I have a question (maybe be stupid to some but i've never had to deal with more than one HDD before)...I have a 30GB HDD with 98SE on it that is pretty much full and so i'm about to buy a new 160GB HDD and would like to put XP on it. Now, i have about 8GB of stuff i would like to transfer over to XP...so, can i go onto the HDD w/ xp and directly transfer the info. i want from the other HDD with 98SE on it to the HDD w/ xp?

yes, when you install the new harddrive you can do a couple things, most hardware companies have some sort of utility which will alow you to transfer all the files, or whatever files you select to move to the new harddrive. Then you could simply do an XP upgrade install if you wanted. Otherwise you can just install the new harddrive and install XP onto the harddrive then manually move what you wanted to the new harddrive then uninstall the old harddrive and fdisk the mbr to get rid of the dual boot and you'd be all set.

I would recomend that you put the 160GB in as a master and do a clean install of windos xp on it, then I would put the 30GB in as a slave and manual move over the files that you want from the 30GB to the 160GB.

Yeah a clean install is better then upgrade from 98 SE I tried that on a few peoples computers sometimes it works fine other times it works for a few weeks and then it just starts getting all crazy.... but transfering programs that are already installed is not easy you have to move parts of the registry and make new start menue shortcuts and copy over ALL files incuding the shared directory if any. Also it would probably be better just to reintall all those programs under XP using the Installer becouse some of them just will not work with XP (at least one program I promise)

Edit: The reason I say use the installer thats built in is that it makes removing the programs so much cleaner.....

It's not progs. that i want to transfer over (well i do, but i'm just going to install those from a disk) it's things like all my music, and some ripped vids. and anime and such....i just wasen't sure if XP would be able to take files from a HDD with 98SE on it...yeah, i just plan to put XP on the 160GB HDD and leave 98 on the 30GB.

Definetely a clean install of XP. When you transfer things, make sure you get your drivers backed up, and all important hidden files covered as well. Also, when formatting, go with NTFS over FAT32. Agreed, most companies have a transfer utility.

All you have to do is connect the 160 GB drive as a Master so you can install XP on it first, then you would have your old drive connected as a slave. When you boot into XP, you'll see your old drive (most likely E: if you have 1 HD and 1 CDROM). Then just copy/paste over to your 160 GB of whatever you want

What exactly do people mean by a 'clean' installation? I've never thought of asking before.

Not upgrading from an older OS like 98, but installing on an empty, freshly formatted drive.

O Okies. That makes sense. Thanks Anakin

Make sure you set the jumpers correctly on the new drive. Make sure the HD is oriented the right way when you put it in.

if your mobo supports it (i don't think you can buy one that doesn't anymore, so no prob), and you plan on keeping the old hard drive in there for storage or swap space, why not use cable select jumper settings and put your os hard drive first in line? just don't put it on the same ide bus as any cdrw/zip/etc., as this will reduce transfer rates between devices. i say this cause most newer hdd's come set to cs by default...

I was looking at an old TSS article on how to build a hard-drive switcher and it says i would need hard-drive jumpers with wires...anyone know where i could find those at?

I've never even heard of HD jumpers with wires... let alone where you could find any...

This is the article i'm talkin' about

Neat article. With my luck I'd mess up my drive though...

well, i have XP installed on my 160GB HDD now...but i'm still fiddling around with the jumper on the 30GB..i thought i followed the pic. on the HDD to make it the slave but i gess not..so now i just have to instal 52 updates ( ), update the drives, get all my old software installed, get the jumpers figured out, transfer alot of my old files, and anything else i may have forgotten

I hate all those updates. I don't think I noticed a thing afterwards. I know there are security updates and stuff, so that's invisble, but as for the other stuff, not a change at all.

hummmn, here's something weird; XP shows that my HDD is only 127GB , i've heard that XP would do that before SP1 but i've already installed that. Anyone have anyideas of how to fix that?

I've got SP2 installed and mine reads my 160gb hardrive as 127gb as well.

strange, well i guess i might have to do a partition if there is no one that knows how to correct this problem

I think its more likely something wrong with XP. I have a feeling that if you filled up the 127gb then you will find that you will mysteriously be able to go over the limit

that situation did come to mind, but i would prefer to have 160GB show up when i click on the drive icon (i payed for that size i want that size to show up so i can go "LOOK! 160GB" )...u say ur in the same situation, fill up your drives and let me know how it goes

Nah, i don't think i really wanna fill up 127gb of space atm.

I think i will do some googleling on the matter.

Edit:

arghhhhh, it's too early to think!

Damn it! People can't make there minds up!

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...0&#entry2464582

Edit: The file that he offers didn't work for me, seems like we should try partition magic.

that 48bitLba.inf file did not work for me either...

I'm going to try to get it working using partition magic, but i need to download it and at this moment i cba.

Yeah, each of my 200GB hard drives read at 189GB... but, like the quote above says, the Operating Systems and Manufactures look at sizes differently. It does seem thought that the 160GB drives you have is reading as 127GB... that's WAY to far off...

Yeh if you read up on that topic, it seems like XP on formats/partitions a certain part of your drive, so you have to like, err, well, enable the rest of it with a program such as partition magic.

GTX: so do you have any ideas on how to fix our lil' problem?

gofix: i haven't d-loaded partition magic yet, have you tried it out yet?

Its not working properly on my, system. I install it but it doesn't appear to be on my hardrive.

I know on older drives there was a jumper that you could set that would allow you to set the size of the hard drive (like, taking a 6GB drive and making it appear as though it's 4GB)... but I don't think you can do that on newer drives.

Try unplugging the drive (if you can) and power on the computer without the drive. Then, shutdown and plug the drive back in. That'll cause the OS to re-intiallize the drive, and it may see it's size different.

Also, what is the data block size that you formatted with? If it's 64k, then your drive WILL appear smaller due to the large size (I know that's happening with my drives... but I store alot of videos, so the large size increases performance). If it's default or is just small... then I'm not sure...

What do you mean by re-intiallize the drive? Would this operation be carrying any sort of risk?

well, i was just talking to a friend of mine who had the same HDD as I (Maxtor 160GB HDD 7200rpm and 8MB cache) and he tells me that his shows up as 114GB; oh, and he has XP as well with SP1 (as do I).

Perhaps we should just wait for longhorn to come out and then we'll see its a problem with windows, i'm thinking it is now, but i don't think its a problem that really matters that much. Its probs been on Microsoft's to-fix list since Windows 95, but they've got more important things to do now, like fixing the Xp Clock glitch

yeah, they really need to fix that clock glitch...who needs all the HDD space they payed for anyways??

Perhaps there is some possibility to sue!

My that would be fun.