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Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 27th 04, 07:32 AM
Bill in Co.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

Am I correct here in assuming that one CAN (simply) replace their original
bootable HD, without reinstalling Windows and all the programs all over
again, by either using Ghost, or (maybe?) the HD manufacturer's utilities
that come with the new drive? (I'm thinking of Western Digital here)

Do the drives have to be the same size for Ghost imaging? Hopefully
not!!!

The more I think about this, I think it would have to be done with Ghost, or
something like that, to prevent reinstalling everything all over again. I
doubt if the HD manufacturer's utilities would be enough.


  #2  
Old July 27th 04, 08:40 AM
Bill in Co.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

Update from some more reading....
Seems like Norton Ghost is the best way to go here, unless someone else has
any other ideas.

Bill in Co. wrote:
Am I correct here in assuming that one CAN (simply) replace their original
bootable HD, without reinstalling Windows and all the programs all over
again, by either using Ghost, or (maybe?) the HD manufacturer's utilities
that come with the new drive? (I'm thinking of Western Digital here)

Do the drives have to be the same size for Ghost imaging? Hopefully
not!!!

The more I think about this, I think it would have to be done with Ghost,

or
something like that, to prevent reinstalling everything all over again.

I
doubt if the HD manufacturer's utilities would be enough.



  #3  
Old July 27th 04, 08:40 AM
Lil' Dave
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

Every imaging program that I've run into can copy, as well as image, a
partition. Some older versions may have problems with XP, hard drive
capacity limitations and so forth.
"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Am I correct here in assuming that one CAN (simply) replace their original
bootable HD, without reinstalling Windows and all the programs all over
again, by either using Ghost, or (maybe?) the HD manufacturer's utilities
that come with the new drive? (I'm thinking of Western Digital here)

Do the drives have to be the same size for Ghost imaging? Hopefully
not!!!

The more I think about this, I think it would have to be done with Ghost,

or
something like that, to prevent reinstalling everything all over again.

I
doubt if the HD manufacturer's utilities would be enough.




  #4  
Old July 27th 04, 11:49 AM
Richard G. Harper
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

I've used the utilities that come with a Maxtor drive to clone an old hard
drive onto a new one without any problems but I can't speak for any other
drives/utility programs. Ghost will do the job but you may not need to
spend the money on it. Try the drive utility first - you have nothing to
lose since your old drive remains intact even if the copy utility fails.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Win9x]
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* HELP us help YOU ...
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Am I correct here in assuming that one CAN (simply) replace their original
bootable HD, without reinstalling Windows and all the programs all over
again, by either using Ghost, or (maybe?) the HD manufacturer's utilities
that come with the new drive? (I'm thinking of Western Digital here)

Do the drives have to be the same size for Ghost imaging? Hopefully
not!!!

The more I think about this, I think it would have to be done with Ghost,
or
something like that, to prevent reinstalling everything all over again.
I
doubt if the HD manufacturer's utilities would be enough.




  #5  
Old July 27th 04, 01:59 PM
Gary S. Terhune
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

BootIt NG (BING) includes an Image and/or partition copying program that works
just fine.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Am I correct here in assuming that one CAN (simply) replace their original
bootable HD, without reinstalling Windows and all the programs all over
again, by either using Ghost, or (maybe?) the HD manufacturer's utilities
that come with the new drive? (I'm thinking of Western Digital here)

Do the drives have to be the same size for Ghost imaging? Hopefully
not!!!

The more I think about this, I think it would have to be done with Ghost, or
something like that, to prevent reinstalling everything all over again. I
doubt if the HD manufacturer's utilities would be enough.



  #6  
Old July 27th 04, 06:13 PM
Bill in Co.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

Thanks Gary, et al.

I've got a copy of BootItNG, but have never run it. That would be great.
Or the utilities that come with the new drive, if they can do it (as Richard
suggested).

So let me be very specific he if I currently have a 40 GB HD, divided
into two partitions, I can image it over to a new 80 GB drive, and be able
to select the new partition sizes? No, that doesn't sound right -
imaging should only make an exact copy of the original drive. So maybe
what happens is it images over the 40 GB, and leaves the rest of the drive
(the other 40 GB) unused) Then later I could resize the partitions to
use the entire drive?

(I don't want to reinstall *anything* - I just did that awhile ago, and
don't want to go thru it all over again)!


Gary S. Terhune wrote:
BootIt NG (BING) includes an Image and/or partition copying program that

works
just fine.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Am I correct here in assuming that one CAN (simply) replace their

original
bootable HD, without reinstalling Windows and all the programs all over
again, by either using Ghost, or (maybe?) the HD manufacturer's utilities
that come with the new drive? (I'm thinking of Western Digital here)

Do the drives have to be the same size for Ghost imaging? Hopefully
not!!!

The more I think about this, I think it would have to be done with Ghost,

or
something like that, to prevent reinstalling everything all over again.

I
doubt if the HD manufacturer's utilities would be enough.



  #7  
Old July 27th 04, 07:08 PM
Gary S. Terhune
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

BING permits you to resize and move partitions, in addition to copying, imaging
to CD/DVD, etc.

