HD Cloning Help Needed - Argh!

[EricG]

So last night I used Acronis True Image 11 Home to clone my existing 120 GB
hard drive onto a new 650 GB Seagate drive. I had to run chkdsk a couple of
times on the existing drive to clear out some bad spots. After I did that, I
ran Acronis using the "proportional" scaling option so that each partition
would be scaled up proportional to its current size. The system partion
(13.97 GB) was scaled up to a new size (75.67GB). It took almost an hour to
complete, so I know it was doing something...

The cloning operation was a success! After Acronis was finished, I shut
down completely, swapped the new drive into the Master spot on the IDE cable,
removed the old drive, and tried to boot. Of course, I forgot to remove the
CD, so I booted into the Acronis startup mode. I removed the CD and tried
again. I got a beep and an error message (I forget exactly what it was -
something about unable to boot from boot device, insert bootable media and
hit any key?). The system did not recognize the new hard drive!

Then I put the old drive back in, leaving the new drive out completely.
Same error message! It would not boot from the old drive either.

Then I went into BIOS to try to figure out what was wrong. Before I did, I
installed both of the hard drives - old one in Master, new one in Slave.
Once in BIOS, I saw that neither of the hard drives were being recognized -
the IDE slots were shown as empty. So I gave up because I'm not smart enough
to know what was happening.

I'm sure there's a simple fix to this. Can anyone tell me what I did wrong,
and what I need to do to at least get the old hard drive to boot again?
Better yet, if you could also tell me how to get the new drive to boot (my
original goal), that would be great! I have a Sony VAIO running windows XP
with all the latest and greatest updates. I think the original drive is a
Samsung. I had both drives set to "cable select" mode.

Sorry for the long-winded post.

TIA,

Eric

 

[JS]

Whoever solves this problem gets 4 stars.
Acronis support was never able to solve it for me.
Ended up completely formatting drive and reinstalling XP.
Since this was a test PC nothing of value was lost.

 

[EricG]

Unfortunately, mine is not a test PC. Mine is the only PC I have, and
backing up hasn't been my specialty. That's the other reason I got the
Acronis software. How ironic! I have a second 650 GB drive that I'm
planning to use as the backup drive. I guess I should have backed up first...

 

[Anna]

So last night I used Acronis True Image 11 Home to clone my existing 120
GB
hard drive onto a new 650 GB Seagate drive. I had to run chkdsk a couple
of
times on the existing drive to clear out some bad spots. After I did
that, I
ran Acronis using the "proportional" scaling option so that each partition
would be scaled up proportional to its current size. The system partion
(13.97 GB) was scaled up to a new size (75.67GB). It took almost an hour
to
complete, so I know it was doing something...

The cloning operation was a success! After Acronis was finished, I shut
down completely, swapped the new drive into the Master spot on the IDE
cable,
removed the old drive, and tried to boot. Of course, I forgot to remove
the
CD, so I booted into the Acronis startup mode. I removed the CD and tried
again. I got a beep and an error message (I forget exactly what it was -
something about unable to boot from boot device, insert bootable media and
hit any key?). The system did not recognize the new hard drive!

Then I put the old drive back in, leaving the new drive out completely.
Same error message! It would not boot from the old drive either.

Then I went into BIOS to try to figure out what was wrong. Before I did,
I
installed both of the hard drives - old one in Master, new one in Slave.
Once in BIOS, I saw that neither of the hard drives were being
recognized -
the IDE slots were shown as empty. So I gave up because I'm not smart
enough
to know what was happening.

I'm sure there's a simple fix to this. Can anyone tell me what I did
wrong,
and what I need to do to at least get the old hard drive to boot again?
Better yet, if you could also tell me how to get the new drive to boot (my
original goal), that would be great! I have a Sony VAIO running windows
XP
with all the latest and greatest updates. I think the original drive is a
Samsung. I had both drives set to "cable select" mode.

Sorry for the long-winded post.

TIA,

Eric

Eric:
First of all you needn't apologize "for the long-winded post". On the
contrary; you provided an excellent description of the problem you're
experiencing and the steps leading up to it. Most responders (and potential
responders) welcome this kind of detail when a poster posts his or her
problem.

Anyway...

1. It's hard to imagine there's a hardware-issue involved here. Presumably
your "old" 120 GB HDD booted & functioned without any problems prior to the
disk-cloning operation, right?

