New HDD; Newb question

[Important part]
I finally went out and bought myself a 1TB WD Caviar Black. I have 2 drives it'll completely replace, and I'll be moving the majority of the data from a third to it.

Figured I'd post this in software since what I'm looking for is a software solution to a hardware problem. What should I use to make absolutely certain the data will transfer without any errors in the files? The last time I swapped from one drive to another I just right-click dragged copy then compared file sizes and deleted the original. I'd like to know if there's a better way.

Also, is there anything I should to to make absolutely certain that the drive is indeed a good drive? (been a while since I've bought a new drive and since this one is so huge I'd lose that much more data if it crapped out.)
[/Important part]

[rant cause='lack of sleep']
As an aside, what I'm doing is replacing entirely the 2 IDE drives I have on this computer (100GB and 120GB in size), and I have a 300GB Maxtor I've been using to install all my applications to. What I've not decided on yet is if the Maxtor will remain the D: drive and thus stay the drive that gets all the installations or make the new drive take its place in that regard. (If it's the new one it'll have to become D: so the install paths remain valid). If I make the 1TB drive my new program drive, I'm not entirely certain what I'll use the Maxtor for other than some odd data. But being oldest I'd rate it the highest probability of failure so I'm not sure I'd want to use it purely for storage of say, my media collections. I'm eventually going to get another 1-2TB drive to put in an external enclosure (must have power on/off switch so it won't be running 24/7) to backup all my data.

Right now my Maxtor has 200GB taken by program files. So I'll only gain about 100GB and I've already got 20+GB of games lined up to be installed. Guess I'm talking myself into using the new drive for installations…. which makes the 300GB maxtor kinda useless to me.

I guess one big question is, should I bother partitioning the 1TB drive? Would there be any benefit to it?

Hi, you could check out your new drive with a disc checking utility…(download from WD) As to setting up different partitions, there are as many views as there are folks…… how about putting your page file on your fastest drive and then: 1 making the new drive bootable (active primary) C: choose a size for this partition sufficient for your OS, (Windows) your applications and a fair bit of elbow room for further stuff (applications) to be added in the future….. 2 set extra partition D: for your data 3 set extra partition E: for your disc images 4 Use the old drives for data back up and copy images (Verified) 5 Don't forget to make a bootable disc in case you need to re-image and your windows won't boot… I'm sure others will have different ideas! Regards paws

I'm sure others will have different ideas!

Nope.
I like your suggestions.

I also like the new WD SATA HD for the Windows bootable partition, due to the better speeds where most of the work will be done.

I'm not certain about placement of paging file.
It's generally better (better responsiveness) if you place paging file on a second channel of IDE or SATA .
By placing it away from the Window partition channel, windows can access emulated-RAM (virtual memory) on that second channel without interference with other read/write accesses that may be being conducted on the first channel.

But in your case, Paging onto one of the SATA HD partitions may be almost as fast.

You can always experiment with it.

I should have clarified what drives I have doing what right now. My C: drive is a 35GB SATA WD Raptor. It's my fastest drive and small being just big enough for Windows and a few other things, so it won't be getting replaced at all. My next fastest drive is the 300GB SATA Maxtor drive, which is where I install all my files. The two IDE drives I've been using purely for file storage. My dilemma is I'm not sure what do do with the 300GB drive, and should I bother partitioning the 1TB drive. Should the Maxtor keep its current role despite the fact it'll only have 100GB freed up if non program files are moved off of it, or should it be swapped out with the WD. I like the idea of setting a partition for disc images. What software should I use for it though, and how much space does an image generally take up if I were to dedicate the 300GB drive to it? Also, what software would be best to ensure the data from my old drives can be moved to either of the others safely?

Sorry to go and bump this, but again I blame lack of sleep and general restlessness in wanting to get this drive setup.

To reiterate the specifics:
What software should I use to ensure complete error-free transfer of files?

If I decide to partition the big drive what software should I use for that (or just use windows to do that?)?

I like the idea of saving disk Images, but what software is good for this (never done it before so no clue at all)? And how much space does an image take up?

One thing to note is that at the moment, I can't afford to buy software to do these things, so free is a must.

Hi,

What software should I use to ensure complete error-free transfer of files?

Nothing special required, Windows is quite up to the job of copying files

If I decide to partition the big drive what software should I use for that (or just use windows to do that?)?

if there's nothing on the drive ( no data to lose) then Windows will just do fine, if there's data on the drive then you will need to either
copy it safely somewhere, then partition the drive using Windows and then copy the data back
or
Use a third party disc partitioning product that will allow you to create partitions without (we hope!) threat to your data.

I like the idea of saving disk Images, but what software is good for this (never done it before so no clue at all)? And how much space does an image take up?

Free software for disc imaging and links to disc partitioning software are available from here:
http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtml

As a general guide you will find that a disc image can be created using different levels of compression…….the higher the level of compression used…. the slower the process, but with a smaller file size (compared with no compression)
As an example my disc images (using normal compression) usually have a file size reduction of about 40-45%
Regards
paws

I think I've set a record for massive procrastination. 9 months since I bought this drive and it's still not plugged in. I'm finally gonna bite the bullet and do it, but just one question is lingering in my mind. When I copy everything from my D: drive, then replace my old D: with the new drive and rename it D:, all the programs installed there should still function shouldn't they? I figure what I am going to have to do will go something like this: Unplug all HDD's, plug in the new one, run diagnostics and zero the drive. Plug C: and D: back in, boot into windows and copy the contents of D: to the new drive. Unplug D:, boot into windows, rename the new drive D:, then reboot. Verify that it's working, then copy the contents of the other 2 drives. That should work right? I mean, there shouldn't be any problem with the programs running since the drive will be labeled D:. Is there any way to rename the drive before booting into windows so I don't have it booting up trying to run a bunch of programs with missing files? (Like in BIOS or something?) Heh, I'm just a little paranoid about any potential of losing data. In fact I think I'm going to remove the old HDD's but set them aside somewhere safe for a couple months after I have this up and running so at least the majority of my data will still be safe if this one does happen to carp** out on me (can't afford another external drive to do a redundant backup yet).