Can a OS be copied from one hard drive to another and still boot?

Posted by AlexMorley-Finch on Super User See other posts from Super User or by AlexMorley-Finch
Published on 2011-12-11T19:58:35Z Indexed on 2012/10/13 3:40 UTC
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windows-7

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hard-drive

Background

My computer gets stuck on the make and model screen after the BIOS screen, aka the Toshiba screen.

After some research I've realized that the problem is the hard drive. I'm using an old 250gb model that USED to be used for backup purposes, however I loaded windows 7 ultimate onto it

This hard drive has trouble getting up to full RPM therefore cannot boot correctly until its warmed up. meaning that my pc needs to be restarted several times before it boots (once it took my 13 reboots to get my pc on!)

From my research its either that, or lack of power supply, and I've tried multiple PSUs.

Question

I have my OS and all my files on this 250gb HDD...

If I were to literally open the explorer, and copy EVERYTHING (including hidden files obviously) from this 250gb, to a spare 500gb I've got knocking about...

Will it boot if I just copy everything?

I cannot be bothered to load another OS onto my PC so if there is a way I can just copy the existing one over from one HDD to another and have it boot normally. This would be epic!

I've heard about HDD cloning software. But before I purchase and/or download this software, I need to know if i can just copy the OS over through the windows explorer

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