2. And we'll assume that your new 650 GB Seagate is non-defective. There's
no reason to think otherwise, is there?

3. There's an old saying that if you "clone garbage, garbage is what you'll
get". You have indicated that prior to the disk-cloning operation "I had to
run chkdsk a couple of times on the existing drive to clear out some bad
spots."

You're pretty sure you "clear(ed) out" these "bad spots"? After doing so can
we assume that you booted to the 120 GB HDD and it functioned perfectly?
Booted without incident and no problems with any programs, etc.? And it was
at that point that you undertook the disk-cloning operation?

4. Setting aside the 650 GB HDD...when you install *only* the 120 GB HDD in
the system, you've checked the BIOS boot priority (boot preference) setting
and does it indicate a first HDD boot to that drive? Are you indicating that
the disk is not recognized at all in the motherboard's BIOS (again, when
connected as the sole HDD in the system)?

5. Have you tried jumpering the 120 GB HDD as Master (or Single if it's a WD
disk) in lieu of Cable Select?

6. Saving the worst for last, it's possible that the ATI disk-cloning
operation went awry in such a way as to cause substantial corruption in the
source HDD. To the point where the disk becomes an unbootable device. While
rare in our experience with various versions of the ATI program, we *have*
encountered that misery more than once. And we could never account for that
problem.

7. Since you obviously have another PC at your disposal, is there any chance
you can install the 120 GB HDD as a *secondary* HDD in that machine to
determine if it's detected by the system and you can access its contents?

8. Can I assume you've previously used the ATI version you're working with
for routine disk-cloning purposes? You're reasonably familiar with the
program?

(Hopefully) there's no chance you might have confused the "source" &
"destination" drives while undertaking the disk-cloning operation, is there?
Anna

 

[EricG]

Anna,

Thanks for your response. My "other PC" is my laptop at work. I only have
the one PC at home. I can answer some of your questions now, but I can't do
any testing until I get home. My wife has a laptop (at home) so I'll be able
to talk to the NG after doing any suggested tests. See my responses to your
questions below.

Eric

1. It's hard to imagine there's a hardware-issue involved here. Presumably
your "old" 120 GB HDD booted & functioned without any problems prior to the
disk-cloning operation, right?

The old HD booted and functioned fine prior to the disk-cloning. The only
problem I was having was a constant stream of "you're almost out of disk
space on drive C:" messages. I was down to about 200MB of free space in the
system partition, and I had done all the cleaning, deleting and compressing I
could stand. Hence the desire for a larger HD.

2. And we'll assume that your new 650 GB Seagate is non-defective. There's
no reason to think otherwise, is there?

The new drive had been installed in the same PC and was being used (although
sparingly) to store some data temporarily. Didn't have any problems with it.
It was recognized by Windows from the beginning.

3. There's an old saying that if you "clone garbage, garbage is what you'll
get". You have indicated that prior to the disk-cloning operation "I had to
run chkdsk a couple of times on the existing drive to clear out some bad
spots."

You're pretty sure you "clear(ed) out" these "bad spots"? After doing so can
we assume that you booted to the 120 GB HDD and it functioned perfectly?
Booted without incident and no problems with any programs, etc.? And it was
at that point that you undertook the disk-cloning operation?

The first chkdsk pass found about four bad "segments"?? in the first of the
three chkdsk phases and fixed them. The second pass found one thing wrong in
the file index (again ?? not sure of the terminology) in (I think) the second
chkdsk phase and fixed that. The third pass was completely clean, with no
complaints from chkdsk. After the third pass, I continued to boot the
machine and had no problems. And yes, I then did the disk-cloning operation
(after rebooting yet again to start up with the Acronis CD).

4. Setting aside the 650 GB HDD...when you install *only* the 120 GB HDD in
the system, you've checked the BIOS boot priority (boot preference) setting
and does it indicate a first HDD boot to that drive? Are you indicating that
the disk is not recognized at all in the motherboard's BIOS (again, when
connected as the sole HDD in the system)?

I tried installing either drive by itself, and neither worked. When I had
only the 120GB drive installed, I figured out how to get into the BIOS, and
looked at the installed hardware. The drive did not show up in the primary
IDE list at all. Nothing did. The CD and DVD drives showed up in the
secondary IDE list. The boot settings only allowed selection of either the
CD or the DVD drives. No HD showed up in the list. I also installed BOTH
drives (original=Master, new=Slave), and neither one showed up in the BIOS.

