Clone XP installation onto seperate disk

[ray_gillespie]

I currently have 1 SATA HD with XP Pro SP2 on it. I might be getting a copy of Vista soon, and if I do I would like to completely clone my current installation of XP onto an older PATA HD so I will be free to install VIsta on my newer and faster SATA disk. I want to keep both OSs for a while in case Vista has significant problems with anything I use at the moment.

Is there any software, preferably free, that will allow me to completely copy the contents and OS of one disk to another?

Reps for help.

EDIT: Can anyone correct the spelling in the thread title? It should be spelt 'separate'!

 

[kcnychief]

Tools like Norton's Ghost Acronis True Image will let you do it, don't know of any free apps though.

 

[NetRyder]

Ghost and True Image are two popular choices. I've used True Image on a number of occasions, and it works as advertised.

DriveImage XML is a free alternative that I've come across but never had a chance to try yet, so I'm not sure how well it works. GetDataBack, a data recovery tool from the same company, has worked very well in my experience though, so DIXML might be just as good.
http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm

 

[ray_gillespie]

Great, thanks for the help. I've actually got a version of Acronis that was free thanks to a tip by NetRyder! I've just dug it out and installed it, I'll see how it goes from there.

Thanks again guys!

 

[kcnychief]

Nice save Ray, glad it worked out for you.

 

[Maroon]

true image and norton ghost are imaging backup progs, i mean it's worth to use them if you need to make backup of your computer, and if you need only to clone the old drive tot a new one, you can use another prog, for example migrate easy, it can easily do what you need and it has a 15 day full working trial version.

 

[ray_gillespie]

I don't think that has anything I need that True Image doesn't but thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Tweakfiend]

http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/HDClone_Free_Edition/hdclonefree.html

Have used this before and its free