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

You don't need to use FDISK or FORMAT. You don't need to create any partitions
until you copy over the old ones. Copy over your C:\ drive, first, then use BING
to create an "Extended" Partition on the rest, then copy your other old
partition to at Extended Partition, then create whatever else you desire inside
that.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Hugh Candlin wrote:
Bill in Co. wrote in message
...
But just how reliable is that sign?

You could take it to the bank and get a loan on it,
if the bank would accept it as collateral, which they won't.
The sign is VERY reliable.

Maybe these clusters or sectors were
never "tested" until now, for all I know?

Impossible. You have to FDISK and FORMAT
before you can use the drive. If they were bad then,
they would have been marked as bad then.

(I think you HAVE to run
scandisk in the thorough mode to find out - which I have just recently
done - and it takes forever).

It takes forever because the SCANDISK motto is
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again and again and again
and again and again................................"

I've got a grand total of 5 bad ones. But I do believe they developed
somewhat recently. But so far the number hasn't changed. Maybe I
need
to monitor it, and see if it goes up?

If you do not have a spare hard drive, FDISKed and FORMATted,
with a backup of your current drives on it, then it doesn't really matter
whether they will increase in future or not.

Someday, sooner or later, your drive will die, regardless of whether
it is 3 days old or 3 months old or 3 years old. It is inevitable.

OK, I think you've convinced me to get a new HD. After I buy it (it will
be a 80 GB Western Digital), can I directly use BING on it, or do I need to
first run FDISK and FORMAT before I can use BING? (haven't used BING yet)

But I will need to use BING to set up the partitions, not FDISK, because I
just want to copy the existing partitions from my old drive over to the new
drive. I'll worry about the extra 40GB free space afterwards.

Here is how to make a Copy (clone) of a partition with BootIt NG. You
may shrink the source partition first, BUT I made sure of my clone,
before doing that, this way...

(1) Run a Scandisk (Thorough, usually w/o write testing), maybe a Defrag
too.
(2) Make your clone, be sure to ...
(a) Download it: BootItNG.zip.
(b) Unzip it; read the .pdf.
(c) Click BOOTITNG.EXE to create a floppy.
(d) Boot the floppy, which puts up an "Install" requester.
(e) Click to CANCEL the install.
(f) You are now in Maintenance Mode, running off the floppy.
(g) Click "Settings", &...

1. "Under General, select the Use HD0 in BPB check box to force the
BPB drive number to HD0 even when it’s on another drive." If you fail to
do that, if/when you physically move an HDD from, say, HD1 to HD0 to be
the primary master, it may not boot natively from BIOS. (Mine didn't,
until I SYSed.) Alternatively, you may "SYS" the drive before or after
moving it. But "SYS" is overkill; you really just want to set a single
byte in the bootstrap. NOTE: It appears to be set properly by default
now.

2. "Under General, select the CHS Alternative check box to fill in
the CHS values for partitions and volumes using an alternative method."
I haven't done that one, but I read you never will use, say, Partition
Magic, if you don't do it. Well, it may be you can always do it later,
just before switching back to PM.

(h) Click the "Work with Partitions" icon.
(i) It would go like this...
1. Bolt HD0 on left.
2. Select the partition you want, & click COPY.
3. Bolt HD1 on left.
4. Select empty space at right at least equal in size to the
partition you are copying, & click PASTE.

(3) Finally, remove the original drive (HD0), & set the clone (HD1) in
it's stead (jumper it Master).

If that boots & works well for you, pay up as I did, EVEN should you
never install it as I never have.


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
| Thanks Bill - that part sounds important!
|
| I haven't got the new HD disk yet. But after recently
getting/discovering
| a few bad sectors/clusters (very few, though), I was getting a bit
worried,
| and still think it might be a good idea. I have no idea what
caused
| this. Maybe all the wear and tear from messin' with home videos
(where the
| filesizes are huge). (In fact, so huge, I bought BurstCopy to help
speed
| up some of the transfers).
|
| I wonder how many in here have a HD with bad sectors? Maybe it's
not as
| uncommon as I think.
|
| Bill Blanton wrote:
| "Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
| ...
| "Bill in Co." wrote in message
| ...
|
| This is what I now have: one 40 GB HD, partitioned into a 15 GB
(C
| partition, and a 25 GB (D partition (for my video stuff).
|
| So I think the easiest thing to do would be to copy these two
partitions
| over to the new 80 GB drive when I get it, using BING. This
would
| then be
| identical to what I have now, and the new C: will be bootable,
even
| though
| it was only "copied", and not imaged. Right?
|
| Right.
|
| You may have to set the copy of the boot partition active.
|
| Do a "View MBR" on the HD, select the partition and do a "Set
active".
| (if they haven't moved it.. BING is updated frequently, and I don't
have
| the latest version)
|
|

Bill in Co. wrote in message ...

