Best way to install a new C: drive?

[Captain Satellite]

Hold on, let me check, yep, I still have my balls. The reason I asked lordsmurf if my restore discs contained my OS is because I thought that perhaps this may be standard procedure, for the restore discs to contain the OS. Your reply seemd to indicate that sometimes yes and sometimes no. I appreciate the info but not exactly the way that you responded, no sweat though. For instance, I don't need to ask lordsmurf what he thinks of Panasonic DVD recorders. I KNOW what he thinks of them and how and why he has reached this conclusion. Please don't mistake me for an idiot, I simply do not know how to install a new C: drive. With the information that the others and yourself have provided, I have decided to go with Partition Magic. I haven't downloaded it yet and there's a lot of info here to digest. For the record, I stated the make and model of my computer in my third post. I would like to thank everybody for the time that they took to reply.

[TBoneit]

Well I didn't see the make in the third post but I was reading quickly. Ok I see it was mentioned as Sony Software.

But I'd bet on Sony Vaio, They like to make C: small for some reason. How many Sony's I see where the customer has c: full (small size) and a large D: empty and when I mention it they say ?? How do I use it?

As I rmember with Sony you have a utility to make restore disks if it didn't come with them.

Make sure you don't get hit with the SP1/SP2 bug.

IOWs if you make a 250Gb drive under Sp2 and later on have to use restore disks that have No Sp or Sp1, at best you won't see your large drive letter at worst if it is your system drive and it is partitioned you could lose both drive letters contents.

[Captain Satellite]

I don't have SP2 installed and I don't need it, it sees both of my 250 gb drives. I have restored my computer before using my discs and have unplugged the drives and later plugged them back in. I DON'T have SP2 installed or a card, for some reason it still sees more than 137 gb, I forgot what that reason is. Something in the drive itself? I know how to use D: drive. I would like to restore C: drive and make it larger after restoration, is Partition Magic still my best bet? Click below for cap of my hard drives.

http://myfavoritevideoclips.com/pics/hdcap.jpg

[InXess]

Maxtor big drive enabler is the answer. Google for it.

[Captain Satellite]

I don't have that installed and they still work. Wasn't there an update in SP1 to make your computer see larger drives than 137 gb? Oh, were you answering my other question?

[smearbrick1]

You are correct about XP. SP1 was the service pack that enabled Windows XP to recognize drives larger than 137Gb.

[RLT69]

Captain Satellite:

For the record, I stated the make and model of my computer in my third post.

From your third post:

lordsmurf, is my OS (Windows XP) on my restore discs? I have 250 gb internal, 250 external available, well almost. I really have NOTHING on C except Windows and the Sony software but over time, it just fills up. I delete temp files but i suppose you never get all of that space back? So after copying my D: drive files to the new hard drive, I would fully format C: drive? Is Windows on my restore disc?

Where exactly in that post did you state the make and model of computer you are using?

At best we can assume it's a Sony and from that probably a Vaio as TBoneit pointed out. Can you understand why I was curt with your post. You ask for help but provide little information for us to help you.

Partition magic can resize partitions. However you run the risk of losing data. Your best bet, in terms of not losing data, is cloning your HD. Your current setup has 3 partitions on your primary HD. Assuming you want to keep all 3, I would suggest using imaging software such as Ghost or Acronis and copy each partition. During the copy procedure you have the option to increase the size of the partition on the destintation drive. Thus when you copy the "c" partition you can make it larger on the destination drive. Then you can have all 3 partitions, hidden/restore - c - d, on your new hard drive.

[InXess]

SP2 is not needed to see beyond 137Gig. Windows registry has to be patched with Maxtor utility (above, or similar). That's all.

http://www.cpu-central.com/wwwboard/msg71.asp?id=71290
http://www.48bitlba.com/index.htm

[Captain Satellite]

Captain Satellite:

For the record, I stated the make and model of my computer in my third post.

From your third post:

lordsmurf, is my OS (Windows XP) on my restore discs? I have 250 gb internal, 250 external available, well almost. I really have NOTHING on C except Windows and the Sony software but over time, it just fills up. I delete temp files but i suppose you never get all of that space back? So after copying my D: drive files to the new hard drive, I would fully format C: drive? Is Windows on my restore disc?

Where exactly in that post did you state the make and model of computer you are using?

At best we can assume it's a Sony and from that probably a Vaio as TBoneit pointed out. Can you understand why I was curt with your post. You ask for help but provide little information for us to help you.

Partition magic can resize partitions. However you run the risk of losing data. Your best bet, in terms of not losing data, is cloning your HD. Your current setup has 3 partitions on your primary HD. Assuming you want to keep all 3, I would suggest using imaging software such as Ghost or Acronis and copy each partition. During the copy procedure you have the option to increase the size of the partition on the destintation drive. Thus when you copy the "c" partition you can make it larger on the destination drive. Then you can have all 3 partitions, hidden/restore - c - d, on your new hard drive.

Well, you're certainly right about that. I SWEAR I typed it at one point because I looked at the tower to see if VAIO was all upper-case, I must hace back-spaced it out w/o realizing it. You are right about not providing enough info. I don't always know how much is necessary to properly answer my question. I've seen cloning come up and the thing that confuses me about that is how will my programs know which C: drive is their destination - stop laughing.

[TBoneit]

InXess, But the problem is that any SP1 or Non Sp restore disk will not have that patch in it. Thus you could have a problem if you try a restore to a larger than 137Gb drive.

Or IOW for safety use a 120Gb as a boot drive. Unless you are like me and have a standard generic not vendor XP disc and have slipstreamed into it the SP2 patch then it doesn't matter.

