Problem upgrading HDD

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeff
  • Start date Start date
J

Jeff

I am replacing a 20Gb HDD - which just isn't big enough any more -
with a new larger one. The old drive is set up just the way I want
it, with music recording apps, drivers and settings, and I'm very
reluctant to have to start again with a new, empty drive.

So, I've installed the new drive as a slave and set up two partitions
on it. XP created them as F and G at the end of the list, after the
old drive (which is C) and two CD drives.

I've then used Drive Copy (from within Drive Image 7) to copy the old
drive to the first partition of the new drive. (I also chose to copy
mbr too, which was not a default option). The copy was reported as
successful.

I've then removed the old drive, set the new one as master, and its
being reported as primary master as the machine starts. In the bios
it is reported as the second boot device (by name), after the floppy.
When the machine starts, I get the Windows XP splash screen for a half
second, then a flash of a blue screen which I can't read, and the
machine restarts. Whichever option I choose, it goes around in
circles.

Any suggestions as to what I might need to do to get this thing to
boot up would be gratefully received. Thanks
Jeff
 
I am replacing a 20Gb HDD - which just isn't big enough any more -
with a new larger one. The old drive is set up just the way I want
it, with music recording apps, drivers and settings, and I'm very
reluctant to have to start again with a new, empty drive.

So, I've installed the new drive as a slave and set up two partitions
on it. XP created them as F and G at the end of the list, after the
old drive (which is C) and two CD drives.

I've then used Drive Copy (from within Drive Image 7) to copy the old
drive to the first partition of the new drive. (I also chose to copy
mbr too, which was not a default option). The copy was reported as
successful.

I've then removed the old drive, set the new one as master, and its
being reported as primary master as the machine starts. In the bios
it is reported as the second boot device (by name), after the floppy.
When the machine starts, I get the Windows XP splash screen for a half
second, then a flash of a blue screen which I can't read, and the
machine restarts. Whichever option I choose, it goes around in
circles.

Any suggestions as to what I might need to do to get this thing to
boot up would be gratefully received. Thanks
Jeff
Click to expand...

Are you using NTFS file system on your old drive? I think that can
cause some trouble when using Drive Image.

Why not make it easy, keep your old drive as C and use the new drive
to store data and programs?
 
Are you using NTFS file system on your old drive? I think that can
cause some trouble when using Drive Image.

Why not make it easy, keep your old drive as C and use the new drive
to store data and programs?
Click to expand...

Thanks for this Fredrik. I'm assured that Drive Image 7 has sorted
the problems re NTFS which were in the 2002 version.

Thing is, I really want to free the 20Gb drive up to sit in my other
PC, alongside a 40Gb drive.... and I really want to be able to do this
job, it can't be that difficult!
Thanks
 
Jeff said:
I am replacing a 20Gb HDD - which just isn't big enough any more -
with a new larger one. The old drive is set up just the way I want
it, with music recording apps, drivers and settings, and I'm very
reluctant to have to start again with a new, empty drive.

So, I've installed the new drive as a slave and set up two partitions
on it. XP created them as F and G at the end of the list, after the
old drive (which is C) and two CD drives.

I've then used Drive Copy (from within Drive Image 7) to copy the old
drive to the first partition of the new drive. (I also chose to copy
mbr too, which was not a default option). The copy was reported as
successful.

I've then removed the old drive, set the new one as master, and its
being reported as primary master as the machine starts. In the bios
it is reported as the second boot device (by name), after the floppy.
When the machine starts, I get the Windows XP splash screen for a half
second, then a flash of a blue screen which I can't read, and the
machine restarts. Whichever option I choose, it goes around in
circles.

Any suggestions as to what I might need to do to get this thing to
boot up would be gratefully received. Thanks
Jeff
Click to expand...
I think your problem has to do with a thing called "SIG." I believe
this stands for signature and it writes the characteristics of the
original drive to the new drive. If they are not the same, the computer
will do exactly what you describe. Do a search for SIG as related to
Windows XP and see if you don't come up with an answer. There might
even be something in the software you used to clear the SIG as well.

Ken
 
Jeff said:
I am replacing a 20Gb HDD - which just isn't big enough any more -
with a new larger one. The old drive is set up just the way I want
it, with music recording apps, drivers and settings, and I'm very
reluctant to have to start again with a new, empty drive.

So, I've installed the new drive as a slave and set up two partitions
on it. XP created them as F and G at the end of the list, after the
old drive (which is C) and two CD drives.

I've then used Drive Copy (from within Drive Image 7) to copy the old
drive to the first partition of the new drive. (I also chose to copy
mbr too, which was not a default option). The copy was reported as
successful.

I've then removed the old drive, set the new one as master, and its
being reported as primary master as the machine starts. In the bios
it is reported as the second boot device (by name), after the floppy.
When the machine starts, I get the Windows XP splash screen for a half
second, then a flash of a blue screen which I can't read, and the
machine restarts. Whichever option I choose, it goes around in
circles.

Any suggestions as to what I might need to do to get this thing to
boot up would be gratefully received. Thanks
Click to expand...

You have run into one of the reasons to abjure XP. However I
believe XXCOPY has an answer. Try <http://www.xxcopy.com>
 
CBFalconer said:
You have run into one of the reasons to abjure XP. However I
believe XXCOPY has an answer. Try <http://www.xxcopy.com>
Click to expand...

As much as I use, like, and recommend xxcopy, I don't believe it will
help in this case.

See the site you mentioned above for the reason this is so. here is
Kan Yabumoto's explanation: http://xxcopy.com/xxcopy13.htm

Q16: I understand XXCOPY can duplicate the system disk for Win9x/ME.
What about the WinNT or Win2000?

