How do you install windows onto a new drive, but keep all your programs working?

bhavv · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:36

I am replacing my 1 TB Sammy F1s with F3s, and I will be partitioning them like this:

First I will copy all the D Drive over to the new F3s 850 Gb partition, then format the C partition and reinstall windows on the F3s 80 Gb partition.

Is it possible to keep all my installed programs and shortcuts detected and working as they currently are after doing this? And how would I do this?

Thanks to anyone who can explain how to do this.

bhavv · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:56

Where can I read up how to do that, or how to access the feature?

I use Win 7 Professional, this is the first time since I got it I need to reinstall since Im getting new drives, whereas with Vista I had to reinstall every 2-3 months because it kept getting corrupted :x.

Win 7 has never slowed down or become unresponsive

bhavv · 8 Mar 2010 at 17:43

Oh, I see. I tried it and its simple. I never backed up anything before using the recovery tool

I have no idea where I put my blank CDs though .... I'll buy a DVD-R stack.

So I backup windows and it saves all the current settings, then copy over the D partition.

bhavv · 8 Mar 2010 at 22:54

I found my box of CD-Rs and two RWs.

The funny thing is that my IDE DVD RW drive is the oldest component in my PC, and I've never bought any blank DVD disks, or hardly ever used it with CDs.

Im going to ask a blonde question in my height of backup noobishness - will a CD-RW have enough space and work for the boot CD

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bhavv · 9 Mar 2010 at 17:39

Ok, so I got my drives, installed and partitioned one of them to 81.5 / 850, and started to create a system image.

I am putting the image on the new 850 Gb as it requires 800 Gb of space.

Then how do I restore my current main drives configuration and data to the new drive?

bhavv · 9 Mar 2010 at 18:17

Ooooooops ....

Im backing up everthing from Drive C + D to the new drive through the image. I didnt see an option to select just the primary partition

Its taking ages.

What you said was right, I just want to transfer over my primary windows partition, the rest can be copy pasted. But its backing up both C + D, not just C.

I cant do a system image of just drive C without also backing up D

. Its 777 Gb total, I'll just have to wait.

bhavv · 9 Mar 2010 at 19:01

When creating the image, it says C + D and both are gray and unselectable.

The image is required for the new backup to boot into windows, cant just backup C without it, and cant create the image without D

Maybe it will create a full backup of both the C + D drives onto the new drive exactly as they are now. Thats what I'm hoping.

Normally I would just format C and reinstall Windows, but then I have to update and reinstall everything to make it work which is annoying.

bhavv · 9 Mar 2010 at 19:47

Here it is:

C needs going to F, D needs to go to G, and everything needs to work.

Right now a C + D image is being backed up to G. I think what I'm doing should work, its on 77% complete.

Wow, 777 Gb and 77% right now ..... thats a bad sign, I hate 7, it ate 9

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bhavv · 9 Mar 2010 at 20:04

Ok. But the image should create a copy of both partitions in the right places I think. Everything should be mirrored to the new drive as it is now.

How do I get them onto the new drive after the backup is done? Simply boot of it as the primary disk with a restore off the CD?

Thanks for all the help, once this is done I wont ever have to delete Windows partitions and reinstall everything ever again

. Well, unless my primary drive fails.

bhavv · 9 Mar 2010 at 20:21

Or restore the image onto the second F3

.

I just need to install another Sata power cable to do that.

bhavv · 9 Mar 2010 at 20:30

Brilliant. I'll just unplug the F1 and plug in the second F3, format it in windows installation, then restore onto it. Dont need to install my second sata cable.

I just have to hope that the C + D partitions were saved as seperate images.

I got 2 F3s, but only had 2 sata power cables installed to my mdular PSU so only installed 1 first.

It works, both partititions are being restored. C is done but D will take a couple of hours.

Also, when I installed the second drive, I noticed that the F3 hadnt gotten anywhere near as hot as the F1 had. Cooler, faster, and cheap

.

bhavv · 10 Mar 2010 at 04:36

Its all done

. I fell asleep while it was happening, but got woken up a few hours early by a dream reminding me that the PC was backing up, darn you psychic dreams waking me up :x.