5. Have you tried jumpering the 120 GB HDD as Master (or Single if it's a WD
disk) in lieu of Cable Select?

Yes, I move the jumper for the 120GB drive to the "Master" setting, plugged
it into the "Master" connector on the IDE cable, and tried booting. I got
the same error message.

6. Saving the worst for last, it's possible that the ATI disk-cloning
operation went awry in such a way as to cause substantial corruption in the
source HDD. To the point where the disk becomes an unbootable device. While
rare in our experience with various versions of the ATI program, we *have*
encountered that misery more than once. And we could never account for that
problem.

This is only the worst if it means I lose all my data. That would be bad.
I can probably live with having to reload XP from my recovery disks. I'm
just hoping I don't have to because of all the programs, etc. to be reloaded
also.

7. Since you obviously have another PC at your disposal, is there any chance
you can install the 120 GB HDD as a *secondary* HDD in that machine to
determine if it's detected by the system and you can access its contents?

Unfortunately, I don't have another PC. I'll have to find a friend with one
and try installing the drive(s) in their PC.

8. Can I assume you've previously used the ATI version you're working with
for routine disk-cloning purposes? You're reasonably familiar with the
program?

This is my first time using the software. It was recommended by a friend
who found it "easy and reliable". I played with its features for a while
before I was comfortable with the approach I took. It seemed to work very
smoothly, although it took a while to finish.

(Hopefully) there's no chance you might have confused the "source" &
"destination" drives while undertaking the disk-cloning operation, is there?

That is highly unlikely. The graphical display clearly showed the
destination drive having a 13.97GB system partition, and the new drive having
a proportionally larger system partition.

Anna

Any suggestions you have in terms of things for me to try will be greatly
appreciated. I have become aware that Acronis provides absolutely no
technical support for their product, unless you're willing to pay much more
than the product itself cost.

Eric

 

[Brian A.]

That is highly unlikely. The graphical display clearly showed the
destination drive having a 13.97GB system partition, and the new drive
having a proportionally larger system partition.

If what you state above is true and not a typo, the destination (new
drive) would be the drive to clone to, not the source (original drive). You
stated in your original post: <quote>
The system partion (13.97 GB) was scaled up to a new size (75.67GB).
</quote>

If that is the case the destination (new drive) would be reported as
75.67GB and the source (original drive) would be reported as 13.97GB.
Hopefully the above was a typo.

Another thing to try that the others have not mentioned. With the ATI
disk in the CD/DVD drive, both the new and old hard drives installed and
jumpered as you had them when all worked properly and you performed the
cloning operation, if you boot to the ATI disk are you able to see the
drives?

If you can see the drives does it show the size of the drives and/or do
you have any option to clone, copy or restore?


--

Brian A. Sesko
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[EricG]

Sorry - yes, that's a typo. Instead of "destination drive", I meant the
original (120GB) drive.

Hmm...that's something I didn't try - see if I can start a new cloning
operation and if ATI sees the disks. I'll try that when I get home.

Thanks for the idea.

Eric

 

[Anna]

Anna,
Thanks for your response. My "other PC" is my laptop at work. I only
have
the one PC at home. I can answer some of your questions now, but I can't
do
any testing until I get home. My wife has a laptop (at home) so I'll be
able
to talk to the NG after doing any suggested tests. See my responses to
your
questions below.

Eric

Eric wrote...

The old HD booted and functioned fine prior to the disk-cloning. The only
problem I was having was a constant stream of "you're almost out of disk
space on drive C:" messages. I was down to about 200MB of free space in
the
system partition, and I had done all the cleaning, deleting and
compressing I
could stand. Hence the desire for a larger HD.

Eric wrote...

The new drive had been installed in the same PC and was being used
(although
sparingly) to store some data temporarily. Didn't have any problems with
it.
It was recognized by Windows from the beginning.

Eric wrote...

The first chkdsk pass found about four bad "segments"?? in the first of
the
three chkdsk phases and fixed them. The second pass found one thing wrong
in
the file index (again ?? not sure of the terminology) in (I think) the
second
chkdsk phase and fixed that. The third pass was completely clean, with no
complaints from chkdsk. After the third pass, I continued to boot the
machine and had no problems. And yes, I then did the disk-cloning
operation
(after rebooting yet again to start up with the Acronis CD).

Eric wrote...

