Off topic. Can I replace my C drive without - Answer - YES!

[myglaren]

In addition to your installed antimalware packages can I recommend the following:
SuperAntiSpyware
I have been using it on my Vista Laptop for almost a year. It is also installed in the old desktop (XP).
As is Avast Antivirus (free edition) You will have to register if you want to continue using this after 60 days but that is all - they never contact you other than to re-register after 14 months.
One of the best things is the boot time scan, that seeks out the lurkers while they are inactive and unable to defend thamselves.

For a very enthusiastic cleanup, CCleaner is an excellent tool, similar to Spybot Search & Destroy's Secure Shredder. There is also a decent registry checker and repair tool there as well.

I love the Sygate Firewall but it ain't Vista compatible. The only one that is without being a complete pain and worse than the malware is Comodo

Fortunately on this machine I don't have any of this stuff to slow it down, use Ubuntu instead.

[James.UK]

Hmm well the saga continues.. lol I bought a new hard drive to day, I ended up with a 160 GIG (don't ask) !!! lol..

I found an old Win98 floppy boot of Ghost? Soo, working on the basis that if I boot off the floppy I will be in doss? not in XP.. Hmm I then ran ghost.. it worked fine, next I copied the C to a file on D drive.. So far so good I rebooted to check that the file existed and it was on D as required, then I took my case off and located the C drive, but --- My graphics card was in the way of removing it!

I relocated that, then swapped Drives over.. rebooted.. but when I went into ghost the new drive was greyed out! So I booted off a WinXP disk, but only loaded the basics, I stopped short of loading XP hoping the drive would be visible in ghost, it was! So I did the ghost transfer with no problems, took the floppy out, rebooted and ----nuffink!! lmho It won't boot up beyond details page!! I did notice it said my new drive was in parallel something? -dunno-

Anyway.. I swapped the drives back, checked that the Ghost file is still intact on the "D" drive and packed in for today..

Tomorrow I plan on loading WinXP on the new drive and see if ghost will work with that on.. If that fails again, I will try the "backup" system.. But I WON'T be holding my breath!! Still.. As long as I keep my original C drive safe, I can always revert back to status quo. and hope the Calvary arrive by way of a disk from Jim!..
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[James.UK]

Hi all..

Well it seems the answer to my original question is --- YES!!!!

I swapped drives again and installed WinXP onto the new drive after first unplugging the other hard drives to ensure I loaded XP to the correct drive..

I turned off my PC, reconnected all the drives, and rebooted. I then checked to make sure that both my backup file and the ghost I had done were showing on the other drives, that was awkward as XP had renamed all the drives, but by checking the sizes I managed it ok..

I then did a backup-restore from my saved file to the new C drive, it confirmed transfer was completed ok. and indeed my desktop icons had returned, so I rebooted..

But.. It rebooted into the screen that tells you, you shut down incorrectly, and gives you choices as to how you wish to continue, I chose to reboot normally, but it booted back to the same screen?? I then chose to boot into "safe mode" , it rebooted into the same screen again! In fact no matter what I chose to do, it would not go beyond that screen!!

I then tried booting from the Ghost floppy, found the ghost file I saved yesterday, and told it to copy back to the (new) C drive, and off it went. On completion I chose the quit option, and on reboot I went into the bios and reset them to boot (1) Hard drive Boot (2) CD .. Boot (3) removable (floppy?) then rebooted once more..

After a very long boot up time I got my normal desktop? complete with picture!! woo hoo!! -- It then found the "new drive", installed it, and asked to reboot.. I ok'd that and presto!! I now seem to be running as normal on a new C Drive!!!!

Everything seems to be working exactly as before, in fact I am running on my new drive as I write this on our forum, I have not even had to redo my DSL internet connections!.. Brilliant!!!

My sincere thanks to all of you who gave me help and advice during what has been quite a long saga!

EDIT:- I have had a few glitches, minor stuff like Win med player was greyed out, I just reinstalled that, my "open with" menu was almost empty, so I added stuff to it again.. ETC. So nothing major so far.. And -- My C drive is now running at 40 whatever? as opposed to its old speed of 25...
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