[Bobbydoo8]

Ok so I already cloned my windows xp harddrive to another harddrive.

So now I have two windows xp harddrives exactly the same with the same amount of software installed.

---------------------------------------------
HDA1 HDA2
160GB 250GB
1 Partition 1 Partition*
WinXP WinXP
Mastered Drive Backup Drive
---------------------------------------------

Ok so maybe the diagram above helps

Welp what I'm wanting to do now is change the backup drive to allow for multiple partitions, but have WinXP so I can easily reclone that on the master drive without the addition partitioning that I'm wanting to do for the Backup drive.

I have downloaded cloning freeware software from the internet and whenever I cloned my drives I chose 0-3201459(or something) for the sectors.

So now if I add partitioning to this drive will it be able to still allow simple cloning of the winxp system info.

Sorry, if it's hard to understand, any help would be great

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What is the question you are asking? If you have already cloned XP to a larger drive you should be able to switch the larger drive in as your "C" and boot into windows. You can then wipe the XP off the smaller drive and use it as a data storage drive. With programs like Partition Magic you should be able to partition any drive you would like in any way you want.

Since you already have XP cloned to the larger drive, you should be able to use a partition program to make additional partitions to the larger second drive. Personally i think it would be easier to have a recovery DVD made of the OS rather then waste the extra space on a drive.

The sectors question is moot simply because you really don't need that information since HD's went past the "Int 13h" 63 sectors of the 8.4 gig HD's. A sector will be able to store 512 bytes of data. Each track on a hard disk has many sectors on it.

Your final question seem to ask if you can clone the OS back to the smaller drive even if you have repartitioned the larger drive. The answer is yes, you should be able to reclone the OS back to any size partition on the smaller drive.

I have used Paragon's "Drive Copy 8" to clone 2 drives so far and the only problem i had was when i tried copying the system to a partition smaller than the one i was copying from. Even tho there was extra unused space in the drive i was copying from and i thought the program would just remove the unused space , it did not do that and refused to copy. After making the partition larger on the new drive, DC 8 copyied over easily.

SRX660

[SRX660]

What is the question you are asking? If you have already cloned XP to a larger drive you should be able to switch the larger drive in as your "C" and boot into windows. You can then wipe the XP off the smaller drive and use it as a data storage drive. With programs like Partition Magic you should be able to partition any drive you would like in any way you want.

Since you already have XP cloned to the larger drive, you should be able to use a partition program to make additional partitions to the larger second drive. Personally i think it would be easier to have a recovery DVD made of the OS rather then waste the extra space on a drive.

The sectors question is moot simply because you really don't need that information since HD's went past the "Int 13h" 63 sectors of the 8.4 gig HD's. A sector will be able to store 512 bytes of data. Each track on a hard disk has many sectors on it.

Your final question seem to ask if you can clone the OS back to the smaller drive even if you have repartitioned the larger drive. The answer is yes, you should be able to reclone the OS back to any size partition on the smaller drive.

I have used Paragon's "Drive Copy 8" to clone 2 drives so far and the only problem i had was when i tried copying the system to a partition smaller than the one i was copying from. Even tho there was extra unused space in the drive i was copying from and i thought the program would just remove the unused space , it did not do that and refused to copy. After making the partition larger on the new drive, DC 8 copyied over easily.

SRX660