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Cloning is fine provided you do a proper clone. Something I used to do with Win7 is to actually clone the partition with a partition manager, and then boot from the new one. After everything is fin...
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#1: Initial revision
Cloning is fine provided you do a proper clone. Something I used to do with Win7 is to actually clone the partition with a partition manager, and then boot from the new one. After everything is fine, resize the partition to fill the disk. * The PCWorld article sounds like meaningless filler. * I haven't used Windows in years, but the hard drive change may trip DRM just like any hardware change. * You have to clone it properly - just drag&drop will not work because there are hidden/special files. Also things like primary vs. logical partitions. Cloning will usually work, and it's faster than a brand new install. There is always a small chance that something will break, due to factors outside your control (eg. Microsoft copy protection). But if it doesn't work you can always go back to your old drive and try reinstalling.