How to Transfer Data From One Drive to Another
When IBM released its first 5MB hard drive back in 1956, the price of the drive was a cool $50,000, or about $10,000 a megabyte. By the 1980s, the average cost per megabyte had decreased to about $200. As of August 2011, modern hard drives offer storage at the bargain rate of 5 to 10 cents per gigabyte. Therefore, increasing storage space in your computer by replacing the hard drive is a relatively inexpensive upgrade. However, when installing a new hard drive, you must transfer data from the old drive unless you want to reinstall Windows and all your applications. Fortunately, several free and commercial programs make transferring your data relatively simple.
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Instructions
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Install the New Hard Drive
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Power off the computer, and disconnect all cables and devices. Move the computer to a flat work surface. Use the Phillips screwdriver to remove the screws that secure the case cover or access panel. Remove the cover or panel. Put on the antistatic wrist strap, and clip the other end to a metal part of the case.
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2
Insert the new hard drive into an empty mounting bay slot in the case. When you insert the drive into the slot, align the screw holes in the slot with those on the hard drive. Insert the mounting screws that came with the hard drive into the holes in the slot, then tighten them with the screwdriver.
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3
Connect an available ½-inch power connector from the power supply to the power port on the rear of the new hard drive. Connect the SATA cable to the hard drive and the "SATA 2" or "Secondary SATA" port on the motherboard.
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4
Move the computer back to its original location. Note that you do not have to replace the case cover or panel at this time, as you must remove it again shortly if you do. Reconnect the power cord and other cables.
Transfer Data to New Drive
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Restart the computer. During the boot process, the computer should recognize and configure the new drive automatically. If the machine does not recognize the new drive, restart the computer, and press the "Delete," "F1" or other designated key for accessing the BIOS setup menu. Most computers display the key used to access the BIOS during boot up. So, refer to the post message on the boot screen if you are unsure of which key to press. Once you boot in to the BIOS setup menu, the computer should detect the new drive automatically. Click "Save" or "Save Changes" in the BIOS to exit. The computer restarts automatically.
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Log in to Windows with your username and password if prompted. Launch your Web browser application.
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Download and install a disk imaging application. Programs such as DriveImage XML, Norton Ghost and Macrium Reflect offer simple-to-use transfer wizards that make transferring your data to a new drive as easy as a few mouse clicks.
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Launch the disk imaging application. Once the transfer or copy wizard appears, select the old hard drive as the source drive, and the new drive as the destination drive. When prompted to choose a file format for the new drive, select "NTFS." The imaging application partitions and formats the drive.
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Select the "Clone Drive" or "Copy Drive" option, then click "Start" or "Copy" to start the imaging application. After the program confirms the successful imaging of the old hard drive, exit the application and shut down the computer.
Finishing Up
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10
Disconnect the power cord and other cables. Move the computer back to the flat work surface.
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Disconnect the power cable and SATA cable from the old hard drive. Use the Phillips screwdriver to remove the retaining screws from the old drive. Remove the old drive from the case.
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12
Disconnect the "SATA 2" or "Secondary SATA" cable from the new hard drive. Connect the connector from the "SATA 1" or "Primary SATA" port cable to the new hard drive.
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Close the case and reconnect all the cables to the computer. Restart the computer. Windows boots and starts normally.
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Tips & Warnings
If you choose, you can keep the old hard drive as a secondary drive in your system. Simply connect the "SATA 2" or "Secondary SATA" port cable to the old hard drive after transferring your data.
Do not erase any data off of your old hard drive until you have confirmed that everything transferred properly to your new one.
You may even want to keep the drive or discs that you used to transfer the data as a back up for your new computer.