A16: No. Not at this moment. We have not come up with a sure way to
make a bootable WinNT or Win2000 disk using XXCOPY and standard
set of tools. We have been asked by many users why not.

Let me briefly explain what is involved in making a bootable disk.
The initial step in booting a Windows system is to have BIOS access
the Master Boot Record (MBR, the first sector of the first drive),
which determines the partition information and supplies the initial
bootstrap program. This very small program is then copied into the
main memory and the processor will start executing the program.
Normally, the MBR data is initialized by FDISK (or other specialized
toos). XXCOPY does not access the MBR. That is why in the article,
we show you when and how to use FDISK. In the case of WinNT/2000/XP,
the lengthy OS installation procedure writes the MBR with its own
boot program. So, the MBR certainly is one factor.

Secondly, a handful of key files (such as \WinNT\system32\security)
are locked by the system while WinNT/2000/XP is running. Since the
system refuses to share these files with any other application,
XXCOPY can never access these files (about a dozen or so). In the
case of Win9x, most system files in the \Windows directory are
accessible in read mode, and XXCOPY has no problem accessing nearly
all of them from a Win9x session. It is entirely possible that one
can write an elaborate multi-step batch script to access those key
files from DOS. We just have not done our homework on this subject.


Virg Wall
 
V said:
As much as I use, like, and recommend xxcopy, I don't believe it will
help in this case.

See the site you mentioned above for the reason this is so. here is
Kan Yabumoto's explanation: http://xxcopy.com/xxcopy13.htm

Q16: I understand XXCOPY can duplicate the system disk for Win9x/ME.
What about the WinNT or Win2000?

A16: No. Not at this moment. We have not come up with a sure way to
make a bootable WinNT or Win2000 disk using XXCOPY and standard
set of tools. We have been asked by many users why not.
Click to expand...

I believe he has recently come up with something, which is in some
form of Beta testing now.
 
Jeff said:
Hey Ken, thanks for this intriguing possibility.... I've searched the
MS support site, but not found anything that refers to this. This is
driving me nuts, it must be a fairly simple operation carried out
routinely. I can't believe everyone just bins their old faithful
setup when they install a new drive!
Click to expand...
Jeff,

I did a search to see if I could find some program that would clear the
SIG of your HD, and I found little. That does not mean that they are
not there however. I have seen this problem and in fact corrected it
with Bootit NG using their Partition Maintenance feature. There may
well be other programs that do the same thing, but I am not aware of
them. Starting over with another clone program is certainly an option,
but not a very desirable one.

Ken
 
Jeff,

I did a search to see if I could find some program that would clear
the SIG of your HD, and I found little. That does not mean that they
are not there however. I have seen this problem and in fact corrected
it with Bootit NG using their Partition Maintenance feature. There may
well be other programs that do the same thing, but I am not aware of
them. Starting over with another clone program is certainly an option,
but not a very desirable one.

Ken
Click to expand...

Here is something that might be helpful. It came from a newsgroup
entitled: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general and a post entitled: XP
and Ghost clones

"Both W2K and XP write signatures to the disk. So if you clone your OS
partition and try to boot from it while your original OS partition is still
available the signature will point to the original OS partition. You have
two possible solutions:
a) Disconnect the drive containing the original OS partition while you boot
from the cloned partition. This will rewrite the signature on the cloned
partition.
b) Use BootItNG (from www.bootitng.com), go into partition maintenance and
use the 'Clear Sig' button to clear the signature.

Here is a full description from the BootitNG website:

Win2K/XP keeps track of what drive letter has been assigned to a partition
by disk signature and where the partition starts on the hard drive. If it
finds a partition that matches this information it will assign that drive
letter to the partition (regardless of the file system). Any additional
partitions will then be assigned the next unused (meaning it hasn't been
mapped at this booting) drive letter and added to its list. This can cause
problems to arise in the following situations:
a.. A bootable Win2K/XP partition is duplicated and the original
partition
is in the MBR at the time the duplicated partition is booted.
b.. You slide or move a bootable Win2K/XP partition and another partition
is added or moved to start where the bootable Win2K partition was.
The drive mappings in Win2K/XP can be reset one of two ways:

1.. The entries in the \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\MountedDevices key is
cleared and the system rebooted.
2.. The disk signature is cleared by:
1.. Entering the Work with Partitions Dialog.
2.. Clicking the correct hard drive.
3.. Clicking the "View MBR" button
4.. Clicking the "Clear Sig" button
5.. Clicking the "Apply" button.
Hope this helps.

Tony Marston"

Ken
 
Once upon a time (Thu, 21 Aug 2003 14:15:40 -0400), Jeff came seeking
enlightenment from the community, after having tried everything possible
to get it to work by (him|her)self. Failing that, they wrote:

the machine starts, I get the Windows XP splash screen for a half
second, then a flash of a blue screen which I can't read, and the
machine restarts. Whichever option I choose, it goes around in circles.

Any suggestions as to what I might need to do to get this thing to boot
up would be gratefully received. Thanks Jeff
Click to expand...

I know that this is exactly the opposite of what you're looking
for here, but in my experience, if you change a major piece of hardware,
the safest and best thing is just to re-install the OS and your software.

Just get it over with and do it, because it sounds like you're going
to have to eventually. I'm just thinking, even if you get past this
initial problem and can boot, that doesn't mean that there won't be
other minor (or not so minor) issues once you start trying to get
stuff done.

I'm not trying to be a jerk here -- it just looks like this may be
inevitable.

Shawn
 
Easy way is bad way, old C drive is much slower than any other new one, so
he will lose some performance if he stays on the old one.
 
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