Yes - you need to 'copy' the current 'booting' OS partition to the new drive using a copy facility that runs in DOS mode, or is not run from the OS in the drive you are copying.
You should be able to get drive copying, or partition copying software from magazines, or download from the net - sites such as http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads8.html Drive Utilities - see HD Copy Paragon ... Partition ... If you cannot get a utility that will do that copy from Dos mode, then perhaps use the win98 install CD to setup a small partition on the new drive, install an instance of the OS in that partition, (2GB should do) Do this with only the new drive running in the system - sooner safe than sorry just remove the power, or interface connection cable but you will need to adjust the drives master/slave setting - or the interface cable connection if it's a Cable-Select Then boot that version of the OS (you may need to swap the drives so that the new one is the master drive on the primary IDE connection. Install the windows based partition copier into that version of windows, and then copy the OS partition from the old drive to the new one as a Primary partition change the name of one copy of the OS partition so you can tell the difference Finally, mark the new OS partition you created as hidden, and mark the copy you just created as visible active bootable Then restart the system and check it boots the new partition You should not need to use xcopy as the copy of the OS should include everything. But - this would be a great time to delete any stuff you don't need adjust any needed user-id setup etc. run registry cleaners tidy out anything you don't want defrag the partition containing the new copy of the OS, That is while the old drive is a valid backup of the working system JimB ----- Original Message ----- From: "Slattery, Tim - BLS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 2:24 PM Subject: Re: HARD:New drive set up > My daughter just reported that her son's (age 4) hard drive is making > new noises. > My guess is it should be replaced before it goes completely. > It is an old W98 box she used a few years ago. > What is the best way to clone the existing drive? > Can she X-copy from the existing to the new after formatting it? Sam I think you're on the right track. Install the new drive as a secondary (a slave on the same controller as the existing drive or put it on the other controller, whatever is convenient). Install one or more partitions as desired (but remember that you need a primary partition to boot from) and format them. Now you can select all files from the old drive and drag them to the new one. Or open a DOS box and type: xcopy c: d: /r/i/c/h/k/e/y Assuming that the old drive is c: and the new drive is d:. Then shutdown the machine, remove the old drive and put the new one where the old one used to be. You may need to boot from a startup disk and use fdisk to set the new drive active. -- Tim Slattery [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ---------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Is your picture included in the Official Win-Home List Members Profiles Page? http://www.besteffort.com/winhome/Profiles.html If not, write to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ---------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Is your picture included in the Official Win-Home List Members Profiles Page? http://www.besteffort.com/winhome/Profiles.html If not, write to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
