"I want to move my OS to a new HDD without reinstalling" - a guide.

miniyazz

miniyazz

miniyazz

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I'm noticing a large number of threads in this forum asking the same question: how do I move my OS to a new HDD without reinstalling Windows. So here's a quick guide to do so.

But first, you should understand that reinstalling Windows will give your computer a speed boost because it gets rid of all the rubbish you accumulate over the months/years, even though it's an inconvenience for a couple of days. :)

However, if you still want to move the OS without reinstalling, there's a couple of programs that are frequently recommended on this forum: Acronis TrueImage Home 2009 and Norton Ghost. Acronis is my preference - it has a 15-day free trial (plenty long enough to clone your HDD to another) and has an easy-to-use interface that I got to do what I wanted on my first attempt.
Norton Ghost appeared not to do what I was expecting. I mention it here because it is often recommended, so chances are, I did something stupid which meant it didn't have the functionality I was expecting - I couldn't get it to clone my HDD :)

So here's a quick couple of guides to use Acronis, if you need it. As a general rule, if swapping OS to a larger drive, use the first (quickest and easiest) guide. If you need more flexibility or are moving to a smaller HDD, use the second.

Guide 1:
  1. Install Acronis TrueImage Home 2009
  2. Reboot and run the program
  3. Click the 'Utilities' tab on the left pane
  4. Click 'Clone disk'
  5. Choose Automatic mode if you want to copy your entire disk with C drive on to the new HDD without adjusting partition sizes, otherwise choose Manual. I believe it leaves any extra space on the disk unallocated, which you would then be able to allocate in Disk Management; the new HDD cannot be smaller than the used space on the old HDD.
  6. If you selected Manual, you will have three options after selecting your source and destination disk - "As is", "Proportional" and "Manual". As is does the same thing as Automatic. Proportional will increase (or decrease) the sizes of all your drives proportionally. If running Win7, you should avoid this option because the System Recovery partition does not need to be bigger than 100MB. Manual lets you manipulate the partitions on the old HDD so they are cloned to the new HDD what sizes etc you want them to be.
  7. Click Next, check your options, then click Proceed.
  8. Wait for the restoration to finish
  9. Restart your computer into BIOS, and change the HDD boot priority from your old OS drive to your new one
  10. Save changes and exit. Boot the computer.
  11. It will boot into Windows on the new HDD; you can format the old HDD from Disk Management in Windows. You can also remove the drive letter from the System Recovery partition.

And you're done.

Guide 2:
  1. Install Acronis TrueImage Home 2009
  2. Reboot and run the program
  3. Click the 'Backup and Restore' tab on the left pane
  4. Click 'My Computer'
  5. Make sure the checkbox selected is your OS drive (this will probably be labelled something like "NTFS (Unlabeled) (C:\)"
  6. In Win7, you also need to check the box labelled "NTFS (System Reserved)"
  7. Click Next and "Create new backup archive". Choose the backup location to any partition with sufficient storage space that is not your OS partition.
  8. Now click on Summary, check the options, and click Proceed.
  9. Let that create the backup file.
  10. When complete, close Acronis
  11. If the backup is placed on the new HDD, move it to a different one
  12. Reopen Acronis and choose "Backup and Restore"
  13. Click "Manage and restore" in the left hand pane
  14. It should show you the backup you just made. If not, browse to it using the button in the top right corner.
  15. Right click on it and choose "Restore"
  16. Go to "Content Selection" and select both checkboxes
  17. Click Next and put in the location of the new HDD - if using Win7, the C backup goes on the large partition you created earlier, and the System Recovery backup goes on the 101mb partition you created earlier
  18. Once you've set the backup locations, go to Summary and click Proceed
  19. Wait for the restoration to finish
  20. Restart your computer into BIOS, and change the HDD boot priority from your old OS drive to your new one
  21. Save changes and exit. Boot the computer.
  22. It will boot into Windows on the new HDD; you can format the old HDD from Disk Management in Windows.

And you're done.

If I've missed anything out or could improve on this, please let me know.

To the Admins: Please turn this into a sticky, if you feel it is appropriate.

