Tips on replacing a hard drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Joe Starin
  • Start date Start date
J

Joe Starin

Hi, group. It's time to replace my fine but almost full 60GB internal hard
drive with a new 320GB internal hard drive. Both are Western Digital EIDE
units. I also purchased an external 320GB hard drive to do backups and help
with the install. Staples said I'd have to reinstall my XP Home SP2 OS and
all of my software. Can I copy the outgoing 60GB hard drive contents to the
external HD, uninstall the 60GB, install the new 320GB internal HD, then
copy everything from the external HD to the newly installed 320GB internal
HD? It can't be that easy, can it? I've been Googling for a few hours,
finding some hardware instructions, but no tips on how to move all of my
software. Computer is a Dell Dimension 4300 desktop, five years old,
upgraded BIOS, 1GB RAM, etc. The Straples guy wants me to bring it in so he
can do it, but I've been inside the case many times and fell confident I can
pull this off as soon as I get more reliable information. I just gotta move
all that software, documents, pictures, etc. Any experienced help would be
appreciated. Thanks very much. Joe
 
First thing you need to do is find out if your 5 year old Dell supports
drives that large (supports 48Bit LBA or drives larger than 137GB) in size.
For more info on 48Bit LBA see:
http://www.48bitlba.com/winxp.htm

You can verify if your PC does or does not support large drives (48Bit LBA)
using
Belarc Advisor: http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
It does a good job of providing a wealth of information.

Also there is: HD Tune, which provides drive info and has an option to test
your drive.
http://www.hdtune.com/

JS
 
Most HD's have available on their site utilities to clone/copy from old hd
to new
Simply follow instructions, to the letter!

Otherwise Acronis True Image
 
First off, you're not going to be able to copy the contents of your system drive
to the new drive while Windows is running.

That said, the last Western Digital hard drive I purchased came with a CD that
included a user manual, a tutorial, and a program that would copy files from
your old hard drive to the new one. I didn't have to use the CD so I can't speak
from experience, but you might want to investigate using the software provided
by Western Digital. From what I could gather you boot from the CD with both the
new and old HDs installed in the computer. Once the files are copied from the
old drive, you take it out, switch the jumpers on the new drive, and fire up
your system. If the process went as planned, you've retained your old
installation on a new HD.

Other options for moving the contents of your old drive to the new one would be
an imaging program such as Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost.

Note: Your XP installation will have to include Service Pack 1 or 2 to use the
entire 320 GB drive as a single partition. Personally, I'd suggest creating a
partition for Windows and applications, and a second partition to hold your
data. That makes backing up your files to the external drive much easier.

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
Thanks for the reply and great info, JS.

First, I have Belarc Advisor installed. What should I look for after it
profiles my system -- what info would tell me if I can accommodate the
bigger HD? Or should I note component names and contact the manufacturers of
those components?

Also, in the new HD's Quick Install Guide, it says that if my system is
Windows XP (SP1 or higher), I should run the Installation Tutorial CD and
<begin quote> "carefully follow the on-screen installation instructions to
set up your larger than 137GB hard drive without a controller card." <end
quote>. So, it sounds like I'll be okay if I just follow the Western Digital
instructions?

Joe
 
More good information. Thanks DL and Nepatsfan.

I'll insert the Western Digital CD and let it create customized installation
instructions based on what I need to do. It sounds like my XP OS with SP2
might be ready for 320GB, but I might need to determine if my BIOS can
"handle" a 320GB hard drive (whatever that means)? Make sense?

Joe
 
Belarc identifies the IDE/ATA control (part number) on your motherboard, you
need to Google this to find the real info, sorry about that. HD Tune will
clearly indicate 48LBA support by selecting the info tab.

I do not have a recent Western Digital drive, My larger Maxtor drives (160GB
and 300GB) did not come with any software like that mentioned in your
Tutorial CD so I can only guess that it works, but I would still partition
the drive as 'Nepatsfan' indicated and then use HD Tune's test to verify
that both partitions are fully readable without errors.

Also a good image backup tool ( as Nepatsfan mentioned) is also advisable, I
use Ghost but True Image I believe is still available with a 15 day trial.
That 'Image backup' may come in handy in case you have problems.

Also, once you get Windows up and running on your new drive disconnect the
old 60GB drive and keep it unused in a safe place for a few weeks until you
are absolutely certain that the new drives work and there no problems or
issues associated with the 48Bit LBA (137GB) pop up. That old drive is your
guaranty that you don't lose all your hard work.

JS
 
Hi, group. It's time to replace my fine but almost full 60GB internal hard
drive with a new 320GB internal hard drive. Both are Western Digital EIDE
units. I also purchased an external 320GB hard drive to do backups and help
with the install. Staples said I'd have to reinstall my XP Home SP2 OS and
all of my software.
Click to expand...


As is typical of the so-called techs at these stores, he doesn't know
what he's talking about. As others have pointed out, you can readily
clone your old drive to the new one.

