Paragon software has a program that will allow you to clone a disk from
a smaller to a larger disk with no problem, even the other way too, as
long as the blank space on the disk allows the material to fit onto the
disk itself.
Also, the difference between 2fTB drives and larger ones is (mostly) a
matter of gpart VS. MBR, and of course, the whole EUFI bios system on
the various computer systems. I'm fairly certain there's nothing
proprietary about it, though I suppose it's certainly possible that some
manufacturers put their own code into the EUFI bios to make things
behave differently, though why they'd do so is a mystery to me.
Also, Microsoft sells windows for $100 for the base system, and $200 for
the pro version, and that's stand-alone, so there's no reason why
windows should cost $215 especially from an OEM, since they pay
considerably less for a copy of windows than a retail customer does.
It's all just a load of crap, which is why I build my own machines, and
have since the early 90s. Admittedly, it's getting progressively harder
to find the exact patrts one wants these days, especially when it comes
to cases with a sufficient number of drive bays (everyone seems to think
since everything is online, external drives are unnecessary), but with a
bit of judicial searching, it's (usually) possible to locate a suitable
case, though pricing is rarely in line with other parts. <sigh>
In any case, apparently, with the EUFI bios systems, it's not possible
to run dos without some work, since the BIOS varies too much from
standard machines of the past. It can still be done with emulators and
the like, but generally, it is possible to flash a rom bios on a
motherboard, if you dig hard enough, or locate a compatible motherboard,
but again, that's becoming less and less common. Generally, if you
search for industrial equipment/parts, you can generally find legacy
bios support, and setup your machine with one of those motherboards.
That seems to work, though I'm sure even that support will fall by the
wayside eventually.
Perhaps, SBC (Single Board Computers) may be the way to go for folks
wanting a true dos experience, though I've yet to find one I'd consider
suitable myself for a reasonable price. The pi would be great, but it's
an arm processor, so can't do the dos thing without a whole lot of help,
so perhaps if someone has some knowledge about an ISA type SBC, I'd sure
like to hear about it. I'd love to get my hands on one for myself, it
might be fun seeing just how much dos can be run on one of those.
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