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April 23rd, 2008 20:00

Hard disk drive image

I am going to upgrade my Dell M6300 hard disk to a new one of the same capacity and type (SATA) but faster.

 

I would like to make an image of the whole old hard disk and copy it onto the new one.

 

I have downloaded a free utility called SelfImage, http://selfimage.excelcia.org/. Then I have made an image of the whole old hard disk in a file over the network in my Dell-690 workstation.

 

Once a receive the new hard disk I plan to connect it to one of the SATA ports on the motherboard and copy the above file onto the new hard disk.

 

Then I will install the new hard disk on the laptop.

 

Will this work?

 

Is there a better way to do it?

 

Is SelfImage good for this or should I invest in Norton Ghost or other program?

 

I am running Windows XP Pro.

 

Thanks,

 

Antonio

617 Posts

April 24th, 2008 00:00

Copying just the file onto the HDD won't do you any good. You need to recover the image onto the new drive. I don't know about the app, but the MBR needs to be copied too, so if SelfImage doesn't do that, the new drive won't boot.

 

I use Norton Ghost and it is an awesome app. I use it all the time when my computer starts acting up or running slow. It does have a free trial, but you will need a hard drive reader.

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