I want to migrate my OS from one drive to the other, will this method work?

Question

I was given an old computer which I want to use as a backup computer.

It has two drives in it (diff. models), C drive is FAT32 formatted and has XP installed, and almost completely full (even without any programs). E drive is empty and larger, its NTFS formatted.

I want to migrate XP from C to E drive. Can you tell me which is the easiest way to do? I have little computer knowledge, and cannot reinstall XP since I have no XP on CD.

I have thought about doing this, will it work?

1. Install Norton Ghost or Acronis TrueImage onto C drive, image the entire C drive, and restore it onto the empty E drive.

2. Open the computer and physically switch the two drive cables.

3. Boot up the computer. If it works, then it means the previously E drive will be now the C drive.

I'm worried about two things though:
- The two drives are not identical models.
- The original XP was installed on FAT32, the new drive is NTFS.

Will this work? Do you have a better suggestion?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Boot from the Norton Ghost cd, and simply image the old drive to the new one. Ghost will handle the rest.

Then change the cables/jumpers for the new drive to be the primary. Done!