How to swap primary drives after clone?


  1. Posts : 24
    windows 7 home premium 64 bit
       #1

    How to swap primary drives after clone?


    I installed a new WD black 1TB hard and then cloned it. I would like for it to be my primary drive. Must I first rename my old drive something other than "C", then rename the new drive "C" ? Would that make my new drive primary or must I do some other process to get it to show as drive 0 and "C" ?
    I want the WD to be the 0 drive. If I change the new drive to be "C" will that also make it disc 0 ???
    Last edited by Kyafield; 01 Nov 2014 at 09:18. Reason: more ?
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  2. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #2

    Post a screenshot of Disk Management before making any changes.
    Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image

    What program did you use to clone the Old HD to the New "WD black 1TB" ?

    Disk 0 is determined by your motherboard Sata connectors.
    It sounds like right now you have the Old HD plugged into the "Disk 0" motherboard Sata connector.

    Also note:
    Your specs show MBAM Pro as your anti-virus program.
    MBAM is NOT an anti-virus program.
    It is an anti-malware program designed to be run along side a real-time anti-virus program for additional security.
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  3. Posts : 24
    windows 7 home premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thanks David. I used WD acronis for the clone.
    I have accomplished the move by just going into my bios and making the new drive the first boot selection. It is listed as disc 1 instead of 0 but that is OK, I don't want to swap the SATA cables around.

    I will change my system info signature to reflect my antivirus as AVG.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails How to swap primary drives after clone?-capture.png  
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  4. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #4

    Ok, understood.
    It sounds like you have a good understanding of this.

    If you want to boot from the OLD OS (HD) you can use the "One-Time" boot selection screen.
    I have a Gigabyte MB and for me pressing F12 at bootup brings up that screen.

    On my Primary Box, 99.9% of the time I want my preferred OS to automatically boot, so that works best for me.
    If I always wanted to have a choice of which OS to boot, I would install EASYBCD to display a OS Boot choice screen.

    There is no right or wrong answer, it's all personal preference...
    On my TEST Box, I never know what I might want next, so I have the Boot OS choice displayed at every bootup...

    More of my notes:
    I always like to have a label on every HD/Partition so it's easy for me to know what it is.
    Your [C] and [F] partitons don't have labels ...

    I remove the Drive Letter for any "Other OS" HD/Partition so I don't see it listed in Windows (file) Explorer.

    Do you want to use your OLD HD OS for something else such as Data or Backup storage, or keep it as a "Backup bootable OS HD" ?
    What do you want to use the OLD HD for now, after cloning to the new HD ?
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  5. Posts : 24
    windows 7 home premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Do you want to use your OLD HD OS for something else such as Data or Backup storage, or keep it as a "Backup bootable OS HD" ?
    What do you want to use the OLD HD for now, after cloning to the new HD ?


    Good questions. I think for now I will leave the Disc 2 "G" as a back up bootable OS. At least for a couple of weeks to break in the new drive and watch the new drive for any problems. I like the idea of having several bootable back ups. If all goes well with the new drive then I may start using it as media storage. And again, thank you for your responses.
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  6. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #6

    I don't know what your Disc 2 "G" is, but I don't think it is a backup bootable OS.
    Your [F] and [C] drives are ACTIVE, [G] is NOT active.
    You can't boot from a non active partition, without a "boot manager" ...



    Look in Windows (file) Explorer to see what you have on each of these disks/partitions ...
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  7. Posts : 24
    windows 7 home premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #7

    My fault. I stated it wrong. I am just keeping G drive around until I am satisfied that the new WD drive does not go belly up. I have a clone of C drive on it now. I thought it would use less resources if kept not active. Wrong assumption?
    I also have the "free agent disc" L external back up and W7 repair CD disc bootable.
    So.. if I wanted for the time being to be able to boot from G then I should activate it or do some research on boot managers?
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  8. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #8

    You could try adding [G] as a bootable choice using EasyBCD.
    There is a free version and you don't have to register to download it.
    https://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/
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  9. Posts : 24
    windows 7 home premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Got it. Thanks again.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails How to swap primary drives after clone?-boot.png  
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  10. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #10

    You're welcome !
    :)
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