Replacing my hdd... some questions.

DaRonRon said:

One more question though, my C drive right now is 60 GB with 10 GB free, and my E (Data) Drive is 247 GB with 2 GB free. So if i restore the system image to a new 1 TB hdd, how will the hdd space be spread? Like will my C drive remain 60GB and the rest of the hdd be assigned to the Data Drive?

I also just noticed, i actually have a third partition named "System Reserved". I think it came with the Windows 7 install. Would that affect anything with the backup or should i just include that too in the image.

I think the default is to expand the size of the partitions on the new drive proportionate to what they are originally.

Looks like you have a 320 gig drive as a source and a 1 TB as a destination---about 3 times as large as the source. So I think by default you would end up with about 3 times 60 = 180 for C after a restore and about 3 times 247 = 741 for the other.

I don't know how much control you would have over those numbers if you restored both partitions simultaneously.


If you restored separately, you could after the fact resize that 180 down to maybe 100 and the saved 80 could then be added to the size of the other partition, giving you maybe 741 plus 80 for it.

You should include the system reserved in your image if you want to carry it over to the new drive.

Sorry i didnt make it clear. They are actually partitions. I only have 1 physical drive since im on a laptop.

I attached a pic of disk management.

Amazon.com: Western Digital 640 GB 5400rpm SATA2 8 MB 2.5-Inch Notebook Hard Drive WD6400BEVT (Scorpio Blue): Electronics

what do you make of this hard drive? I know its only 5400 rpm, but thats ok for me.

WD Scorpio drives are known to be very good. Just so you know I found the same drive for a lower price and with free shipping on Newegg. 5400 rpm should mean less heat than a 7200 rpm, so thats good. One review on Newegg said the drive failed rather quickly, but that happens with all brands and models once in a while.

NewEgg doesn't ship outside the US though..

I think i'll purchase the one from Amazon.

Oh, sorry. Didn't realize you were outside the US. I was just trying to get you the best deal possible.

Yeah thanks for that. Unfortunately Amazon US doesnt ship to Europe And the same hdd from UK is quite a bit more expensive.

If the Win7 backup image won't reimage your new HD correctly, then create another one using free Macrium Reflect which allows more flexibility in reimaging.

You can also check if the cloning software which comes with most new HD's has imaging capability.

A good partioning arrangement is to install only programs on your OS drive, then place User folders on the second partition which will act as a data vault if the OS partition becomes unusable. Both need to be backed up externally.

User Folders - Change Default Location