What is the best way to transfer content from one HD to another. ?

Hi,

I need to replace a faulty harddisk with a new one. The faulty harddisk can still be used, but, hardware diagnosis shows the following error.

"Read Test" :
Error Code 0F00:0244
Msg Block 5177324: Uncorrectable data error code or media is write protected

"Verify Test" :
Error Code 0F00:1A44
Msg Block 5177324: Uncorrectable data error code or media is write protected

I get from a dell tech that this means the HD is dying. So, I ordered a replacement.

What is the best way to transfer the content of the old HD to the new one?

The new HD is totally blank.

I was thinking of burning a .iso image, but, has never done it before. Currently How does it work? If I burn the whole thing in .iso file, do I still need to install windows in the blank HD first?

Also, I need recommendation of a good HD cleaner. Because the machine is under warranty, I didn't purchase the HD, but, just let dell replace it. So, dell need to take back the old HD. I need to good cleaner to clean the HD of its data.

What kind of hard disk are you talking about? What's your machine? is it laptop, desktop? Are you trying to replace your primary hard disk? By primary means the hard disk which contains your OS. New hard disk comes usually without any formatting. So You should format it. First connect it to your machine (USB, SATA, IDE whatever option is available to you). Your OS should recognize the disk but won't open it. So select the hard disk, right click and choose format. NTFS is the recommended format, leave other options as it is.

If you give me more specific information about the hard disk and what you are trying to do with it. I could try to help. ;)

Machine : Desktop
Partition: C and D drive
OS : Windows XP Home

Yes, I'm trying to replace the old primary HD with this new one. The dell tech said I only need to replace the HD, then put in the setup/recovery CD. I should be able to go into setup.

What other info you need?

I want to replace the HD and then get everything into the old HD into the new one. Also, I prefer it to be as similar to the old one as possible, so that the users can easily find the files.

The current HD is partitioned into C and D drive.

Thanks for your help. :)

OK, I got clear vision of your situation.

First let me ask, do you have the setup/recovery disk?

If you install that one into your machine, It will turn your machine into the state when you first bought your desktop. So you will lose all your personal files. So you should back up your important files.

OK I will write series steps which I would have taken if I were in your shoes.

1. First Disconnect your old HD and connect your new HD to your machine, Insert the Setup Disk which should install fresh OS. (If your hard disk uses IDE connection then don't forget about Master and Slave configuration).

2. Resart your pc and boot from CD/DVD. Following guide is to help fresh installing Windows XP. If it is first time installing OS then read it carefully.

http://www.getpcmemory.com/microsoft...llation-of-xp/

3. When you get to following step (refer image), you should see all HDs and their partitions. Here you can divide your new HD.

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4. Select your new drive and press C. In the following window, you could assign the capacity. For XP 30 or 40 gigabyte is enough. But it's your choice. After pressing Enter key, you would have created a new partition. Then choose un-partitioned section of your new drive and press C again. Leave capacity as it is and press Enter.

5. Now you have two partitions for your new HD. Select the first one and continue installing new OS.

6. When you completed, XP OS would be installed in primary partition of your new drive (C drive). and secondary partition (D Drive) would be empty and unformatted. Format it according my first post.

7. Turn off your PC, and connect your old HD. Make sure you are not confused with Master and Slave configuration this time as well. If you not sure what I am talking google it.

8. Now you can copy your personal files to your new D drive. I would keep my C empty with only OS and applications are running. And I keep my personal files in other drive, namely D drive.

Good Luck!!;)

Thanks. Any recommendation on HD cleaner?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kidd

Thanks. Any recommendation on HD cleaner?

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I use ccleaner . It free, simple and pretty straight forward.


http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kidd

Thanks. Any recommendation on HD cleaner?

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dam, you got an IDE to USB or some sort of external case? if so just pop it in as USB and transfer to your new drive once you're done.

And like the tech says, just pop the recovery disk and follow instruction, you're doing a fresh install but from a recovery disk, it might be slightly different from doing it as a regular XP/7 disk.

What's with the 'dam'?

So, .iso not going to work? I was hoping to find a way to transfer everything to the new drive. I did the normal USB/IDE transfer before. There are bound to be something missing after the transfer. The user love to put everything in the desktop and then theirs folders got many layers. I have to go to document and settings to get all the stuff and there's always bound to be some files that are untransferable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kidd

What's with the 'dam'?

So, .iso not going to work? I was hoping to find a way to transfer everything to the new drive. I did the normal USB/IDE transfer before. There are bound to be something missing after the transfer. The user love to put everything in the desktop and then theirs folders got many layers. I have to go to document and settings to get all the stuff and there's always bound to be some files that are untransferable.

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oh i was just thinking out loud...

ISO will work, but it's rather annoying, you'll have to get the software in the new drive to open that ISO, THEN you end up with the content of the whole drive and dig through it... might as well dig through it using USB method.

All files on a USB "should" be transferable, if it's not then there's something wrong with the disk, not the file. And if you get some sort of error doing that, just post on here and see if we can find a solution.

I think something is missing after transfer because there are running system files and hidden files that are not copied.

For hidden files, open My Computer, then go to Tools>Folder Options>View. In the "Advanced settings:", select "Show hidden files and folders" under the "Hidden Files and folders" setting. Also uncheck the checkboxes for "Hide extensions for known file types" and "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)".

If you are working on a faulty harddisk with bad sector, you need to be careful. Most of the time, you can only backup once and the harddisk will be permanently fail. The reason because certain harddisk with bad sector is caused by misaligned slider or disk, and it scratches thru the disk while reading. Once read, the same address no longer readable. You can detect the misalignment simply by listening to cracking noise from the harddisk.

If you want your harddisk to be permanently unreadable as you are afraid of tech people seareching thru your files, place a magnet on top of the harddisk and it will render it unusable. However, you'll need a very strong magnet. Otherwise, shut down your CPU by unplugging while copying some files, so that the slider is stuck in a read position, and then drop the harddisk to the floor to screw up the mechanical parts. This should kill the harddisk :p