Topic: Bonk, since you're here  (Read 1951 times)

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Offline Capt. Mike

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Bonk, since you're here
« on: January 25, 2009, 07:44:04 am »
Good morning old man..

With a little luck and some grandkids taking a nap, I should have my guitar pedals on a board today (right)

Any way, on a serious note, my poor little 20G boot drive is getting exceptionally filled...I use three others for programs and such, but you know how windows has to have all that crap on C:

Anyways, I'm gonna buy a larger drive to make my boot, but to be honest, I've never mirrored a drive as a replacement.

Can you give me a few hints as to what program to use, and how to use it?


Thanks,

Mike
Summum ius summa iniuria.

The more law, the less justice.

Cicero, De Officiis, I, 33

"It doesn't, and you can't, I won't, and it don't
it hasn't, it isn't, it even ain't, and it shouldn't
it couldn't"
FZ, 1974

My chops were not as fast...[but] I just leaned more on what was in my mind than what was in my chops.  I learned a long time ago that one note can go a long way if it's the right one, and it will probably whip the guy with twenty notes.
 --Les Paul

Offline Bonk

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Re: Bonk, since you're here
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2009, 08:12:05 am »
I can offer some advice but can assume no liability (of course).

Last time I moved a system partition to a new drive I used partition magic I think. I'd probably use gparted now.

1) Back up all your critical data on CD or DVD or tape or something.

2) Download the gparted live disk and burn it to a cd/dvd. Leave it in the drive.

3) Shut down, Make sure all power sources are removed. (disconnect everything from the case) Put both hard disks in the system. (setting master/slave/single jumpers as needed - if not master on independent channels then set the orig as master and new as slave for the copy.)

4) Boot from the gparted live cd, it should start the partition editor automatically (eventually). Use it to copy the main partition from the old disk to the new disk. Then resize the copy to fill about 1/2 to 3/4 of the drive (leaving room for a data partition) then create a data partition in the remaining space. (probably ntfs, primary). Mark the copied partition active/bootable. All of these actions should display and queue, then you apply the changes. It will take time. Maybe lots of time. When it is complete shutdown the system from the live cd menus.

5) again remove all power sources, and since your old drive is only 20 GB it is probably not worth leaving it in the system, remove it and set the new drive jumpers to master/single secure everything, reconnect and boot up.

6) If the system does not boot as expected, boot from the gparted live cd and make sure the new(copied) system partition is marked as active and bootable. If that does not do it, then use your OS install disk to boot to a command prompt and use fixmbr at the recover console (assuming windows XP here - Vista - use the WiindowsRE boot disk).

7) If all else fails, put the old disk back in like it was, by itself, boot up, chew me out, and look for a better solution!  ;D

I think that should cover it, but it has been a while. Please don't implement this procedure until someone else comments on any errors/omissions/better options...

note: this procedure assumes you do not currently have applications installed to drives other than c: currently. If so, don't create the data partition but duplicate the existing drive letter arrangement by either filling the new disk with the old system disk or copying and removing other partitions/drives as needed.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2009, 08:22:58 am by Bonk »

Offline Capt. Mike

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Re: Bonk, since you're here
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2009, 08:23:06 am »
Thanks, I really do appreciate it...

This tends to be a problem as software requires more and more, and of course, want to fill the next largest hard drive..

Heh, to show how old I am..I paid $200 for a 100 Meg drive to upgrade my first DOS computer (I'd been fiddling with an Atari 800 for years before that..had two Happy drives  ;D  )

Welp, grandkids are here, and we're off to church.

Mike
Summum ius summa iniuria.

The more law, the less justice.

Cicero, De Officiis, I, 33

"It doesn't, and you can't, I won't, and it don't
it hasn't, it isn't, it even ain't, and it shouldn't
it couldn't"
FZ, 1974

My chops were not as fast...[but] I just leaned more on what was in my mind than what was in my chops.  I learned a long time ago that one note can go a long way if it's the right one, and it will probably whip the guy with twenty notes.
 --Les Paul

Offline toasty0

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Re: Bonk, since you're here
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2009, 12:19:12 pm »
Mike,

If you're using XPpro you can mirror the drives, but why would you? You usually mirror drives or disk volumes when you are looking for parity and backup--if one fails you simply activate the other and keep trucking (old guys pop reference link) Also, if you mirror, your will not increase the size of your storage as your mirro can only be as large as your smallest volume.

If you're running out of space you may just wish to span the volume using disk management.

If you can, backup the system disk BEFORE you do ANY OF THIS.

First you must convert the existing system disk to a "dynamic disk"
(there are some inherent limitations you need to consider - a dynamic
disk can't be dual boot, also it can't be a laptop/USB/firewire/shared
SCSI drive).

Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk
Management. Right click on the existing system drive > Convert to
Dynamic Disk.

In Disk Management open the Extend Volume Wizard and add the new drive
(or part of it) to the old system drive that you just converted to a
dynamic disk.

