New Hard Drive Question

[bigmck]

Right now I have Win 7 and all of my programs/files on one hard drive, one partition C: drive. If I got a new hard disk, could I just copy everything on it and be good to go or would I need to reinstall everything? == If I need to reinstall and I put Win 7 on one partition and my programs/files on the another, how would this benefit me? Thanks for your help.

 

[Casca]

...could I just copy everything on it and be good to go...

In a manner of speaking, yes. But not "copy". You will need to image the new drive from the old one. Your drive mfgr may or may not provide a tool/app to do this easily.

I am not a big fan of partitions - I prefer multiple drives. The single advantage that I will cede to parting a sys drive- you can format the "C" part when reinstalling the OS without worrying about data files, provided you have properly structured your system.

 

[not so gray matter]

You can use Macrium Reflect Free Edition to do this. Basically what you'll do is create a system image of your first drive and then restore it to your second drive. It will copy everything except the properties of the drive. In other words you'll have to mark it as a Boot partition, etc.

I'd suggest that you simply install a fresh copy of Win7 on your second drive and then move everything from your old drive over manually then format it when you're done. This'll insure your installation is undamaged and you'll get a performance boost if you haven't been maintaining your Win7 installation.

 

[bigmck]

...could I just copy everything on it and be good to go...

In a manner of speaking, yes. But not "copy". You will need to image the new drive from the old one. Your drive mfgr may or may not provide a tool/app to do this easily.

I am not a big fan of partitions - I prefer multiple drives. The single advantage that I will cede to parting a sys drive- you can format the "C" part when reinstalling the OS without worrying about data files, provided you have properly structured your system.

One more question -- Let's say I buy a bigger drive and want to put all my progarms/files on it and put Win 7 on the smaller drive. The best approach would be just to install everything from scratch? Thanks,

 

[Casca]

That is a valid option.

 

[Casca]

One more question -- Let's say I buy a bigger drive and want to put all my progarms/files on it and put Win 7 on the smaller drive...

I assume that you mean "program install" files.

I strongly do NOT recommend installing apps to a secondary drive.

App devs not addressed here.

 

[bigmck]

One more question -- Let's say I buy a bigger drive and want to put all my progarms/files on it and put Win 7 on the smaller drive...

I assume that you mean "program install" files.

I strongly do NOT recommend installing apps to a secondary drive.

App devs not addressed here.

I am referring to putting Win 7 on the smaller drive and everything else on the bigger drive. Are you saying this is not a good way to go?

 

[Wishmaster]

A fresh install of Win7 on the smaller drive with all your programs/apps would be ideal IMO.

Then, move your Documents,Videos,Pictures,Music User folders to the second drive.

I would also make a Folder "GAMES" on a secondary and install all games to there as well.

I would also advise either a 3rd HD for Backups, OR a hidden partition on the DATA drive (or one without a drive letter) that your Imaging Program can use.

I would make 1 image as soon as you install and activate Windows for safe keeping. Youll even be able to burn that Image to disc in the event you want to start fresh in the future, and Win7 will already be activated. And then periodic Imagages thereafter once you install most of your Apps etc.

There are several good imaging programs. Acronis, which offers many more futures but you'll need to purchase is excellent. Theres also a few really good free alternatives as well. Paragon, and as mentioned, Macrium Reflect.


This isn't saying Imaging your current drive over to the new HD isnt possible. Using Macrium to image and restore as mentioned is a viable option.
Acronis also has a 30day trial that will be able to clone the drive as well. If you purchased a WD drive, dont forget theres a free version of Acronis to clone the drive available to you from the official website. You just need to register you drive/serial number to gain access.

 

[Casca]

I am saying:

If Windows is installed on C
C:\Windows\

then

Install all programs on C
C:\Program Files

You invite problems otherwise. I have a lot of software installed and my total Program Files space is < 7 GB. There is little real advantage in placing apps on another drive.

 

[Wishmaster]

I am saying:

If Windows is installed on C
C:\Windows\

then

Install all programs on C
C:\Program Files

You invite problems otherwise. I have a lot of software installed and my total Program Files space is < 7 GB. There is little real advantage in placing apps on another drive.

I completely agree with this. With the exception of Games IMHO.

 

[whs]

There is nothing to be gained if you split the OS on 2 drives. I would leave everything on 1 drive - including the program files. When you install BIG programs, you can still decide to install those in a different folder during the installation phase - but I myself would not bother.
Your user data is another question. I would highly recommend to put your user data into a seperate partition. There are many advantages to it. See my little tutorial on the matter.
Another method is to define user folders on the other drive, move your data into this folder and include those into the respective library. That is the beauty of the library concept.

 

[Casca]

I completely agree with this. With the exception of Games IMHO.

I concur re: games.

 

[mpcrsc562]

I am saying:

If Windows is installed on C
C:\Windows\

then

Install all programs on C
C:\Program Files

You invite problems otherwise. I have a lot of software installed and my total Program Files space is < 7 GB. There is little real advantage in placing apps on another drive.

I completely agree with this. With the exception of Games IMHO.

I agree with Wishmaster on this. And I'm curious, what problems would one be inviting?

Example: I run an SSD and I do game. One game in particular is Microsoft Flight Simulator X - 15GB! On a 30-32GB SSD, that be the only game I could install on that drive--if I still had space left from other program installs. Any application, not just my games, but any application that weighs in more than 1GB in file size gets installed on a secondary drive: C:\Program Files (x86)\DATA\... (where "DATA" was the empty folder that the drive got mounted to) -- and this serves me well with no problems.

Now, the OP has not stated that he is running an SSD, but again, my question is, what problems does one invite doing such?

EDIT: Just want to add, I'm only asking... My question is not intended to be confrontational.

 

[Casca]

And I'm curious, what problems would one be inviting?

Not all code is created equally. Any hard code/call to C:\Program Files would fail.

Your example would survive the weak code.

My initial caveat (App devs not addressed here) was proferred poorly. Let me try again...

Advanced users are free to continue utilizing advanced techniques; this discourse is targeted at a more common user type.