I am going to be getting a new hard-drive probably tomorrow. I currently have a 30GB, and may be going to a 80GB or larger tomorrow. I am wondering if there is an easy way to copy all my files from my current drive to my new one, and use the new one to boot from etc, and if I should get IDE or SATA. Thanks.

You can use the drive maker's utilities to do the copying or programs such as Partition Magic or BootIt-NG.

One caution is to ensure that if you buy a SATA (recomended) to ensure that you have the SATA drivers installed on your old HDD before you clone it - otherwise the clone wont be able to see itself (if you see what I mean).

For the SATA drivers, do they come with the software with the SATA drive? I just haven't done anything with SATA drives as of yet. But I'm thinking I WILL get one.

The drivers relate to the controllers on the motherboard or pci card on which the SATAs will be connected so they would normally be found as part of the motherboard utilities and drivers on a CD. Commonly another copy is to be found or placed on a floppy diskette for use when installing Win2K/XP. You may have already installed them since they commonly appear under device manager as SCSI/RAID controllers. If the drivers were not installed there should be a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. If you just attach the new SATA and your system can see it in Disk Management (enter diskmgmt.msc in the run box) then you should be good to go.

I just have one question: does your mobo have SATA ports? SATA is relatively new for people who don't upgrade every 6 months. :rolleyes: You may only have IDE on your mobo, in which case it would be silly to buy a SATA hard drive. Before you rush out and buy the latest tech, let's take a look at your system specs and make sure you can even install it!

I think IDE drives are cheaper than SATA> Not sure, though.

The 10,000 rpm raptors are more expensive but they spin faster. There is only about a 10% differential (byte for byte) whether buying a 7,200 rpm PATA or a SATA. Saphalline's point is a good one since having SATA controllers native to the motherboard is prererable than going out and buying the controllers on a PCI card.

I am about to clone my hard drive to a new one. I have windows 98. I am going to use a utility called XXCOPY. I have used it in the past. I keep a backup of my HDD using a second HDD. So when I clone my current HDD I will keep it in the case with the power and cable disconnected.
XXCOPY can be had at: www.xxcopy.com
My current hard disk is a 15 gig partitioned into two 7.5 gig partitions. The new hard drive is a Maxtor 40 gb 7200 RPM. I don't really need the 40 gb but for the price it is the best deal I could get. Older hard drives are getting hard to get. The pressure is on the vendors to only provide the latest huge hard drive for the people with new computers who are going to fill their hard drives with music and movies.

I did it with Ghost going from a mere 10 gig to a 60 gig..all of it worked except when I go to login to windows, either via the domain or local administrator, it will log in, say saving settings and go back to log in prompt. Anyone else have this issue and know how to resolve it? I can't even login via safe-mode.