Copy a Hard Drive in Windows XP

You can copy or back up your hard drive using an external hard drive. An external hard drive is a storage device that attaches to your computer through a USB port. Using an external hard drive, you can create a copy of your computer hard drive, although it requires large amounts of memory and plenty of time.

Plug in the external hard drive if it needs power. Attach the USB cord to your computer. A notice may pop up in your systems tray, indicating that a new device is attached to your computer.

Click on the Start menu on the lower left side of your screen. Select "All Programs," then "Accessories" and "System Tools." Click on "Backup." A Backup utility box will open.

Select "Backup Wizard (Advanced)." On the What to Backup screen, select "Back up everything on this computer." To save personal files and data rather than all system files, select "Back up selected files, drives and network data." Click "Next."

If you chose the selected files option, check the files, folders and data you want copied. Click "Next."

Click on the location of your external hard drive from the drop-down menu. If it is not listed, click on "Browse" and find the external hard drive. Type the name of the new file. Click "Next."

A box will confirm your choices. Select "Start Backup" to start the copying.

Depending on the size of your computer hard drive, the number of files and your hard drive speed, backing up could take several minutes, several hours or half a day. A Backup Progress box shows you how many files are processed along with the time elapsed and remaining. To stop the backup, click "Cancel." Note that if you stop the backup process, you will not have a full copy of your hard drive.

When complete, remove the USB cord from you computer and unplug the external hard drive.

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