If i want to upgrade to a larger hardrive.. would it simply be a matter of copying everything off the smaller hardrive onto the bigger hardrive? would everything work well still? or is there a program that does it or something? cos i want to copy over windows, all programs, files, etc EVERYTHING

yes, you can use norton ghost to do that, it creates an exact replica. I know there are other programs, but I haven't kept up to date in this area.

Some people have told that just drag and drop has worked for them, but make sure that you copy everything.

Norton Ghost, or an equivilant program is probably safer. You might need a second computer while doing it. If you do, and you have an old computer spare, I would recomend borrowing a better one from a friend. if you have a not so old second computer, use that.

However, if you use Ghost, you won't actually have more space.
If you want to move over to a bigger hard drive, then I recommend taking the time to do it properly - backups, installing Windows and your progs on the drive, restoring backups.

AFAIK, Ghost will let you fill up a larger hard disk, but I've seen it only at school so the image files might have been special.

If Ghost wont let you use the extra space on the new hard disk, you can use it, and then resize the partition to take the whole new disk.

Ghost will allow you to copy it over without compromising on space, you need to specify the amount.

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Originally posted by rav0
Some people have told that just drag and drop has worked for them, but make sure that you copy everything.

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Originally posted by multimillion2k

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Originally posted by rav0
Some people have told that just drag and drop has worked for them, but make sure that you copy everything.

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Straight copying doesn't work because there is certain information that comes from the boot sector which cannot be duplicated simply by copying files. It will NOT work.

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I would recommend doing it properly. Back-up all neccessary files, then install on your new hard drive. This also means you have a nice clean start on your hard drive.

Don't erase your old hard drive until you are sure you have everything set-up, because if you forget something, you could always plug the old one back-in to copy the file off.

I have had great troubles with so-called "back-up" programs in the past.

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Originally posted by raceprouk
Plus there's a little thing called the Windows Registry.

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Originally posted by multimillion2k

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Originally posted by raceprouk
Plus there's a little thing called the Windows Registry.

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The registry is a file

Norton ghost is problem free - I've used it a few times and it's good, you don't notice any difference.

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yer ive decided im just gunna re-install everything... would b alot easier, and then i can b sure the copy of windows i have is legite... the computer i have atm was given to me, its probably time i upgraded a few of my  programs too, so it'll all b for the best lol

thanks for the help!!