Replacing a hard drive copied all from old to new with Norton Ghost - Now What?

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Igor1981

I have a Dell Latitude c800 laptop running windows XP Pro. I want to
replace my 40GB hard drive with my new 100GB drive that came with
enclosure kit as well. I happened to have my Norton Ghost 9.0 and I
have copied my old hard drive to new and also I have bought a similar
laptop but with faster processor. Now I wonder if I can insert my new
drive with all the data copied from my old one into this new laptop and
have everything work without any issues. I am not sure at this point or
I might swap motherboards I will see what's easier and better way to
go. I have tried this new hard drive enlosed in a usb 2.0 box on
another pc and everything seem to run correctly but I noticed that I
have to enter License numbers for a lot of my programs and some user
settings seem to be missing. My new hard drive is named New Drive P:
and not drive C: like my old I don't know if this is making a
difference. I wonder if I have to change my drive to C: before I
actually insert it into my new laptop or will it automatically rename
it to C: drive and everything would run just like on my old laptop.

I am just trying to upgrade or replace my current laptop with new one
or those parts. I would like to retain all my data with programs and
settings all in place like it is on the old one. Does anybody have any
experience with this? Does anybody have a nice solution to my problem.
Please let me know I would very much appreciate any feedback in this
matter.
 
Igor1981 said:
I have a Dell Latitude c800 laptop running windows XP Pro. I want to
replace my 40GB hard drive with my new 100GB drive that came with
enclosure kit as well. I happened to have my Norton Ghost 9.0 and I
have copied my old hard drive to new and also I have bought a similar
laptop but with faster processor. Now I wonder if I can insert my new
drive with all the data copied from my old one into this new laptop and
have everything work without any issues. I am not sure at this point or
I might swap motherboards I will see what's easier and better way to
go. I have tried this new hard drive enlosed in a usb 2.0 box on
another pc and everything seem to run correctly but I noticed that I
have to enter License numbers for a lot of my programs and some user
settings seem to be missing. My new hard drive is named New Drive P:
and not drive C: like my old I don't know if this is making a
difference. I wonder if I have to change my drive to C: before I
actually insert it into my new laptop or will it automatically rename
it to C: drive and everything would run just like on my old laptop.

I am just trying to upgrade or replace my current laptop with new one
or those parts. I would like to retain all my data with programs and
settings all in place like it is on the old one. Does anybody have any
experience with this? Does anybody have a nice solution to my problem.
Please let me know I would very much appreciate any feedback in this
matter.
Click to expand...


Just to clarify your objective(s)...

You first say that you plan to replace the 40 GB HD in your present laptop
with a 100 GB drive that you cloned. The 100 GB drive is in a USB enclosure
(I assume that's what you mean when you say the drive came with an
"enclosure kit"). So you'll uninstall the 40 GB drive, remove the cloned 100
GB drive from its enclosure, and install it in the laptop to replace the 40
GB one, right? If that's what you plan to do there should be no problem.
This assumes, of course, that you created a "good" clone and you make the
proper HD connection/configuration. The new drive should be bootable &
functional. And assuming that's the only major component that's being
changed, there shouldn't be any Activation problems.

Then you say you've purchased a new similar laptop and are wondering if you
could install the cloned 100 GB HD from your "old" laptop to the new one. Do
I understand you correctly? Are you thinking that if that's a viable
process, then you would prefer to go that route rather than the preceding
one?

You also mention "swapping" motherboards. Is there some reason you would
install an older motherboard in the newer laptop? Anyway, all sorts of
problems can arise with a change of (different) motherboards in OEM
laptop/notebooks, especially when cloned HDs are involved. But perhaps I
misunderstand you.
Anna
 
Thank your for your reply Anna. Well, originally I wanted to just
upgrade my hard drive but I purchased a nice affordable laptop from a
friend of mine that is basically a same model and everything but
without a hard drive in it. After this being said I was wondering if I
can put this new cloned drive into my new laptop, since it has a much
faster processor and also a nice GPU in it and it's a bit newer model.
I love my old laptop it's in like new condition as far as bare bones,
but we are talking about 1ghz vs 2.66 ghz with the new one and some
goodies.

I would like to run this new one but with all of the same data I used
to have and I would get rid of my old laptop. I was thinking about
removing some parts from the new one and install into the old one such
as processor or whole motherboard etc. I am not sure if this is a good
idea or not. I love the appearance of my old one since it looks like
brand new but I like the insides of the new one. I am not sure what to
do or what would be the best route. Please help me. Thank you so much
 
Igor1981 said:
Thank your for your reply Anna. Well, originally I wanted to just
upgrade my hard drive but I purchased a nice affordable laptop from a
friend of mine that is basically a same model and everything but
without a hard drive in it. After this being said I was wondering if I
can put this new cloned drive into my new laptop, since it has a much
faster processor and also a nice GPU in it and it's a bit newer model.
I love my old laptop it's in like new condition as far as bare bones,
but we are talking about 1ghz vs 2.66 ghz with the new one and some
goodies.

I would like to run this new one but with all of the same data I used
to have and I would get rid of my old laptop. I was thinking about
removing some parts from the new one and install into the old one such
as processor or whole motherboard etc. I am not sure if this is a good
idea or not. I love the appearance of my old one since it looks like
brand new but I like the insides of the new one. I am not sure what to
do or what would be the best route. Please help me. Thank you so much
Click to expand...


Igor:
Why don't you simply install the cloned HD from your "old" machine to the
new one and see if it boots? You may be lucky and it will. On the other
hand, it may not. There's really no definitive way to tell until you try it.
If it does boot, you may need drivers so that the new drive is completely
functional. Should you need these drivers I trust you have either a CD or
other removable media containing the driver files or can obtain whatever
drivers may be necessary from the manufacturer of the laptop. And you may
very well have to Activate the system following a successful install.

If the machine doesn't boot after installing the cloned HD, you will have to
perform a Repair install with the XP installation CD for that machine.
Hopefully, that will create a bootable, functional HD for that machine, but
there's no guarantee here. But it should work. Again, you will probably need
drivers unless you're lucky again and XP picks them up during the Repair
install. And Activation may again be necessary.

As far as "removing some parts from the new (laptop) and install into the
old (laptop) such as processor or whole motherboard etc." this can be a very
difficult and demanding process where laptops are involved, and unless
you're experienced in this area and confident of your technical skills, I
frankly would not recommend it.
Anna
 
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