I tried installing either drive by itself, and neither worked. When I had
only the 120GB drive installed, I figured out how to get into the BIOS,
and
looked at the installed hardware. The drive did not show up in the
primary
IDE list at all. Nothing did. The CD and DVD drives showed up in the
secondary IDE list. The boot settings only allowed selection of either
the
CD or the DVD drives. No HD showed up in the list. I also installed BOTH
drives (original=Master, new=Slave), and neither one showed up in the
BIOS.

Eric wrote...

Yes, I move the jumper for the 120GB drive to the "Master" setting,
plugged
it into the "Master" connector on the IDE cable, and tried booting. I got
the same error message.

Eric wrote...

This is only the worst if it means I lose all my data. That would be bad.
I can probably live with having to reload XP from my recovery disks. I'm
just hoping I don't have to because of all the programs, etc. to be
reloaded
also.

Eric wrote...

Unfortunately, I don't have another PC. I'll have to find a friend with
one
and try installing the drive(s) in their PC.

Eric wrote...

This is my first time using the software. It was recommended by a friend
who found it "easy and reliable". I played with its features for a while
before I was comfortable with the approach I took. It seemed to work very
smoothly, although it took a while to finish.

Eric wrote...

That is highly unlikely. The graphical display clearly showed the
destination drive having a 13.97GB system partition, and the new drive
having
a proportionally larger system partition.

Eric wrote...

Any suggestions you have in terms of things for me to try will be greatly
appreciated. I have become aware that Acronis provides absolutely no
technical support for their product, unless you're willing to pay much
more
than the product itself cost.

Eric

Eric...
We'll assume that there's no hardware-issue involved here re either HDD (or
any other component) and that your source HDD (the 120 GB one) was
completely bootable/functional at the time you undertook the disk-cloning
operation.

Also that you carried out the disk-cloning operation without error and that
all connections involving the source & destination disks were proper &
secure.

So, if the preceding is correct, something (obviously) went awry with the
disk-cloning operation.

You've got to examine your 120 GB HDD to determine if the drive is at least
detectable by another PC and you can access its contents and as best you can
determine whether it appears the drive contains a bootable, functional OS.
The only practical way to do this is (at the minimum) install it as a
secondary HDD in another machine. I realize this process is not definitive
in terms of determining whether the drive is potentially bootable &
functional, but it's a start.

The disk-cloning program we use nearly exclusively these days is the Casper
5 program. For a variety of reasons which I won't go into here & now we find
it a superior product and generally prefer it to the Acronis True Image
program. On the other hand the ATI v11 program you already have is a sound
program and also highly recommended by many users.

Under ordinary circumstances I would recommend you download/install the
trial version of the Casper 5 program and undertake the disk-cloning
operation with that program. But obviously that's not an option since
there's no way to install the trial version of that program (at least for
the moment) on a non-bootable HDD.

And while you're going through this diagnosis process you may also want to
download the HDD diagnostic utility from the manufacturer of the 120 GB HDD
to verify that the disk is non-defective.

Anyway, keep us informed of your progress and/or developments.
Anna

 

[JS]

Some things you can check is to see if the
destination drive partition is a 'Primary' partition,
mark as 'Active' and 'System'

 

[Bob]

Sorry - yes, that's a typo. Instead of "destination drive", I meant the
original (120GB) drive.

Hmm...that's something I didn't try - see if I can start a new cloning
operation and if ATI sees the disks. I'll try that when I get home.

Thanks for the idea.

Eric

:

You might want to download Paragon Rescue Kit (it's free for non-
commercial use).

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/rk-express/download.html

I used it to unscrew a linux/XP dual boot hard drive. You can reset the
MBR and some other things...may help you out...

http://www.paragon-software.com/export/sites/paragonsoftware.com/images/
screenshots/en/rk-express/rk-5_Boot_Corrector.jpg

 

[Bob Harris]

I suggest that you restore the PC to its original configuration, with only
one hard drive attached, and confirm that it still boots. If it does, then
you can explore several possibilities as to why the cloned drive failed to
boot. However, if the original configuration also fails to boot, then I
would start worrying about things like the motherboard, cables, power
supply, etc.

And, as one of the other replies mentioned, you could attach the original
(and/or the new) hard drive to a known-good PC as a slave drive (or via USB
enclosure) and then determine whether it is readable. You could even run
CHKDSK once it is attached to another PC.

Booting form the TI CD would also show you the attached disks and their
partitions, so long as they are properly configured in the BIOS.

