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New main hard drive - operating system?

  • 16-10-2008 4:33pm
    #1
    SeanW
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,865 ✭✭✭


    My rig is getting a little old and so I have been giving it an end-of-life overhaul to get a little more out of it.

    Having seen the link posted to SSD drives on memoryc.ie that was written here a couple of months ago, I finally decided that now is the time for me to jump in to the SSD game. On the basis that I had read that el-cheapo SLC drives could theoretically be expected to be faster and more robust than el-cheapo MLC based drives, I decided to go with this:
    http://www.memoryc.com/storage/solidstatedisk/transcend16gbsatassd.html
    and just got it in the post today.
    Not entirely sure how I'm going to install it cause it's so physically small but I'll figure something out.

    The main question I have now is, is there any way I can clone my existing hard drive onto the SSD after I install it?

    By that I mean copy my OS installation (Windows XP SP3 OEM edition) etc over to the new drive as is? I probably should take this opportunity to do a fresh reinstall and deal with some of the entropy that has set in over the years, but I'd prefer to multiple options.

    At the moment I'm using a PATA Maxtor 80GB hd which I've had for about 4 years (and 2x250GB WD Caviars) (long story) but in theory I could eliminate all but 10GB or thereabouts from it prior to any movement.

    Also, during this PCs lifetime, I've changed most of the parts some for upgrade others on account of them becoming faulty (ram, 2nd hds etc) yet I've never had problems with Windows OEM licensing/activation. Could using a new boot drive be the proverbial straw that broke the camels back?
    The only two components I have not changed are the boot hard drive and the graphics card - and both are about to be changed either now or in the next few months.

    Thanks In Advance.


Comments

  • #2
    Cuddlesworth
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,995 ✭✭✭✭Cuddlesworth


    For installing it, something like this would work

    http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=349958


    There are ways to take a image of a drive and transfer it to another. Acronis True Image and Symantec Ghost would be two of the most popular programs to use.

    But considering the fact that it is 16gbs and the Windows image is over 2 years old, a fresh install would be a much better bet. You have 2 years of logs, useless files and what I would assume to be useless reg files and library links from dead programs you don't use.

    You should not have a problem with OEM licensing, Windows doesn't seem to notice the difference. If you are worried, an upgrade to Vista might not hurt. The problem being a 16gb drive would be pushing it for a Vista install.


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