Easiest way to copy to new HD

Merry X-mas Everyone!
I've got a quick question. What is the easiest way to copy everything from my old 80GB 5400RPM hd to my new 7200rpm 250 gb? Is there any easy ways to do it? And also how can i clear my old HD once everything is switched over?
Thanks Guys
LJ

 

What brand HDD is the new one?
There are some free utilities where cloning is part of thier fuction, here:
http://majorgeeks.com/downloads8.html

Maxtor= Maxblast
WD= Data LifeGuard Tools
Seagate= Seatools
I believe most Retail HDDs come with the free Utility on CD.
If you bought OEM, you'll have to download.

You can also buy software, such as Acronis or Norton ghost



Ya might want to use multiple Partitions on your new HDD, one for OS others for storage ( you can have up to 4 primary partitions)
The Old HDD once your data is transfered to the new simply format to delete old data.








Merry Christmas!

 

do i have to have it as a slave drive then switch it to a master? o man im such a noob at new hds....
also how long will it take to transfer like 27gbs?

 

Hello, just to bump this back up.

I have 2 Maxtor Hard drives.

I recently purchased an 80 gig drive with 8mb cache. (both are 7200rpm)

I think my current drive (with all the lovely software on it) has a 'poorer' cache;

1) Would it be worth my while transferring for the sake of a few megs of cache?

2) How and what would be the best way to go about it?

I've heard of Maxblast, but I downloaded a version of MB a few days ago and it seemed to want use of a 3 1/2 floppy - which was messing up.

Thanks for any help .