Win98SE and New drive question....

[spmiz]

Hey gang I could use some help with this one...... As you can guess I presently am running WIN98SE and have 2 seperate harddrives (one 30GB and One 40GB). On my main drive I set-up 3 partitions:
a.) Operating system-- 5 GB
b.) Program Files-- 20.5 GB
c.) Data Drive-- 5 GB

Then second drive is for data/ upload/ download files
a.) first partition-- 16GB
b.) second partition-- 24 GB.

My question is this, I just bought a WD 100GB HD (for 69.99, by the way) and want to replace my primary drive. Hence, I know I will lose all my program files and etc. But I came up with a few questions before I screw up:

1.) Is there a program that I use to relocate program files for stuuff I lost the disks for?? Will norton ghost work????
2.) When I set-up partitions on this soon to be primary drive then how does that effect the secondary drive???? I assume that this drive will still be intact, correct???
3.) I will be upgrading to WINXP Pro probably in June, so any advice on how to setup now to avoid headaches later????
4.) Where do I send the money for the expert advice??? JUST KIDDING...I was just trying to see if everyone read this far down.....

Thanks as usual for the great help!!!!!!!!!!!

[rangeral]

You don't have to wipe anything instead replace your slave with new drive or wherever its connected since there was no OS on it and use wd's utility to setup partitions and format however you like on new drive then use the drivecopy part to put each partitions data from master drive into your new partitions.

Now you should be able to replace old master with new master and put back slave drive.

Suggest before doing anything remove programs you don't want anymore, empty internet cache and tmp files, do a scandisk and defrag on all partitions to make the drivecopy go smoother and faster. Should have no effect on 2nd drive.

You can empty data on one of the partitions on second drive format it and install xp to it and have yourself a dual-boot if you like, quite simple.

[rraehal]

You can use norton Ghost to image Drive 1 (30GB) to Drive 2 (100GB). Set up the 100GB as a slave and put it in, in place of your 40GB. Ghost the drive. Your partitions may just be the same size. I have only used Ghost with one partition. We have 10 and 20 GB drive Ghost on 30 and 40GB drives and Ghost will expand the 10 or 20 to fill the new drives.

I think it would be easier and cleaner to boot into 98 and copy your data files to the 40GB drive and then install the 100GB asd master eliminating the 30GB drive and install everything directly to the 100GB. You will not have to worry about unused registry entries or other hidden problems later.