Having new HD be the primary bootable drive

claimsguy · #1 02-19-2007, 12:31 PM

I installed a 2nd hard drive yesterday and copied my old files to it via the Maxtor software that came with it. So now I have those files on both my old 60 gig HD and on the new 200 gig HD. What next? If I format the old HD, will windows load from the new HD that I have confirmed has all the old data. Is there a way to make sure I can boot from the new HD and access all my programs and stuff before I format the old HD.

Both jumpers are on cable select and the IDE cable has the old HD as primary and the new HD as secondary.

Thanks

BiPolar_Nut · #2 02-19-2007, 12:44 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Is there a way to make sure I can boot from the new HD and access all my programs and stuff before I format the old HD.

Both jumpers are on cable select and the IDE cable has the old HD as primary and the new HD as secondary.

[/ QUOTE ]

Swap the primary and secondary cables (or put the new drive on the primary IDE cable end and remove the original drive all together) and see if it boots. I've never used any Maxtor software for copying old data to a new drive...I have no idea if it copies the whole system or just your data files.

claimsguy · #3 02-19-2007, 01:03 PM

Thanks, I did that as well. Placed the new HD as the primary device and the old one as the secondary one.

The system boots fine but Avast will then ask for an auth code and Outlook will not open either. I am sure other stuff is also not working right as well but I shut it down and changed the HD back to the orginal places on the IDE cable.

Is there another program you have used to ghost your old drive to the new one? Is it free?

thanks.

BiPolar_Nut · #4 02-19-2007, 01:11 PM

I've used an app called MoveMe when I had to migrate my clients from an old to new desktop but it's a pay-per use program. Many here swear by Acronis True Image but it is also a pay program (they have a free trial but I haven't checked it's limitations.

Sorry I have no free solutions handy...there very well may be some. I usually go w/ whatever pay solutions work from reputable companies and charge the cost to my clients *shrug*.

hukilai · #5 02-20-2007, 02:26 AM

Unfortunatly, Windows is not designed to be moved between harddrives. There are solutions out there that can do that, but they are not fool-proof and should be executed with caution.

Ideally you will want to reinstall Windows and applications on the new hd, though it seems to take you longer than 'just copying' one hd to another. But, unless you did it many times before, trying all those different solutions will most likely consume more of your time than installation from scratch.