www.aiscl.co.uk

My C: (and D:) drives are getting too full, so I want to replace them with larger drives. I am running Win2KPro and using AIS 1.10.1.218. I have made a backup (to firewire drive) of C: (using disk to disk copy) and D: (using full drive backup). C: has the usual Windows system stuff on it, D: is just data.

My strategy is to:
(1) remove D:, install one new drive, do a new disk to disk copy of C: to the new drive, make the new drive bootable, and once I verify I can boot OK from it, swap it to replace the old C: drive. The original C: backup is just insurance.

(2) Install second new drive, call it D:, and restore D: from earlier backup.

Questions: Will this work?

what have I forgotten?

Will I have to re-activate software that reads the hard drive label or hidden partitions and thinks I have a new system (or thinks I am a crook)? I am thinking of programs like Photoshop, etc.

The latest version of AISBackup is 2.0, this has a few improvements over version 1.10: http://www.aiscl.co.uk/downloadaisbackup.htm

There is an article about using an external drive as a copy of the Windows drive (C:\) at http://www.aiscl.co.uk/usbdr1.htm

The only thing you did not mention is ensuring that the new C: drive is on a primary partition and this partition is made Active, or it will not boot. This is covered in the above tutorial.

The D: drive restore option is okay. You make the drive letter of the copy drive (D:), as it is known to Windows 2000 or XP via Right Click My Computer / Manage / Expand Storage / Disk Management / Right Click the Partition / Change Drive Letter and Paths. You are not allowed to change the drive letter of any system, boot or any in-use drives this way, but there is a work around by working directly with the Registry: Start / Run / Regedit / Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices / Right Click the existing \DosDevices\D: and choose Rename to change D: to an unused drive letter, then change the drive letter of the new drive using the same process to D. Do this after booting the copy of Windows from the new drive for two reasons: 1/ Making a mistake with the Registry Edit may mean that you cannot re-boot, 2/ You already have a backup on the original C: drive disk.

We have copied many Windows Operating systems this way, and indeed you are correct, the drive identifier does change and this may upset some (but not many) software registration’s.

Barry

Thanks, Barry, I will give it a go.

-- Bob