[Mandemis]

ok heres my problem. i have 2 harddrives. i have a 40gb hd and a 60gb. been tryin to run both but if i turn off the comp fer long periods of time it dont want to boot up. some one said my power supply is'nt supplin enough even though i have a 400 watt power supply. Was told i need a "true" power supply. but my budget is tight so i decided i want to take all the info on the 40gb and transfer it to the 60gb (os and all )and use it as a master till i can get a new power supply and larger hd. but i dont want to completely reinstall my computer as i have lots of stuff and I don't really have the time to sit for hours to do it. My bud suggested ghosting the hard drive but offered no knowledge on how to do it. So is there such a thing as ghosting and if so how do i go about doing this?

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Are you running Windows XP?

[sprout]

Are you running Windows XP?

[Mandemis]

yes i am running windows xp pro sp2

[sprout]

My suggestion would be to install a fresh copy of XP, then use the "file and settings transfer wizard" built into XP to move everything over.
However, if you REALLY want to ghost the drive, you can do it...it will require purchasing a copy of Norton Ghost or another comparable program. The specifics of how to do it are covered in the directions that come with the program.
I would really focus more on what is causing the problem...and I can assure you if you have a 400 watt power supply that lack of power is NOT the problem. I run on a 400 watt, and have two 120 gig internal drive, several USB drives, plus other various peripherals and have never had a problem. I have no clue what your informant meant by a "true" power supply...unless they are referring to a UPS (uninterupted power supply), which has nothing to do with your hard drives or powering them...it is for power consistency (spikes,etc) and to avoid data loss in case of a power outage and they are usually big metal boxes, not internal unless used in a server setting for redundancy there are small internal UPS, but again, this has nothing to do with your problem.
When you say it "dont want to boot up", what are the symptoms? Does it power on at all? If so, does it go through its pre-boot sequence (where it shows the bios version, hard drives installed, etc). Do you get any error messages? If you leave it sitting, does it eventually boot up?

[Mandemis]

no it wont boot. It powers up then almost immediatly shuts down. then i have to turn the power supply it self off for a few seconds then try again. it normally takes a few tries to get it do boot once its cooled down. However once in awhile it wont boot at all. thus i unhook the slave drive and it boots fine. my informant told me although i have a 400 watt power supply the power supply may not actually be suppling 400 watts of power and thus suggested buyin a 400 watt true power supply. which runs a hefty 150bucks +. Im not sure as to the truethfullness of that. but i dont question much as this is the 1st comp ive built. And no i get no error messages either. it just shuts down.

[sprout]

Are the components still under warranty? If so, return it. There is absolutely no reason a 400 watt power supply shouldnt work fine, I dont care who made it.
The only real way to diagnose it as a power problem would be to hook it up to a multimeter. The symptoms you are describing are indicitive of a power problem though.
I dont think you need to spend $150 on a power supply, thats a bit excessive.
If yours is not under warranty, simply find an inexpensive comparable replacement...make sure you can return it if it doesnt work. If this solves the problem, you arent out $150...if it doesnt, return it and we can look at other solutions.

[sprout]

almost forgot...you arent overclocking this thing are you?

[Mandemis]

nope no over clocking everything is set default.