How do I transfer a Windows 7 installation to a new HDD?

I've just got all the parts I need to build a new PC but the SATAII hard drive I ordered did not come and I've received an IDE drive instead.

While I wait to get the correct drive type and send the new IDE drive back, is it possible to install Windows 7 on to an existing IDE drive that I have and then transfer the contents of that drive over to the new SATA disk when it arrives without Windows having any issues?

One option is to install Windows on the IDE drive, make an image (on a separate partition or drive) of it either with the built in Windows imaging function or a third party tool like Marcium Reflect (free edition) and then restore the image to the new drive when it arrives. There shouldn't be any issues with this besides maybe having to install sata drivers for your motherboard.

Windows installed to an IDE drive will not boot when later installed to a SATA drive unless it is connected to exactly the same connector on the machine with an IDE-to-SATA adapter. From the perspective of the drive, different connections mean different hardware (to a degree).

But, you may be lucky and running startup repair on it will fix the problem.

I just cloned my W7 drive to a new hard drive yesterday, worked flawlessly using Easeus Todo backup Free edition clone function.