[nicegal]

I have bought a new Advent Windows 7 pc and created partitions on the 2T hard drive, using partition-making software. I have been able to copy folders into a couple of partitions but I want to be able to clone the hard drive from the old Acer pc (also running Windows 7) and place it in a new partition. I don't need the Windows 7 OS on it and am aware that it will confuse the pc when trying to boot up if 2 OS are on it. I also see from some of the replies to questions on here that there may be problems with simply deleting the Windows Files.

So I need to know a) how do I get the hard disc clone onto a particular partition as at the moment it just shows the C drive as the destination, and does not show the separate newly made partitions as destinations. That is, it shows all the partitions okay but only allows a clone operation to the C drive as a whole, ie as it used to be.

And b) How do I remove the OS from the old hard drive, and if I do, will I then be able to clone the OS-free hard drive to the new pc without causing problems?

I would be very grateful for any advice.

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Why not just copy what you want from the old hard drive instead of cloning it then deleting the OS?

Anyway, the easiest way to do this is mount the old hard drive as as a slave in the new computer. I'm guessing the old drive is IDE and the new computer has a SATA drive.

Once it's mounted you can copy anything you want from the old drive to a partition on the new drive.

[Ztruker]

Why not just copy what you want from the old hard drive instead of cloning it then deleting the OS?

Anyway, the easiest way to do this is mount the old hard drive as as a slave in the new computer. I'm guessing the old drive is IDE and the new computer has a SATA drive.

Once it's mounted you can copy anything you want from the old drive to a partition on the new drive.

[Hidream]

About your problem, you could use free software to acheive your goal, you may searched as "Partition Magic for Windows7". It has the feature to clone hard disk.

After clone, it will not make your PC confused, since even dual boot will also need to modify the boot configuration.

To clone

first you should make sure there is enough unallocated space which could contain the resource disk. and then open the program there is an copy disk wizard, you could follow the wizard to complete..

Then after clone you could directly remove the old OS partition, that won't cause any error.

Edited by Hidream, 02 July 2012 - 02:22 AM.

[happyrock]

I agree with Ztruker
just copy any data you want to the partition you want it on

[nicegal]

Thank you for all your comments, but I think I did not explain myself properly. I do know how to transfer data to a new partition on a new hard drive but it's not simply copying I want to do. I want to be able to use the cloning method as I believe this will allow me to use the programmes I have on the old disc. At the moment if I simply copy a programme over I am unable to use it, eg giveaway of the day software. And I don't want to lose all the software I have paid for in the past.

Also I can't see how to send the stuff directly to a new partition unless I copy it to the new C drive first and then move it over.

Ztruker - Also the new and old drives are both Sata so I don't understand about slaves and jumpers??

Hidream - I have used Euseus Partition Maker to create the new partitions and it worked very well, but when I try to clone the old hard drive I am unable to place it into the new partition I had reserved for it, and the programme says if I clone the disc it will wipe it? That's why I wanted to remove the old Windows OS from the old hard drive as I thought then I would be able to clone the pure data, programmes etc

Sorry if I am not making myself clear, in my own defence, I am a 66 year old grandmother!

[happyrock]

I want to be able to use the cloning method as I believe this will allow me to use the programmes I have on the old disc.

nope...that won't work

but when I try to clone the old hard drive I am unable to place it into the new partition I had reserved for it, and the programme says if I clone the disc it will wipe it?

yep...thats exactly what it would do...wipe the partition or drive then copy the data over bit for bit...

That's why I wanted to remove the old Windows OS from the old hard drive as I thought then I would be able to clone the pure data, programmes etc

the programs are run by the operating system with a few exceptions...like any .exe programs...those are executable and run all by themselves

[Ztruker]

Please post a screen shot of an expanded Disk Management window.

To open Disk Management, press Windows key+r, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter or click GO. Make it full screen.

Make sure the window you want to capture has the focus.
Press Alt+Print Screen. That will capture the active window.
Start MSPaint - Click on Start, type mspaint and press Enter.
Press Ctrl+v to paste the picture in to MS Paint.
Click File then Save as and save it to your Desktop.

Start a new reply.
Click on the Browse button below the message input area.
Navigate to where you saved the picture, select it and click on Open.
Click on Attach This File.
Once uploaded, click on Add To Post to the far right of the uploaded file.
Scroll down and click Preview Post to verify the image shows.

[nicegal]

Thank you for making it so easy to do this, here is the disk management page

[Ztruker]

It looks like you want to clone to your D drive, right? Cloning the Acer drive there is easy to do but as Happyrock said, most of the programs will not run from there. Removing the Windows stuff from that drive will not make any difference either.

You can use Macrium Reflect Free to do the cloning.

You may get some of them to work by starting the program from the D: drive but it won't able to find any of the registry entries it expects so no idea what will happen.

The only way to guarantee a program will work is to install it from the Windows OS you want it to run under.

[nicegal]

Thank you for that. I have downloaded Macrium Reflect and it seems very good so I will play around with it tomorrow.

[Ztruker]

Good luck. Let me know how you make out.