copy whole os to new hardrive??

[Gilly]

im looking to get new harddrive and was wondering isit possible to copy whole os to new hdd?
meaning like copy whole os to new hdd so i dont have to reinstall all my programs because im going to use my current hdd as external storage using caddy and my new hdd as my sole drive
ive been told theres some program called ghost something that does it,,is this true or even possible:sarc::sarc::sarc::sarc::sarc::sarc::sarc:

 

[InvaderPar]

5 Free Apps to Clone Your Hard Drive

Hope this helps.

 

[mickey megabyte]

hello again gilly,

you want to look at disk imaging software. the program you mention is norton ghost - however there are other alternatives.

have a look at these threads.

Free drive image program from Easeus - TODO

HDD clone software

Best software for partition cloning?

 

[Tews]

Personally I use Acronis True Image Home 2010... It does exactly what you are describing...

 

[zigzag3143]

im looking to get new harddrive and was wondering isit possible to copy whole os to new hdd?
meaning like copy whole os to new hdd so i dont have to reinstall all my programs because im going to use my current hdd as external storage using caddy and my new hdd as my sole drive
ive been told theres some program called ghost something that does it,,is this true or even possible:sarc::sarc::sarc::sarc::sarc::sarc::sarc:

Gilly

Its possible. Using Ghost (symantec) or Acronis True image . But the new HD may need a different Driver than the current one, and you might have to do some boot menu editing.

Microsoft and most of us recommend a clean install. Its best.

hope this helps

Ken

 

[Gilly]

ok thanks for ure input guys

 

[Dzomlija]

Just to add my two cents worth: I agree with the other on this particular subject. Acronis True Image Home is the best choice here, because it is very easy to use.

But as for requiring other drivers for the new hard drive, that may not be necessary. If you are cloning from a SATA drive to another SATA drive (or IDE to IDE), then after the clone is completed, you won't notice any difference at all in the operation of your PC, with the one exception that you will now suddenly have more free space than before.

If you are cloning from IDE to SATA (or SATA to IDE), additional drivers also shouldn't be needed afterwards, providing of course that all your driver are up to date from the word go before you do the clone.

 

[torrentg]

I was recommended Clonezilla by someone on this forum. I forget who, but it is excellent and easy to use. It uses a live Linux boot from cd.

 

[harpua]

Another user of Acronis TIH (2010) here. I make weekly clones with it as part of my normal backup routine. Just pop em in place of the original drive and it's like nothing has changed. If any drivers are needed, windows will install them automatically if/when the drive is attached to the system while still within the Windows environment, which is the way I start my cloning anyway with Acronis. I highly recommend this application, not just for cloning, which it makes very easy, but also for other types of back ups and recovery options and its file destroying/wiping utitlity is also very useful from time to time.

 

[Jordus]

Why not use the built-in windows complete PC backup tool? (if you have an external drive you can back up too)

Or you can capture the volume using WinPE and ImageX, which is free.

 

[justcheese]

Why not use the built-in windows complete PC backup tool? (if you have an external drive you can back up too)

Or you can capture the volume using WinPE and ImageX, which is free.

My understanding is that you can't do this. I dropped my laptop the other and busted the hard drive. Yesterday, I received and installed the new one and when I run the built-in image restoration tool the computer will not recognize the image I have saved on my external hard drive. I thought I was out of luck until just a few minutes ago when I read that Acronis True Image 2010 can be use to convert my Windows image into a format that True Image can use to restore to my new hard drive. Can anyone set me straight here? I've got documents for school that I sorely need to get back to pass one of my classes.

 

[justcheese]

Why not use the built-in windows complete PC backup tool? (if you have an external drive you can back up too)

Or you can capture the volume using WinPE and ImageX, which is free.

My understanding is that you can't do this. I dropped my laptop the other and busted the hard drive. Yesterday, I received and installed the new one and when i run the built-in image restoration tool the computer will not recognize the image I have saved on my external hard drive. I thought i was out of luck until just a few minutes ago when i read that Acronis True Image 2010 can be use to convert my Windows image into a format that True Image can use to restore to my new hard drive. Can anyone set me straight here? I've got documents for school that I sorely need to get back to pass one of my classes.

