Replacing Hard Drive - hard drive letter

Okay, I am in the midst of swapping out the HDD on my Dell laptop (Inspiron
8600) with a bigger one. I've put the new HDD in a USB enclosure and I'm
using the "copy drive" feature on Norton Ghost to copy the old HDD data to
the new. How do I maintain the "C" as the drive name. I can't name the new
HDD "C" since "C" is used by the current HDD, but I can't rename the current
HDD since it's the boot drive.
What's the best thing to do?
Thanks!

"operaflute" <operaflute@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:800307F8-0EB6-4B58-931E-EE687178C610@microsoft.com...
> Okay, I am in the midst of swapping out the HDD on my Dell laptop
> (Inspiron
> 8600) with a bigger one. I've put the new HDD in a USB enclosure and I'm
> using the "copy drive" feature on Norton Ghost to copy the old HDD data to
> the new. How do I maintain the "C" as the drive name.

Ghost should look after this for you.

>. I can't name the new
> HDD "C" since "C" is used by the current HDD, but I can't rename the
> current
> HDD since it's the boot drive.
> What's the best thing to do?
> Thanks!

You're cloning the drive and do not name it.

When done, remove the old drive and put the new one in, do not restart with
the old drive connected.

HTH
-pk

I can't see how to edit posts...

Anyway - I wanted to add - should I just NOT assign a drive letter to the
new HHD (currently USB) I am copying to, and when I physically swap them out,
it will automatically call it "C"?


"operaflute" wrote:

> Okay, I am in the midst of swapping out the HDD on my Dell laptop (Inspiron
> 8600) with a bigger one. I've put the new HDD in a USB enclosure and I'm
> using the "copy drive" feature on Norton Ghost to copy the old HDD data to
> the new. How do I maintain the "C" as the drive name. I can't name the new
> HDD "C" since "C" is used by the current HDD, but I can't rename the current
> HDD since it's the boot drive.
> What's the best thing to do?
> Thanks!
>

operaflute wrote:
> I can't see how to edit posts...

That's because you can't edit them.

>
> Anyway - I wanted to add - should I just NOT assign a drive letter to the
> new HHD (currently USB) I am copying to, and when I physically swap them out,
> it will automatically call it "C"?
>

Yes.

Alias
>
> "operaflute" wrote:
>
>> Okay, I am in the midst of swapping out the HDD on my Dell laptop (Inspiron
>> 8600) with a bigger one. I've put the new HDD in a USB enclosure and I'm
>> using the "copy drive" feature on Norton Ghost to copy the old HDD data to
>> the new. How do I maintain the "C" as the drive name. I can't name the new
>> HDD "C" since "C" is used by the current HDD, but I can't rename the current
>> HDD since it's the boot drive.
>> What's the best thing to do?
>> Thanks!
>>

"operaflute" <operaflute@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:51453F77-83CD-4A4B-B488-B8C08AE36752@microsoft.com...
>
> I can't see how to edit posts...
>
> Anyway - I wanted to add - should I just NOT assign a drive letter to the
> new HHD (currently USB) I am copying to, and when I physically swap them
> out,
> it will automatically call it "C"?


That's the way it should work. Cloning software often starts with wiping
the partition table of the target anyway, so you're wasting effort by
assigning a letter.

HTH
-pk

>
> "operaflute" wrote:
>
>> Okay, I am in the midst of swapping out the HDD on my Dell laptop
>> (Inspiron
>> 8600) with a bigger one. I've put the new HDD in a USB enclosure and I'm
>> using the "copy drive" feature on Norton Ghost to copy the old HDD data
>> to
>> the new. How do I maintain the "C" as the drive name. I can't name the
>> new
>> HDD "C" since "C" is used by the current HDD, but I can't rename the
>> current
>> HDD since it's the boot drive.
>> What's the best thing to do?
>> Thanks!
>>

I've never been able to find support for Ghost, really. The website is
basically the instruction book online. And I've not found a forum at all.
Gulp - I guess I'll try just not assigning a drive letter...
Thanks

