Wow!
I think you're working way too hard when you have an image program
available, but different strokes, as they say.
I just image weekly and keep copies of the stuff I deem important.
Anyhoo, you're making the whole thing harder than necessary.
Install the new drive.
Restore the image and you're done with that part. No partitioning, no
formatting is necessary. You'll have an exact copy of the image on a
partition of the same size. XP is indifferent to size as long as your
motherboard supports LBA.
If you just had a single partition, you'd be completely finished.
Boot to the new drive and add partitions as needed.

Copy your data where you want it at this point.
Depending on what you use your computer for, Linux is ready for you now.
I have Ubuntu on a desktop and a netbook, and there's nothing I can't do,
including web site design, image manipulation, audio and video processing
and all the usual suspects.


On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 10:43 PM, g.Computer9f <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> After I thought about it, it's a little easier than I first believed.  The
> only real sticking point is step 8. below.  Any help with that I would
> really appreciate.
>
> 1. I will make an image of my C-partition (system)      (and backup my
> D-partition (data)).
>
> 2. I will install the new 320GB WD drive, along with the software for it
> and do the partitioning & formatting.
> 3. Next I will set up the rest of the mobo/hardware/drivers, etc.
> 4. I will install the OS just to be sure the WD drive & all the onboard
> drivers are completely set up properly with the OS.
> 5. I will do a few location manipulations to match my current
> system/partitions setup.
>
> 6. Then I will boot from an Acronis disk and image partition C at this
> point in the new install.
>
> 7. Now, I will  boot again from an Acronis disk and restore the image I
> made in step 1, above
> (my data will not be affected because it is not on partition C).
>
> THIS IS WHAT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT
> 8. Somehow I need to be sure this system (restored image), which was
> originally on a 120GB Seagate hard drive (and thinks it still is)
> understands that it is now on a 320GB WD hard drive.  Drives over 137GB are
> treated differently by XP.  I don't know what to do here.
>
> 9. Once step 8. is successfully completed, then I can image the C partition
> again, replacing the step 1 image, and from this point on, swapping back and
> forth until I get my new install up and running should be no problem.  (I
> just need to remember to always make a new image of whatever I have running
> BEFORE I restore over the top of it to put the other image (new-installing
> or old-working) back in.)
>
> What I really need is advice on what to do in STEP 8.  I know enough about
> hardware and drivers to know I'm 80% ignorant.  I would really appreciate
> the help.
>
> Thanks,
> AnnaSummers
>
> P.S.  You asked why three partitions?  If you are really interested, the
> answer is below original message.  (Actually, the 3 partitions will now be
> on the second hard drive, I will only have two on the primary drive.)
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Hugh Vandervoort
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 5:50 PM
> Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] Changing primary (system) hard drive & drive imaging
>
>
> That shouldn't be any problem as long as the new partition is at least as
> large as the old one.
> New drives often come with cloning software that's even easier than
> partitioning.
> Why 3 partitions?
>
> On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 1:10 PM, g.Computer9f <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > Does anyone know - if I replace the primary (system) hard drive (seagate
> > 120GB) on my PC with a larger drive (WD 320GB) with 3 partitions instead
> of
> > 2, will I still be able to restore my Acronis images that were made on
> the
> > prior drive (different brand - seagate to wd)?  Has anyone done this?
> >
> > I don't have time to get everything - entire reinstallation - done at
> once
> > and I wanted to shift back and forth between my current system setup and
> the
> >  new one that I'm working on setting up, using Acronis image files (I
> have
> > image FILES, not cloned partitions).  I'm wondering if I start the new
> > install on the new drive, whether I will have trouble with my PC (windows
> > xp) recognizing drivers or partitions for the hard drive.  I CAN elect to
> > restore the MBR, if that helps.
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Why three partitions?
>
> I install the OS to partition C on disk 1.
>
> Then I relocate My Documents to the second partition (D) on disk 1 (I also
> move OE's email store to here and any other folders containing "my data"
> that the applications allow me to relocate).
>
> I do this so that (1) my image files for partition C will be smaller (I
> keep a lot of them, back to day zero) and so that (2) when I restore a
> C-image file, my data, email, etc. will not be affected.  I also keep a log
> in Word in which I record important (system altering) things I did, such as
> configurations, settings, installing/uninstalling programs or disabling
> Windows services or ports, between images.  This provides me with a script
> to easily follow to get from whatever image I restore right back to where I
> am today, minus whatever I want to omit.
>
> Things that are dependent on each other in the system and should  be kept
> in synch (registry, installed programs, all root folders & their progeny,
> except My Documents) stay together in each image.  They image together, and
> restore together on partition C with no effect on my data partition D.
