DriveCopy - Jun/Jul '98

DriveCopy

Eventually everyone will have to upgrade their computer hard drive. Remember when a 20 MB hard disk satisfied your needs? Now we need drives of 4 GB or more, particularly in law offices with huge document banks or image databases. If you don't want to reinstall all your applications, you need a convenient way to move your applications and data from one machine to another. You could use a tape backup, but this is slow and not always reliable. Nor can you simply copy the files from one drive to another without some trouble. Fortunately, PowerQuest has provided a terrific utility for copying the contents of one hard drive to another.

DriveCopy is a DOS product that guides you through the process of installing a new drive and then moving the applications and data from the old drive to the new, larger drive. The first step is to install the new drive (Target) as the Primary or Master drive and the old drive (Source) as the Slave drive. This requires setting jumpers on both drives. I used DriveCopy to upgrade a hard drive, and configuring the drives was the hardest part of the job.

Fortunately, the DriveCopy manual provides information on popular drives as well as information on contacting all the major hard drive manufacturers. Also, PowerQuest refers you to The Tech Page Web site (www.blue-planet.com/tech/index.html) where you can find settings and jumpers for all hard drives.

After installing the new drive, the next step is to boot the computer using a diskette. DriveCopy walks you through the copy process and transfers the entire system, complete with applications and data, to the new drive. The program copies single partitions or multiple partitions from the Source drive. Also, DriveCopy can be used for straight drive exchange or to convert your system to a two drive setup. The only restriction is that the hard drive must be used on the same system. Otherwise, the computer's operating system may not recognize the changed hardware.

PowerQuest Corp.
(800) 370-2566
www.powerquest.com
Windows 95 (incl. FAT 32), Windows NT, Windows 3.x, DOS and OS/2.

$29.95

Reviewed by J. Michael Jimmerson, attorney, author and technology consultant with Altman Weil Inc., Chicago, Ill.

Jun/Jul '98 Issue

PROS
Reasonable price, well-documented.

CONS
DOS interface.

VERDICT
Rather than paying someone to install and move your files, this is a quick and easy solution. If you want to upgrade your hard drive, you must have DriveCopy.