Thanks to all for your input. The PC owner's father in law had previously installed a full version of the Acronis 11 software.
Since it was already in place, I unplugged the CD ROM and used that IDE channel to connect the new 500GB drive. The old 40GB drive was 99.9 % full, but it was a straightforward process to follow the wizard and clone the disk image. That type of software is now high on my list of utilities to own. Thanks again to everyone. Rocky ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
