Ok, so I got a new HDD for my b-day and I'm itching to put it in, but I have a dilemma. My OS drive is a 5 Gig partition of one HDD and is ridicuously full. Ideally, I would like to completely reinstall XP on the new drive and make it the new drive C:, but my XP Pro is an upgrade disc. I remember on the old 98 upgrades that if you first copied windows.exe on to the HDD the upgrade disc would actually install a full copy... are XP discs the same way? If not, my next most desirable option would be to remove the partition between C: and D: and just relegate the new drive to be drive L:.

I really want the new drive to be my primary though, because it's a seriously faster drive; so what are my options?

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=408728


Drivesnapshot is good.

you can do a full install from an XP upgrade disc... I cant quite remember how, but ive done it several times before. I think they make you put in an older install disc like a Win MX or win 98SE disc to verify that you're "upgrading".
Edited for spelling

I have used Drive image 7

Quoted: you can do a full install from an XP upgrade disc... I cant quite remember how, but ive done it several times before. I think they make you put in an older install disc like a Win MX or win 98SE disc to verify that you're "upgrading". Edited for spelling

Yep! what he said...

Here's what I'd do, take out your current HDD, and put in the new one. Then put your XP disc in and set your BIOS to boot from CD (if it isnt automatic), then it should have a setup and eventually prompt for you to put a previous version disc in. If the setup doesnt pop up(Ie wont run from the disc), boot from a DOS floppy (also put SMARTDRV.exe on this floppy) then put your XP disc in and then switch to your CD, and do CD i386 and run setup.exe.

I THINK this is how it is done but I cant remember exactly, though if you know what you're doing it should work out ok.
ETA: then once you get XP installed, put in your old HDD and move your files over. Though this could create issues with your program files and the registry.

ETA: then once you get XP installed, put in your old HDD and move your files over. Though this could create issues with your program files and the registry.

I don't mind if I have to reinstall everything else, too. I always feel better with a fresh clean Windows install (it always seems to get gummed up after too many program installs and removals).

Quoted: ETA: then once you get XP installed, put in your old HDD and move your files over. Though this could create issues with your program files and the registry. I don't mind if I have to reinstall everything else, too. I always feel better with a fresh clean Windows install (it always seems to get gummed up after too many program installs and removals).

Yeah reinstalling everything will prevent such things, I personally hate doing mass reinstalls cause of all the games and apps I have.
In which case just move and files you want to keep and perhaps format the old drive and use it as a slave/ extra storage.

I have 2 80 gig HDD's with 2 equal partitions each and an external 80 gb for more mobile storage. At the time of install partitions seemed like a good idea, but now. not so much.

Just reinastall the OS.  Ya I know it sucks - I do it every 3-4 months.  You'll be amazed at how nice and fast your box is again.

Just do it.  The more you do it, the faster you'll get, hehe.

Quoted: Just reinastall the OS.  Ya I know it sucks - I do it every 3-4 months.  You'll be amazed at how nice and fast your box is again. Just do it.  The more you do it, the faster you'll get, hehe.

or you could just defrag and keep background processes to a minimum I should mention all the XP installs I have done have been on OTHER peoples machines, not mine.

Quoted: Quoted: Just reinastall the OS.  Ya I know it sucks - I do it every 3-4 months.  You'll be amazed at how nice and fast your box is again. Just do it.  The more you do it, the faster you'll get, hehe. or you could just defrag and keep background processes to a minimum I should mention all the XP installs I have done have been on OTHER peoples machines, not mine.

I'm TRYING to reinstall the OS... But i only have an upgrade disc!! thats why I wanted to see if anyone knew whether or not the XP "upgrades" were just "full" installs that look for a certain file on the new HDD before planting. As for defragging, i do every month and i run no more than 2 back ground apps, but thats irrelevant anyway as I'm not having any problems aside from having a full HDD.  (a 10G and an 80G full, putting in a 250G).

yes I know you're doing a reinstall for a hardware type reason, but there is NO good reason (in my opinion) to reinstall windows ever 3-4 months with proper maintenence.
I'm gonna go play CSS now, if you need more help, I'll check back later.
Edit for spelling