NationStates Jolt Archive

Is there any way to transfer all the files in my C: Drive to my new E: Drive?, the computer doesn't want to take all the files...i just want to know, if you have any suggestions. I use XP

Is there any way to transfer all the files in my C: Drive to my new E: Drive?, the computer doesn't want to take all the files...i just want to know, if you have any suggestions. I use XP
By "all the files" do you mean system files as well?

And do some of them transfer but not all? or none?

Is there any way to transfer all the files in my C: Drive to my new E: Drive?, the computer doesn't want to take all the files...i just want to know, if you have any suggestions. I use XP



If C:\ is where your OS is and you have a Windows varient then just copying over the entire drive is likely going to fubar a lot of things - especially every entry in the registry which will be trying to tell programs that its critical components are still on the c: drive....

Oh man. IMO you gotta install Windows again on the other pc. And reinstall all your programs. But it's good to have a cleanout, to get rid of stuff you don't need/want.

If C:\ is where your OS is and you have a Windows varient then just copying over the entire drive is likely going to fubar a lot of things - especially every entry in the registry which will be trying to tell programs that its critical components are still on the c: drive....
Yeah thats why I asked about system files ... though he can mirror the drive if he wants a complete move over

By "all the files" do you mean system files as well?

And do some of them transfer but not all? or none?

By all..i mean ALL, as in a Complete Copy.


If C:\ is where your OS is and you have a Windows varient then just copying over the entire drive is likely going to fubar a lot of things - especially every entry in the registry which will be trying to tell programs that its critical components are still on the c: drive....

if by fubar you mean completely annoying, then yes, so far it has been very fubarish.

By all..i mean ALL, as in a Complete Copy.



if by fubar you mean completely annoying, then yes, so far it has been very fubarish.
Why do you want the complete transfer? might be a better option to copy user files and then do an install on the new drive (usualy helps performance issues to have a fresh install)

Call the people on techtv! :)

Call the people on techtv! :)
Ive been on there ;) (well not phisicaly phone discussion)

By all..i mean ALL, as in a Complete Copy.



if by fubar you mean completely annoying, then yes, so far it has been very fubarish.

this isn't actually possible as such. because your registry won't know that the files have moved. so stuff will die.

there are utilities that do this, and change all your registry settings and so on. whoever makes partition magic and boot magic makes such a utility.

Why do you want the complete transfer? might be a better option to copy user files and then do an install on the new drive (usualy helps performance issues to have a fresh install)


Well our old HD is somewhat dead...if we turn off the computer, we risk it never coming back on again. That's why i want to transfer everything, that way it's like brand new again. :)

My father is contemplating to going to a comp store to get our new HD cloned... so unless you guys can discover a way for me to do this process... we have to waste like 110$ (Canadian) =P

this isn't actually possible as such. because your registry won't know that the files have moved. so stuff will die.

there are utilities that do this, and change all your registry settings and so on. whoever makes partition magic and boot magic makes such a utility.
Well it is possible ... it just is not easy

Drive mirroring ... take both out ... put into third party system make copy and re insert ... but you got to do it right with all the boot sector intact

(that or could ghost the drive if you have norton ghost) but I find fresh installs so much better performing that is what I choose

Well our old HD is somewhat dead...if we turn off the computer, we risk it never coming back on again. That's why i want to transfer everything, that way it's like brand new again. :)

My father is contemplating to going to a comp store to get our new HD cloned... so unless you guys can discover a way for me to do this process... we have to waste like 110$ (Canadian) =P
Not easily ... the software costs about 50+ dollars US (norton Ghost is a cloner) and it takes a reboot so you may loose your data anyways

It is all something I could do if I was there :p but relitivly hard if you dont have the software/hardware to do it by yourself

Not easily ... the software costs about 50+ dollars US (norton Ghost is a cloner) and it takes a reboot so you may loose your data anyways

It is all something I could do if I was there :p but relitivly hard if you dont have the software/hardware to do it by yourself


How about i pay for plane ticket here! Although you may never come back home....mainly because Air Canada is really shitty.

BTW, i don't get your second quote on the bottom...

yea i would just copy all the files u want to keep and do a fresh install helps a crap load :D

why dont you just transfer all the files you want to keep onto the E drive with a clean install of Windows?

yeah PowerQuest drive image has morphed into norton ghost. i bet there's a free drive imager on tucows.

and if you really just want to use the new drive, copy allthe files over and swap the drives, so E becomes C, so the fact that that all your registry is pointing at C doesn't matter because E is C.

if it don't work you can always swap em back

So aside from cloning...i also have the option of doing something, your not even sure if it'll work. X_X

How about i pay for plane ticket here! Although you may never come back home....mainly because Air Canada is really shitty.

BTW, i don't get your second quote on the bottom...
Lol I am in minnesota ... practicaly there

And it just means who else but god could make the next cleanix pop up ;)

So aside from cloning...i also have the option of doing something, your not even sure if it'll work. X_X

it might work

Is there any way to transfer all the files in my C: Drive to my new E: Drive?, the computer doesn't want to take all the files...i just want to know, if you have any suggestions. I use XP

Why do you want to do that?

If it's a new drive, why not just rename the new drive as C and the C-Drive as E?

I've been in this situation numerous times, which is why I now just have two hard drives in every computer I own instead -- it's saved my files once or twice too, when one HD breaks you always have a backup on the second.
All you really have to do is copy the files that can't be recreated (easily), usually the stuff in My Documents and suchlike. Family photos, novels you may have been writing, accounts, stuff like that. Making backups of programs is inherently useless because you already have backups -- as in, the installation CD. Just stick that in and reinstall everything fresh onto your new computer. As people have said before here, a fresh install of Windows is always a good thing. I've taken to reformating once every six months or so just because of the performance benefits it brings. I've also taken to using Linux so that I don't have to reformat every six months, but that's something else...

I've been in this situation numerous times, which is why I now just have two hard drives in every computer I own instead -- it's saved my files once or twice too, when one HD breaks you always have a backup on the second.
All you really have to do is copy the files that can't be recreated (easily), usually the stuff in My Documents and suchlike. Family photos, novels you may have been writing, accounts, stuff like that. Making backups of programs is inherently useless because you already have backups -- as in, the installation CD. Just stick that in and reinstall everything fresh onto your new computer. As people have said before here, a fresh install of Windows is always a good thing. I've taken to reformating once every six months or so just because of the performance benefits it brings. I've also taken to using Linux so that I don't have to reformat every six months, but that's something else...
BSD is better :p