Have you carefully examined the Power-On-Test screens? These are the black
screens with white messages that tell you about hardware detection, RAM
testing, etc while a PC boots. All internal hard drives should clearly be
indicated as present and functional. If the BIOS can not see a drive, or
sees it as bad, unknown, or similar, then XP has no chance of booting from
it.

Assuming that all hardware seems good, then here are some thoughts about why
the new drive do not boot:

(1) You may need an 80-pin cable. Older computers with IDE type disks used
a 40-pin cable. Sometimes XP will accept this, such as on a win98 to XP
upgrade, but other times it will not. In any event, an 80-pin cable is
recommended to minimize noise.

(2) What is the largest hard drive supported by your motherboard? Hard
drives have increased in size very fast and older motherboards (or
PCI-to-IDE add-in cards) might have a limit below the size of modern disks.
By the way, just because your old PC had a 120 Gig disk does not mean that
the motherboard supported 120 Gig disks. It is possible, although rare, to
trick a motherboard into handling a larger disk via special overlay
software, which usually comes form the disk manufacturer. As a test it
might be possible to set a jumper to restrict the size of the new disk.
Check the instructions for the disk and/or the disk makers support website.

(3) Is there a BIOS update for your PC? If so, try to determine whether
the update is supposed to help with some disk or disk-size problem.
However, do not simply apply the latest BIOS, unless you have some reason to
believe that it is needed. And, be sure to have a copy of the current BIOS.
In my experience newer is not always better.

 

[JS]

Eric,

How old is the PC?

Make/Model number?

 

[EricG]

LOL - You're all going to be very upset with me!

What's the most basic question you should ask before any other when dealing
with electronic equipment? IS IT PLUGGED IN?

Apparently, in shuffling hard drives last night, I pulled the cable from the
motherboard. As soon as I plugged it back in, I could boot from my original
hard drive.

However, when I tried to boot from the new drive, I got a message like "No
Operating System", and nothing happened. So now I have another mystery to
solve, and if you have any ideas about why it's telling me that, please chime
in.

Currently, I have both drives plugged in:

Old Drive:
System Drive (C 13.9 GB
Data Drive (D 92.8 GB

New Drive:
System Drive (H 75.6 GB
Data Drive (I 502 GB

The old system partition is using 14,634,000,384 bytes.
The new system partition is using 14,587,978,424 bytes.

When I attached the new drive by itself on the Master connection, with cable
select, I got the "No Operating System" message...

I have done a cursory look, and it appears all the files on both partitions
are there.

Are there any simple reasons why the new drive is not bootable?

Thanks again,

Eric

 

[Brian A.]

LOL - You're all going to be very upset with me!

What's the most basic question you should ask before any other when
dealing with electronic equipment? IS IT PLUGGED IN?

It's not as basic as it should be some times whether it's the power or
data cable.

Apparently, in shuffling hard drives last night, I pulled the cable from
the motherboard. As soon as I plugged it back in, I could boot from my
original hard drive.

Yep, if the data cable isn't connected there won't be any drives to
detect.

However, when I tried to boot from the new drive, I got a message like "No
Operating System", and nothing happened. So now I have another mystery to
solve, and if you have any ideas about why it's telling me that, please
chime in.

Currently, I have both drives plugged in:

Old Drive:
System Drive (C 13.9 GB
Data Drive (D 92.8 GB

New Drive:
System Drive (H 75.6 GB
Data Drive (I 502 GB

The old system partition is using 14,634,000,384 bytes.
The new system partition is using 14,587,978,424 bytes.

When I attached the new drive by itself on the Master connection, with
cable select, I got the "No Operating System" message...

I have done a cursory look, and it appears all the files on both
partitions are there.

Are there any simple reasons why the new drive is not bootable?

If the drive is detected then it sounds like a missing or corrupt startup
sector and or MBR (Master Boot Record). You use the fixboot and/or fixmbr
command in the Recovery console to correct it.

In the RC type the below commands pressing enter after each:
fixmbr
fixboot
exit

The PC will reboot and should boot to your desktop.

Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314058

How to enable an administrator to log on automatically in Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;312149

How to install the Windows Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;216417

How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307654

How to remove Windows Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;555032



--

Brian A. Sesko
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Bill Blanton]

However, when I tried to boot from the new drive, I got a message like "No
Operating System", and nothing happened. So now I have another mystery to
solve, and if you have any ideas about why it's telling me that, please chime
in.

Does the BIOS report the correct size of the new drive?

