Computer pros - migrating old system drive to new drive without re-installing?

[rjohnstone]

Just to save some face here, this was my second suggestion:

Get another computer that has hard drive A with Windows installed.

Install hard drives B (source) and C (target).

Boot to A and copy everything on B to C.

Place C in old computer and boot.

Call me crazy, but I can't see why this wouldn't work. Nothing on A is using B, so every file will be copied. The only thing that might be a problem is the boot sector, but that's nothing an "fdisk /mbr" won't fix.

It still won't work because the copy method used by Windows does not include the boot sector or any partition info from the source disk.
You are only doing a straight file copy, not a DISK to DISK copy.
This is why you need a tool like to Ghost. It makes an EXACT copy of the entire disk. Bit for bit.

Newc,
One thing I noticed that does help is to have the source disk and the target disk on seperate IDE controllers. All modern motherboards come with two IDE interfaces. Make the source the master in IDE1 and the target the master on IDE2. It should recognize both drives.
I've never had any of the problems you are having, so I'm not sure I can be of any help beyond what I've already stated.
Ghost has just always worked for me... same with HDClone.

[Newc]

Ghost never would install, even after copying/deleting all non-system files from my Docs and Settings/<yourname> folder (freed up 300 MB), so I put all those files back where they belong and gave up on Ghost ever installing.

By this time something ate half my system. None of my IE Favorites were there, and my system had reverted to XP Default Theme (I use Classic Windows folder options with Show All Files/Extensions, etc). Over half my 300+ desktop icons were obliterated, and there are some Temp variables missing from my System Properties/Advanced blade. I cannot change anything in my Folder Options because the User Environment variable is missing from my registry.

I'm trying to reinstall SP2 from MS' site but am stuck in a loop where you have to allow the Active X control. As well, Phishing Filter won't let me turn it On or Off, so it asks everytime if I want to check the page, and stalls the page while it waits.

So in the end, it looks like I have to reinstall the OS, and probably 100 programs while I'm at it just so I have all the registry pointers.

Tim, pass this one on to the higher-ups at MS: Windows Military or Windows Government Edition. Make that one so it's loaded down with all the heavy duty security, as well as XP Pro. Let XP Home be the simple one that doesn't give you grief when you try to upgrade your system drive without a full reinstall, mmkay?

I did get the drive copied using Data Lifeguard within XP, but by this time half my system had already been eaten, so it turned into a waste of $70 for Ghost and 10 hours of my time.

[442w30]

I was not kidding about the knoppix thing. It's a simple download, and fun to mess with as a fully operational OS booted from CD.
I had issues with data lifeguard, maxblast, etc and was too lazy to bring ghost home. One command line statemend later, and the drive was copied over.

[Carbuff]

Yeah, that cd rules. Ive used it to diagnose whether a problem was system or hardware related. Comes in handy. The Suess one is cool too. I didnt really care for the ubunta but it worked too.

[Newc]

Well, it's all over but the crying. Got the OS and SP2 reinstalled, now I just have to get my wireless networking going and I can download all the updates

[Strangletooth]

Little late on this one, but you could have tried to extend the partion on C to the new drive, this will work if the disk was dynamic, the original disk. Depends on the OS as well, XP should work. You can try this in Computer Management> disk administrator. Also, a cool program to find out where all your space is being used is Tree Size Pro.

Something to think about down the road or for the archives anyway...

Pat

[Spivonious]

It still won't work because the copy method used by Windows does not include the boot sector or any partition info from the source disk.
You are only doing a straight file copy, not a DISK to DISK copy.
This is why you need a tool like to Ghost. It makes an EXACT copy of the entire disk. Bit for bit.

Well, I assumed that the partitions were set up previously

And then just boot to the Windows CD and run the Recovery Console and type "fdisk /mbr" and it should restore the boot sector. A little more complex method, but assuming you have a second computer, it's free.

Newc: Call Symantec and tell them what happened. My Dad had all sorts of trouble running Ghost on his machine too and they refunded his money.

[xenophobe]

Acronis True Image. You don't need stupid floppy disks to transfer/mirror/copy partitions to other drives.

It will easily transfer your System image from a 12g drive to a larger drive. It has an OS hook that loads it instead of the Windows Kernel...

Works like a charm.

I would buy Acronis True Image over and over again, and recommend it over Norton Ghost, Partition Magic and anything else out there. Acronis knows what they're doing. And no freaking boot floppies.

[Zerberus]

LOL, now I remember why I always hated Ghost. But you appear to be in capable hands, so I´ll keep my salt out of the soup

BTW, Powerquest DriveImage is my tool of choice for reimaging.