I've currently got a self-build system with 3 HDDs - 1 x 80 Gb, 1 x 120 Gb and 1 x 250 Gb, all of which are almost pretty full to the brim. I've got Win 7 on the 80 and XP on the 120. What I'd now like to ideally do is to put in a 160 to replace the 80, but wondering if there's any way to do this whereby I can just install it, & transfer the contents of the 80 over without my 8 partitions suddenly changing their letters. Given that in order to undertake this I'd have to pull out the 250 drive but once the transfer was done, replace it again, is this a task doomed to definite problems, and if so, is there perhaps a better way around it?? I might be able to install it as a 4th drive, but would be hugely reluctant to do so, as things are proving tight enough in the case as it is, and I'm disabled, with arthritic hands that don't make working in cases the joy it once used to be.

Any tips/hints on how best to do this would be hugely appreciated.

If you're going to clone the 80 GB drive first, I should think you'll be ok with your plan, although I've not tried it with so many drives in place.

Seagate have a free program you can download called DiscWizard which includes a version of Acronis True Image, which enables you to clone your old hard drive to the new drive without any loss of system settings or data.

Here's a user guide:

DiscWizard user guide

One of the drives (old or new) needs to be a Seagate or Maxtor though to use the software.

I would still back up any important data first though before preceding.

Sounds like a plan indeed - ta for that. Stupidly hadn't actually thought of cloning the drive which makes a ton more sense than manually copying everything from one to the other. Will download the program and see what transpires with it as both drives are indeed Maxtor so hopefully it will work okay. Thanks for your input.

If you go directly to Acronis them selves, the trial software is fully functional and for 30 days too. Also no manufacturer limits.

I use it, and have no problems.