OK, I think you've convinced me to get a new HD. After I buy it (it will
be a 80 GB Western Digital)

Can I interest you in a Seagate?

http://shop1.outpost.com/{QQgrLTOWfuVXWG008iBtnFOtypzLLzlrebtUEA4EJAxBt3TOL s5G|-445084877360275824/184095265/6/7001/7001/7002/7002/7
001/-1|-592081213870482986/184095264/6/7001/7001/7002/7002/7001/-1|1091054381681}/category/Outpost/Hard+Drives+&+Memory/Hard+Drives


http://tinyurl.com/3ppbg


US $36

OK, thanks you guys. If I run into any problems, I'll let ya know,
assuming I can get back on line (LOL). Anyway, I'll see what I can do -
and maybe this week, with a little bit of luck.

You are welcome.

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
| OK, thanks you guys. If I run into any problems, I'll let ya know,
| assuming I can get back on line (LOL). Anyway, I'll see what I can
do -
| and maybe this week, with a little bit of luck.
|
|

OK, here is an update - and a question:

I simply(?) replaced my old drive with a new same size drive, since the one
I had was big enough anyway. I used the utilities that came with the
drive, and after a few bad starts and sputters and whatevers, it finally
works (it set up the partitions and copied all the files).

HOWEVER - naturally I've lost all my original folder dates in the copy
process - all folders are dated as of today, which kinda ****es me off,
since I like to know when I installed things. Grrrrrr.

So my question to you guys is this:

Is it possible using BING (or whatever) to *preserve* the original FOLDER
dates when transferred over to the new disk? A copy operation won't cut
it, as a new folder is created with today's date, before the files are
copied.

I think the only way this might be possible is to somehow create an image of
the original HD, and then transfer the binary image over, but even then, I'm
not sure if it will work. (Since my old and new drives are identical in
size (40 GB), imaging shouldn't be a problem). Can I do this? And in
BING?

Yes. Use BING. The copy is precise, no changes in dates, etc. With both HDs
installed, boot to the BING floppy, Cancel installation, use Partition Work.
And, er, RTM, g.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
OK, here is an update - and a question:

I simply(?) replaced my old drive with a new same size drive, since the one
I had was big enough anyway. I used the utilities that came with the
drive, and after a few bad starts and sputters and whatevers, it finally
works (it set up the partitions and copied all the files).

HOWEVER - naturally I've lost all my original folder dates in the copy
process - all folders are dated as of today, which kinda ****es me off,
since I like to know when I installed things. Grrrrrr.

So my question to you guys is this:

Is it possible using BING (or whatever) to *preserve* the original FOLDER
dates when transferred over to the new disk? A copy operation won't cut
it, as a new folder is created with today's date, before the files are
copied.

I think the only way this might be possible is to somehow create an image of
the original HD, and then transfer the binary image over, but even then, I'm
not sure if it will work. (Since my old and new drives are identical in
size (40 GB), imaging shouldn't be a problem). Can I do this? And in
BING?

Ack, OK, I'll have to redo it all over again. What a pain. But it
would be worth preserving the directory dates.

My first glance at BING was it's gonna take "some time" to get thru its
manual, but what the hell, I think I'll just jump in and try, and cast my
fate to the wind. Hopefully all I need is a floppy, and not a CD or DVD
to store the image, or something weird like that.

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Yes. Use BING. The copy is precise, no changes in dates, etc. With both
HDs
installed, boot to the BING floppy, Cancel installation, use Partition
Work.
And, er, RTM, g.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
OK, here is an update - and a question:

I simply(?) replaced my old drive with a new same size drive, since the
one
I had was big enough anyway. I used the utilities that came with the
drive, and after a few bad starts and sputters and whatevers, it finally
works (it set up the partitions and copied all the files).

HOWEVER - naturally I've lost all my original folder dates in the copy
process - all folders are dated as of today, which kinda ****es me off,
since I like to know when I installed things. Grrrrrr.

So my question to you guys is this:

Is it possible using BING (or whatever) to *preserve* the original FOLDER
dates when transferred over to the new disk? A copy operation won't
cut
it, as a new folder is created with today's date, before the files are
copied.

I think the only way this might be possible is to somehow create an image
of
the original HD, and then transfer the binary image over, but even then,
I'm
not sure if it will work. (Since my old and new drives are identical
in
size (40 GB), imaging shouldn't be a problem). Can I do this? And
in
BING?

You don't need an CD unless you have a burner and want to store an image (BING
will do that.)

You boot to the floppy, Cancel, drop into Partition Work, delete everything on
the new HD, (choose which drive you're in on the left), switch to the old HD,
choose the partition to copy, click Copy, then go to the new disk, highlight the
empty space, click Paste. Yes, it does take a while. Repeat as necessary.

