Re: Move system and partitions to new HD?

Mark wrote:
> X-posted: alt.comp.freeware,alt.comp.hardware
>
> Ladies and gentlemen,
>
> I intend to replace my 320 GB 'parallel ATA' HD with a 500 GB SATA
> disk and have to transfer the lot: boot & system (XP) partition and
> program partitions (plus a lot of media files). Of course, I could to
> a fresh install, re-register XP and re-install all software. But there
> should be a better way, or isn't there? How to go about it? Any good
> freeware for this?
>
> Mark

Linux and "dd" did it for me. I moved four partitions, two Windows
and two Linux partitions, with one command. "dd" just copies
sectors, so it doesn't even know what file system it is copying.
There are limitations to this technique, as it doesn't solve the
partition resizing problem. So the partitions are the same size as
before. But otherwise, it does a good job of moving the data.
If you suspect the old drive had bad sectors, use "dd_rescue" instead.
A surface scan can tell you whether a drive has bad sectors.

Seagate has free tools for download, and one of the tools is a
rebranded Acronis tool. It will move data from your old drive,
to a new Seagate drive. Check the disk manufacturer web sites
for more details. The Seagate download, even comes with a manual.
This tool can even resize a partition, which is a good feature
when a bigger drive is installed.

http://www.seagate.com/support/discwizard/dw_ug.en.pdf

Some companies are a little less generous.

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

I've used Partition Magic in the past, but that isn't
free.

This tool is free and might be a replacement for Partition
Magic. But before using it, I'd want to see some reviews,
as there is no way to know how good it is. I haven't used
it myself, because I already have enough tools to do the
job.

EASEUS Partition Master 3.5 Home Edition
http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm

HTH,
Paul

"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
news:h08igo$jhc$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> Mark wrote:
>> X-posted: alt.comp.freeware,alt.comp.hardware
>>
>> Ladies and gentlemen,
>>
>> I intend to replace my 320 GB 'parallel ATA' HD with a 500 GB SATA
>> disk and have to transfer the lot: boot & system (XP) partition and
>> program partitions (plus a lot of media files). Of course, I could to
>> a fresh install, re-register XP and re-install all software. But there
>> should be a better way, or isn't there? How to go about it? Any good
>> freeware for this?
>>
>> Mark
>
> Linux and "dd" did it for me. I moved four partitions, two Windows
> and two Linux partitions, with one command. "dd" just copies
> sectors, so it doesn't even know what file system it is copying.
> There are limitations to this technique, as it doesn't solve the
> partition resizing problem. So the partitions are the same size as
> before. But otherwise, it does a good job of moving the data.
> If you suspect the old drive had bad sectors, use "dd_rescue" instead.
> A surface scan can tell you whether a drive has bad sectors.
>
> Seagate has free tools for download, and one of the tools is a
> rebranded Acronis tool. It will move data from your old drive,
> to a new Seagate drive. Check the disk manufacturer web sites
> for more details. The Seagate download, even comes with a manual.
> This tool can even resize a partition, which is a good feature
> when a bigger drive is installed.
>
> http://www.seagate.com/support/discwizard/dw_ug.en.pdf
>
> Some companies are a little less generous.
>
> http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
>
> I've used Partition Magic in the past, but that isn't
> free.
>
> This tool is free and might be a replacement for Partition
> Magic. But before using it, I'd want to see some reviews,
> as there is no way to know how good it is. I haven't used
> it myself, because I already have enough tools to do the
> job.
>
> EASEUS Partition Master 3.5 Home Edition
> http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm
>
> HTH,
> Paul

I would apply Paul' s advice, and add some comments.
First of all, don't hesitate to spent a little amount of $ to buy Acronis. I
can' t imagine having a PC with a lot of valuable data and hours of
installation labour without a program that allows to create an image file of
the system disk and to generate scheduled back-ups. It' s really worth the
investment and will solve your actual problem.
If you want to resize your partitions, I'd recommand Easus.
I've used Partition Magic for years, but since it's part of Symantec, things
have changed and I got some strange errors and program hangs.
When I found Easus for free in a magazine about six months ago, I made the
switch and used it many times without any problem, including for combined
operations like reducing partition E to make space available for partition
C. This means many operations: reducing E, moving E, moving D, and finally
increase C, all at once, no problem.
With Partition Magic, in many cases this kind of operation failed and I only
dared to do the process one operation at a time.

In message <Z7ZVl.2029$vV4.1281@newsfe28.ams2>, ElJerid
<s.vanderhaeghen.nospam@telenet.be> writes
>
>"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
>news:h08igo$jhc$1@news.eternal-september.org...
>> Mark wrote:
>>> X-posted: alt.comp.freeware,alt.comp.hardware
>>>
>>> Ladies and gentlemen,
>>>
>>> I intend to replace my 320 GB 'parallel ATA' HD with a 500 GB SATA
>>> disk and have to transfer the lot: boot & system (XP) partition and
>>> program partitions (plus a lot of media files). Of course, I could to
>>> a fresh install, re-register XP and re-install all software. But there
>>> should be a better way, or isn't there? How to go about it? Any good
>>> freeware for this?
>>>
>>> Mark
>>
>> Linux and "dd" did it for me. I moved four partitions, two Windows
>> and two Linux partitions, with one command. "dd" just copies
>> sectors, so it doesn't even know what file system it is copying.
>> There are limitations to this technique, as it doesn't solve the
>> partition resizing problem. So the partitions are the same size as
>> before. But otherwise, it does a good job of moving the data.
>> If you suspect the old drive had bad sectors, use "dd_rescue" instead.
>> A surface scan can tell you whether a drive has bad sectors.
>>
>> Seagate has free tools for download, and one of the tools is a
>> rebranded Acronis tool. It will move data from your old drive,
>> to a new Seagate drive. Check the disk manufacturer web sites
>> for more details. The Seagate download, even comes with a manual.
>> This tool can even resize a partition, which is a good feature
>> when a bigger drive is installed.
>>
>> http://www.seagate.com/support/discwizard/dw_ug.en.pdf
>>
>> Some companies are a little less generous.
>>
>> http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
>>
>> I've used Partition Magic in the past, but that isn't
>> free.
>>
>> This tool is free and might be a replacement for Partition
>> Magic. But before using it, I'd want to see some reviews,
>> as there is no way to know how good it is. I haven't used
>> it myself, because I already have enough tools to do the
>> job.
>>
>> EASEUS Partition Master 3.5 Home Edition
>> http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm
>>
>> HTH,
>> Paul
>
>I would apply Paul' s advice, and add some comments.
>First of all, don't hesitate to spent a little amount of $ to buy Acronis. I
>can' t imagine having a PC with a lot of valuable data and hours of
>installation labour without a program that allows to create an image file of
>the system disk and to generate scheduled back-ups. It' s really worth the
>investment and will solve your actual problem.
>If you want to resize your partitions, I'd recommand Easus.
>I've used Partition Magic for years, but since it's part of Symantec, things
>have changed and I got some strange errors and program hangs.
>When I found Easus for free in a magazine about six months ago, I made the
>switch and used it many times without any problem, including for combined
>operations like reducing partition E to make space available for partition
>C. This means many operations: reducing E, moving E, moving D, and finally
>increase C, all at once, no problem.
>With Partition Magic, in many cases this kind of operation failed and I only
>dared to do the process one operation at a time.
>
>
Acronis Disk Director is also very good, but it costs!
--
bertieboy