On Feb 6, 5:53 pm,
(David Arnstein) wrote:
> I just put in my order for a Dell XPS 710. It will replace a Dell XPS
> that is almost four years old. I will start the new PC with the same
> operating system as the old one: Windows XP Professional.
>
> On my old computer, I have tons ofsoftwareinstalled, and I also have
> EXCELLENT backups. My personal obsession.
>
> On my new computer, I am going to wipe out Dell's disk and format
> everything as dynamic disks, in a RAID-0 configuration. I have heard
> that there is BIOS support for this. I also realize that the performance
> benefits will be modest. I want to learn and experiment. But I don't
> want to blow away my data!
>
> Anyway, I am going to try a somewhat wacky procedure to transfer data
> from my old PC to the new one. My goal is to avoid re-installing and
> customizing all of thesoftwarethat I have been using for years and
> years. Here is my fiendish plan:
>
> 1. Install device drivers for the NEW computer onto the OLD computer.
> Most important: chipset, video driver, disk controller driver (if
> any), ethernet driver.
>
> 2. Backupthe old computer. Twice. I told you, this is my personal
> obsession. Did I mention that I own three identicalbackupdisks?
>
> 3. Format two identical disks on the new computer to have all
> partitions as RAID-0 dynamic volumes.
>
> 4. Install Windows XP onto the new computer.
>
> 5. Installbackupsoftwareonto the new computer.
>
> 6. Launchbackupsoftwareonto the new computer and do a full
> restore!!!. No, I am not using image basedbackup, so this might even
> work.
>
> 7. Reboot the new computer and see what works.
>
> 8. (Optional) Give up, and start over again with some other dubious
> scheme. The POWER ofBACKUP, my friend.
>
> 9. Lather, rinse, repeat.
>
> Go ahead and heap scorn on my plan, that's what I want. I thank you in
> advance for your words of wisdom.
> --
> David Arnstein (00)
> arnstein+ {{ }}
> ^^
David,
First of all, do not install the drivers for the NEW computer on the
OLD computer. The reason why you should avoid doing this is because
your OLD computer is running fine and the drivers of the new computer
could interfere with the operation of the OLD computer.
What you should do is backup the old computer using a backup program
that can support cross-hardware restoration. You mention that you are
backing up - but fail to mention the name of the program. Then you
can restore your old computer to the new computer using a cross-
hardware restoration which will prioritize the drivers of the new
computer over the old drivers. To do so, you set up the new computer
with the same version of Windows (including the same service pack
level - but not necessarily all the auto-updates), leave the new
computer drivers alone so the new computer is running normally. When
you restore the old computer contents to the new computer, you need to
instruct the backup program that you are crossing hardware during the
restoration process. Our Backup for Workgroups software allows you to
do this. You will need to check with the manufacturer of your backup
software to see if they have a comparable feature.
In addition - a post about the RAID mentions that there is no need to
have both a RAID controller and a dynamic disk setup in RAID. Pick
one solution - you do not need 2 going at the same time. Either use
the hardware RAID or the dynamic disk, but not both simultaneously -
you are creating redundant overhead.
Hope this is helpful.
Sally Mueller with the help of Karl Forster, developer of Backup for
Workgroups at Lockstep Systems, Inc.
Linear Mode
