Installing new laptop hard drive
I need to install a new hard drive on my laptop. I want to create an image using system backup. I understand that I need to make a boot disk and create a system image preferrably on an external hard drive. I just need a walk through of the steps once those are created. If I boot using the disk with the new hard drive do I also have the external hard drive plugged in during the boot? Then how do I access the image and install it on the new hard drive? Do I need to remove any other files from the external hard drive besides the image? Is it true that files on the desktop will not be a part of the image?
Thanks
Comments
do I also have the external hard drive plugged in during the boot?
That may be best but it is not necessary. You can click on the refresh/reload icon on the upper right side if you plug in later..
how do I access the image
Boot from the boot cd/dvd, goto Restore and goto Path to select the location of the image.
Do I need to remove any other files from the external hard drive besides the image?
Of course not. A backup image is just a file (NTFS or several files if Fat).
Is it true that files on the desktop will not be a part of the image?
Well, you're making a backup of your laptop. So no desktop is included. Nor any other laptop.
Is it true that files on the desktop will not be a part of the image?
This is a little confusing. By desktop, do you mean what you are seeing on your "laptop" screen, ie; icons, shortcuts, etc? If that's what you mean, if you made a system backup, you will get back whatever was on your system drive. To be sure you'll replace everything, do a "disk image" of your C drive and all partitions on it.
To avoid all this, if you can connect your new drive to your laptop while it's still operating, you can clone your current drive to the replacement. Then you just swap out drives. This is the easiest and normal way to replace a drive. Using a disk or system image would be okay if you can't connect the new drive (usually via a USB link) but since you're talking about using an external drive, it seems you should be able to just connect the new drive instead and do a clone.
http://www.backup-utility.com/help/clone.html
OK there are two meanings of the word "Desktop".
With most external drives you cannot swap the disks. You can't open them, just connect and use. For a cloning process you need a special usb cable or an external HDD case. For backup/restore you only need external media.
Sorry, I've only done a "clone" for a desktop where I just used a spare SATA connector and power plug for the new drive, then swapped out drives. I overlooked the difference with a laptop. My bad. If you can't do a clone on your laptop, try the disk image route and get "everything" on the entire drive to image to the new drive. This way you should have an exact copy of the physical drive you're replacing. Thanks for the catch Johnny...
Thanks ro all the helpful comments.
The cloning idea sounds like it certainly is easier. Excuse my ignorance but would I need sometning in which to insert the new hard drive in order to connect it. I do not know if there is a port into which I can plug a USB cable.
And sorry for the confusion of "desktop" I meant the files on the desktop of the laptop.
For cloning a laptop HDD you need as I already mentioned, a special USB-SATA cable or an external case in which you can place a HDD in. You need an USB port and I assume that you have a SATA HDD.
For backup and restore you only need an external HDD which most people already have.
or
(the case comes with a USB cable to connect the case to the PC)