And perhaps I was wrong about RTM... Might just confuse you, s.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Ack, OK, I'll have to redo it all over again. What a pain. But it
would be worth preserving the directory dates.

My first glance at BING was it's gonna take "some time" to get thru its
manual, but what the hell, I think I'll just jump in and try, and cast my
fate to the wind. Hopefully all I need is a floppy, and not a CD or DVD
to store the image, or something weird like that.

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Yes. Use BING. The copy is precise, no changes in dates, etc. With both
HDs
installed, boot to the BING floppy, Cancel installation, use Partition
Work.
And, er, RTM, g.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
OK, here is an update - and a question:

I simply(?) replaced my old drive with a new same size drive, since the
one
I had was big enough anyway. I used the utilities that came with the
drive, and after a few bad starts and sputters and whatevers, it finally
works (it set up the partitions and copied all the files).

HOWEVER - naturally I've lost all my original folder dates in the copy
process - all folders are dated as of today, which kinda ****es me off,
since I like to know when I installed things. Grrrrrr.

So my question to you guys is this:

Is it possible using BING (or whatever) to *preserve* the original FOLDER
dates when transferred over to the new disk? A copy operation won't
cut
it, as a new folder is created with today's date, before the files are
copied.

I think the only way this might be possible is to somehow create an image
of
the original HD, and then transfer the binary image over, but even then,
I'm
not sure if it will work. (Since my old and new drives are identical
in
size (40 GB), imaging shouldn't be a problem). Can I do this? And
in
BING?

for reference: 40 GB drive partitioned into C: (boot) partition of about
15 GB, and D: (noname) partition for most of my video work at 25 GB

UPDATE - not so good, first time: Won't boot. So I put the old one
back, in, with the new one as slave, and Explorer now shows identical
copies of my old D partition data in BOTH of the two new partitions (C and
D) that I just created. Which is really weird. Let me explain (with the
help from you and PCR much appreciated):

1) Booted to BING boot disk
2) Selected partition work
3) Copied old C partition over to new drive - went ok!
4) Back in BING I then had a choice of copying one of the below:
a) MBR1 Partition
or
b) NONAME Volume FAT32

Both of these were nearly the same size (around 25 GB), but from what I
could tell, it looked like MBR1(?) entry started at a slightly earlier
sector number.

Even though the last item said VOLUME, and not partition, I selected it (at
least it said FAT32 and had the right name of NONAME), and copied that over
to the new drive. Maybe that was my mistake?

When BING was done I thought it had copied both partitions successfully (I
think the partition sizes looked right in BING, and both showed as FAT32,
but when I removed the old drive, and stuck in the new drive, I got "Disk
I/O error" (apparently since all I have on both partitions now, for some
weird reason, is the old D drive stuff)

Where did I miss the boat? I'm guessing that I should have copied the
item marked MBR1 partition instead of the old NONAME (D volume? Is that
right? Help!


Gary S. Terhune wrote:
You don't need an CD unless you have a burner and want to store an image
(BING.will do that.)

You boot to the floppy, Cancel, drop into Partition Work, delete
everything on
the new HD, (choose which drive you're in on the left), switch to the old
HD,
choose the partition to copy, click Copy, then go to the new disk,
highlight
the empty space, click Paste. Yes, it does take a while. Repeat as
necessary.

And perhaps I was wrong about RTM... Might just confuse you, s.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
Ack, OK, I'll have to redo it all over again. What a pain. But it
would be worth preserving the directory dates.

My first glance at BING was it's gonna take "some time" to get thru its
manual, but what the hell, I think I'll just jump in and try, and cast my
fate to the wind. Hopefully all I need is a floppy, and not a CD or
DVD
to store the image, or something weird like that.

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Yes. Use BING. The copy is precise, no changes in dates, etc. With both
HDs
installed, boot to the BING floppy, Cancel installation, use Partition
Work.
And, er, RTM, g.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Win9x

"Bill in Co." wrote in message
...
OK, here is an update - and a question:

I simply(?) replaced my old drive with a new same size drive, since the
one
I had was big enough anyway. I used the utilities that came with the
drive, and after a few bad starts and sputters and whatevers, it
finally
works (it set up the partitions and copied all the files).

HOWEVER - naturally I've lost all my original folder dates in the copy
process - all folders are dated as of today, which kinda ****es me off,
since I like to know when I installed things. Grrrrrr.

So my question to you guys is this:

Is it possible using BING (or whatever) to *preserve* the original
FOLDER
dates when transferred over to the new disk? A copy operation won't
cut
it, as a new folder is created with today's date, before the files are
copied.

I think the only way this might be possible is to somehow create an
image
of the original HD, and then transfer the binary image over, but even
then, I'm not sure if it will work. (Since my old and new drives are
identical
in
size (40 GB), imaging shouldn't be a problem). Can I do this? And
in
BING?