Switching to a new C: drive (XP also)

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surface9

This may seem a bit confusing - it shouldn't.

I have my win2k pro (sp4) system installed onto my ATA C: drive which
happens to be mounted within one of those removable h/d mounting
brackets - after shutdwon I can unkey and remove this h/d from the
system completely. If I boot up wih this h/d unplugged, then all that
win2k sees is the the primary DMA channel (master) is not connected.

I have a brand new SATA drive which I have formatted the same as my C:
drive (FAT32). If I boot up wihout my C: drive, the system tries to
find a bootable disk elsewhere, and, if I could makte this SATA drive
bootable, it would work from it.

So, instead of having to go through and *REINSTALL* each and every
little detail (I have my current C: drive just the way I want it -
takes quite a while!), I would like to somehow make my SATA drive look
just like my C: drive (to the system) so that if I boot up with my C;
drive unplugged, it will go ahead and boot from my SATA drive and it
will behave just like my current C: drive does.

Is that possible? It shoud be (my opinion), but, does anyone know a
straightforward way to make my SATA drive JUST LIKE my current C:
dirve?

I know that in windwos 98SE this can be accomplished very easily with
the XCOPY32 command (from C: to D: using the /E/H/R/K/C/D switches.
But this command only works in windows 98SE - is there something like
that for win2k (and also winxp)?
 
surface9 said:
This may seem a bit confusing - it shouldn't.

I have my win2k pro (sp4) system installed onto my ATA C: drive which
happens to be mounted within one of those removable h/d mounting
brackets - after shutdwon I can unkey and remove this h/d from the
system completely. If I boot up wih this h/d unplugged, then all that
win2k sees is the the primary DMA channel (master) is not connected.

I have a brand new SATA drive which I have formatted the same as my C:
drive (FAT32). If I boot up wihout my C: drive, the system tries to
find a bootable disk elsewhere, and, if I could makte this SATA drive
bootable, it would work from it.

So, instead of having to go through and *REINSTALL* each and every
little detail (I have my current C: drive just the way I want it -
takes quite a while!), I would like to somehow make my SATA drive look
just like my C: drive (to the system) so that if I boot up with my C;
drive unplugged, it will go ahead and boot from my SATA drive and it
will behave just like my current C: drive does.

Is that possible? It shoud be (my opinion), but, does anyone know a
straightforward way to make my SATA drive JUST LIKE my current C:
dirve?

I know that in windwos 98SE this can be accomplished very easily with
the XCOPY32 command (from C: to D: using the /E/H/R/K/C/D switches.
But this command only works in windows 98SE - is there something like
that for win2k (and also winxp)?
Click to expand...

If I understand you correctly then you're asking about cloning
your existing IDE disk. This can be achieved in several ways:

- Use the cloning tool that many disk manufacturers make
available on their home site.
- Use an imaging product such as Acronis TrueImage.
- Install both disks as slave disks in some other machine,
then use xcopy.exe with these switches: /s /e /y /o
- Boot the machine with a Bart PE boot CD, then use
xcopy.exe as above.

BTW, your memory is tricking you. Win98 would never
let you clone a disk with xcopy32.exe. Its registry files
were locked and could not be copied while Windows
was up and running.
 
surface9 said:
This may seem a bit confusing - it shouldn't.

I have my win2k pro (sp4) system installed onto my ATA C: drive which
happens to be mounted within one of those removable h/d mounting
brackets - after shutdwon I can unkey and remove this h/d from the
system completely. If I boot up wih this h/d unplugged, then all that
win2k sees is the the primary DMA channel (master) is not connected.

I have a brand new SATA drive which I have formatted the same as my C:
drive (FAT32). If I boot up wihout my C: drive, the system tries to
find a bootable disk elsewhere, and, if I could makte this SATA drive
bootable, it would work from it.

So, instead of having to go through and *REINSTALL* each and every
little detail (I have my current C: drive just the way I want it -
takes quite a while!), I would like to somehow make my SATA drive look
just like my C: drive (to the system) so that if I boot up with my C;
drive unplugged, it will go ahead and boot from my SATA drive and it
will behave just like my current C: drive does.

