How can I move a partition of my C: drive to a new hard disk?

Q  I want to transfer the entire contents of the C: drive on my computer to another, larger hard disk and rename this disk so it becomes the new C: drive.

I am using Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1. Is this possible and, if so, how do I proceed?
Alan Bell

A  Unlike Windows XP, Windows 7 does have a built-in tool for manipulating partitions and this removes the need for additional commercial software for many simple operations.

To access it, right-click Computer on the Windows Desktop and choose Manage. When the Computer Management window opens, click Disk Management under Storage once.

However, cloning (and expanding) a partition from one drive to another is beyond the remit of Windows 7’s partitioning facility, so Acronis Disk Director 11 Home, which costs around £24 online, will come to your rescue.

With both hard disk drives connected to the computer, launch Disk Director, right-click the hard disk (not just the partition) to be cloned and select Clone.

Step through the simple wizard to configure the clone operation and select the ‘Use proportional volume resizing’ radio button to expand the original disk to fill the new one.

When the clone operation is complete, shut down the PC, disconnect the original drive and make any necessary changes to the computer’s Bios (usually accessed by pressing a key, such as F2 or Delete, shortly after switching on the computer).

You may also need to change the jumper switch on the drive to make it the new Windows boot (start) disk, but you will need to refer to the manufacturer’s instructions for precise guidance here.