Clone Dimension 8300 from IDE to SATA

If the drives aren't the same size, the clone on the 500GB drive will probably only be the same size as the original drive. You'd then need to  use software to expand the partition size to the max capacity of the new drive. Otherwise, a lot of space won't be accessible.

I suppose you could try partitioning the 500GB first so the C: partition matches the size of the old drive...

Would it just be easier to do a clean Windows install on the new drive and then install the old drive as a secondary and copy over all your personal files? You will have to install your software from their install disk because you can't just copy the applications files to the new drive

Ron

Yeah that's my next option. I was trying to avoid reinstalling everything because I'll be building a new computer within the next couple of months. This was just to get me by. If I have to I have to though.

I have an old Dimension 8300 running XP Home SP3. My original IDE drive is showing a bad sector and I want to swap it out before it gets any worse. I have a 500GB SATA drive lying around. Is it possible to clone the IDE drive to the SATA or restore it from a Paragon Backup without the SATA drivers giving me a hard time? Any input is appreciated.

I suggest Acronis True Image, which will operate off the bootable factory CD. I bought a copy last month and used it to clone a 1tb to a 2tb. Although the drives were both SATA, one or both could have been IDE.

If you want to avoid reinstalling everything when you move the drive to the new PC you are building, you can install a third-party SATA card in the existing PC and transfer it over to the new PC for use with its first boot. Once past the boot, Windows will install the proper chipset drivers; I used this technique to get the aforementioned clone, originally installed on a 540s (G45 chipset) to work with a 760g-based homebuilt.

It looks like Acronis does not allow for adding drivers during restore or cloning for the SATA adapter if they aren't already in Windows, unless you buy a business version with Universal Restore. Paragon evidently does, even in the free version so I may try that.

The 8300 apparently uses a Promise SATA controller. According to the instructions for this SATA driver, there's an option to install it into an existing OS.

So you may not need to slip-stream the driver into your backup. Use the backup of the IDE hard drive to load the new SATA drive and then use the Existing OS install method to load the driver.

There's also a Promise Firmware update and a Utility update which you may need to install after the driver is loaded and the system is working correctly. Be sure to read the info about these updates to see if they apply to your system before  you install them. :emotion-5:

Ron

It looks like Acronis does not allow for adding drivers during restore or cloning for the SATA adapter if they aren't already in Windows, unless you buy a business version with Universal Restore. Paragon evidently does, even in the free version so I may try that.

I installed a third-party SATA adapter before the clone, and when the clone was done I used the adapter for the first boot, after which Windows installed the correct chipset drivers. I have the Home version of Acronis.

You don't need to install anything if you aren't moving the hard drive into a PC with a different chipset.