Moving Windows 7 installation to new HDD help please

[Tiny Voices]

I have been using a cheap used 160gb 1.5gbps sata HDD as my primary drive. Just last night I tore apart an external HDD and now have a 6gbps sata3 2TB HDD. I want to move everything over, Including my installation of Windows 7 Professional to the new drive.

What is the best/ easiest/ hardest to mess up method for moving my OS and everything else to the new HDD. I assume people do this alot when upgrading to a SDD for a boot drive so there must be a relatively simply way to go about it.

Thanks for any help!

[DanG]

What brand is the new drive? The manufacturer likely has software free on their website to make an image of your existing drive on the new one.

[Tiny Voices]

It is a Western Digital caviar green.

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[Tiny Voices]

I have the disk and product key for win7 so I could just reinstall but I don't really want to reinstall all I'd my programs. Is there a way to move all that over so I don't have to reinstall everything on the new drive?

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[SpiffyGTI]

You can use the built-in tools in Windows 7 to create a system image and repair disk, then run the System Restore on the new drive. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/4241/...-in-windows-7/

I haven't done it myself but it looks pretty straightforward and it's built right in (free).

[DanG]

http://support.wdc.com/product/downl...id=608&lang=en

The first link is for their free imaging software.

Hook up the new drive to the PC, run the software, set the source (old) drive, set the target (new) drive and click go. It will reboot, copy everything to the new one and tell you when to remove the old one.

I've done it dozens of times with this software. Super easy to do.

I've also used the W7 system image stuff that's built in, it's also easy, but you have to burn a DVD with the startup files and then go through a half dozen menus.

The WD Acronis software int he link is the easiest of the 2.

[SpiffyGTI]

ha, yeah that's definitely easier than the Windows method.

[Tiny Voices]

http://support.wdc.com/product/downl...id=608&lang=en

The first link is for their free imaging software.

Hook up the new drive to the PC, run the software, set the source (old) drive, set the target (new) drive and click go. It will reboot, copy everything to the new one and tell you when to remove the old one.

I've done it dozens of times with this software. Super easy to do.

I've also used the W7 system image stuff that's built in, it's also easy, but you have to burn a DVD with the startup files and then go through a half dozen menus.

The WD Acronis software int he link is the easiest of the 2.

Thank you! This is most likely what I will end up doing once I get home from class.

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[Tiny Voices]

That software is awesome. You seriously just pick the drive to clone and where to put it and click go. I am now on the 2tb HDD only and ditched the 160gb one. Thanks for all the help!

[DanG]

Even though it's an old small drive, keep it off site at your parent's house so you have a backup of exactly how your system is now.

It sucks to lose a drive, but to have windows and most of your programs already installed, way better.