Will hard drive transfer erase my stuff?

I have a 160gb hard drive in my computer now, and a 40gb HD that is not in use, but also has stuff on it. I ordered a new computer that comes with an 80gb HD. I want to put the new 80gb in the old computer, and the 160 & 40gb in the NEW computer. My question is, will I lose all my data and saved files on the 160 & 40gig hard drives amidst the swap? Or should everything just be the same? The old computer had/has a p4 1.8ghz processor and the new one has a p4 2.8ghz processor. Please let me know what my options are! I want to keep everything thats on the 160gig, it would be okay to wipe out the 40gig (I'll probably do that eventually anyway). Thanks in adv.

 

It's going to be a bit tricky swapping out the drives without losing any data, since both the 80 & 160 gig drives have operating systems on them that you don't want to lose. How much data do you have on the 160 now? If it's mostly unused, I'd use Partition Magic or similar to partition the drive into 2 partitions, "C" which will still have your operating system and installed programs, and "D" where you can move all your personal files, music, movies etc. I'd then use Norton Ghost, or Acronis True Image to make a backup image of BOTH of your C drives, either to CD or if there's enough room, to your new D drive. You do that directly on the box with the 160 installed, then remove that & install it in the new box as a "slave", install Ghost or True Image on that system & save the image to what will now probably be the "E" drive in that box. Be careful that you save the image to the correct partition, and name them so you'll remember which is which. A ghost image captures EVERYTHING from the drive, including root directories and hidden/system files that won't work in simple drag & drop copying. Make sure you've got either the boot floppy disks to perform a restore, or that you can restore from the program CD on both systems before you go any further!

While you're in the new box, format your primary partition on the 160, which you're going to want to be "C" in the new box, then remove the 80 gig and make the 160 gig the "master" drive with the drive jumpers. Then boot to the Ghost or Acronis boot disk and restore the original operating system backup from the 80 gig to the 160 gig. Reboot, and it should be just like before, only on the 160 gig.

Once the 160 gig is up & running properly in the new box, install the 80 gig in the slave position, format THAT one, and use the backup image to "restore" your old box system to the 80 gig drive. Remove that & install it in your old system and make sure THAT one is restored & running properly. (or if your restore was to CDs, you can simply put the 80 in the old box, and restore directly to that).

After both boxes are running properly, you can delete your image files if you wish, and finish moving stuff to where you want it to be.

The 40 gig drive can be plugged in as slave to either box, and you can simply move files as you wish, since those files won't be locked down by the operating system.

That should do it. If any of the old pros see any holes in my plan, jump in!

 

Well, that is quite a long process. Thanks. I was wondering, I can afford to lose the stuff on the 40gb HD, so could I just install that one on the new computer, then use the 'Files and settings transfer wizard' to get stuff from the 160 HD to the 40 HD, then put the 160 one in the new computer? Its a lot of switching, but I was just thinking that it may be a bit easier than messinmg with the partitioning, and since I only have a dial-up, it'd be a long haul to download those programs. Let me know, thanks.

 

If you are using Windows XP, you could just try to do a repair. It could save you all the trouble of transferring files back and forth.

 

Yes, I am using Windows XP! How would I do a repair? You mean just put the 160 gig (old HD) in the new computer, start it up and choose repair windows? Also, before I do any moving around, should I uninstall all of the drivers on my current 160gig? I really have no clue as of right now, so if you could walk me through it step by step (if you have the time) I would greatly appreciate it. Not exactly step by step, but sort of a general procedure. Thanks so much, -Joe

 

It's a long process, but it keeps the two systems intact & clean. Trying to swap the drives directly will have all incorrect drivers and settings, including wrong settings for motherboard resources.

A simple "restore install" won't fix all that. IIRC, there is a command that will allow you to try & re-establish all drivers and settings for the new system, (Adrynalyne or MasterTech or one of the other Windows gurus can probably tell you) but leftovers from incorrect drivers etc. can make it less than stable.... and you'll have to have all the non-Windows drivers ready to install fresh for both systems.

Does your new system come with an actual Windows or Restore disk, or does it use a hidden partition on the hard drive for the install info. If the latter, all your drivers & software are likely on that hidden partition, and won't be available on the large drive you put in.

Involved as my way is, it's likely simpler and more foolproof than just trying to swap the drives.