Want to make new HD, system & boot drive

[phaz]

Hi, I added a Maxtor 7200rpm 200gb HD to my computer. I want it to be the system and boot drive because it is bigger & faster than currant drive, 40 gb 5400rpm. I am stumped on changing the drive letters. Currently system is c: and boot is D:. I partitioned new drive to allow room for both. I have copied all info onto the new drive from the old one & put each on its own partition as in the old drive. I still have the new drive as slave. Do I need to switch it to master before changing the paths? If so, do I need to do anything to it, the new HD, before switching the jumper and cable position to master? If you need more info let me know, I will check back later today. Thanks in advance.

[glc]

You need to use Powermax or a dedicated drive cloning utility to "clone" the old drive to the new one, then remove the old drive before starting it up with the new drive moved to master. You can't just copy stuff.

[Stealth_799]

First of all what type of imaging software did you use? If you just dragged all your files from the old to the new most likely it will not work. Most disk imaging software I reviewed suggests that you use the same size HD as old one, speed does not matter. My suggestion is unless you have alot of important files on the old drive, do not format it simply switch the jumper to slave on the old and master on the new install the new and put a fresh copy of windows onto the new. Then once windows is up and running go to my computer and your old drive should be reconized with all your data on it. Then you can delete the old windows directories and other unimportant things, thus it will be your storage drive.

Good Luck

[glc]

If you are going to install a fresh copy of Windows on a new drive, you should remove the old drive first till Windows is installed, then you can slave the old drive back in and get your files. If you try to install Windows on a new drive with the old drive still in there, there is a very good chance you will wind up with some very screwed up drive letters.

[phaz]

Sorry I didn't say it before, I used Data Lifeguard that came with my HD & I said it was a Maxtor but it is a Western Digital. I didn't just copy my files & folders. I partitioned the drive and then used the Drive to Drive Copy on Data Lifeguard to set up the drives. I followed all of the instructions about how to make the new drive bootable, I just wanted to know if I need to do anything else before I switch the jumpers & cables on the drives to make the old drive the slave and the new drive the master. If I switch the jumpers and cables will the new drive automatically boot or will I need to go into setup to help it along. The new drive is on G: & H:, with G: as boot & H: as system. I just want to get a bit of input before I make the switch because I want to cover all my bases.
Thank you for your input & help.
Again if you need more info let me know I will tell you what I've done & what is on the machine if I can word it right.
phaz

[glc]

You should not have booted into Windows after doing the drive to drive copy without removing the old drive first. You booted with the Data Lifeguard disk and used it to do your partitioning, right?

[phaz]

I haven't booted the new drive at all. I have only done the Partitioning and the Drive to Drive copy, which I did with the Data Lifeguard (DL). I have Windows XP Home Edition so it wouldn't let me do the drive to drive copy and partitioning by booting with the DL. I had to boot into Windows and then DL popped up to do the partitioning and all. I haven't booted from anything but the original HD. I have pretty much just put the computer in standby for the last few days. Although I have booted the computer since I ran DL and it booted fine, I haven't changed the drive paths, so I am still running on the old HD. If I just turn off the computer and pull the old drive and set the new one as master will it set new HD as C: & D: drive paths and boot or will I need to use a boot disk to get it set up?
I'm sorry if I am making this more confusing or complicated than it is. I know that I have done the proper set up on the new HD I just want to know if I can go ahead and pull the old HD and let the new one take over. Also if I do pull the old drive will the system set the new HD up as the C: & D: drive or do I need to do something else to the new HD to get it set up. The new HD already has the OS on it as I set it up to be the new bootable master.
During the partitioning the drives were designated as G: & H:, will I have to do anything to set them up as C: & D: or will the system do that when the old HD is out?
I hope I have written this clearly I tend to over complicate things and I think that is what I did when I wrote here before.
Thanks again for your help with this.
Phaz

[glc]

Also if I do pull the old drive will the system set the new HD up as the C: & D: drive or do I need to do something else to the new HD to get it set up.

I honestly don't know. I have never cloned drives from within Windows because of this behavior.

All I can suggest is pull the old drive and try it. You still have the old drive if the new one is screwed up, right?

Here's an article you might want to bookmark if you have a problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;Q223188