I only have a 20GB primary HD and it is full. I tried to delete/uninstall some things but it wasn't enough.

My slave HD is 40GB. My backup HD (detached) is 120GB.

Is there a painless way to migrate some programs from C: to D: ?
or
Is there a painless way to swap the 20GB for the 120GB?

-rolleyes-

what else is on the 20gig besides os and programs? mp3s (backups of course)?

Kodak picture software + pics, Nikon picture software + pics, Netscape email (probably the biggest space hog cause I'm a packrat), all the music players and mp3s, the all-in-one printer stuff, MS Money, etc.

I just bought an enclosure and a 120GB HD and backed up the primary HD to it.

well if you had to transfer data i would go with the things that aren't 'installed.' meaning mp3's, pics, emails. moving a program around from HD to HD can cause problems. moving mp3s or pics won't.

I may be in the same boat -- I have a 20GB primary and 40GB slave, with the 20GB being programs only. all media files go on the 40GB and that really helps keep the 20GB going smoothly. I can't think of 20GB worth of programs that I really need, so it should never get full (knock on wood).

So if you can set kodak and nikon software to load/save pics to your 40GB, move MP3s over, and set netscape to use your 40GB for e-mail attachments and messages, that should help.

Good luck!

Possibly yes,

If you can delete everything off the 120gb drive first then it is simple. Buy a copy of Norton Ghost. It will image the 20gb over to the 120GB drive and automatically resize the partition so you can use all 120gb.

All I have is a backup or two on the new 120GB. So I could spare it as new.
The backups are recent.

I wasn't aware I had a partition on the 120?

We have Ghost on a CD...where do I start?


But then, is the 20GB going to be too small for backups? LMAO
What size should I shop for for the backup if my primary will be 120GB?

Thanks!

I always get concerned when he says that.

BUT If anyone can fill up a HD, it's redol.

If you can wipe the backup 120GB drive, use ghost to make an image of the 20GB and then restore it to the 120GB drive. Swap the drives, and you should be fine. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, ask a friend who has used Ghost. It is not the most user friendly piece of software, but it is perfect for what you want to do.

If you have a dvd writer, you could back up your 20GB to about 4 or 5 dvd's and then rerstore to the 120GB drive. I have migrated many small drives to larger drives this way.

wheel

i wouldn't ghost the os from teh 20gig over to the 120 gig, if that is what is being suggested. it is always good to do a fresh install of os. maybe backup some settings if you are lazy, but i'd fresh install the os. however i would not install the os on the 120. it would be smarter to have the os on the 20. the 120 is obviously going to be used to store and delete files. if you have the os and the files on the 120 and the HD gets corrupted you lose a lot. if you have os on the 20 and it gets corrupted or dies, you only lose the os. plus i like to keep my os seperate as much as possible.

Here are my opinions. Not much different from everyone else.

Unless they are 16 bit programs, the only way to transfer them from C: to D: is by uninstalling from C: and reinstalling to D:. If you move the program folder and try to start the program you will receive error messages.

Any suggestions I have for this are quite painless, just a bit time consuming. Involves partitioning, moving data, removing drives, installing drives then reinstalling the OS & programs. Of course, ghosting would be alot easier, but I figure if you're going to change drives install everything fresh, unless you're really pressed for time. Ghosting will probably take less than an hour. Installing everything fresh (OS, updates, drivers, applications, transferring data, etc.) will probably take 4-5 hours including planning & preparation.

Backups are important. I would not suggest you wipe out your backups, unless you have another drive to store them on.

Probably. All depends how much data you're backing up.

All depends on how much data you're backing up. Look on the 120 now and see how many gigabytes the current backups use and try to project how much data you think you will add in the future.

I would also recommend this, but then I'm a big believer in knowing what exactly is installed on my computer and I'm kind of a control freak too . I also do a yearly-install to make sure that programs which I have installed and uninstalled haven't left any residue . I'm still ambivalent about the OS on another HD as I haven't looked into any possibly performance hits, but it probably won't affect the normal user that much.

The primary suggestion I would make is move all your photos, mp3, data, etc. onto another HD from your OS HD (or at least another partition). There's no reason to keep them on the same HD except for laziness .

Also, what are you using to backup your data? And are you doing full backups of the disks? Or just certain data? And are you backing up all at once or incrementally?

F

I am backing up the entire disk using an external HD, using the Windows utility. I sorta backup my photos (copy/paste folders) to the secondary HD as well.

This primary HD came with the Dell, the OS was already installed.
I am wondering if there is a bunch of Dell crap on it....

Hmmm, I was thinking that maybe you could run the OS and applications on the 40 GB, store data on the 120 GB and backup on the 20 GB, but with full backups, 20 GB probably won't do... Maybe have the OS and applications on the 20 GB, store data on the 120 GB and backup on the 40 GB?

Of course, you could always buy another hard drive to back up data with ...

F

yearly? i do it monthly almost

Yeah, I know, I'm lazy .

F

OK, I got another 120GB. So the plan will be to replace the primary 20GB with the 120. I still have the external enclosure with the 120GB "backup" HD in it.

Question is, will Ghost do the job? Will it create an exact copy (bootable and all?) of my primary drive so I can do a quick swap-out and ditch the current 20GB primary? It's a Dell, so probably has that extra partition?

Do I make recovery disks first? Run a backup?

I'm not a purist when it comes to this- I know my system isn't "clean"...perhaps after all the kids are in school. I just want the same thing I have right now but more space....kinda like my house!


thanks.

Ahhhh, a fellow procrastinator! Ghost will do the job. Ghost the full C drive and you should also get the Dell partition. The old 20GB drive is your backup - if the new one doesn't work, then reinstall the old one and you are back to where you were before.

Good luck - it is not too bad.


wheel