move data over to sata

  • Thread starter Thread starter bry25_uk
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bry25_uk

I use xp sp2 home ed. currently booting off a 150gb ide drive. Iuse a 300 gb
sata for storage, i am changing alot of my setup but don 't want to reinstall
windows as it is setup how i like it. The sata has data on it already that i
want to keep.
QUESTION :> can I copy the data, including boot setup and windows, from the
IDE drive to the sata so i can boot from the sata drive AND keep all my
personal data.
PS i then want to remove the current boot ide drive.
thanks
bryan
 
bry25_uk said:
I use xp sp2 home ed. currently booting off a 150gb ide drive. Iuse
a 300 gb sata for storage, i am changing alot of my setup but don
't want to reinstall windows as it is setup how i like it. The sata
has data on it already that i want to keep.
QUESTION :> can I copy the data, including boot setup and windows,
from the IDE drive to the sata so i can boot from the sata drive
AND keep all my personal data.

PS i then want to remove the current boot ide drive.
Click to expand...

Using a complete imaging application, sure.
Then change the boot order in the BIOS - after you make sure the SATA drive
is a primary drive.

The SATA hard drive manufacturer may even have a freeware way of imaging the
older drive to the newer SATA drive.
 
Not by simply copying. The process is much more involved. If you
wish to have a single partition ( volume ) on the SATA drive you'd
have to backup the existing data, Image the PATA to SATA then
recover the data from the SATA's original backup. It might also be
possible to do a partition merge but that process is more risky and
prone to error.
Whatever method you choose, be sure that you have backups of
everything ( to external media such as DVD-R ) before starting.
 
thanks, but will this leave my data that i want to keep that is already on
the sata drive? or will imaging the ide totally wipe the sata?
thanks
 
bry25_uk said:
I use xp sp2 home ed. currently booting off a 150gb ide drive. Iuse
a 300 gb sata for storage, i am changing alot of my setup but don
't want to reinstall windows as it is setup how i like it. The sata
has data on it already that i want to keep.
QUESTION :> can I copy the data, including boot setup and windows,
from the IDE drive to the sata so i can boot from the sata drive
AND keep all my personal data.
PS i then want to remove the current boot ide drive.
Click to expand...

Shenan said:
Using a complete imaging application, sure.
Then change the boot order in the BIOS - after you make sure the
SATA drive is a primary drive.

The SATA hard drive manufacturer may even have a freeware way of
imaging the older drive to the newer SATA drive.
Click to expand...

bry25_uk said:
thanks, but will this leave my data that i want to keep that is
already on the sata drive? or will imaging the ide totally wipe the
sata?
Click to expand...

It'd wipe it. It's the one method that *will* work, however - given what
you have.

You should backup your data to external media in any case - no matter what.
If you backup this loose data and then restore it as needed afterwards -
that is your best bet - plus you have started what you should already have
going - periodic backups of the data important to you to external media. ;-)
 
Just one more thing to consider. PATA drives with an "Active" partition
will usually get a C:\ Drive letter designation by XP. BE SURE to remove
the PATA drive before you 1st boot the SATA or format the PATA &
DO NOT mark it as active.
 
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