Copying info from one hard drive to another?

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film fanatic
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Copying info from one hard drive to another?

Post by film fanatic »

How do i copy everything from my current hard drive to another one?


kepp it simple, i'm only 13!:D
foxwood
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Post by foxwood »

well if the two HDs are on the same comp, which I'm guessing they are, its a simple matter of openning my computer and draging them across.

If they are not you will ned to open up your box and hook the drive into the comp, and then do the old drag and drop.
El Brenty
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Post by El Brenty »

You won't be able to drag and drop some system files. You may need to get a special utility to copy these.

Best suggestion I have if you're want to copy files because you're upgrading to a larger drive is:

1. Remove old drive (or just pull the power plug on it)
2. Install new drive
3. Install Windows and all drivers
4. Ensure jumpers are set of drives (Or set in BIOS) so new drive becomes the bootable drive, and old drive becomes a slave
5. Plug old drive back in
6. Copy data files, without worrying about system files.

This will give a much better result, and your PC will be a bit more streamlined without so much junk floating around in the system files area taking up processor time.

If you have a gigantic new drive, then you can use the Microsoft Backup facility to backup your old drive onto your new drive. It'll compress all the data for you, and save it onto the new drive as a backup. You can then go back into the program and view your files and restore any particular ones you need.

Alternatively, do the above up to step 5, and just delete the windows and system files off the old drive, but leave the data files on it. Anything you use, just re-save onto the new drive.
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