BleepingComputer.com: How to upgrade a HDD by cloning?

I own a Toshiba satellite l350d 01m laptop. I just bought a 500GB HDD because I am running out of space on the installed 250GB; I want to copy the entire c: drive onto the new drive i bought and then install that drive into the laptop. How do I achieve that. Where can I get a clone program for free, so that I can just swap out the drives and it will work. I created a recovery disc but I know that I need the HDD recovery partition on the drive and I don’t want to start from scratch just increase the size then use the smaller 250gb drive as the new add on drive and the 500gb I bought as the primary master. I also don’t want to have to reinstall everything I have already on my system again it takes forever. I know it can be done I just need step by steps on how to do it and where to get the relevant programs to do it. Thanks

It's really not that hard to clone a Hard Drive. All you need to do is, pop in the new hard drive and format it(NTFS).

Use one of these programs.
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/05/5-...our-hard-drive/

Follow the instructions within them, it won't be too hard as the option you want will be something like "Clone to other volume" etc etc.

You can also check the download section of the support site of the hard drive's manufacturer
They should offer a utility to do it

i want to have an exact copy of my current drive so that i dont have to reinstall everything and also not lose the hidden recovery partitions

Cloning/copying the partition...gives you an exact copy of your current Windows partition...as long as you follow the instructions for using whatever program you intend to use.

If you have hidden/recovery partitions...you need to clone those also. Which may mean that you need to clone the hard drive, I don't know...I have no experience with recovery partitions.

Louis

The Free Edition of HDClone clones an entire hard disk to another, larger medium. Use it for migrating an existing installation to a new hard disk or for rescuing data. The Free Edition is real freeware without obligation to buy and is intended for the short-term usage at no cost. In case of more frequent usage, we recommend using one of the higher editions since they offer higher performance, support for a wider range of hardware, and additional options which are optimized for regular or professional use.
http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.html
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EASEUS Disk Copy

EASEUS Disk Copy is a potent freeware providing sector-by-sector disk/partition clone regardless of your operating system, file systems and partition scheme by creating a bootable CD. The sector-by-sector method assures you a copy 100% identical to the original. Disk Copy can be used for copy, cloning, or upgrading your original small hard drive to a new larger drive. Simply speaking, it can copy anything from the old hard drive including the deleted, lost files and inaccessible data.
http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/

I've used Easeus Partition Master to clone partitions/drives successfully...never tried the Disk Copy utility because I had PM.

Louis

i used clonezilla, then used easus partition program to move the hdd recovery partition to the end of the drive. just to let u know clonezilla missed something in the cloning and i had to recover the drive, now i have two choices in the boot menu
1.windows vista
2.windows vista (recovered)
how can i remove 1.windows vista so that there is only one choice and i don't have to pick it every time?

Are there two folders for Vista when you boot?

Your question is probably better answered...in the BC Vista forum.

Louis

Same question asked at http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic271443.html.

Louis

it's a black screen at boot up that gives me two choices to boot from if that's what u mean by folders.
sorry about asking about it twice i didn't think that i would get a reply from this topic because of its age. sorry once again i will remember this in the future

<<it's a black screen at boot up that gives me two choices to boot from if that's what u mean by folders.>>

No . I mean...when you actually boot into Vista and look at the files folders...are there two folders marked Windows on the C: partition?

Louis

no there is only one

thankyou for helping me

you can edit the boot menu(http://www.jimmah.com/vista/content.aspx?id=15), but i would be more concerned about the hard drive space that the failed install is using.
if you still have the 250gb drive in its original condition i would format the 500gb and try cloning again.
EASEUS Disk Copy worked for me and then resize with Easeus Partition Master. i would also leave the recovery partition where it was. that may be why it messed up the first time.

thanks i'll try that