How To Upgrade Laptop Hard Drive

I just purchased a 500GB 2.5" Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid.
Currently, I only have 500GB WD Black Scorpio with OS installed on it.

So, my question is what are the steps to clone my current hard drive onto the new hard drive? I'm new with this so please bear with me.

This is what I assume I should do.

1. Remove any unwanted programs or files from the current hard drive.
2. Defrag it.
3. Install Acronis True Image.
4. Install new hard drive into 2nd HDD caddy
5. Boot up and partition/format the new hard drive.
6. Check for bad sectors. What program should I use?
7. Clone the hard drive using Acronis.
8. Shut down and swap the hard drives.
9. Booting up with the new hard drive.
10. Reformat the old hard drive.
11. Done?


This is what I ASSUME how it should be. I'm sure that I am definitely wrong somewhere. Can someone please show me the right procedures to clone the hard drive? Step-by-step details are helpful as I'm new with this.

And, any advice on file system formats, partitions, etc?


Thanks in advance for the help!

 

1. Yes
2. Sure
3. Yep. And just in case you aren't aware, Seagate provides a free copy on their website, but will only run if it detects a seagate drive.
4. Yep
5. From here you should just be able to launch Acronis and there should be a clone function. You can clone a system drive on the system that's running. Pay close attention to whether a source or destination drive is prompted.
6. You don't have to, but after you clone it, you can run from command prompt: chkdsk /r X: where "X" is the partition letter.
7. Already done
8. Yes
9. Yep
10. If you want
11.


Hopefully those instructions are clear enough. You have the right idea to start with.

As for file systems and partitions, the best thing would just be a simple clone; keep everything as is.

 

Thanks for the clarification! That helps =)
Will post back after I have done it.

 

When I used to use Acronis, this was my 'checklist':

1) Back Up My DATA

2) Clone existing drive to new(er) drive

3) Switch drives.

4) Boot up and run every single program and important data file to ensure that everything runs properly.

5) Save old HDD (untouched!) for at least 30 days before I 'trusted' the new HDD.


Note that defragging before cloning will only waste time, not gain you any. Defrag after (and do an online and an offline defrag using PerfectDisk to properly place the hibernation, pagefile and MFT files that are normally unmoveable with almost any other 'defragger').

Note that some programs will/might need to be re-activated when cloned to a new HDD.

Note that you will get the hidden partition of your original HDD too (this is only a good thing if you use the original, as-shipped, OS and drive partition setup).

Note that your new HDD will not be as good as it can be with a clean Windows install, only the latest drivers and programs you currently need/use, and even more important - properly partitioned and setup to make the most of the speed and capacity of your new drive.

Also note that as mentioned, I don't use the 'clone' method anymore. Too much baggage is carried over from the last/old install and too many hoops to go through authorizing/activating all my software properly (and sometimes, they still didn't work properly on the cloned system).

A clean install with intelligent partitioning makes much better use of the new HDD and also gives you the option to take as long as you want to 'migrate' to using the new drive fully. (You simply switch to your old drive when you need to get 'real work' done).

Hope some of the above helps?

Good luck.