Copy the OS partition to the beginning of the new drive. You should already know
that an OS partition over 8GB forces clusters larger than 4KB, which in turn
means less efficient operation, both because of wasted slack space (unused
portions of clusters) and because Win98 is optimized to manage virtual memory in
4KB chunks, and if the HDD clusters are also that size, can access the VM
directly rather than having to read it back into RAM first. Frankly, it's nuts
to put the Win98/98SE or ME OS on anything other than an 8GB or smaller
partition.

Do what you will with that info. As for other partitions, the smaller the files
you expect to store there, the more waste you'll encounter using large
partitions. I also find it convenient to add a 4 to 8 GB TEMP partition,
dedicated to TEMP and TIF environments (plus whatever other short term storage
uses you might have--like WinZip TEMP). I use a separate partition for My
Documents, OE stores folder, and other personal files, a separate partition for
images, a separate one for downloaded files--free/shareware, patches, et al. Of
course, I have other partitions dedicated to things that would make no sense to
you, due to my business and particular needs. But dividing up your files in this
manner can go a long ways toward assisting in organizing your files and keeping
things neater, requiring less maintenance and risking less chance of small
corruptions causing major damage.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Thanks Gary, et al.

I've got a copy of BootItNG, but have never run it. That would be great.
Or the utilities that come with the new drive, if they can do it (as Richard
suggested).

So let me be very specific he if I currently have a 40 GB HD, divided
into two partitions, I can image it over to a new 80 GB drive, and be able
to select the new partition sizes? No, that doesn't sound right -
imaging should only make an exact copy of the original drive. So maybe
what happens is it images over the 40 GB, and leaves the rest of the drive
(the other 40 GB) unused) Then later I could resize the partitions to
use the entire drive?

(I don't want to reinstall *anything* - I just did that awhile ago, and
don't want to go thru it all over again)!


Gary S. Terhune wrote:
BootIt NG (BING) includes an Image and/or partition copying program that

works
just fine.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Am I correct here in assuming that one CAN (simply) replace their

original
bootable HD, without reinstalling Windows and all the programs all over
again, by either using Ghost, or (maybe?) the HD manufacturer's utilities
that come with the new drive? (I'm thinking of Western Digital here)

Do the drives have to be the same size for Ghost imaging? Hopefully
not!!!

The more I think about this, I think it would have to be done with Ghost,

or
something like that, to prevent reinstalling everything all over again.

I
doubt if the HD manufacturer's utilities would be enough.




  #8  
Old July 27th 04, 09:28 PM
Bill in Co.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

Gary, my own personal preference is logical drive simplicity, and two is
enough for me to deal with (despite the wasted space, slack, efficiency,
etc, which I am aware of).

However, my questions still stand, as written below. Was I correct in
what I wrote? Let me edit it a bit:

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...

I've got a copy of BootItNG, but have never run it. That would be

great.
Or the utilities that come with the new drive, if they can do it (as

Richard
suggested).

So let me be very specific he if I currently have a 40 GB HD, divided
into two partitions, I can image it over to a new 80 GB drive, and be

able
to select the new partition sizes? No, that doesn't sound right -
imaging should only make an exact copy of the original drive. So maybe
what happens is it images over the 40 GB, and leaves the rest of the

drive
(the other 40 GB) unused) Then later I could resize the partitions to
use the entire drive?


That is where I'm a bit confused - as to what is really possible, with
imaging and BootItNG.


  #9  
Old July 27th 04, 10:06 PM
Lil' Dave
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

Until you divulge the HD capacity you're copying to, all bets are off. The
pay for's/freebies and its versions all have capacity limitations.
"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Update from some more reading....
Seems like Norton Ghost is the best way to go here, unless someone else

has
any other ideas.

Bill in Co. wrote:
Am I correct here in assuming that one CAN (simply) replace their

original
bootable HD, without reinstalling Windows and all the programs all over
again, by either using Ghost, or (maybe?) the HD manufacturer's

utilities
that come with the new drive? (I'm thinking of Western Digital here)

Do the drives have to be the same size for Ghost imaging? Hopefully
not!!!

The more I think about this, I think it would have to be done with

Ghost,
or
something like that, to prevent reinstalling everything all over again.

I
doubt if the HD manufacturer's utilities would be enough.





  #10  
Old July 27th 04, 10:31 PM
Bill in Co.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Replacing the boot drive, w/o reinstalling Windows and the apps?

I think I did in my last post - didn't I?

Lil' Dave wrote:
Until you divulge the HD capacity you're copying to, all bets are off.

The
pay for's/freebies and its versions all have capacity limitations.


"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Update from some more reading....
Seems like Norton Ghost is the best way to go here, unless someone else

has
any other ideas.

Bill in Co. wrote:
Am I correct here in assuming that one CAN (simply) replace their

original
bootable HD, without reinstalling Windows and all the programs all over
again, by either using Ghost, or (maybe?) the HD manufacturer's

utilities
that come with the new drive? (I'm thinking of Western Digital here)

Do the drives have to be the same size for Ghost imaging? Hopefully
not!!!

The more I think about this, I think it would have to be done with

Ghost, or
something like that, to prevent reinstalling everything all over again.

I
doubt if the HD manufacturer's utilities would be enough.



 




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