Hi, Marek.
1. Remove your old HDD and install the new one.
2. Set your BIOS to boot from DVD; insert the Vista x64 DVD and reboot
from it to run Setup.
3. Let it create and format a new partition (at least 60 GB) on the new
HDD and install Vista x64 there. Setup will automatically assign the letter
C: to its new "boot volume". Be sure to give the new partition a name
("label"), which will be written to the disk and won't change, even when the
drive letter changes. You might want to call it "Vista x64", but that is
entirely up to you. Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) should now show Drive C:
with both System and Boot in the "Status" column and the only HDD connected
should be Disk 0.
4. Shut down and re-connect the old HDD as the second drive. Be sure
BIOS is set to boot from the first HDD, where Vista x64 is now installed.
5. Reboot. It should boot directly into the new Vista x64. Run Disk
Management and verify that the old HDD is now shown as Disk 1. Your old
partitions should be intact, but their drive letters will probably have
changed. If you want to, you can right-click on each volume and change its
drive letter, but that is only for the benefit of humans - Vista won't care.
6. Reinstall all your applications from the original media. Yes, all
their files will still be on Disk 1, but you'll be working from the new
Registry on the new Drive C:, and it won't know about those programs, so
they all must be reinstalled. Since Disk 1 is still available, all your
"tweak" files are accessible, but the new Vista doesn't know about them. By
default, all your old 32-bit applications will be installed into C:\Program
Files (x86); you probably don't have any 64-bit applications, but if you do,
they will be installed into C:\Program Files (without the (x86)). Of
course, you CAN force them to install in some other location, but it's
usually best - and easiest - to accept the default; that's why I suggested
at least 60 GB for Drive C:.
7. EITHER:
a. Copy all your data from Disk 1 to one or more partitions on
Disk 0, OR
b. Keep your Disk 1 as a "data disk" and continue to use it for
data storage.
8. Start each of your applications (Word, Excel, Quicken...) and Browse
to your new data location to load your files. Most apps will remember this
location for the future.
9. All done - except for tweaking and other fine tuning. ;<)
I've heard good things about Acronis and Laplink, but I've never used either
of them. I've installed and re-installed WinXP/Vista/Win7 dozens of times
and never needed anything but what is built into Windows. By continuing to
use the old HDD, you won't need to backup your data - although that is
always a good idea. Ever since it was first introduced in Windows 2000,
Disk Management has been one of my favorite Windows tools. When you are
sure that you have transferred or preserved everything you need from them,
you can use Drive Management to delete and/or reformat the former Drives C:
and G: on Disk 1 and create new drives there for other uses.
Current install (Vista Ultimate 32 bit) is (why?) on drive G:.
As DL said, because that's where you told Vista Setup to put it. When we
install Vista by booting from its DVD, it has no idea which drive letters
have already been assigned, so it assigns C: to its own "boot volume". (See
KB 314470 for the definitions of "boot volume" and "system volume": they are
NOT what most users assume!) But if we boot into WinXP and run Vista Setup
from there, the existing drive letters are used. So if you had created
Drive G: in WinXP and then ran Vista Setup from WinXP, it would have let you
specify Drive G: as the target location for the new installation. After
installation, we can use Disk Management to change all the drive letters
EXCEPT for the boot and system volumes; the only way to change those is by
running Setup again - in other words, by re-installing Vista. And WinXP
works the same way.
I'll appreciate any useful tips/ideas.
There is a lot of information in the Help file in Disk Management, although
it covers much more than most of us need to know. And be sure to read KB
314470 (Definitions for system volume and boot volume,
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314470/EN-US/ ). As I said, the terms seem
backwards to most of us, but they are rooted in computer history and not
likely to change, so we need to get them straight in our minds.
Let us know how this works out for you.
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64
. I have a new drive and want to