Can I move or rewrite the MBR to another drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JDShine
  • Start date Start date
J

JDShine

This is the situation. The system (Dell) in question came with ME
installed (HDD0 'C'). I then put in a second HD and installed XP on it
(HDD1 'D') and ran it as a dual boot until I was comfortable with XP.
Next I removed the ME install (leaving some suggested system files in
place). Now I have XP on HDD1 'D' which is "BOOT" and only the old ME
system files on HDD0 (C) which is "System". This set up has worked fine
for 2+ years, but now I have built a new system with SATA controllers
and have a left over 200GB IDE hard drive. So now I would like to '86'
HDDO and replace it with the clean 200GB drive. I assume that the MBR is
still on HDD0 'C', so how or can I move the MBR to HDD1 'D'? This
solution, if possible seems a lot simpler than reinstalling XP and all
my 'stuff' on a new 'C'.

TIA,
JDShine
 
In JDShine had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
This is the situation. The system (Dell) in question came with ME
installed (HDD0 'C'). I then put in a second HD and installed XP on it
(HDD1 'D') and ran it as a dual boot until I was comfortable with XP.
Next I removed the ME install (leaving some suggested system files in
place). Now I have XP on HDD1 'D' which is "BOOT" and only the old ME
system files on HDD0 (C) which is "System". This set up has worked
fine for 2+ years, but now I have built a new system with SATA
controllers and have a left over 200GB IDE hard drive. So now I would
like to '86' HDDO and replace it with the clean 200GB drive. I assume
that the MBR is still on HDD0 'C', so how or can I move the MBR to
HDD1 'D'? This solution, if possible seems a lot simpler than
reinstalling XP and all my 'stuff' on a new 'C'.

TIA,
JDShine
Click to expand...

Not easily? What you CAN do is just toss in the new drive (you'll still not
be on C: drive - I'm not about to recommend you go trying it with a third
party utility, you can but trust me on this - chances are you won't be
happy) and set it as the new master as HDD0. (In other words you'll be
putting the 200 GB IDE as HDD0 and the HDD1 (which has XP on it currently)
will be the same.

And you /should/ get away without a repair install? If no then you'll need a
repair install. However the same process is going to apply here...

Repairing a Multi-Boot:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/repair_multi-boot.html

Else see here next:

Problems with boot.ini:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/advanced/bootini.html

(link on the bottom to the fixboot command)

You may want the FIXMBR command.

If that STILL bites your bum then...

Kick it!

No, really, repair it...

Repair Installation of XP:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/xprepair.html

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/ http://kgiii.info/

"Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and
its solution is its own reward." - Sherlock Holmes
 
In JDShine had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message: [clip]



Not easily? What you CAN do is just toss in the new drive (you'll still not
be on C: drive - I'm not about to recommend you go trying it with a third
party utility, you can but trust me on this - chances are you won't be
happy) and set it as the new master as HDD0. (In other words you'll be
putting the 200 GB IDE as HDD0 and the HDD1 (which has XP on it currently)
will be the same.

And you /should/ get away without a repair install? If no then you'll need a
repair install. However the same process is going to apply here...

Repairing a Multi-Boot:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/repair_multi-boot.html

Else see here next:

Problems with boot.ini:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/advanced/bootini.html

(link on the bottom to the fixboot command)

You may want the FIXMBR command.

If that STILL bites your bum then...

Kick it!

No, really, repair it...

Repair Installation of XP:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/xprepair.html
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply, due to a heavy work schedule I have not been
able to attempt a solution as yet but I have done some homework
regarding your suggestions. I did want to thank you for your efforts and
assure you that I am aware of the problems relative to third party
utilities. The main reason that the 200GB drive is going into the old
Dell and not the new system that I built is that after two weeks of
labor I was unable to get more that one device installed on a two
channel IDE controller card. Thanks again, I will let you know the
results if this thread is still alive when I get a day off

JDShine
 
In JDShine had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
In JDShine had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message: [clip]



Not easily? What you CAN do is just toss in the new drive (you'll
still not be on C: drive - I'm not about to recommend you go trying
it with a third party utility, you can but trust me on this -
chances are you won't be happy) and set it as the new master as
HDD0. (In other words you'll be putting the 200 GB IDE as HDD0 and
the HDD1 (which has XP on it currently) will be the same.

And you /should/ get away without a repair install? If no then
you'll need a repair install. However the same process is going to
apply here... Repairing a Multi-Boot:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/repair_multi-boot.html

Else see here next:

Problems with boot.ini:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/advanced/bootini.html

(link on the bottom to the fixboot command)

You may want the FIXMBR command.

If that STILL bites your bum then...

Kick it!

No, really, repair it...

Repair Installation of XP:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/xprepair.html
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply, due to a heavy work schedule I have not been
able to attempt a solution as yet but I have done some homework
regarding your suggestions. I did want to thank you for your efforts
and assure you that I am aware of the problems relative to third party
utilities. The main reason that the 200GB drive is going into the old
Dell and not the new system that I built is that after two weeks of
labor I was unable to get more that one device installed on a two
channel IDE controller card. Thanks again, I will let you know the
results if this thread is still alive when I get a day off

JDShine
Click to expand...

Not a problem and it will still be here though likely it will just be I who
monitors it. All my responses are marked for watching and so I don't miss
any of them nor the responses. :)

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/ http://kgiii.info/

"Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and
its solution is its own reward." - Sherlock Holmes
 
In JDShine had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
I tried FIXBOOT and FIXMBR and did some more homework on the MS KB
articles, all to no avail. So I threw the whole thing in the river.
Actually I did a clean install of XP on the formatted 200GB HDD and
started fresh. The installation did not go easily but it is there now
and I am slowly re-installing all of 'my stuff'. Many of my third
party program still function from shortcuts on the new 'C' drive so I
can take my time transferring everything over.

Thanks again for your assistance,
JDShine
Click to expand...

When you have just made a nice clean new install is a good time to have
already seen this link:

Backup! Image/Clone:
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/advanced/image-clone.html

Though when you have everything all setup it is also a good time to backup
so that you can do a true restore if needed.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/ http://kgiii.info/

"Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and
its solution is its own reward." - Sherlock Holmes
 
In JDShine had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:




Not easily? What you CAN do is just toss in the new drive (you'll still not
be on C: drive - I'm not about to recommend you go trying it with a third
party utility, you can but trust me on this - chances are you won't be
happy) and set it as the new master as HDD0. (In other words you'll be
putting the 200 GB IDE as HDD0 and the HDD1 (which has XP on it currently)
will be the same.

And you /should/ get away without a repair install? If no then you'll need a
repair install. However the same process is going to apply here...

Repairing a Multi-Boot:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/repair_multi-boot.html

Else see here next:

Problems with boot.ini:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/advanced/bootini.html

(link on the bottom to the fixboot command)

You may want the FIXMBR command.

If that STILL bites your bum then...

Kick it!

No, really, repair it...

Repair Installation of XP:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/xprepair.html
Click to expand...
I tried FIXBOOT and FIXMBR and did some more homework on the MS KB
articles, all to no avail. So I threw the whole thing in the river.
Actually I did a clean install of XP on the formatted 200GB HDD and
started fresh. The installation did not go easily but it is there now
and I am slowly re-installing all of 'my stuff'. Many of my third party
program still function from shortcuts on the new 'C' drive so I can take
my time transferring everything over.

Thanks again for your assistance,
JDShine
 
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