How to Upgrade a Hard Drive Without Reinstalling
The correct technical term for taking a snapshot of an entire hard drive and then putting it on another drive, as one would do during an upgrade, is either "cloning" or "imaging." There are two excellent products available commercially (see Resources), but a Linux software package will allow a user to accomplish this task for free. The Linux method will be used to illustrate the process. Please note: Clonezilla will work equally as well on Windows, Linux and the latest generation of Intel-based Apple hardware.
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Instructions
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Download the Clonezilla ISO file and burn a bootable CD using the instructions provided by the CD-burning software on your system. A link to download Clonezilla is provided in the Resources section for your convenience. Please be aware that the Clonezilla download is a 100 MB file. A broadband connection will be required for this download.
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Insert the Clonezilla CD into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive and shut down the computer. Install the new hard drive into the system. Please note: Use the master channel on the Secondary IDE controller if an ATA/PATA drive is to be cloned. Power up the system and enter CMOS, or setup, using the key that is shown on your screen. Ensure that the newly installed hard drive is recognized in setup and make sure that your system is set to boot from CD-ROM/DVD-ROM. Save and exit setup.
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Select the preferred screen resolution from the Clonezilla Boot menu screen by highlighting the choice you wish and pressing "Enter." There will be a Linux boot process display that will last for roughly 2 minutes. Press "Enter" to select English or use your down arrow key to select another language. Select "Don't touch Keymap" with the down arrow key and press "Enter." Press "Enter" to select "Start Clonezilla." Select the "device-device" method if you have installed the new disk into your system or if you would prefer to clone your drive to another, perhaps external drive, select "device-image" and press "Enter." Choose "Use Local Device" and press "Enter" to select the first hard drive that you wish to make an image of. Select the second drive, designate where you wish the image to be placed and press "Enter." This is the new drive that you installed where the old drive's information will be placed on. The easiest way to identify this drive is to focus on the capacity that will be displayed for all drives in your system. Press "Enter" to continue at the prompt. Select "Beginner" mode. Select "savedisk" and press "Enter."
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Shut down the system when the disk-cloning process is completed. Remove the old hard drive and reconfigure the new, upgraded hard drive to Master on the Primary Channel (for ATA/PATA) or move the SATA cable to SATA 1, depending on the drive type you have.
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Tips & Warnings
Back up all of your data files before attempting a drive cloning. Be very careful in choosing which drive to copy from and which to copy to. Typically, Linux will assign an hda or sda designation to the first drive found in the system. The second drive would then be assigned hdb or sdb. If you confuse these drives, Clonezilla will dutifully copy a blank drive over all of your information.
