HDD copy and switch through RAID 1

[knoximator]

my question is as follows:
i have and old pc (1.5 years) with an 80gig hdd. i want to change the hdd to a new 160 gig but without all the hustle of installing everything anew.
so i was wondering if it is possible to:

1)partition the new 160 gig drive into 2*80 and set up a RAID 1 config (i partition the new drive because i read somewhere that raid 1 is limited to the smaller sized drive, and what's left over isn't usable)

2)remove the old 80 gig hdd and keep the new 160 and make it the main hdd without any RAID configurations.


i tried looking in the answers section but couldn't find what i was looking for specifically

thanks

 

[Syntax Error]

It's probably easier just to copy over your partition through software such as Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image Home on the 160 (for greater OS disk space) and just use the 80GB as a backup. No need to much around with RAID1 if your intention is for backing up your data, which RAID1 technically does not do, as it's for disk redundancy, not backup.

 

[nitrobass24]

Ok well first off dont partition your 160 into two 80gb partitions and then try to RAID it with the 80gb drive.

Are you planning on using both drives or are you just switching to the bigger one?
Do you need more space than 80gb for OS and programs?

 

[Dangman]

Well as mentioned earlier, the fastest and easiest way to do what you want do is to just image/copy your 80GB onto the 160GB drive using Acronis TrueImage or Norton Ghost. No need to deal with RAID whatsoever.

 

[knoximator]

Are you planning on using both drives or are you just switching to the bigger one?
Do you need more space than 80gb for OS and programs?

i'm planning to remove the old 80 gig.


thanks for the input...i'll give it a try and see how it goes.

 

[knoximator]

i know this is not related but i had to ask....

if i were to make an image copy of my current system (using acronis or ghost), and were to copy it onto a new and different pc (different hardware than the original installation), would that work (accounting for the bumps of different and/or wrong drivers an so on....)...or would it be a total disaster???

would it make a difference if i were to uninstall all drivers before making the image copy and putting it on the new system afterwards????

 

[nitrobass24]

If the only thing your changing is the hard drive, you should be able to clone your 80gb to your 160gb and be fine

 

[MrGuvernment]

i know this is not related but i had to ask....

if i were to make an image copy of my current system (using acronis or ghost), and were to copy it onto a new and different pc (different hardware than the original installation), would that work (accounting for the bumps of different and/or wrong drivers an so on....)...or would it be a total disaster???

would it make a difference if i were to uninstall all drivers before making the image copy and putting it on the new system afterwards????

windows will likely crash and reboot due to drive issues. and no because of all the drivers windows it's self installs.

 

[Dangman]

windows will likely crash and reboot due to drive issues. and no because of all the drivers windows it's self installs.

+1 to this. In my experience, I've rarely seen moving a Windows install from one PC to different PC work well. No difference even if you stripped out all the drivers.

 

[Old Hippie]

i know this is not related but i had to ask....

if i were to make an image copy of my current system (using acronis or ghost), and were to copy it onto a new and different pc (different hardware than the original installation), would that work (accounting for the bumps of different and/or wrong drivers an so on....)...or would it be a total disaster???

would it make a difference if i were to uninstall all drivers before making the image copy and putting it on the new system afterwards????

I've done this just to see if it would work, and it did.

I made a complete Acronis image of an Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe 939 NVIDIA nForce4 board.

I swapped MBs and installed an Abit IP35-Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 and did a fresh install of XP Pro and MB drivers.

Then I used the old image on the new board. I probably just got lucky, but it worked just fine. All programs, email, and whatever were just fine and I know I saved hours over a normal fresh install, especially with all the programs I have.

I just did this for shits and giggles and only used it for 3 or 4 months 'till I did a proper new install on a new HD.

 

[MrGuvernment]

^^ guess you did get lucky.. few years back i had tried this and things worked fine.... for while, until i started getting weird dll errors, things just crashing randomly and such.

 

[Old Hippie]

^^ guess you did get lucky.. few years back i had tried this and things worked fine.... for while, until i started getting weird dll errors, things just crashing randomly and such.

I have no doubt this doesn't work many more times, than it does.

It's got YMMV written all over it in very large letters.