Using dd to clone smaller drive to larger drive

[Brian C <brianwc@berkeley.edu>]

Hi,

/dev/hda is the Debian Sarge system, w/ 3 partitions.
/dev/hdb is a new slightly larger drive w/ no partitions.

/dev/hda may have a bad block or two, and so the plan is to clone it to 
the new drive, remove the old drive, move new drive to /dev/hda (primary 
master) and then run from the new drive.

Can I just type (as root):

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb

and will that just work?

Should I first set up the new drive with identical partitions to the old 
drive?

If so, what can I do with the extra space?

What will happen if dd encounters a bad block?

Thanks,
Brian