Many here are technically inclined and will have no problems others here may be OS newbies and could have problems.

I've had people come into my shop here to buy a Hard Disk. They are brave and are sure they can install windows. Next thing they are upset when i won't spend hours on the phone walking them through the entire process on something I made $10 or $20 on. By entire process I mean Partition, Format, Install, load drivers, tell them how to find drivers for hardware where they lost the disk.

And lets not even get into the time wasters that come into the shop ask how much for this n that, then having spent enough time they sidle up to the counter and ask what really brought them into the shop... I'm having blah, blah problem, what do you think could be wrong. IOW free support on their ebay bargain.

Anybody with Viruses and/or spyware I give one free advice too, Format and re-install. Of course then I hear the "I can't do that, I don't have the disks for Office/WinXp/Other software"

[TBoneit]

If you start with a virgin blank drive and unhook any others except the C: drive than they will get it right.

Norton ghost for example will not let you choose a brand new drive as the source.

And of course you can only have one drive for any letter... IOW only one C:, One D: etc.

[smearbrick1]

InXess, But the problem is that any SP1 or Non Sp restore disk will not have that patch in it. Thus you could have a problem if you try a restore to a larger than 137Gb drive.

Or IOW for safety use a 120Gb as a boot drive. Unless you are like me and have a standard generic not vendor XP disc and have slipstreamed into it the SP2 patch then it doesn't matter.

Many here are technically inclined and will have no problems others here may be OS newbies and could have problems.

I've had people come into my shop here to buy a Hard Disk. They are brave and are sure they can install windows. Next thing they are upset when i won't spend hours on the phone walking them through the entire process on something I made $10 or $20 on. By entire process I mean Partition, Format, Install, load drivers, tell them how to find drivers for hardware where they lost the disk.

And lets not even get into the time wasters that come into the shop ask how much for this n that, then having spent enough time they sidle up to the counter and ask what really brought them into the shop... I'm having blah, blah problem, what do you think could be wrong. IOW free support on their ebay bargain.

Anybody with Viruses and/or spyware I give one free advice too, Format and re-install. Of course then I hear the "I can't do that, I don't have the disks for Office/WinXp/Other software"

Sp1 does have that patch in it.

Sorry if this seems nitpicky.

[Captain Satellite]

If you start with a virgin blank drive and unhook any others except the C: drive than they will get it right.

Norton ghost for example will not let you choose a brand new drive as the source.

And of course you can only have one drive for any letter... IOW only one C:, One D: etc.

Thanks for your help, I have a lot to digest.

[RLT69]

ams know which C: drive is their destination - stop laughing.

I'm not laughing, many of men have selected the source as the destination when cloning - it happens

They key to identifying the destination drive is size. I also recommend putting the new hard drive on it's own cable, that will further help identify it during the cloning process.

FYI If anyone wanted to know about larger hard drive sizes and Windows 2000/XP, I came across this info on seagate's web site:

137 GB Limitation

The Serial ATA BIOS is not subject to the same limitations as the Parallel ATA BIOS. However the 137GB limitation imposed by most operating systems still applies.

Please refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles for assistance with the Windows Service Packs and enabling 48 bit LBA support.

Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305098

Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303013

Windows 98 and Me do not provide support for 48 bit LBA. There are no Service Packs or patches available from Microsoft to enable this support.

Mac OS X natively supports 48 bit LBA. This allows the drive to be recognized with the full capacity available at installation.

Serial ATA host controllers that identify themselves to the system as emulated SCSI devices and will not be subject to the 48 bit LBA limitations imposed on Parallel ATA drives.

Many of the newer onboard Serial ATA chipsets use Parallel ATA emulation. If the Serial ATA controller drivers are not loaded during the operating system installation, the Serial ATA drive will only show the capacity supported natively by the operating system version being installed.

***


Cheers

[Captain Satellite]

Let me ask this question; If I wanted to go ahead and restore my C and D drive to 'out of box' state, is the advice and answers given still the same? Would it be easier and safer to re-partition then? Or is Windows considered data that I could lose. I don't know why they made C: drive only 15 gb big.

[InXess]

Restore the disk to the supported limit by BIOS and OS and patch it later. Then resize the installed partition with free partitioning programs (Google) or Partition Magic. Most utilities that are supplied to assist with drive preparation (you can download from manuf. website) have large disks enablers.

[Captain Satellite]

Just checking back in with what I decided to go with. I bought the Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0. It could not have been easier. This program allows you to create, increase, copy and recover partitions. I highly recommend it at 49.95. Thanks for all of the help, guys.

[lordsmurf]

You can always slipstream an XP install to already contain SP1 or SP2, if you want to. Use the BartPE installer to create the slipstream files, use ISO Buster to extract the boot image, and then use Nero to create the new bootable CD.

[bevills1]

Set Explorer to show hidden files and system files to see all folders and files on drive. Backup data before using Partition Magic or any partition resizing program as there's risk of data loss when resizing partitions. INFRATOM's point on SP2 eliminating 137 GB limit for WinXP applies to SP4 for Win2k as well, but to eliminate the limit for WinMe and earlier requires either add on card or download from Intel for certain Intel chipsets for those with Intel mobos.

[Doramius]

You can always slipstream an XP install to already contain SP1 or SP2, if you want to. Use the BartPE installer to create the slipstream files, use ISO Buster to extract the boot image, and then use Nero to create the new bootable CD.

Nice details. I knew what you were talking about and you still almost went over my head. :P

This works really rell though. I used different software to burn extract the image and burn the disc, but the result was the same and works great.