Help Copying Programs To New Hard Drive

[Scart]

So i had made a previous post about data recovery after my hard drive crashed, but i installed my new one today and i can still get all my files off the old one, so windows must have been the only thing messed up. I was wondering if it was possible to move all my programs to my new hard drive without reinstalling all of them on the new drive. Last time i reformatted i also lost alot of data, especially music since my licenses weren't copied and i had to put all my music back on. So help with that would also be nice. Thanks!

[3.0charlie]

If you wish to make an exact copy from an old hard drive to a new one, you can use DiskWizard, from Seagate. Works great. Seagate Technology - DiscWizard

[DarKStar]

I second the above - I have personally used this several times - If not mistaken this program will work with Seagate drives only, someone correct me if i'm wrong

This program uses the Acronis engine and is equivalent to the home backup edition and is fully functional. There is a clone backup function which is a 1:1 backup that copies your ENTIRE HD sector by sector, taking account all partition info.

- it is compatible with internal and external drives, can be run from a CD/DVD too.

To answer your question NO you cannot simply copy your program files directory without re-installing. Actually there might be SOME applications that might work out, those are rare and usually have no dependencies. Some applications install registry keys, register DLLs and installs drivers or files in the windows and/or system directories and/Or common files folder, so you will need to re-isntall those.

[3.0charlie]

I believe that I've used that program on HDDs other than Seagate, but if this is the case, WD has their own version (Data Lifeguard Tool).

[DarKStar]

Originally Posted by 3.0charlie

I believe that I've used that program on HDDs other than Seagate, but if this is the case, WD has their own version (Data Lifeguard Tool).

Was it a Maxtor ? I believe it would work with both since Seagate acquired Maxtor.

If this program works on other brands then it must be a glitch - it can't be good for Acronis since the Seagate DiscWizard is 1:1 identical to the Acronis Home edition backup version 10 :) I wonder if I could UPDATE it through the acronis site... :)

[3.0charlie]

Originally Posted by DarKStar

Was it a Maxtor ? I believe it would work with both since Seagate acquired Maxtor.

If this program works on other brands then it must be a glitch - it can't be good for Acronis since the Seagate DiscWizard is 1:1 identical to the Acronis Home edition backup version 10 :) I wonder if I could UPDATE it through the acronis site... :)

Ah! Could be just that.

[Frenchtoast]

I can confirm that Seatools does indeed work on my 2 Maxtor drives, that were produced pre-seagate acquisition.

[baov]

If you wanted to make an exact functional copy, you don't need any programs for that. What you need is another computer with it's own OS. Boot up the other computer with the drive you want to copy from and the drive you want to copy to plugged in. Show hidden files. Copy past everything from one hdd to the other (except the two folders named System Volume Information and RECYCLER). Voilà, as simple as that, no extra cost for buying any software. Works even when partitions are of different sizes in the "from" and the "to". And the OS is bootable and functionnal like it was in the old hdd, of course it has to be functional to begin with (which might not be your case). Only works for NTFS formatted OS partitions though, FAT didn't work for some reason.

[Scart]

yeah, the only problem is that i still have to reinstall windows.

[DarKStar]

Originally Posted by Frenchtoast

I can confirm that Seatools does indeed work on my 2 Maxtor drives, that were produced pre-seagate acquisition.

That doesn't matter - the application does not take into account product date, but the product brand whether it is SEAGATE or MAXTOR.