Can I "migrate" an XP install onto my new drive w/o re-installing?

[Bitek]

I have a new SATA drive and I want to move my XP install onto w/o having to go through the pain of a fresh install. Is there a way to just clone my boot partition onto my new HDD?

 

[shawn130c]

Well you could always try Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image. (I have no experience with disk imaging software but i have read alittle about them) Also alot of HD Manufacturers include software that allows you to make a drive copy i belive, so you might want to check auround there site.

 

[zebra14]

Maybe - if the SATA drive requires drivers, you may be able to install them prior to the move so the SATA drive will be supported when you make the switch. I've had some luck with cloning a PATA drive to a SATA (if that's what you're doing). Other times a fresh install was the only way to go as there were blue screens of death to greet me.

 

[Pirotech]

For certain, True Image could easily transfer your OS onto another HDD.
Just create clone of boot partition and transfer it onto new HDD. It will take you about 15-20min, very reliable and comfortable.
Recommend.

 

[Kyanzes]

CasperXP

 

[Evander]

Here is a freebie that will do this:
http://www.miray.de/download/sat.hdclone.html
I haven't tried it yet, but if you do let us know how it works

 

[birdpup]

First try the manufacturer's diagnostic utility to see if it contains a disk copy utility. This would be the easiest solution.

[*]Hard Drive Manufacturer Diagnostic Utilities

• Seagate
• Western Digital
• Maxtor
• Fujitsu
• Hitachi

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: zebra14
Maybe - if the SATA drive requires drivers, you may be able to install them prior to the move so the SATA drive will be supported when you make the switch. I've had some luck with cloning a PATA drive to a SATA (if that's what you're doing). Other times a fresh install was the only way to go as there were blue screens of death to greet me.

You can't boot for two reasons:

1. Different HALs on machine A and B
2. Different hard disk controllers

You can fix #2 by doing the above. You can't fix #1 - you'd need to do a repair install, which really isn't that bad.