"Patrick Keenan" wrote:

> "operaflute" <operaflute@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:800307F8-0EB6-4B58-931E-EE687178C610@microsoft.com...
> > Okay, I am in the midst of swapping out the HDD on my Dell laptop
> > (Inspiron
> > 8600) with a bigger one. I've put the new HDD in a USB enclosure and I'm
> > using the "copy drive" feature on Norton Ghost to copy the old HDD data to
> > the new. How do I maintain the "C" as the drive name.
>
> Ghost should look after this for you.
>
> >. I can't name the new
> > HDD "C" since "C" is used by the current HDD, but I can't rename the
> > current
> > HDD since it's the boot drive.
> > What's the best thing to do?
> > Thanks!
>
> You're cloning the drive and do not name it.
>
> When done, remove the old drive and put the new one in, do not restart with
> the old drive connected.
>
> HTH
> -pk
>
>
>

"operaflute" wrote:
> Okay, I am in the midst of swapping out the HDD on my Dell laptop (Inspiron
> 8600) with a bigger one. I've put the new HDD in a USB enclosure and I'm
> using the "copy drive" feature on Norton Ghost to copy the old HDD data to
> the new. How do I maintain the "C" as the drive name. I can't name the new
> HDD "C" since "C" is used by the current HDD, but I can't rename the current
> HDD since it's the boot drive.
> What's the best thing to do?
> Thanks!


You're making a clone of the original (which called its own partition "C:").
So the clone will also call its own partition "C:" when it is running.

*TimDaniels*

Do I need to remove the DVD/CD? Is there any chance it will call that "C"
and the HDD "D". I've been reading about all these problems where the new
HDD gets locked into the wrong letter, and you can't log on..

Gah! I'm skeered to do this!
Thanks to all.



"Timothy Daniels" wrote:

> "operaflute" wrote:
> > Okay, I am in the midst of swapping out the HDD on my Dell laptop (Inspiron
> > 8600) with a bigger one. I've put the new HDD in a USB enclosure and I'm
> > using the "copy drive" feature on Norton Ghost to copy the old HDD data to
> > the new. How do I maintain the "C" as the drive name. I can't name the new
> > HDD "C" since "C" is used by the current HDD, but I can't rename the current
> > HDD since it's the boot drive.
> > What's the best thing to do?
> > Thanks!
>
>
> You're making a clone of the original (which called its own partition "C:").
> So the clone will also call its own partition "C:" when it is running.
>
> *TimDaniels*
>
>
>

Incidentally, I already copied the "Dell Utility" drive to the new HDD. It
doesn't show up in Disk Manager which seems odd. Why is that? There is no
drive letter associated with it on either the old or new HDDs, but the
partition on the old HDD DOES show up in Disk Manager.
"operaflute" wrote:

>
> Do I need to remove the DVD/CD? Is there any chance it will call that "C"
> and the HDD "D". I've been reading about all these problems where the new
> HDD gets locked into the wrong letter, and you can't log on..
>
> Gah! I'm skeered to do this!
> Thanks to all.
>
>
>
> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>
> > "operaflute" wrote:
> > > Okay, I am in the midst of swapping out the HDD on my Dell laptop (Inspiron
> > > 8600) with a bigger one. I've put the new HDD in a USB enclosure and I'm
> > > using the "copy drive" feature on Norton Ghost to copy the old HDD data to
> > > the new. How do I maintain the "C" as the drive name. I can't name the new
> > > HDD "C" since "C" is used by the current HDD, but I can't rename the current
> > > HDD since it's the boot drive.
> > > What's the best thing to do?
> > > Thanks!
> >
> >
> > You're making a clone of the original (which called its own partition "C:").
> > So the clone will also call its own partition "C:" when it is running.
> >
> > *TimDaniels*
> >
> >
> >

Can you believe it? It all worked as it was supposed to!
Now, let's say in the future, I want to use the old HDD as an external. I
won't cause any trouble by hooking it up, will I?
Many thanks for all!