Hard Drive won't boot, How do I copy old to new

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jahnsart
  • Start date Start date
J

Jahnsart

Hi,

My old hard drive wouldn't boot, so after trying everything I could
think of I bought a new hard drive. I installed the new hard drive
partitioned and formatted it. I installed XP Professional and got the
computer back up. Now the part that I don't know how to do is, getting
all the programs and info off of the old hard drive. I slaved the old
hard drive since it wouldn't boot, and now want to get all of the
programs off of my old hard drive onto the new.

I have read about many copying programs but they assume that the old
hard drive is bootable. Mine is not. Does anyone have any way that
they know of to get all of the programs on the old to the new hard
drive?

Thanks for the consideration,

Jahn
 
Jahnsart said:
Hi,

My old hard drive wouldn't boot, so after trying everything I could
think of I bought a new hard drive. I installed the new hard drive
partitioned and formatted it. I installed XP Professional and got the
computer back up. Now the part that I don't know how to do is,
getting
all the programs and info off of the old hard drive. I slaved the
old hard drive since it wouldn't boot, and now want to get all of the
programs off of my old hard drive onto the new.

I have read about many copying programs but they assume that the old
hard drive is bootable. Mine is not. Does anyone have any way that
they know of to get all of the programs on the old to the new hard
drive?
Click to expand...

You cannot get the programs that way. You will need to reinstall the
programs from their installation media; i.e., either CD's or the
installation executable if you downloaded it from the Internet.

You can simply copy your data to the new drive. If you get any "access
denied" errors, take ownership of the files.

Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP [Q308421] -
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

How Do I Get the Security tab in Folder Properties? -
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_security_tab.htm

Malke
 
Getting the info off is fairly easy - usually just copy it (you may have to
take ownership of the files first).

But the programs are a different matter. When installed they added stuff
all over your hard drive and in the registry - and those things aren't
present on the new copy of Windows. So even if you did move them over, they
wouldn't work.

- John

Malke said:
Jahnsart said:
Hi,

My old hard drive wouldn't boot, so after trying everything I could
think of I bought a new hard drive. I installed the new hard drive
partitioned and formatted it. I installed XP Professional and got the
computer back up. Now the part that I don't know how to do is,
getting
all the programs and info off of the old hard drive. I slaved the
old hard drive since it wouldn't boot, and now want to get all of the
programs off of my old hard drive onto the new.

I have read about many copying programs but they assume that the old
hard drive is bootable. Mine is not. Does anyone have any way that
they know of to get all of the programs on the old to the new hard
drive?
Click to expand...

You cannot get the programs that way. You will need to reinstall the
programs from their installation media; i.e., either CD's or the
installation executable if you downloaded it from the Internet.

You can simply copy your data to the new drive. If you get any "access
denied" errors, take ownership of the files.

Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP [Q308421] -
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

How Do I Get the Security tab in Folder Properties? -
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_security_tab.htm

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
Click to expand...
 
Hi,

My old hard drive wouldn't boot, so after trying everything I could
think of I bought a new hard drive. I installed the new hard drive
partitioned and formatted it. I installed XP Professional and got the
computer back up. Now the part that I don't know how to do is, getting
all the programs and info off of the old hard drive. I slaved the old
hard drive since it wouldn't boot, and now want to get all of the
programs off of my old hard drive onto the new.

I have read about many copying programs but they assume that the old
hard drive is bootable. Mine is not. Does anyone have any way that
they know of to get all of the programs on the old to the new hard
drive?
Click to expand...

Most programs can't be copied over without a *LOT* of hassle. It's
much easier to simply reinstall them.
 
I think what you need is an uninstall program. They sort of work. Be
very carefull when you re-install on the new drive. I am having a
similar problem, and honestly, I have given up on the uninstaller and
have decided to reinstall from the original or new downloads or CDs
and try to shoe-horn my old data into the fresh copies.

Good luck.
 
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