Ok I have a Main computer with a 74GB Raptor and a 1TB WD green and a secondary computer with 1TB seagate HDD. My secondary only needs like 160GB, so I want to transfer the OS (windows 7 64bit) from my 1TB segate to a 160GB WD. How would I do this or would I have to reinstall everything?
Use a ghosting program. I think Acronis does one called TrueImage, or something like that. Not all programs can ghost a big drive to a small one though, so you'll have to look into that.
How would it work? I put the second drive in (confirmed to be a WD320GB) then run the program off my first OS drive to copy everything?
Ghost programs can only copy to a smaller drive when the data on the original doesn't exceed the capacity of the smaller drive Macrium reflect is free for personal use,i can't comment on how well it works or what it's other functions are capable of as i use symantec ghost & acronis true image Ok there's two ways to image a drive,the first is how you just asked in your post just above this one,the other method is by creating an image file (think of it as an iso);image files are in simple terms restore points,the difference being is you can image them to another drive by use of a bootable disc of whatever image program you used to create that iso image,also you can browse said image to recover specific files & folders or copy that image to a dvd or external for safe keeping (WARNING: Whenever creating images be sure to have another one as backup so you now have two,also create the 2nd backup as you did the first & NOT by drag n drop as it's too easy for that image to get corrupted in the transfer) Below is a free website if you need help nightowl & co can advise if you need more complicated help http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl EDIT:Forgot to mention before creating any image set hybernation file & pagefile to 0 then reboot & use ultra defrag to do a defrag on startup (it's a tiny program that defrags in the blue screen before any programs load,which will give a better defrag than if you had booted to windows,it also means when using windows normally you won't need to disable the pagefile as that will be defragged too unlike if you used the normal gui method),once that's done do a chkdsk to rid the system of any file errors then create the image
Would it still be better to use trueimage over the ISO? I can get trueimage if its a better choice than the ISO. I just dont want to have to reinstall everything over again. I only used about 50-100gb so copying that to a 320Gb shouldnt be a problem.
I only used iso as a simple method to explain what aconis,ghost & macrium are capable of,in actual fact the real term is image however all three can clone drives The quickest way is to do a clone,that is install the 2nd drive as slave & copy the original to it,however it also wouldn't be a silly idea to create a "one time image" because that can be used to restore c partition without having to switch around drives if ever you get an infection.Since you have a working hdd just play around with whatever imaging program you want top use as it does come with instructions
Thanks for the help. So would you suggest me making the image with a Ghost? and how would I restore to the new drive?
If you want to restore from an image you will need the ghost recovery disc,it can be made once ghost is installed or you can use the original ghost install disk,first however you need to create the image & place it on an external hdd or the primary hdd your using now,then once made it would be best to install the hdd you want to use as your new primary hdd & place the drive your using now as a slave,once that's done place recovery cd or the ghost install cd in the dvd drive & reboot,then it's a matter of selecting "recover my computer" then it will search for images if it finds none use the "file name" from the drop down to the left & "browse",you will get a window find the image & highlight it with a click & click continue,then select destination drive. The easiest method is drive to drive cloning so just place your new hdd as a slave & clone the bigger to the smaller.
Cloning a drive direct to another you don't need to have pagefile set as 0 (i only do that to save size of file when creating a backup image it takes up less space) Do a defrag with ultra & use it's setting to do it on startup or use windows own defragger in safe mode do a check disk of file system only,so open my computer,right clik c,hit properties & under tools tab select check now box & tick the top box only then reboot select the box that says check for file system errors select check destination for file system errors Don't select drive active in the last screen with the list of check boxes don't select smart sector copying select restore mbr
I get it for the most part but Do you mean copy and paste C drive to the new HDD root? Edit: dumb question... Ill just use the trueimage software. Thanks for all your help
sorry.. read the last post. I edited it as you posted your reply. That was kinda a dumb question.. lol
Yeah with acronis the comp will shutdown when job finished then you can switch drives around,when the newly cloned drive starts up it will display acronis completed & continue in to windows best thing to do is play around with it & see how everything works Edit: make sure only one drive is set to master at any one time & the other to slave or you'll be in a whole world of hurt
SATA sets master & slave automatically with the data cables,so to avoid accidents in the near future switch the hd's around when cloning is finished so that master is always the top hd,for the first boot let the computer boot without the old master connected if the comp doesn't restart after clone job
when you say top you mean first in the Boot order in BIOS right? so master would be #1 and the slave would be #2 or 3 ect.
