Install on a new HDD - not formatted yet

Night Hawk · 16 Dec 2009

If the first partition ahead of the 7 primary is removed entirely you would need to boot from a live GParted cd and proceed to move the entire primary to beginning of the drive. That will take some time but preserve the installation already on it.

The time saving method however is simply back everything you want up to another drive or removable media and simply nuke the drive in preparation of a clean install of Windows. Once you have 7 on a new drive there you will likely end up nuking the present drive for use as a storage device if you don't have any plans for dual booting the two flavors(32bit, 64bit) of 7 there.

kwack · 17 Dec 2009

Thanks for the advice - I am trying to look for the easiest way and if I can preserve the current install then all the better.

Would it make sense to add in the new HDD under existing build, partition into two drives. Do a image backup and restore to the new HDD and then boot from there?

Does that make sense - I am trying to make sure it runs as optimally as possible I guess so using the new 1.5tb drive has got to be faster surely considering it is a newer drive??

Cheers
Kwack

gregrocker · 17 Dec 2009

Try it. Use Win7 backup imaging to image your system and Win7 drives, then unplug that HD, boot from Win7 DCD or repair CD and reimage to the new HD.

If it fails for some reason, try either Macrium Reflect which uses a Linux disk it will make to reimage from boot, or free Partition Wizard CD and copy the Win7 drive over into the lower unallocated space.

You'll have to run Startup Repair 3 times to rewrite the MBR into the Win7 partition if you use a Copy method rather than reimaging, however you're most likely going to have to do that anyway when you move Win7 to the lower address of the new HD, or the existing HD.

Note that you have the option to drop the 100mb Win7 system reserved drive here since you need to repair or rewrite the MBR anyway. The only reason you might want to keep the 100mb partition is is you plan to use Bitlocker or want your Recovery tools available by tapping F8 at bootup.

Night Hawk · 17 Dec 2009

If you are planning a dual boot on the new drive seeing that split up you are better off planning a clean install of each and using the Windows Easy Transfer wizard to transfer settings over to the fresh 64bit install. I ran that here to duplicate an RC install and that works like a champ for transferring seting and even setting wallpapers up!

kwack · 18 Dec 2009

Ok will take a look. At the moment I cant get system image to work as it says that there isnt enough disk space even though I am using the 1.5tb drive to image to.

Night Hawk · 18 Dec 2009

Don't feel bad with that! When first installing the 64bit 7 on a 500gb drive the system image wanted 1.2tb! Apparently it adds more then you see on that drive alone into the mix. With several drives here it likely tallied the folders from one of the other drives.

This is one reason why I suggested the Windows Easy Transfer tool there for creating a backup you can restore on a fresh install. Your programs would still need to installed fresh all over while the user account info and files are restored.

gregrocker · 18 Dec 2009

I gave you the easy way to do this here: Install on a new HDD - not formatted yet

You have the option to move your System Reserved 100mb partition or delete it.

Either way you'll have to boot into the Win7 DVD to recover the MBR afterwards by running Startup Repair 3 times.

Cloning or imaging is just the long way around. We help people get out of dual boots here all the time, and Partition Wizard bootable is all they need to delete the first partition to move Win7 over. Then the commands to repair or rewrite the MBR are all automated now in Win7 DVD Startup Repair by running it at least 3 separate times.

Night Hawk · 18 Dec 2009

The dual boots most often seen are generally with previous versions or Linux. First you have to decide just how you will want to keep the drives set up there and whether you want to split up the new drive.

As far as seeing the 64bit added into the 32bit's boot options you can either unplug the 64bit's drive through the installation or edit the BCD store later to see the entry removed. Having added in a new drive here plus finding the 32bit was still in need I installed 7 fresh twice in the last couple of days one install on the new drive and the 32bit replaced the last RC installation after wiping that drive.