downloaded, files can be emailed and Web sites published.
its much easier ti use a back up program but doing it manually has less chance of any mistakes
good luck

Answer 5

Just add in the second Hard Disk to the next free connector on the IDE cable

open up fdisk create the partitions format ntfs/fat## which ever you require,

though can be done in WinXP via disk managment

Start > Run :: compmgmt.msc

Answer 6

I used Paragon Partition Manager 2005 to clone a WinXP disk. The software was free on a CD that came with Personal Computer World magazine (Oct 2006). It still might be free to download via:

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2167398/paragon-partition-manager-2005

Answer 7

If you need to make an exact copy of the old HD (so you keep your settings, drivers, etc...) you can use True Image or Drive Image.

If all you want is more storage space, keep the hold HD and use the new one either internally or via USB. USB cases for HD (either 2"5 or 3"5) are really cheap these days.

Hope it helps.

Answer 8

Simple way is purchase a USB External Hard Drive. 250 GB upwards is available. You just plug it into your com, Open it ,then open your intern hard drive, then just drag and drop it into Extern Hard Drive. Or Click on the stuff in your intern drive and click send to Extern Drive. That,s how i did it , easy,no problems.

Answer 9

once you purchase a new hard drive, you can buy an encasement usually sold in electronics stores that allow a connection from your new hard drive to your computer with the existing hard drive via usb. from there you can drag and drop files.

or you can easily store information in a usb memory stick and once your hard drive is installed, transfer the saved info onto that.

Answer 10

Should you need to download a recent version of Paragon Partition Manager get it here: http://j.mp/1lhsy0b
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