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I bought an SATA Seagate Barracuda to replace my WD Caviar drive.
Both are 200Gig
I am running Winxp SP2.
How do I just switch the entire contents of my current drive to the new one without having to do a fresh install?
I know, it's a noob question. I just have never had to do it before. I have always been content to re-install windows. I don't feel like doing it this time :)
Thanks!
Good luck on this one.
Since the SATA drive requires a SATA Controller driver to be installed before windows...a disk to disk won't work...
Any disk to disk imaging program will normally do the trick...but, since "mass storage" device drivers need to be loaded with Windows...hmm...that's a toughy...
you would need to do a repair install after the data is transferred.
use the drive copying utility that came on the seatools disc. you could also download it from seagate's website. if that doesn't work, we can recommend 3rd party apps.
Actually, I forgot to mention that the current drive is on an SATA adapter and all of that is already installed. It's an NF7-s 2 mainboard.
So, the drivers are all set for the SATA. Just need to know how to transfer the data.
DriveImage and Norton Ghost are a couple of apps that'll do it, but they're not free.
did you try the seatools cd yet? I usually use the manufacturer's tool since it's free. if you didn't get a cd, then you can download it straight from seagate. the tools are vendor specify.
Nope, I haven't receved the drive yet. Bought it from newegg and it should be here tommorow. Seagate has a program that will do it?
Yes. Go to www.seagate.com and look for SeaTools.