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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