I'm considering getting an F3 1TB to replace my current 250GB hard drive, which is too small for my steam/music/"pictures". Am I likely to run into any problems - will I be able to just do a straight copy of all the files from my current HD to the new one, then disconnect the old one and reboot?
Simply answer is no. You could make a disk image then put that onto the new disk but my preference would be to re-install Windows and copy everything else across.
Surely you could use something like GParted Live CD to copy the entire Hard disc over to the new disc without being in windows. That should work! At least that is what I am planning when I next get a new disc! -J
When I upgraded my disk, I did a clean install. It's more hassle in the short term, but it's my preferred method. However, I don't see why imaging the old disk to the new disk wouldn't work. I use it all the time in work without any issues, but I haven't tried it with Windows 7. Depending on the version of Windows 7 you have, then you may be able to do a full backup using Windows backup to an external hard disk and restore it to the new one. Not sure how well that will work though.
Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image will both allow you to do this. In fact, nearly all true back up programs will do this without much hassle. Just make a whole disk back up, and then restore it onto your new drive once installed. Remember to make a boot CD from whichever back up software you use though, or you'll not be able to restore.
For cloning I use seagate disk tools which is Acronis actually and is free works better than Norton . I just noticed that to use the above software there has to be at least 1 seagate or maxtor device connected to the rig
A clone would be your best bet, unless you're certain that your Windows key will re-activate with no trouble. Try CloneZilla.
I was about to post the same thing. CloneZilla works great and is really easy to use since all you have to do is follow the on screen instructions