Cheers

Miniyazz
 
Last edited:
what, why so much info (sector-by-sector backup to be safe :) )
Install Acronis TrueImage Home 2009
and use Clone disk option reboot when it asks you to, let it clone once finished turn off PC Pull old hdd out all done? all i have ever had to do
 
Last edited:
leexgx said:
what, why so much info
Install Acronis TrueImage Home 2009
and use Clone disk option reboot when it asks you to, let it clone once finished turn off PC Pull old hdd out all done? all i have ever had to do
Click to expand...

I agree, it also lets you expand partitions into the free space if a drive is bigger too.

Why did you not go down this route? I think i'm missing something.
 
Hehe I'm a muppet :p

Obviously I didn't notice the Clone Disk option in Utilities and did it the other way. It does look somewhat simpler..

the sector-by-sector thing was just because the first time it didn't work without it, but that was because I forgot to backup the System Recovery partition so redid the whole backup, but changed that option as well just in case. It was late..

Anyhow, I shall remove about 350 steps and add in the simple clone disk part.. :o
 
Yeah, I can't understand why so many people insist on using the hard route when the Clone option does it all for them. I posted exactly this solution the other day, only to then watch the thread go into a 'back and forth' conversation describing in detail every little step that is needed, sometimes makes you wonder why we bother really...
 
Or just use Ghost which is DOS based (not sure about the latest copy but one few years ago was) so don't even need to install the software :)
 
FaceplantSi said:
Yeah, I can't understand why so many people insist on using the hard route when the Clone option does it all for them. I posted exactly this solution the other day, only to then watch the thread go into a 'back and forth' conversation describing in detail every little step that is needed, sometimes makes you wonder why we bother really...
Click to expand...

You have more flexibility when doing it the hard way. For example, I want to clone my OS drive (1TB) onto my 500GB. I have three partitions on the 1TB: System Recovery, C drive (80GB) and lots of storage. Using clone, I think I have to remove the storage partition before it will fit onto the 500GB. Using Backup, that's not a problem - I can backup just the partitions I choose.
 
miniyazz said:
You have more flexibility when doing it the hard way. For example, I want to clone my OS drive (1TB) onto my 500GB. I have three partitions on the 1TB: System Recovery, C drive (80GB) and lots of storage. Using clone, I think I have to remove the storage partition before it will fit onto the 500GB. Using Backup, that's not a problem - I can backup just the partitions I choose.
Click to expand...

Oh I completely agree that in some situations there is a need for a far more in depth method which allows for all the possible permutations of partitions etc. As you have said in your edited first post the trial edition of Acronis is prob sufficient for most people's needs, and the clone feature is prob the best bet as I suspect that most will be upgrading HDD's to newer, bigger models.

I would recommend to anyone and everyone to get a copy of Ghost or Acronis and to keep an up to date image of their OS drive as it is so much easier and faster to restore either from drive failure or to regain 'as new' performance - I think the cost of a licensed prog to do this is small change compared to the pain of doing it the long way around!

A good guide, and gets my vote for adding to a sticky FAQ.

Cheers Miniyazz! :)
 
I haven't included much on using Ghost because I didn't find it as intuitive as Acronis; this is basically just a guide on how to do it, for free, so no need to include more than one program to do it with IMO. But thanks for the input :)

And thanks for the vote of confidence, FaceplantSi!
 
ghost you just do Disk > disk (using mouse or keyboard) pick the small drive and press enter and then pick the bigger drive (or smaller if SSD) press enter and then it ask you are you sure then you say yes

its bit harder if both disks are the same Size, But Norton ghost will not let you Clone an Empty disk as an source as there is nothing to copy from it so you have to pick the drive with data on it as the source
 
Just to say, thanks for this - exactly what I was looking for. I'd also agree with the OP re the advantages of the long way - for a significant minority of people (incl me), the upgrade is to a SSD and so to a smaller disk - so need to be able to back-up the system partition onto the SSD, without all the apps and games.
 
achitophel said:
Just to say, thanks for this - exactly what I was looking for. I'd also agree with the OP re the advantages of the long way - for a significant minority of people (incl me), the upgrade is to a SSD and so to a smaller disk - so need to be able to back-up the system partition onto the SSD, without all the apps and games.
Click to expand...

For that reason, I've just updated the first post with the old details for the long way in addition to the Clone method.

Cheers for the feedback.
 
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