Windows Me Annoyances

Transfer Windows onto Another Hard Disk

With the release of an operating system as large as Windows Me, it’s anticipated that many users will need to upgrade their hard disks to accommodate the new operating system. Furthermore, that old 486 may have reached the end of its lifespan and may need to be replaced entirely. Either way, transferring Windows and all of your applications and data directly to a new hard drive can save you hours of work and a lot of aggravation. The downside is that Windows doesn’t exactly make this process easy, unless you know what to do.

Sure, you can simply install Windows Me from scratch and then proceed to reinstall all your applications, configure all your settings, and rewrite all your documents, but I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. Besides, your Freecell statistics would be lost forever.

You can transfer the data from one drive to another in several ways; the one you choose depends on your available hardware and your specific goals. If you’re setting up a new hard disk, all the following solutions assume that you’ve correctly connected, prepared, and formatted your new drive according to the drive’s instructions.

Use a Backup Device

If you have a tape drive or other backup device, one of the easiest things to do will be to back your entire system and then restore it to the new drive. See Section 6.4.1 in Chapter 6 for details on backup devices. You’ll need to consider the following if using this solution:

• If you’re upgrading your entire ...