Copy Harddrive contents between computers?

bigblockmatt · Post by **bigblockmatt** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:49 am

I am looking for some info on how to duplicate a harddrive onto another computer.

ie. i have computer A with windows and programs installed. I want computer B to be exactly the same as A without having to install everything separately.

I think that is what Norton Ghost does but i know nothing about it and how it works. If this is infact what Ghost does, could someone give me some info on how it all works?

Thanks Guy!

DaIceMan · Post by **DaIceMan** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:35 pm

Norton Ghost will create an image (exact copy) of your hard drive, but using it on another computer will be tricky unless the hardware is the same. You will probably have problems with drivers and such for any different devices.

moon111 · Post by **moon111** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:26 pm

I don't know if this helps you or not, but when I upgraded from my old harddrive to my new WD one, I used Western Digital's Data Lifeguard Tools, which took the contents from the old one and put it on perfectly on the newer, bigger drive. The Drive to Drive worked without flaw. Of course I was putting this back into the same computer.

bigblockmatt · Post by **bigblockmatt** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:17 pm

my plan is to have computers exactly the same. thanks

KnightRid · Post by **KnightRid** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:52 am

moon111 wrote:I don't know if this helps you or not, but when I upgraded from my old harddrive to my new WD one, I used Western Digital's Data Lifeguard Tools, which took the contents from the old one and put it on perfectly on the newer, bigger drive. The Drive to Drive worked without flaw. Of course I was putting this back into the same computer.

Yes, I have used this also without incident!

I imagine Maxtor, Seagate, Hitachi, etc probably have some form of this too??

Mike

bubba · Post by **bubba** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:53 am

Have you tried the old XCOPY trick yet? slave the drive for the new pc in the one you want to copy.

format the drive.

Now lets say for talking purposes that the second drive is now the D: drive.

start-> run -->CMD <enter>

go to the root of C:, keep doing CD.. until you get C:\ now type in xcopy c:\*.* /s/h d: <enter> then set back and watch, this should copy all files/folders including hidden files and folders.

Mortious · Post by **Mortious** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:09 am

What about registry entries (assuming this is a Windows machine). Those typically trip you up during a move like this.

moon111 · Post by **moon111** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:23 am

bubba wrote:Have you tried the old XCOPY trick yet? slave the drive for the new pc in the one you want to copy.

format the drive.

Now lets say for talking purposes that the second drive is now the D: drive.

start-> run -->CMD <enter>

go to the root of C:, keep doing CD.. until you get C:\ now type in xcopy c:\*.* /s/h d: <enter> then set back and watch, this should copy all files/folders including hidden files and folders.

I can triple-check everything... I still don't like formating a drive when another's attached. LOL I usually wimp out and disconnect the drive with the content on it first.

bubba · Post by **bubba** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:48 am

I guess you don't have to format it, but delete everything off the new drive, re-formating would be your best bet to start with a clean slate.

bigblockmatt · Post by **bigblockmatt** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 6:08 pm

cool!! I dont have anything right now to actually try this on, but hopefully will soon enough. I was just looking at how it/if can be done. The systems would be new and the same hardware.

Thanks for the help!