I feel dumb asking this, but I haven't done a hard drive upgrade on a
Windows 98 system in a LONG time. I remember that like MS-DOS, it was
possible to simply install the new C drive as a D drive and copy
everything from the C drive to the D, then change the jumpers so the
new drive is now a master and reconnect the CD-burner. However, I got
"file in use" errors when trying to
xcopy C: D: /e /h /k /f
From a Windows 98SE command prompt after booting the C drive.
I tried formatting a new 3.5" disk with format a: /s and booting that,
but after copying the xcopy command onto the disk, I found to my shock
that even though when I booted the disk it said "Starting Windows 98",
it did not support all the switches and when I tried it with just the /
e I found it was NOT copying the long file names.

I REMEMBER doing this for quite a few people around a decade ago, but
I can't recall what commands (and switches) and procedures to use to
copy EVERYTHING from the OS to the programs to the data files from the
old hard disk to the new one. I know it was simple for somebody who
has experience dating back to MS-DOS 5, but I just can't recall what
it was. I could have sworn I used XCOPY however.


I'm not really doing this to upgrade the hard disk so much as replace
it, as half the time I turn on the computer I get a message that Dell
Openmanage has detected that the primary hard disk is not operating
correctly and to press f1 to continue and f2 to enter setup.

Oh, I DID format the drive with the /s switch and used sys d: just to
make sure, so I'm pretty sure it should boot to a DOS prompt. I just
want to copy everything else so I have a nice copy of my 20GB drive on
the new 40gb one with more than 1.5gb of free space. Then I'm going to
put the 20gb drive in storage as an emergency backup in case the 40gb
drive ever breaks since it's become unreliable.

I know somebody's going to ask why I don't simply use it as a D drive.
I've got a ZIP drive, a CD-ROM, and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM already hooked up
to the machine.