NOTE: Once you create a spanned volume, there's no going back! You can't
just remove space from it at a later time. You can only add space.


WARNING:BACK UP! BACK UP! BACKUP! If you don't, it is your bad.

Take a look here ( http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/59686-45-expand-system-drive-spanning-partition ) for some ideas. I would resist the 3rd party software expense as there are some excellent solutions offered in that thread.
MCTS: SQL Server 2005 | MCP: Windows Server 2003 | MCTS: Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist | MCT: Microsoft Certified Trainer | MOS: Microsoft Office Specialist 2003 | VSP: VMware Sales Professional | MCTS: Vista

Offline Bonk

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Re: Bonk, since you're here
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2009, 04:04:57 pm »
I think he meant just copy the partition, not actually mirror it (raid 1).

Offline toasty0

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Re: Bonk, since you're here
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2009, 04:35:57 pm »
You could be right. Wouldn't be the first time I've answered the question written instead of asked.
MCTS: SQL Server 2005 | MCP: Windows Server 2003 | MCTS: Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist | MCT: Microsoft Certified Trainer | MOS: Microsoft Office Specialist 2003 | VSP: VMware Sales Professional | MCTS: Vista

Offline Capt. Mike

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Re: Bonk, since you're here
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2009, 07:20:07 am »
Thank you both for the great ideas..

I guess it's not really a mirror, as all I want is to move my boot drive to a new HD without digging through 10,000 years of original disks (yes, I still have a floppy installed..I build my own systems), but my personal management system tends to suck, since my computer is in the same area as my guitar building/repair area, I might find a 12" deep throat C clamp sitting next to my Norton's..

And this from a guy who calibrates precision test equipment  (need your optical power meter aligned?  Preferably a Noyes, but I do older Exfo's too)

I'll let you know how it goes..have to wait until I get my military retirement check..but I am looking lustfully at my 160 GB D: drive, which only has data on it...I could move it to my 500 GB external..

Ah well, off to work..

Thanks again, both of you, have a GREAT day

Mike
Summum ius summa iniuria.

The more law, the less justice.

Cicero, De Officiis, I, 33

"It doesn't, and you can't, I won't, and it don't
it hasn't, it isn't, it even ain't, and it shouldn't
it couldn't"
FZ, 1974

My chops were not as fast...[but] I just leaned more on what was in my mind than what was in my chops.  I learned a long time ago that one note can go a long way if it's the right one, and it will probably whip the guy with twenty notes.
 --Les Paul

Offline Pestalence_XC

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Re: Bonk, since you're here
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2009, 01:09:21 pm »
You can buy a 500 GB internal SATA from Newegg for $54.. I would stick with Western Digital since Seagate is having problems with their firmware currrently.

Sata drives can be set up as Ultra ATA or SATA (wide connector or skinny connector) and have the capacity of 3 GB/s transfer rate.

I have 2 of them on my system running RAID 0.. really fast.. the system sees it as 1 drive with 6 GB/s transfer rate. Really nice.
"You still don't get it, do you?......That's what he does. That's all he does! You can't stop him! It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead!"

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Offline Bonk

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Re: Bonk, since you're here
« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2009, 03:18:46 pm »
And this from a guy who calibrates precision test equipment  (need your optical power meter aligned?  Preferably a Noyes, but I do older Exfo's too)

Are you accredited by any standards organisation? Do you have a list of gear you can calibrate? Such things are of interest to me again. Feel free to PM me if you think I might be able to throw some work your way.

Offline Capt. Mike

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Re: Bonk, since you're here
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2009, 07:10:38 pm »
Well Bonk, I am accredited my the US Air Force, and we do meet all ANSI and international standards (I forget the numbers..I don't have to deal with them)..unfortunately, for any civilian businesses, since I am a government contractor, they frown on me sidelining with their standards  (go figure)..

However, if you let me know where you are located, and what your needs are (feel free to PM me)..I can look through my contacts and see if there are some local metrologists ( love that term..and linke to  metrology  http://metrologyforum.tm.agilent.com/define.shtml   ) that could help you out.  Most I know are reasonable in prices, believe it or not, there is some compitition out there.

I'm just old and lazy at times, and like a relatively secure job that allows me to repair guitars and make some noise...


  Just some I have fun with..when I finish my board (Saturday, if no grandkids), I'll post it with my favor six, seven, and twelve string electrics..

Mike


Summum ius summa iniuria.

The more law, the less justice.

Cicero, De Officiis, I, 33

"It doesn't, and you can't, I won't, and it don't
it hasn't, it isn't, it even ain't, and it shouldn't
it couldn't"
FZ, 1974

My chops were not as fast...[but] I just leaned more on what was in my mind than what was in my chops.  I learned a long time ago that one note can go a long way if it's the right one, and it will probably whip the guy with twenty notes.
 --Les Paul