Best way to copy data to a new disk

[Dave (from the UK)]

I have a 36 GB SCSI disk on a PC with XP. I want to remove it and put in a 73 GB
SCSI disk.

Can I copy the data (OS and user files) to the new disk without bothering to
reinstall everything?

I can put both disks in the machine together. I also have a DDS-4 SCSI tape drive.

Does Windoze have any tools for this, or does one need to look at 3rd party
tools? If so, are there any free ones?

On a UNIX system I could do this with two commands, go away and come back an
hour later and it would be done. But I'm not so sure on Windoze.


--
Dave K MCSE.

MCSE = Minefield Consultant and Solitaire Expert.

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@domain. Hitting reply will work
for a couple of months only. Later set it manually.

 

[Bert Hyman]

In "Dave (from the UK)"

Does Windoze have any tools for this, or does one need to look at 3rd
party tools? If so, are there any free ones?

I used Acronis "True Image" to move WinXP from disk to disk for my laptop.

At the time, the free demo version from their Web site was fully functional
for 30 days, but I don't know if it's still that way.

http://www.acronis.com/

 

[Rod Speed]

I have a 36 GB SCSI disk on a PC with XP. I want to remove it and put in
a 73 GB SCSI disk.

Can I copy the data (OS and user files) to the new disk without bothering
to reinstall everything?
Yes.

I can put both disks in the machine together.

Thats all you need.

I also have a DDS-4 SCSI tape drive.

No need to use that.

Does Windoze have any tools for this,
Nope.

or does one need to look at 3rd party tools?
Yep.

If so, are there any free ones?
xxclone.com

On a UNIX system I could do this with two commands, go away and come
back an hour later and it would be done. But I'm not so sure on Windoze.

Even easier with Win, tho many of the apps that can do that arent free.

 

[wemaole]

try freeware: EASEUS Disk Dopy 1.0
http://www.easeus.com

 

[Dave (from the UK)]

Good.



Nope.

I can't understand why such basic functionality is not built in.

Even easier with Win, tho many of the apps that can do that arent free.

It can't be easier if I need to download an install 3rd party software to do
it!! With a UNIX or Linux system, all the tools needed for this would be
available at even the most basic installation.

On Solaris

http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/

which I use most of the time, all the tools to do it would be available with a
minimal installation, yet apparently you can do a full installation of XP and
still not have the tools to do it. How odd - specially considering Solaris is
now a free download and windows is expensive.

Although my memory fades me, even in the DOS days I could have done that without
installing other software. If memory serves me right

c:> fdisk // partition new drive
c:> format /s d: // assuming d: is the new drive)
c:> xcopy c: d: /s // copy all files and subdirectories.

I guess Windows has made some progress from the days of DOS, but not in the
backup area it appears.
--
Dave K MCSE.

MCSE = Minefield Consultant and Solitaire Expert.

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@domain. Hitting reply will work
for a couple of months only. Later set it manually.

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed wrote

I can't understand why such basic functionality is not built in.

Basically because its more complicated than it looks and few do it.

It can't be easier if I need to download an install 3rd party software to
do it!!

Easier to use basically.

With a UNIX or Linux system, all the tools needed for this would be
available at even the most basic installation.

On Solaris

which I use most of the time, all the tools to do it would be
available with a minimal installation, yet apparently you can do a
full installation of XP and still not have the tools to do it. How
odd - specially considering Solaris is now a free download and
windows is expensive.

Then there's the real world.

Although my memory fades me, even in the DOS days I could have done that
without installing other software. If memory serves me right

c:> fdisk // partition new drive
c:> format /s d: // assuming d: is the new drive)
c:> xcopy c: d: /s // copy all files and subdirectories.

I guess Windows has made some progress from the days of DOS, but not in
the backup area it appears.

There are other much more viable ways to do backup that are included.

 

[craigm]

I have a 36 GB SCSI disk on a PC with XP. I want to remove it and put in a
73 GB SCSI disk.

Can I copy the data (OS and user files) to the new disk without bothering
to reinstall everything?

I can put both disks in the machine together. I also have a DDS-4 SCSI
tape drive.

Does Windoze have any tools for this, or does one need to look at 3rd
party tools? If so, are there any free ones?

On a UNIX system I could do this with two commands, go away and come back
an hour later and it would be done. But I'm not so sure on Windoze.

Could you boot from a live Linux CD and go from there?

 

[Arno Wagner]

I can't understand why such basic functionality is not built in.

Because Windows is a) decades behind in basic functionality and
b) Windows is not a professional system, but targeted at
amateurs. It unfortunately became quite popular and now cannot
measure up to what was there before.

Arno

 

[Rod Speed]

Could you boot from a live Linux CD and go from there?

Nope, that doesnt work as well as a proper Win cloner.