I have transformed a Dell 8400 into a monster, now i just need to change the Hard Drive up. I am fairly experienced with other hardware, but when it comes to Hard Drives i am a total noob. Right now i have a Maxtor 250 Gb, got the computer back in 05' and it has 3 platters apparently, it is seriously outdated now, and its starting to make some noises (nothing serious but it has been getting slower). I have a GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L, 4 SATA ports, and my case has plenty of open spots. Right now this is my choice of drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218 .

Now that's about all the good i am on Hard Drives, I want to for sure put my current XP on the new hard drive, without re-activation(think the XP tech center is closed down?) As far as i know, Acronis® Migrate Easy 7.0 would transfer EVERYTHING, INCLUDING Windows, but since my drive has been slowing im not sure if it is the junk on it or the drive itself. In other words i want to steer away from reformatting because of losing XP. I would make a clone of the current drive, and it would move it to the other, unplug the old one, and then BOOT off the new.

When i receive the drive, what would i do first? Plug it in, and... see if the computer recognizes it? Then run the application? Do you just plug the drive in another SATA port? How do you configure it to a certain file system?

Any input would be awesome, thanks!Hmmm .... others can help here too - but for starters, if old HDD is POSSIBLY sick, priority for me would be to transfer important data, then remainder of OS.

Initially tho - assuming old drive on SATA #1 (jumpered master) - set up new one as slave on SATA #2 ....... and proceed from there, as it should be ''seen'' from get go.

In Computer management, then drive management - get the drive partitioned as you want and NTFS will probably come up as default. Once that done you should be ready to go - but .... not having used that migrating tool - not sure right now how things will be set up re the boot sector.

I'll wait for someone else to chime in - more info the better.Use the Data Lifeguard tools to "clone" the old drive to the new one...
Simply install the new drive then boot to the bootable CD.
Follow the instructions for cloning the drive and let it run to completion...this may take some time so be patient
WARNING: if you interrupt the process for any reason you risk losing everything.
When it finishes remove the CD and power down.
Remove the old drive...disconnecting both cables is fine...and connect the new drive to SATA port 1 on the MBoard.
Power up...check all your programs and data and it should work fine.
After being satisfied everything is in working order you can then hook up the old drive...format it and if you trust it enough use it for additional storage.

NOTE: The drive you are buying is an OEM which means it wont ship with the WD software so you will have to grab it from WD's site...
Follow the instructions on creating a bootable CD and you should be good to go...

Good Luck !Would the WD software work with my Maxtor? Or should i use a similar program from Maxtor's site? Where can I find instructions on making a bootable CD I am basically doing the same thing, swapping drives using Norton Ghost however. I have posted a question just now. My concern is will defective sectors be copied over as well, or is this a hardware problem vs. a software problem? Physical or program? Quote from: spuzz on September 07, 2008, 08:38:21 AM

Would the WD software work with my Maxtor? Or should i use a similar program from Maxtor's site? Where can I find instructions on making a bootable CD

I am basically doing the same thing, swapping drives using Norton Ghost however. I have posted a question just now. My concern is will defective sectors be copied over as well, or is this a hardware problem vs. a software problem? Physical or program?