 

[gregrocker]

Did you change the name of the image in any way from WindowsImageBackup? It needs to be named that (and only that) and placed in the root of the external drive to be discovered by the imaging app.

Are you booting the Win7 DVD Repair console or Repair CD, selecting "Recover using a system image" and allowing it to search while your external is plugged in to see if it autodetects the image file?

 

[justcheese]

No I haven't change the name of anything. There is a folder labeled WindowsImageBackup in the root. Within that folder there are several more folders containing catalog files, xml files, and a vhd file. Which file(s) needs to be in the root? Thanks.

 

[Catbodi]

First post has good programs used them before.

 

[mvnsnd]

I've used Driveimage XML to transfer everything on a current drive to a new one in an esata external case. Then installed the new drive, rebooted and did a system recover to make it bootable and have been using the new driver ever since.

 

[PeteC]

Why not use the built-in windows complete PC backup tool? (if you have an external drive you can back up too)

Or you can capture the volume using WinPE and ImageX, which is free.

My understanding is that you can't do this. I dropped my laptop the other and busted the hard drive. Yesterday, I received and installed the new one and when i run the built-in image restoration tool the computer will not recognize the image I have saved on my external hard drive. I thought i was out of luck until just a few minutes ago when i read that Acronis True Image 2010 can be use to convert my Windows image into a format that True Image can use to restore to my new hard drive. Can anyone set me straight here? I've got documents for school that I sorely need to get back to pass one of my classes.

I believe that you are not talking about running the Windows 7 Repair disk, that you create from win 7, rather a restoration tool that comes with your new drive, is that correct? If so, that is the problem! You need to boot up with the Win 7 Repair disk that you made (hopefully, you made one when you imaged your system to your external drive?). I have installed a new drive in my notebook doing exactly that procedure, and I am happy to say that it worked flawlessly, as easy a way to install a new drive as any other imaging solution that I've used, including Ghost/Acronis/Paragon.

 

[justcheese]

Why not use the built-in windows complete PC backup tool? (if you have an external drive you can back up too)

Or you can capture the volume using WinPE and ImageX, which is free.

My understanding is that you can't do this. I dropped my laptop the other and busted the hard drive. Yesterday, I received and installed the new one and when i run the built-in image restoration tool the computer will not recognize the image I have saved on my external hard drive. I thought i was out of luck until just a few minutes ago when i read that Acronis True Image 2010 can be use to convert my Windows image into a format that True Image can use to restore to my new hard drive. Can anyone set me straight here? I've got documents for school that I sorely need to get back to pass one of my classes.

I believe that you are not talking about running the Windows 7 Repair disk, that you create from win 7, rather a restoration tool that comes with your new drive, is that correct? If so, that is the problem! You need to boot up with the Win 7 Repair disk that you made (hopefully, you made one when you imaged your system to your external drive?). I have installed a new drive in my notebook doing exactly that procedure, and I am happy to say that it worked flawlessly, as easy a way to install a new drive as any other imaging solution that I've used, including Ghost/Acronis/Paragon.

I did make a repair disk when I imaged the drive, but even after half a dozen tries or so I can't get the computer to boot from that particular disk. I've only been about to get it to boot from the Win 7 install disk.

 

[gregrocker]

No I haven't change the name of anything. There is a folder labeled WindowsImageBackup in the root. Within that folder there are several more folders containing catalog files, xml files, and a vhd file. Which file(s) needs to be in the root? Thanks.

WindowsImageBackup

 

[LM2008]

Windows Backup in Windows 7 is awesome, create a full backup and system image of the old drive, then after the new one is installed you can pop in the windows 7 dvd or a system repair disc created with the same program, you just need to boot from it and follow the steps. Use Restore Image and it will restore everything, including programs. I tested and did that with my laptop when i bought a new drive for my laptop and all task ended flawless.