Hi there, everyone. Been a while since I've posted. Well, I'll cut to the chase. I'm looking at putting in a new Western Digital Scorpio Blue 1TB hard drive in my computer. I have an existing 500GB hard drive by Seagate right now. I have a few questions, but first, I'll post up my computer's specs.
Alienware m11x r2
Intel Core i7 1.2Mhz
8GB RAM (4GB x 2)
Seagate 500GB Hard Drive
nVidia GT335 1GB Video Card (Intel Graphics as primary)
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Operating System, 64-Bit
Basically, I maxed the system out when I first got it minus the AT&T cell antenna crap (added cost that I'll probably never use).
I have about 350GB worth of crap on my computer. (Lol.) This includes programs like AutoCad, Adobe suites (Photoshop, Flash, Soundbooth, etc.), Nero 10, Norton, World of Warcraft, etc. along with the usual stuff like pictures and documents.
Now, seeing as how this is a single drive by laptop, it presents a bit of a problem. See, if it had another drive bay, I could just slave the new one and Ghost from the old one with not much problem. But, that's not the case. So, I'm guessing my only option is to do it USB. What all would I need to accomplish this task? A USB->SATA laptop connector of some sort? External hard drive enclosure? Any suggestions are welcome. I know it'd probably take a few hours, but time isn't a huge problem here.
What would be the best program to use to do this with? Only reason I say Norton Ghost is because I'm fairly familiar with this since we use it at work to clone computers. But, again, open to other options.
Another question that I have is that my hard drive has what's called a RECOVERY partition as well. Most of you that are familiar with manufacturer's installed operating systems has this such as HP, Dell, etc. There's no drive letter assigned to it. I guess, if the OS goes down the tube, you'd be able to select it to repair Windows. Now, when I clone the old hard drive to the new hard drive, will the Recovery sector be cloned over as well? This is what I'd like to do if possible as well. Mainly, just take all my exisiting hard drive and plop it on a new, bigger one.
Thanks for the help in advance.
Oh, and I do NOT have Bitlocker enabled on my hard drive, if that comes into play.
Alienware m11x r2
Intel Core i7 1.2Mhz
8GB RAM (4GB x 2)
Seagate 500GB Hard Drive
nVidia GT335 1GB Video Card (Intel Graphics as primary)
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Operating System, 64-Bit
Basically, I maxed the system out when I first got it minus the AT&T cell antenna crap (added cost that I'll probably never use).
I have about 350GB worth of crap on my computer. (Lol.) This includes programs like AutoCad, Adobe suites (Photoshop, Flash, Soundbooth, etc.), Nero 10, Norton, World of Warcraft, etc. along with the usual stuff like pictures and documents.
Now, seeing as how this is a single drive by laptop, it presents a bit of a problem. See, if it had another drive bay, I could just slave the new one and Ghost from the old one with not much problem. But, that's not the case. So, I'm guessing my only option is to do it USB. What all would I need to accomplish this task? A USB->SATA laptop connector of some sort? External hard drive enclosure? Any suggestions are welcome. I know it'd probably take a few hours, but time isn't a huge problem here.
What would be the best program to use to do this with? Only reason I say Norton Ghost is because I'm fairly familiar with this since we use it at work to clone computers. But, again, open to other options.
Another question that I have is that my hard drive has what's called a RECOVERY partition as well. Most of you that are familiar with manufacturer's installed operating systems has this such as HP, Dell, etc. There's no drive letter assigned to it. I guess, if the OS goes down the tube, you'd be able to select it to repair Windows. Now, when I clone the old hard drive to the new hard drive, will the Recovery sector be cloned over as well? This is what I'd like to do if possible as well. Mainly, just take all my exisiting hard drive and plop it on a new, bigger one.
Thanks for the help in advance.
Oh, and I do NOT have Bitlocker enabled on my hard drive, if that comes into play.