Open disk management and do a right mouse click on the new system/boot
partition. Select "Mark partition as active" if that option is available. Shut down,
recable without the source drive connected, and try again.

 

[Bill Blanton]

EricG wrote:

If the drive is detected then it sounds like a missing or corrupt startup sector and or MBR (Master Boot Record). You use the
fixboot and/or fixmbr command in the Recovery console to correct it.

Missing MBR code is also a good possibilty. Some BIOS's incorrectly report
"No Operating System", if the MBR boot code is not present. (usually meaning
the end of sector sig).

 

[EricG]

I checked in the Disk Management utility, and it said the drive was Active
and "Healthy"

I ran the error checking tool and it found no problems.

Eric

 

[EricG]

Now all I have to do is find my recovery disks that I made years ago. I know
they're here somewhere...

My Vaio didn't come with a Windows CD. It had me make the CD instead.

As soon as I find them I'll give your suggestions a try and get back to you
with the results.

Thanks for helping,

Eric

 

[EricG]

Well, I finally solved my hard disc cloning problem. I downloaded the trial
version of Casper 5 and did a clone of my 120 GB drive onto my 650 GB drive.
Because it's a trial version, Casper was not enabled for enlarging any of the
partitions, so got an exact duplicate, along with a lot of unallocated space.
The best news was that the 650 GB drive booted right away! No problems of
any kind.

Then I downloaded a freeware disc partition program called EASEUS Partition
Master, which allowed me to move the data partition to the right about 60 GB,
expand my system partition, and then take up the rest of the unallocated
space with the data partition.

It's amazing what you can do for free. I'll definitely end up buying Casper
5 because of this experience. I was very disappointed in the Acronis
software for failing to perform, and also in the Acronis support, which was
nonexistent unless I wanted to pay for it.

Thanks for all your help everyone!

Eric

 

[Anna]

Well, I finally solved my hard disc cloning problem. I downloaded the
trial
version of Casper 5 and did a clone of my 120 GB drive onto my 650 GB
drive.
Because it's a trial version, Casper was not enabled for enlarging any of
the
partitions, so got an exact duplicate, along with a lot of unallocated
space.
The best news was that the 650 GB drive booted right away! No problems of
any kind.

Then I downloaded a freeware disc partition program called EASEUS
Partition
Master, which allowed me to move the data partition to the right about 60
GB,
expand my system partition, and then take up the rest of the unallocated
space with the data partition.

It's amazing what you can do for free. I'll definitely end up buying
Casper
5 because of this experience. I was very disappointed in the Acronis
software for failing to perform, and also in the Acronis support, which
was
nonexistent unless I wanted to pay for it.

Thanks for all your help everyone!

Eric

Eric:
That's good news, of course, but what puzzles me is how did you install the
Casper 5 program onto your "source" HDD - the 120 GB one? Ordinarily I would
have suggested that you download the trial version of the Casper 5 program
and give that a try, but (as I recall) you had indicated that following the
unsuccessful Acronis True Image disk-cloning or disk-imaging process, that
drive was unbootable and dysfunctional. So under those circumstances how did
you install the trial version of the Casper program onto that drive?

Can I assume you installed the 120 GB HDD onto another PC as a secondary HDD
and thus was able to install the Casper 5 trial version program onto the
drive that way? As you now probably know Casper does have a program to
create a "Startup Disk" (CD) so that the program can be accessed that way,
but AFAIK that program is only available when purchasing the licensed
version of the program; it is not available with the trial version. And it's
a $9.95 extra.

In any event I think it would be a wise decision on your part to purchase
the licensed version of the Casper 5 program including the Startup Disk
program. While it's considerably more expensive than the Acronis and most
other disk-cloning or disk-imaging programs it's still worth the cost in our
opinion. We've been using the program for more than two years now and
strongly recommend it for the great majority of PC users as a comprehensive
backup program to be used on a routine & frequent basis so as to maintain a
*complete* and up-to-date backup of their systems. In addition to its
straightforward design, simplicity of use, and general overall
effectiveness, its truly most significant feature is the rather
extroardinary speed of its backup operations when the program is employed on
a *frequent basis*. We ordinarily encourage users to use the program no less
than once a week in most cases. So keep that in mind.

We have recommended this program to scores, if not hundreds, of users
(including former Acronis True Image Home users) and I'm not aware of a
single user who has regretted their purchase. It's that good.
Anna