>
> I keep a third very small partition for the pagefile.  I will actually be
> moving that to my second harddrive, since the only time the backup drive is
> accessed is, well, when I'm backing up or imaging.
>
> I have (currently) two partitions on Drive 2:  One, partition F,  for
> system image files and one, partition E, for data backups.
>
> I run Express Assist to backup my email - it produces a backup file that
> can be referenced as though it is in an email program.  "Folders" or
> individual emails may be read and/or restored with this.  I have it backing
> up directly to partition E (drive 2), since my original stuff is on
> partition D (drive 1).  It backs up everything needed to set up your
> browsers, internet, and email, including OE rules, signatures - everything.
>  When you do a new installation, Express Assist will restore everything,
> automatically setting up all these things (browsers, internet, email) for
> you in the new installation.  Saves hours of fiddling.
>
> I use SecondCopy to backup everything else.  Acronis will do this, but then
> I would have to keep a copy of that version of Acronis as long as I wanted
> to read backups that I had put off onto DVD & saved.  I keep an identical,
> exact, uncompressed duplicate of My Documents on drive E, so I'm not
> dependent on a particular application to access it.  2ndCopy will do most
> anything, but I have it set up to run on demand only (like everything of
> this sort that I use) with profiles that MAINTAIN an exact duplicate of My
> Documents on partition E, which means it deletes some files and adds others
> to make the backup copy exactly match the My Documents folder on partition
> D, rather than having to make the backup from scratch each time.  It just
> adds and subtracts any changes since the last time I ran it.  (it can also
> make compressed backups, sync up files on two computers, or add only and
> never delete anything, etc. etc. - its a marvel).  It will do incremental
> backups, but to me, that's just asking for trouble down the road.  I don't
> encrypt my backups because ANYthing that I wouldn't publish on the web is
> already encrypted by file or folder.  That provides some protection for my
> sensitive data, in addition to firewalls, anti-virus, anti-malware, etc. &
> other precautions.
>
> Some of my 2ndCopy profiles cherrypick certain files/folders from C (things
> I couldn't move to partition D (data partition) but which nevertheless are
> "data" to me - profiles & such).  I include the QuickLaunch Bar, Taskbar,
> Address Book, Firefox & Explorer settings, and Favorites here (although
> Express Assist will also back all of these up).  When I restore an image, I
> don't want to have to set all these things back up.
>
> Then I run a 2ndCopy profile that backs up Drive 2 (my backups and key
> images) to a passport drive & sometimes to DVD.
>
> So absolutely everything that I have on Drive 1 (system partition C and
> data partition D) is ALSO on Drive 2 (C-images on partition F and data
> backups on partition E), with a safety copy of the backup Drive 2 on a
> passport drive.  So if either disk should fail, I'm covered.  If the whole
> machine gets struck by lightning, then I have the passport drive.
>
> I can restore my system back to zero install day (almost - the hardware &
> partitions - basic stuff has to be in) (or anywhere in between) leaving my
> data/email etc. untouched, and can then over-restore my current Desktop,
> Favorites, etc. with two clicks in 2ndCopy.  I can then simply follow my
> "script" log and do everything important that I have done since the date of
> the image.  My log goes all the way back to installing and configuring every
> program I have on the machine - it just takes a few seconds to add an item
> to the log whenever I do it.  And I can skip the install/uninstalls of
> things I don't want any more.  I have a clean registry and no malware
> (self-built machine with no crapware).
>
> I bought a retail copy of XP Home SP2, since it is the last MS OS that I
> trust in my home, so I can continue to use it until it won't serve my needs
> - at which time, Linux here I come.  I'm already researching Linux.  I hope
> by that time, there won't be any peripheral drivers problems and that the
> hard-core Linux-folks will have accepted commercial vendor software as an
> option for Linux users (to my mind these are the only two things keeping
> Linux from blowing MS out of the water).  I keep bugging my favorite vendors
> to write for Linux, and thankfully, some are beginning to - like Acronis.
>
> Actually, after all this careful planning, I may just start over - there is
> an Nvidia driver installed that has been bugging me since day one (only then
> I didn't know what it was) and the only way to get it out is to never
> install it to begin with, according to everything I've been able to find
> out.  It's presence makes Windows shutdown slow.  Well, at least my data
> will be okay and Express Assist will set up my browsers, internet, and email
> to as they were at my last EA Backup.  Plus - a big plus - I have a 1,2,3,
> script to follow from the very beginning for installing, disabling, and
> configuring everything right back up to today - minus that pesky Nvidia
> driver that I didn't need in the first place (I will never get ANYthing else
> Nvidia).
>
> Anyway, that's the long version of why three partitions.  Aren't you glad
> you asked??   Grin.
>
> Anna
>
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