new pc, clone old hd

[Tregrad]

just got a new pc and i want to make the new hard drive be the old one. can i clone the old hard drive and make hte new one like it. I hate haveing to install all my programs all over again.

I have read about "Acronis® True Image Home 2009" would this work? I have an emachine right now that im going to throw off a cliff into proprietary hell when im done.
I have a new xp pro disk and am going to install it onto the mew machine, can i clone the emachine hard drive and put it on the new machine.
I hope im wording this right, i hate talking about something i have no clue about, so be easy on me.

thanks

[shadowpr]

First you would use acronis to clone the drive, then you would have to follow this:

Repair Reinstallation of Windows XP (using XP CD)

Pay attention to post 3 I believe.

It would be a lot easier, and better to just reinstall everything fresh on the new computer., then after you have it set up, you can make a image backup with acronis.

[Tregrad]

thanks for the info, I think that thread is about unplugging one HDD and put it into another machine and make it bootable? what i need to do is clone the old one and put it on the new one and make "IT" bootable
the reason i need to take the old hard drive and "clone" it and make the new HDD be exactly like the old one and bootable is, the new pc has a sata HDD and I dont have a few of the cd's for some programs that are on the old HDD but want to use the sata HDD.
again i hope this makes sence

old pc is an emachine (barf)
new pc is custom built (can provide specs if you need)

[cmichael258]

Hopefully, more experienced forum members will correct me if I am wrong, but it's my impression that you can't just clone the HD from one computer and have it work in a completely different computer. Anyone?

[shadowpr]

Read what I said again. It's a two step process.

First you use the old computer to clone the old drive to the new one.

Then you follow that link to get the new drive to boot in the new computer. (You will have to do the repair install to get all the drivers working.)

[Tregrad]

ok thanks, I just htought that was for moving one hard drive to a new pc. but then i guess if your cloning it then its the same thing?

will the free trial version of acronis do the trick?

[shadowpr]

Originally Posted by Tregrad will the free trial version of acronis do the trick?

That I do not know.

But I know some harddrive manufacturers have their own software that will clone the disk as well. Search the hard drive manufacturers site.

[Tregrad]

as far as i can see "max blast" would be the app to use, is that correct? I have a seagate HDD.

I tried to clone the old HDD to my "my book" external HDD and it wanted to format it, loosing all the info on it. since i need that info i cant do it to that one.
my old pc has a sata "port" if you will, but hte power supply has no power cord for a sata HDD?

I am going to see if I can get some power to the new HDD from the new pc and clone old HDD and use new HDD as destination drive.

[Tregrad]

nope that didnt work, when i booted it said "this version of windows has had major changes to it and needed to be re-registered in 3 days" lol

[shadowpr]

so register.

[Tregrad]

I think it wants to register because the new HDD has windows xp on it already and the emachine dosent know what do do with another hdd with windows on it? If I clone the emachine hdd can i put that clone on the new hdd and still be able to have the emachine work? I think im just confusing the crap out of myself and everyone as well lol.

I just want to be able to put all the info from the emachine on the new pc and have all the programs working on the new pc and still be able to use the emachine for the kids. does that sound better or am i just comletley retarded here?
the new machine has a fresh install of Xp on it with no other programs installed, I have a few programs on the emachine that i no longer have the cd's for and would hate to loose them.
sorry if im not understanding you guys and I do appreciate the help very much.

just read your post 5 and I think i have to get another hdd to clone the old one to? because i cant clone to the new drive. I just figured out a way to hook the new drive to the old pc, will let you know. thanks.

[Tregrad]

ok, i cloned it to the new hdd (but didnt "use" the ide controller like in post 3 of that other thread) it booted but didnt make it past the log on screen. I put the xp disk in and tried to do the repair and it wanted an administrator password? I dont have a password and it wouldnt let me go any further without one. is there a default pw?

[Tregrad]

alright i give up can i just install xp on the new machine and move programs and files to it so the programs i dont have the cd's for will still work?

[shadowpr]

If you didn't follow the directions, then why would you expect it to work?

Did you just try to press enter for the password?

And no, you can't just copy over program files and folders. The programs make changes to the registry when they are installed, and will usually install files in a few places.

[Tregrad]

yes I did press "enter" no go. I tried "admin" no go. tried "password" and nothing.

I will make a new clone later today and I am attaching a screenshot of my device manager to this post so you can tell me what to "use" and maybe what to delete, and please tell me how to "use" it, again Im no computer guy im a tile contractor so please tell me step by step the whole process if you dont mind. no matter how simple it is to you, its hard to me, but you guys are awesome in here and have helped me out many times.

Thanks for all your help.

oops forgot the screenshot will have it in a few.

[rjfvillarosa]

This is part of post three from the other thread that Shadowpr refered to.

Originally Posted by glc Before shutting down, open Device Manager. Open up the IDE controllers, you will see one or two busmaster controllers. Double click on them and find the Update Driver tab. Do not search, select pick from a list. You will see Standard Dual IDE Controller. Use that one. Doing this will allow the system to boot without getting the usual INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE bluescreen.

I don't see in your screen shot under IDE controllers where it says "bus master controller".
I am going to see what I can find out about this procedure before I pass any comment on it as I have never carried out the procedure myself.

[Tregrad]

ok great thanks alot, if you need me to expand anything in my device manager and get you another screen shot of it, I certainly will.

[Tregrad]

ok got the new clone done and now i am assuming that i need to find the "bus master controller" in the cloned drive. I have no clue on how to do that or if thats even what i need to do. where is glc when u need him?

[Tregrad]

no joy eh?

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by Tregrad ok got the new clone done and now i am assuming that i need to find the "bus master controller" in the cloned drive.

I think you should have made the changes before making the clone, the idea is when you boot up with the clone it boots up with the generic drivers.
I just looked in the Device manager of the five of my machines here and I don't see bus master controller under IDE in any of them.
Excuse me Tregrad, but I don't want to comment on something I have never done and I am unsure of, G is away at the moment he should be back soon, I was hoping to talk to Statica this morning he might know this procedure but I missed him.
If I find anything out I will get back to you as soon as I can.

[Tregrad]

I do thank you very much for your help rj, I was wondering what happened to G. he is usually on it very quick and has put up with my lackof knowledge in the past and has been able to set me strait in no time.
I can make another clone no problem. I am just wondering, when the clone is made, how to get into the new (cloned) drive and get to the device manager to "use" a certain controller and make any necessary changes to it before i shut down and then put it into the new pc?
but like you said there is no "bus master controller" so I guess I have to wait on G to return.

again thanks for all your efforts and patience with me. it is much appreciated.

[glc]

You are NOT using the correct procedure to do the repair install - if you are getting a prompt for the admin password you are trying to use the console - you do NOT choose the first repair option presented. Please read the thread in Tips and Tricks CAREFULLY for the correct procedure.

Clone the drive, then do the repair reinstall with your new CD.

[Tregrad]

thanks G i will give it a shot. most appreciated.