Duplicating a system disk
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I am about exchanging the hard disk with another one less tired of work (and more storage capacity, of course). I'd like to preserve the existing installation, i.e. not change anything but the hard disk. How can this be achieved? This is the fourth time I am doing this, and it is becoming increasingly a life-time job, paid by no-one. My problems are: 1. the idiots of XP developers decided, that I *have to* format NTFS every disk, which is over 32GB (or whatever), 2. I can not copy a hard disk without losing either the full names, or lots of files. What is the "standard" procedure when migrating to another hard disk?
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I am about exchanging the hard disk with another one less tired of work (and more storage capacity, of course). I'd like to preserve the existing installation, i.e. not change anything but the hard disk. How can this be achieved? This is the fourth time I am doing this, and it is becoming increasingly a life-time job, paid by no-one. My problems are: 1. the idiots of XP developers decided, that I *have to* format NTFS every disk, which is over 32GB (or whatever), 2. I can not copy a hard disk without losing either the full names, or lots of files. What is the "standard" procedure when migrating to another hard disk?
Vancouver wrote:
1. the idiots of XP developers decided, that I *have to* format NTFS every disk, which is over 32GB
If you were thinking of using DOS on it, then yes, you have to abide by that limit.
Vancouver wrote:
2. I can not copy a hard disk without losing either the full names, or lots of files.
Shouldn't happen on an NTFS volume. DOS, or a FAT volume, on the other hand, WILL lose the long file names.
Vancouver wrote:
What is the "standard" procedure when migrating to another hard disk?
There really isn't a "standard" process for this. But, a great utility to do this is PowerQuest's DriveImage (which I don't think exists anymore), or Norton's Ghost. It'll copy everything from one drive to another, while correcting for new partition sizes and stuff. RageInTheMachine9532 "...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome
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Vancouver wrote:
1. the idiots of XP developers decided, that I *have to* format NTFS every disk, which is over 32GB
If you were thinking of using DOS on it, then yes, you have to abide by that limit.
Vancouver wrote:
2. I can not copy a hard disk without losing either the full names, or lots of files.
Shouldn't happen on an NTFS volume. DOS, or a FAT volume, on the other hand, WILL lose the long file names.
Vancouver wrote:
What is the "standard" procedure when migrating to another hard disk?
There really isn't a "standard" process for this. But, a great utility to do this is PowerQuest's DriveImage (which I don't think exists anymore), or Norton's Ghost. It'll copy everything from one drive to another, while correcting for new partition sizes and stuff. RageInTheMachine9532 "...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome
Thanks for the idea. Apparently DriveImage is still around; however it costs more than an XP full license (and Norton Ghost costs even more). Btw, XP's enforcement of NTFS has nothing to do with DOS. Disk Management simply does not create a partition/logical drive with FAT32 larger than 32GB (even though you can use a much larger FAT32 disk with XP - if it has been created by Win98).
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Thanks for the idea. Apparently DriveImage is still around; however it costs more than an XP full license (and Norton Ghost costs even more). Btw, XP's enforcement of NTFS has nothing to do with DOS. Disk Management simply does not create a partition/logical drive with FAT32 larger than 32GB (even though you can use a much larger FAT32 disk with XP - if it has been created by Win98).
Try to use Partition Magic. It was from PowerQuest, but now it is Symatrec. Partition Magic allaws to convert from NTFS to FAT32. You will not lose Long Name. Only a DOS cann't use Long Names. But in Win95 OSR2 or higher you could see Long names. (Win95 OSR2 has a FAT32 support, Only WIN95 has only FAT16 aka FAT support). You can Split, Merge, Resize, Convert, Split, Move, Copy, Delete or backup entire partition.