[Leica] OT - upgrading Windows XP data and system disks - a quick howto

[mark at whitedogs.co.uk (Mark Pope)]

Hi,

in case anyone is interested, I've just upgraded both of the hard disks 
in our rather old Windows XP machine, which had run out of disk space.  
Much as I would love an iMac or a quad-core PC running a 64-bit OS, 
funds just won't permit it at the moment.  So I had to think about how I 
could extend the useful life of the machine we currently use for storing 
and developing digital images.
I had upgraded the memory a while back, though the maximum the machine 
would let me use was 3GB - apparently this is a Windows XP limitation: 
the joys of a 32-bit operating system!
Since hard disk space is so cheap these days, I figured I'd have a go at 
upgrading the system myself.

Here's how I did it...

First, I replaced the 500GB data disk with a 2TB disk.  To transfer the 
data, I used an external disk caddy which supports E-Sata as well as 
USB2.  E-sata is supported on the PC's motherboard and this is a much 
faster transfer method than USB2: on paper its over 7 faster.
So it was just a case of installing the 2TB drive in the caddy, powering 
up the machine then using the storage utilities in the XP administrative 
functions (under control panel) to set up the disk partition and format 
the drive.  This was (unsurprisingly) quite a long process but it went 
fine.  I just left the machine to strut its funky stuff and went out.  
In total IIRC it took about 9 hours to format the 2TB drive.

Then, all I had to to was copy the files from the old (internal) data 
disk to the new 2TB drive and after having checked the files were in the 
right place, take the disk out of the caddy and replace the 500GB data 
disk with the new HDD.  When the system booted up, it seemed faster and 
I had no difficulty accessing images on the disk from Lightroom.

Buoyed by my success with the data disk upgrade (and having successfully 
upgraded the HDD in Karin's macbook from 100 - 500GB, which gave it a 
lot more "snap"), I felt it was time to have a go at upgrading the 
system disk  on the XP machine.

Since the disk is used to boot the system, you can't just copy the files 
over in the same way as I described above.  The disk needs to be 'cloned'.
After a bit of research, I opted for some software from Acronis True 
Image.  I was just about to buy a copy of the software, when I happened 
across an article that mentioned that if you buy a Western Digital hard 
disk, then you can download a free version of the software called 
'Acronis True Image Western Digital Edition'. Here's the link...

http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119

  I don't know whether it works with other manufacturers' 
disks...Anyway, I ordered a 500GB WD 7200RPM SATA2 drive with 32GB 
buffer for the princely sum of ?35 including postage.  The faster 
rotation speed, larger buffer and more space should, I hope, give me a 
good hike in performance for little outlay.

The disk arrived this morning and was installed in the E-Sata caddy and 
formatted before lunchtime.  Again, it was just a case of leaving it to 
its own devices while I did some "real" work.

The Free Acronis True Image software and manual were downloaded and the 
software installed on the Windows XP machine and after lunch, I started 
the cloning operation.

When you opt to clone a disk (I just used the 'automatic' option), the 
system will reboot into a utility which performs the cloning operation. 
   It took around about an hour to clone a 250GB drive onto the new 
500GB drive.   I opted to shut the machine down once the operation was 
completed, so I could make sure the original disk was OK before I 
replaced it.  It was...so the last thing to do was to switch the PC off 
and swap the C drives...which took me as long as it takes to brew a nice 
cup of tea...

The PC definitely "feels" quicker.  It takes less time to load up the OS 
and log in.  Loading Lightroom previews for 5Dmk2 images is faster.  The 
PC is also quite a bit quieter and because both drives are "green", 
power consumption should also be lower.

So, the end result is storage upgraded from 750GB (1 x 250GB, 1x500GB) 
to 2.5TB, a faster machine and hopefully, its lifetime extended by a 
good while.  All for less than ?100.  A new Windows 7 machine with the 
latest processor, graphics card and similar disk specification would 
have been ?850.

I think it's definitely been a worthwhile exercise and I hope these 
notes are of use to anyone on the LUG who may be in a similar position.

-- 



Mark Pope,
Swindon, Wilts
UK

Homepage               http://www.monomagic.co.uk
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