But rather than do that, have you considered the possibility of
keeping your old drive, and simply adding the new one as a second
drive? That gives you an extra 60GB of disk space, and makes what you
need to do much easier.

Can I copy the outgoing 60GB hard drive contents to the
external HD, uninstall the 60GB, install the new 320GB internal HD, then
copy everything from the external HD to the newly installed 320GB internal
HD? It can't be that easy, can it?
Click to expand...


Yes, as others have pointed out. But consider my suggestion instead.

I've been Googling for a few hours,
finding some hardware instructions, but no tips on how to move all of my
software. Computer is a Dell Dimension 4300 desktop, five years old,
upgraded BIOS, 1GB RAM, etc. The Straples guy wants me to bring it in so he
can do it, but I've been inside the case many times and fell confident I can
pull this off as soon as I get more reliable information.
Click to expand...


Personally I would never trust the people at Staples, or any similar
big box store to do this correctly. You are much better off doing it
yourself.
 
I did consider keeping the old drive in there. If my system supports "Cable
Select," I could/should jump both drives as the default "Cable Select" (says
the Western Digital instructions.) Not sure how I'd determine if my system
supports "Cable Select."

If I did this, would there be any loss in performance -- in other words, are
two drives slower than one?

Any potential power supply issues with two drives now? The system would boot
as before and begin to use the new drive as the old one fills up, I'm
guessing?

Would I be safer putting everything on the new drive, since the existing
60GB one is 5 to 6 years old?

I should use HD Tune to indicate (or not) 48LBA support (that the BIOS can
support/recognize 320GB)?

IF I go the one-drive route, I should create a partition for Windows and
applications, and another for data. Any tips as to what size that Windows OS
partition should be? How will Windows and the applications find their way
onto this separate partition?

Before I do anything, I'll use my new external HD to back up the drive. Will
I need True Image for that?

Do I ask too many questions? Sorry. But with a few more answers, I believe I
have a good plan and plenty of confidence.

Terrific information! Thanks to everyone for your invaluable help.

Regards,

Joe
 
I'll second the Acronis True Image suggestion. I've used it several
times with its bootable TI CD. I've even used it to move the entire
OS/application image from an old PC to a new PC. The only extra step
that was required was to perform a XP repair installation to update
the drivers for the new hardware. For a simple swap of the hard drive,
that shouldn't be necessary.

Brian
 
I did consider keeping the old drive in there. If my system supports "Cable
Select," I could/should jump both drives as the default "Cable Select" (says
the Western Digital instructions.) Not sure how I'd determine if my system
supports "Cable Select."

If I did this, would there be any loss in performance -- in other words, are
two drives slower than one?

Any potential power supply issues with two drives now? The system would boot
as before and begin to use the new drive as the old one fills up, I'm
guessing?

Would I be safer putting everything on the new drive, since the existing
60GB one is 5 to 6 years old?

I should use HD Tune to indicate (or not) 48LBA support (that the BIOS can
support/recognize 320GB)?

IF I go the one-drive route, I should create a partition for Windows and
applications, and another for data. Any tips as to what size that Windows OS
partition should be? How will Windows and the applications find their way
onto this separate partition?

Before I do anything, I'll use my new external HD to back up the drive. Will
I need True Image for that?

Do I ask too many questions? Sorry. But with a few more answers, I believe I
have a good plan and plenty of confidence.

Terrific information! Thanks to everyone for your invaluable help.

Regards,

Joe

Ken Blake said:
As is typical of the so-called techs at these stores, he doesn't know
what he's talking about. As others have pointed out, you can readily
clone your old drive to the new one.

But rather than do that, have you considered the possibility of
keeping your old drive, and simply adding the new one as a second
drive? That gives you an extra 60GB of disk space, and makes what you
need to do much easier.



Yes, as others have pointed out. But consider my suggestion instead.



Personally I would never trust the people at Staples, or any similar
big box store to do this correctly. You are much better off doing it
yourself.
Click to expand...
Yes your dimension does use cable select as for the bios it does not
support the larger drives I have the same system running a WD 80GB & a
Seagate 120GB this took no more then about 1 hour to set up both drives.
Glenn K
Click to expand...
 
No, Andrew, I feel like I have enough information to do the switch. Seems
like my only issue is that the BIOS does not support this large (320GB) a
hard drive, according to Glenn. Can I get around this, or do I need to get a
smaller hard drive? Again, thanks for everyone's help. Joe
 
Yup, that should do it. Thanks, Thomas, for your post. I remember upgrading
the BIOS on this Dell Dimension for some reason a few years ago. Maybe for a
switch from ME to XP? Or adding RAM? I might have the correct BIOS already.
Joe
 
You're welcome....

--
Tumppi
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A lot learned from these newsgroups
Helsinki, FINLAND
(translations from/to FI not always accurate
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