Help Please-Copying Internal Harddrive to External

super_js

K1NG K1MO
Member
Hello there, I am running Vista Ultimate on my laptop which has a 50gb internal harddrive. I have less than 500 mb of memory left and was wondering could I move the entire content of my C: drive ( including the vista ultimate ) to an external harddrive, then format my C: drive and boot up from my external harddrive? Also if this is possible could I dual boot with Mac OS X Leapord? If this is possible can you please tell me how.

Thanks in Advance,
Super_JS
 

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    Western Digital 500 GB 7200 Rpm Internal
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    Black Spider Gaming Case with Blue LEDs
Nope, Your registry is all linked to your internal HD, I woudln't try it if I were you.

If you install an OS on an external HD, it will go much slower.

You can't install Mac OS X on a PC. Only Apple Brands.
 

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Yup its best to just backup all you important files, maybe make a back up of program files where the folders may contain saves and cd keys ect, then format and start again
 

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System One

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    Me :P
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    Core 2 Quad Q6600
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    Abit IN9 32X MAX
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    8 GB OCZ PC2-6400 nVIDIA SLI-Ready Edition (4X2GB)
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    AMP! GeForce GTX 260² 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 (650MHz/2100MHz
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Thanks for the quick reply, but if I did try how would I go about it. I don't really care if it messes up and I have to re-install vista. If I don't do it could you please tell me how to install programs on to an external harddrive. Also what about if I got a higher memory internal harddrive how would I copy everything to that?

Super_JS
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-core Processor 2.3 Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASRock K10N7SLI
    Memory
    8 GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    2X 1GB Nvidia 9500GT SLI
    Sound Card
    7.1 Channel Surround Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster T240 Full HD
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 500 GB 7200 Rpm Internal
    Western Digital 1000 GB (1TB) External
    Case
    Black Spider Gaming Case with Blue LEDs

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-core Processor 2.3 Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASRock K10N7SLI
    Memory
    8 GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    2X 1GB Nvidia 9500GT SLI
    Sound Card
    7.1 Channel Surround Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster T240 Full HD
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 500 GB 7200 Rpm Internal
    Western Digital 1000 GB (1TB) External
    Case
    Black Spider Gaming Case with Blue LEDs
Yup its best to just backup all you important files, maybe make a back up of program files where the folders may contain saves and cd keys ect, then format and start again

So once I plug in the external what folders isit possible for me to move from C: to external
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-core Processor 2.3 Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASRock K10N7SLI
    Memory
    8 GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    2X 1GB Nvidia 9500GT SLI
    Sound Card
    7.1 Channel Surround Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster T240 Full HD
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 500 GB 7200 Rpm Internal
    Western Digital 1000 GB (1TB) External
    Case
    Black Spider Gaming Case with Blue LEDs
installing programs on an external hard drive is not recommended
upgrading to a bigger hard drive and more ram will help

like i said b4 just back up all important data to your external hard drive and start again

ok yes you can just copy the whole C: drive "well all the bits that windows will allow you to move bot you can not move it all back and expect windows to work correctly
and backing up the whole c driv will also result in backing up a lot of junk that is not needed

when i need to do a fresh instll on my c drive i only back up program files, my documents i.e pics music ect
then i format
then re install everything

ok its a long winded prosesse but we all have to do it
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Me :P
    CPU
    Core 2 Quad Q6600
    Motherboard
    Abit IN9 32X MAX
    Memory
    8 GB OCZ PC2-6400 nVIDIA SLI-Ready Edition (4X2GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMP! GeForce GTX 260² 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 (650MHz/2100MHz
    Sound Card
    Realtek 7.1 CH HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Fujitsu siemens TFT + 32" LG HD LCD TV
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 + 1360x768
    Hard Drives
    150GB Raptor HDD
    500GB Caviar HDD
    PSU
    Thermaltake W0133RB 1200W PSU
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Stock + Antec 900 case fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (full layout)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Revolution
If you have used up 50 GB of space you're in serious need to some fine tuning - you don't need to be moving *folders* - you need to be clearing out your Temp folders and clearing out old System restore files and moving *files* to the external drive.

I'd go through your Documents, Music, Videos and Pictures folders first and see what you can move to the external drive.

But, for the money, I'd get a Seagate 500GB 32MB Cache HD SATA II HD (internal) and add it to your system - it will be ***way*** more responsive and in that situation, you'll be able to physically move those 4 folders (as well as Contacts, Desktop, Favorites, Links, & Saved Games to the new folder - and then Vista will automatically save to those folders when you select those locations to save without having to manually change the drive letter or anything like that.
 

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    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
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