Is that possible? It shoud be (my opinion), but, does anyone know a
straightforward way to make my SATA drive JUST LIKE my current C:
dirve?

I know that in windwos 98SE this can be accomplished very easily with
the XCOPY32 command (from C: to D: using the /E/H/R/K/C/D switches.
But this command only works in windows 98SE - is there something like
that for win2k (and also winxp)?
Click to expand...

I forgot to say that the new disk must be partitioned and
formatted under Win2000/XP in order to have the correct
MBR.
 
"surface9" <>
If I understand you correctly then you're asking about cloning
your existing IDE disk. This can be achieved in several ways:

- Use the cloning tool that many disk manufacturers make
available on their home site.
- Use an imaging product such as Acronis TrueImage.
- Install both disks as slave disks in some other machine,
then use xcopy.exe with these switches: /s /e /y /o
- Boot the machine with a Bart PE boot CD, then use
xcopy.exe as above.

BTW, your memory is tricking you. Win98 would never
let you clone a disk with xcopy32.exe. Its registry files
were locked and could not be copied while Windows
was up and running
Click to expand...

I didn't know about the "locked" registry. But I do know that xcopy32
does indeed "clone" a C: drrve to D: (or E: or F:, etc.) and make the
clone bootable.
I have done it many many times (as recently as a couple of days ago.
Here is the command:

xcopy32 c:\*.* d:\*.* /e/h/r/k/c/d

You execute this command from a DOS BOX (command prompt) within
windows - NOT "reboot to dos mode". If you have a minimal windows
install (aroun 6 gigs), you can complete it in about 6 mintues. Then
you can swap disks and your CLONE will boot exactly like the
original. I have done this so many times I coined a name for it - I
call it "using 'erkidy' (a mnemonic of the switches).

I will try your suggestion, but, do you have specific website that has
a tool your are talking about? My SATA drive cannot be slaved on any
of my other machines because they are all much older (win98se
jobbies), and I am just now advancing to win2000 (and winxp) and I
reallly miss my ERKIDY. Having to go through the many program
installs (after the initial windwos 2000 (XP) installl is a reall
bumer - I did it already today and I don't want to have to keep doing
that over and over again every time I have a new h/d.

I'll use the "clone" keydword in my new search, but, if you have a
specific webstie, please post.

Thanks, littleberry
 
surface9 said:
I didn't know about the "locked" registry. But I do know that xcopy32
does indeed "clone" a C: drrve to D: (or E: or F:, etc.) and make the
clone bootable.
I have done it many many times (as recently as a couple of days ago.
Here is the command:

xcopy32 c:\*.* d:\*.* /e/h/r/k/c/d

You execute this command from a DOS BOX (command prompt) within
windows - NOT "reboot to dos mode". If you have a minimal windows
install (aroun 6 gigs), you can complete it in about 6 mintues. Then
you can swap disks and your CLONE will boot exactly like the
original. I have done this so many times I coined a name for it - I
call it "using 'erkidy' (a mnemonic of the switches).

I will try your suggestion, but, do you have specific website that has
a tool your are talking about? My SATA drive cannot be slaved on any
of my other machines because they are all much older (win98se
jobbies), and I am just now advancing to win2000 (and winxp) and I
reallly miss my ERKIDY. Having to go through the many program
installs (after the initial windwos 2000 (XP) installl is a reall
bumer - I did it already today and I don't want to have to keep doing
that over and over again every time I have a new h/d.

I'll use the "clone" keydword in my new search, but, if you have a
specific webstie, please post.

Thanks, littleberry
Click to expand...

Look for the cloning tool on the home site of the manufacturer
of YOUR hard disk.

You will find lots of references for a Bart PE boot CD. It's
a very powerful tool but it takes time to make one.

Look for TrueImage on the Acronis home site.
 
clone c: to the sata drive
pull c:
set bios to boot sata after the ata if possible
boot the w2k cd and do a repair install while adding the sata driver [if a
w2k version exist or you won't be able to boot it]
Between the repair which added the sata drive as boot and the bios setting
you should be able to do as you desire.
 
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