At 02:35 PM 02/27/2000 , Jerry W Hughes wrote:
>Hi
>Is there away to copy one hard drive to another one. I thinking about
>getting bigger drive but I don't want to reload the software to make it
>the primary drive.
There are numerous ways to do this, but let us assume you are using
Windows95 or 98. Now, I will discuss the simplest manner to add a
new hard drive without investing in additional software, such as Ghost
and others.
First, install your new hard drive as an additional hard drive in the
computer, see our FAQ on this subject:
http://nospin.com/pc/faqs0007.html
Then, partition the drive: http://nospin.com/pc/faqs0004.html
and format the drive: http://nospin.com/pc/faqs0005.html
Now, you should have an existing boot drive or 'C' drive and the
new drive should show up as the 'D' drive when you start Windows.
Now, you can use Windows explorer to copy the full contents of the
C drive to the D drive. But, before you begin, there are two things
you must do:
1) DIsable the Windows swap file, this will not copy
To do this, click on Start | Settings | Control Panel | System
then click on the Performance tab | Virtual Memory Button
Now, in this area, click on the radio button: "Let me specify
the Virtual Memory Settings" and then check the "Disable
Virtual Memory" box
2) Display all files, this is done by clicking on START | Settings |
Folder Options. Now, click on the VIEW tab and then under
Hidden Files, be sure to check the SHOW ALL FILES option.
Okay, now you need to restart Windows. But, be sure you have
a current book disk for your flavor of Windows, use the ADD or
Remove programs icon in Control Panel, click on the "Startup Disk"
tab and make a boot disk.
Now, you are ready to use Windows Explorer to copy all the files on
the 'C' drive to the 'D' drive. Once this is complete you can now make
the new drive or 'D' drive your boot drive.
The final steps can be accomplished in several way, but let's discuss
the easiest way:
1) Turn off the computer, open the case and change
the jumper pin settings on both hard drives, switching them from
Master to Slave for the existing drive and Slave to Master for the new
drive.
2) Turn on the computer and during the POST Phase, (while you see the
memory count on the screen), enter the CMOS settings of the BIOS.
Redetect the hard drives, assuming the system has a fairly current BIOS,
otherwise you will need to change the parameters of the drives manually,
so that the New drive is the Master and the existing drive is the Slave.
Save the settings and reboot with the STARTUP or BOOT Disk you created
in the floppy drive, (be sure to check that the system is set to boot from a
floppy first, Boot order = A,C ).
3) When the system has booted from the floppy to a command prompt or
C:\> Type: FDisk and choose the C Drive. You will need to use FDISK
to set the new hard drive's partition as ACTIVE. Then, close FDISK and
Reboot the PC.
If you have followed all of these steps, the PC will boot into Windows. One
last thing you will need to do is go back and turn VIRTUAL Memory back
on and set it to "Allow Windows to Manage your Memory."
You can now either use the system with the two drives or turn off the PC and
remove the old drive to be used else where. If you remove the old drive,
be sure to modify your CMOS settings to reflect that it is gone and check
that your new hard drive does not need to be changed from a Master Drive
to Single Drive, (most newer drives use only one setting for Master or Single
but there are always exceptions to this).
I hope this explains the process.
Bob Wright
The NOSPIN Group
PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download
visit our download web page at:
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