Installing a new drive

[freshbuilder]

Sorry but I just finished building my first rig and in order to be able to afford it (since I bought the new 7950) I cut back on my HDD. I was wondering if I could install a new drive later on and use that new larger one as my boot up drive and move all my programs there? I like my drives to be organized like one where its all files and stuff while the others are programs. I currently have a 500 gb HDD but since I dont like erasing my games I prefer a 1TB for some great headroom

 

[rolli59]

No problems adding another drive at a later date. You should be able to clone your drive as well.

 

[freshbuilder]

No problems adding another drive at a later date. You should be able to clone your drive as well.

How difficult is this drive cloning thing?

 

[Paperdoc]

Cloning is easy with the right tool, and it is likely the right choice for your situation. By far the most common use of cloning is to clone (that is, copy absolutely everything) from one fully functioning HDD to a new larger one so that the new one can be plugged in in place of the old one and completely take over the role of the older HDD. In your case, in future you will want to get a larger HDD and make it take over as your boot drive which will be called "C: ". After that's done, you can re-Partition and Format the old HDD and use it as a storage device.

If you buy your new larger HDD from Seagate, you can download and install on your operating (older) C: drive from their website for free their utility called Seagate Disk Wizard. It will help you clone from whatever older HDD you have to a new SEAGATE HDD. It does not care whose old drive you have, but it will only help to you move to one of their drives. On the other hand, if you buy from WD, their free package from their website is called Acronis True Image WD Edition, and it will make a clone to any WD HDD. Both of these packages are customized versions of Acronis True Image which is good and which is VERY capable of lots of other uses, so be sure to get and read the user manual document.

Hint: in my use of these tools, I have found that the default settings for how it will Partition your new HDD would have it make the new HDD's Partition the same size as was on the old HDD, and that usually is NOT what you want! You usually want it much bigger, to use up all of the larger HDD's space in one Partition. To do this you need to use the menu system to change a few settings as you prepare to make the clone copy. One more reason to read the manual first and see how that is done.

If you buy from another HDD maker, check out their website for similar cloning tools to help you migrate everything to your new HDD.

You can always find and buy third-party suites that include cloning tools, such as Arconis True Image. But free tools from the HDD manufacturer are a good price!

 

[freshbuilder]

Best answer selected by freshbuilder.