How do I copy EVERYTHING from old HD to new HD

[EM199Si]

I think my current Seagate is going bad so I want to get a new one. How can I copy everything from the current HDD into a new one so that I can just use the new one as my primary drive and the current Seagate as an external when I get it back from warranty. Would I need to reinstall Vista?

Here's a clip of my current Seagate, let me know what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJDk6YVs1Pk
that's not as loud as it gets sometimes.

[Rev_pizzaguy]

http://www.apricorn.com/product_detail.php?type=family&id=39

I have one, it's invaluable.

[oldtimetech]

Oh my god, I'm surprised it's still running at all. (after listening to the video)

Here's an article on about cloning Vista: http://www.multibooters.co.uk/cloning.html

And if you back up to XP with this new drive, then copying from your old hard drive to your new is going to be a problem, because many software applications that work on Vista do not work on XP even with the SP3. At this point, you would only copy your music, pictures, videos and documents....you would have to reload all applications with XP software.

[not important]

You coul also connect the new drive into your PC and clone the old drive to the new drive. You can use Seagate Disc Wizard (http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwizard)..it's free.. or any other cloning software.

[EM199Si]

Oh my god, I'm surprised it's still running at all. (after listening to the video)

That's how It sounded when I first started it up. I knew it was odd but some people were saying their drive was loud too. But also most people said this drive was quiet so that's what got me investigating.

[EM199Si]

You coul also connect the new drive into your PC and clone the old drive to the new drive. You can use Seagate Disc Wizard (http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwizard)..it's free.. or any other cloning software.

If I cloned it, would that allow me to boot up the PC and everything just like my old drive did? Basically run the same, except different drive.

[EM199Si]

You coul also connect the new drive into your PC and clone the old drive to the new drive. You can use Seagate Disc Wizard (http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwizard)..it's free.. or any other cloning software.

hmmm I actually might try this route. Free sounds good. But can I use it with other brand harddrives? In the manual it says Maxtor and Seagate, but that may be bias.

[glc]

Either the source or target drive has to be a Seagate or Maxtor to use Disc Wizard. Western Digital has similar software that works with their drives.

[EM199Si]

Got another question: Does a HD need to be prepared in any way before installing it as a secondary? This is for SATA.

[shadowpr]

No. Just install it. Once in the os, you can partition and format it as needed.