What are my options to migrate all data from an older HDD to a new HDD?

[soarwitheagles]

Hi again everyone!

Ok, I would like to migrate all data from an older HDD to a new HDD.  On the old HDD I have one partition.  On one side are all my programs.  On the other side, are many storage data files.

I would like to migrate all data from the old to the new, and use my computer programs without reformatting everything....well, at least for now [short term solution].

I do not think I can simply cut and paste.  I believe I must use some time of software to migrate everything?  Such as Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image, etc.  Any ideas please?

How do you guys do it?

Soar

[absic]

Hi Soar,

If you are staying with the same motherboard and just upgrading the HDD then I would use the inbuilt System Image creation option that can be found in Windows7. Go to Control Panel and under the heading System and Security click the Back up your computer option. In the left hand panel click on the Create System Image and then follow the on-screen prompts. Doing this you can create a complete system image which is saved to either an internal or external hard-drive or can be burnt to CD or DVD (not a good option as it can use a lot of disks). At the end of the Disk Image creation you will be asked if you want to create a system restore disk click yes and follow the instructions (you only need to do this once no matter how many times you recreate the system image) and this will need one CD.

To restore the System Image replace the main HDD with the new one, insert the CD and boot from this (using F12) and once again just follow the on-screen prompts and instructions.

This is the method that I use as it is free (apart from cost of one blank CD) and actually works well.

If you want to use the same image but on a different system then I would strongly advise against doing this as it can cause a lot of problems. It is much better to do a clean install in this scenario.

[jafo]

Hey Soar:
I use Clonezilla. It is free software and it works with windows. You have to download it and burn to a cd. Boot from the cd, and follow the prompts. The partitions must be the same size as the original disc, or larger on the new disc, for this to work, so you will have to partition the new disc prior to cloning your image.
I have only used it once to migrate an install of Ultimate Edition from a 250GB drive to a 500GB drive, it booted right up after the transfer.
If you go to SourceForge, you can find the download for Clonezilla there.
There are tutorials and tips on the Clonezilla web site as well  http://clonezilla.org/
Hope this helps.

[soarwitheagles]

Thanks guys!

I have my programs and some storage on a 750gb Western Digital that is probably 5 years old and has been used nearly 24/7 for the entire time.

Recently I found a great deal [$60] on Western Digital External Element Harddrives.  I was so happy to discover they were the 64 cache, 7200 RPM Caviar Black 1.5 TB and 2 TB on the inside! 

Now I would like to transfer the program files from the 750 HDD to the new WD 1.5 TB.

Will my programs still work after migration?  In other words, will the migration also set up the correct directories, etc.

Soar

[jafo]

I know that Clonezilla will make an exact clone from one drive to another. If you use windows it will probably be a good idea to do a disc clean up and defrag before cloning the drive.
 
I really don't remember much about windows OS, as I haven't used it since Win98se was the new kid on the block. So, if you use windows, I am  in the dark about it, sorry.
I would imagine, that the cloning operation works the same no matter which OS is being cloned.

I do know that when I cloned my Linux OS it was an exact copy and I didn't have any problems with it at all. It booted right up and all the directories and files were it the right places.
I cloned from a 250GB drive to a 500GB drive. I did format my new drive before I cloned it from FAT32 to EXT4, but that was the only thing I did before moving the OS.

Where did you score hard drives for those great prices? You can never have enough storage.

I hope that it goes ok for you. If you decide to use Clonezilla, their web site has alot of information.
Hope this is of some help.

[soarwitheagles]

I know that Clonezilla will make an exact clone from one drive to another. If you use windows it will probably be a good idea to do a disc clean up and defrag before cloning the drive.
 
I really don't remember much about windows OS, as I haven't used it since Win98se was the new kid on the block. So, if you use windows, I am  in the dark about it, sorry.
I would imagine, that the cloning operation works the same no matter which OS is being cloned.

I do know that when I cloned my Linux OS it was an exact copy and I didn't have any problems with it at all. It booted right up and all the directories and files were it the right places.
I cloned from a 250GB drive to a 500GB drive. I did format my new drive before I cloned it from FAT32 to EXT4, but that was the only thing I did before moving the OS.

Where did you score hard drives for those great prices? You can never have enough storage.

I hope that it goes ok for you. If you decide to use Clonezilla, their web site has alot of information.
Hope this is of some help.

Jafo,

Thanks for your good advice and honesty.  I will give it a try.

I was very fortunate in scoring these HDDs.  I kept reading about how the Thailand flood caused the prices to double, and even triple in some instances.  A couple of weeks ago my wife and I were shopping in Target store.  I was browsing through stuff in electronics, and noticed a bunch of the Western Digital Element Harddrives on clearance.  I remembered people saying some times the WD external Element harddrives make great internal drives if you rip them open.  So, I took the risk and purchased very HDD in the entire store!  The WD 1.5 TB's were $60, the WD 2TB's were $70.  Now I realize the risk was well worth it...most vendors and now selling the internal version of these for $179-$250+.  We made sure to empty the shelves of every Target store in our city.

It was not until last night that I decided to open one of the 1.5 TB units.  To my great surprise and delight, I discovered they are the Western Digital 1.5 TB Black Caviar 64 cache, 7200 RPM.  I have not attempted to open any of the 2TB's yet, but hope to do so tomorrow if I can find the time.

I was a little nervous opening one of these units because I had never tried it before.  I googled it and found a website that shows how to do it...and it was totally easy.

Anyway, needless to say, now I no longer have a shortage of hard drives for the year 2012!

You may want to call your local Target and see if they have any left.

I added some pics to show you what I did.  Gosh, even a ten year old kid can disassemble these...it was that easy.

Hope this helps!

Soar