Moving Windows to a Different Hard Disk Without Reinstalling
Posted in Computer Operating System Support by freetaotaoIf you have a new hard drive and don’t want to reinstall windows, but want to find a simple way to move Windows to it, is there any method? yes, there is a method to proceed with this procedure, but first you will need the following:
•The Windows installation that you want to move must be Windows 2000 Pro, 2000 Server, 2003 Server, or XP.
•The old hard drive controller is currently installed in the system, drivers for it are installed in Windows, and the hard drive holding the current Windows installation is attached to that controller, and Windows currently starts up in this configuration.
•You will need some type of tool to copy a partition from one drive to another if you will be moving the Windows installation to a different hard drive as well as a different controller. The recommended tools are: Norton Partition Magic, Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image, or BootIt Next Generation/Image for DOS. There are a few other products out there as well. Be aware that Partition Magic will only run on Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP – it does not support copying partitions containing a server operating system. For copying server partitions, I recommend Norton Ghost.
•You need the ability to have both the old disk controller and the new disk controller installed in the machine at the same time. If you can’t do this for whatever reason, there is a work-around that will be addressed later in the guide.
•If you will be copying the startup Windows partition to a different drive, the disk controllers involved in the copy operation must support Extended INT13h extensions so that they can be seen by the partition copy software. (Most SCSI and RAID controllers, and all modern IDE/SATA controllers support this).
•You need drivers for the new disk controller already downloaded and decompressed (if required) on your C: drive.
•You need to prepare a DOS-mode startup media for the partition copy program you will be using. For Partition Magic, you can boot the Partition Magic CD. For Norton Ghost, you need to create a Ghost boot floppy. For Acronis True Image, you can boot the Acronis True Image CD. For BootIt Next Generation/Image for DOS, create a startup floppy.
This procedure assumes you’re using a different hard disk as well as a different disk controller. If you’re changing the disk controller only, skip steps 13-18 and just move your hard drive to the new disk controller in place of those steps.
1. Backup all important data. Use a different hard drive other than the ones that will be used in this procedure, or backup to a network storage device or tape drive.
2. Shut down the system (power off).
3. Install the new disk controller in the system, but do not connect any drives to it.
4. Power on the system, go into the system BIOS.
5. Make sure in the boot order, that your original disk controller and hard drive are still set to be the boot device.
6. Save changes in the BIOS if necessary, and restart the system.
7. Allow your existing installation of Windows to start up.
8. Once Windows is started up and has reached the desktop, the Found New Hardware wizard should start, indicating that the system wants to install drivers for the new disk controller.
9. Install the drivers according to the manufacturer’s directions. Make sure you’re installing the correct driver. Many manufacturers provide a driver package that has drivers for several different, but similar products. Make sure you pick the driver for the exact disk controller that you have installed in the system.
10. When you’re done, Windows may ask you to restart. Do so now.
11. After the restart, check Windows device manager, make sure your new disk controller appears in the device list (under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers if it’s an IDE/SATA device, or under SCSI and RAID Controllers if it’s a SCSI card or RAID device). Make sure there is no yellow exclamation point or red X on the device. Double click it to make sure Windows says that the device is working properly.
12. Shut down the system (power off).
13. Attach your new hard drive(s) to the new disk controller.
14. If your new controller is a RAID controller and your intention is to create a new RAID array for your Windows installation, power on the system, go into the RAID BIOS Utility and create the RAID array on the new drives according to the manufacturer’s directions.
15. Power on the system and start up the DOS-mode partition copy utility that you have, either from CD or floppy.
16. You should now see the existing Windows partition on your old disk controller/hard disk, and a blank area on the new disk controller/hard disk/RAID array. Following the manufacturer’s directions for your partition copy utility, copy the partition from the old drive to the new drive/array.
17. Exit the partition copy utility and shut down the system (power off).
18. Remove the old hard drive from the old disk controller, but leave the controller installed.
19. Power on the system, go into the system BIOS. Make sure that in the boot order, the new disk controller is set as the startup device.
20. Save changes to the BIOS, and restart the system.
21. Windows will now start up on your new disk controller & hard drive.
22. Once started up and at the desktop, go into Device Manager.
Note: steps 23-25 should not be done if the old disk controller will be hosting other drives, such as a second hard drive or CD/DVD.
23. Right-click and uninstall the old disk controller (under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers if it’s an IDE/SATA device, or under SCSI and RAID Controllers if it’s a SCSI card or RAID device).
24. Shut down the system (power off).
25. Remove the old disk controller from the system (or disable it in the system BIOS if it’s a motherboard-embedded device).
Now all work has been finished, new hard drive could be used as normal! Step-by-Step Moving Windows to New Hard Disk Without Reinstalling
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