Might as well splash out on a new laptop hdd

[Harsky]

My laptop's 40gb laptop just keeps getting filled up and thought I might as well get a new one with a bigger capacity. unfortunately I don't want to go through the hassle of reinstalling programs, putting in drivers, transfering data from my old HD to my new one via a HD enclosure. How do I make an exact copy from my old HD to my new one?

 

[Shinji]

There are programs (dl'able and retail) that copy HDD>HDD

As of right now I dont have any links cause I'm at work.

My first answer would have been drag n' drop XD

 

[x_comp]

Well, I don't know what specs your laptop has but, what you want to do is do some "disk cloning". You'll need something to store the disk image on since your hard drive's full such as say DVD-Rs.

Here's a guide about disk cloning with links to some freeware programs:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=418

Personally I would use something like Norton Ghost but er, that's not free

 

[tama_mog]

Only good way is using ghost if you don't want to reinstall operating system, if it's just data like backing up some files, then just temporarily fill some dvdrs or connect your laptop to a desktop to get everything off of there first then install new drive and reformat.

 

[Harsky]

Like I said, I don't want to go through all the hassle of reinstalling everything. So... Norton Ghost the ideal program then?

 

[legendofphil]

Norton Ghost is the program that is mainly used for computer recovery discs and usually works well.

 

[Harsky]

I've been reading that thing X_comp posted. I think that thing is more geared towards the desktop PC and not the laptop as it says I have to connect 2 hard drives at the same time when my laptop can only take one. Would it still work if I buy one of those hard drive enclosures and put my new one into that, run the cloning process and then take it out and put it into my laptop?

 

[ShinaKitsune]

http://www.spearit.com/index.html