Things You'll Need:
- hard drive copy software
-
Step 1
First and foremost you need to backup all your information and data. While following these steps should ensure that you learn how to copy a hard drive, you want to take the necessary precautions just to be safe.
When I first discovered that my hard drive was dying on me, it took days of trials and tests to figure out which method worked best to copy one hard drive to another. If I had not backed up my data first, I would have lost it all. -
Step 2
The next step is to set up your new hard drive so that your old data can be transferred to it. Your hard drive does not actually have to be hooked into a computer case in order to finalize the process only the power cable and IDE or SATA cable need to be plugged in.
Most new hard drives don't require any jumper settings to be changed so just try it first with the initial jumper settings intact. -
Step 3
Many people go about copying their hard drives and XP operating systems to a new hard drive using free shareware software. In my personal experience, this is a bad strategy. I have experimented and tried out numerous free hard drive copy programs and even the most popular free ones can be a hassle.
Often times, free software will come with a number of unavoidable glitches and problems. If you want to copy all files from one hard drive to another with the least amount of work and problems, you should invest in a reputable software program. -
Step 4
With that being said, there are quite a few hard drive copying programs available for purchase. It can be tough to choose which one will suit you best but when all is said and done, Acronis Migrate Easy is the top performer.
While I struggled with Norton Ghost and free programs for days, Acronis Migrate Easy was a breeze to use and copied my old hard drive directly and quickly. -
Step 5
When first beginning the task of copying one hard drive to another you will come across a number of options. While the free software and other free options may seem like your best choice, in the end this isn't the case.
If you want to move all your old files to a new hard drive efficiently and easily, I urge you to invest in a program like Acronis Migrate Easy copying software. This will allow you to avoid all the hassle and stress that the entire process can easily bring about. -
Step 6
Each program will give you detailed steps on how to copy a hard drive so don't worry if you don't feel confident yet in doing it. Once you have gone through the steps of copying all of your data to a new hard drive it really is fairly simple.
The biggest aggravation you will come across is how glitchy a lot of hard drive copying software programs are. It wasn't until I finally broke down and bought a program for it that my life got a lot easier. -
Step 7
Take a moment and checkout the Acronis program, you can find the link below in the resources area. I can't stress enough how important it is to invest in a program for this project. It will save you a lot of headaches.
