How do i copy system files without a master disk. I have other blank drives.
All i have is the system restore files that were stored on the disk. on a
seperate partition.
Before disk goes bad?

"sray1198" wrote
> How do i copy system files without a master disk. I have other blank
> drives.
> All i have is the system restore files that were stored on the disk. on a
> seperate partition.
> Before disk goes bad?

What do you mean "without a master disk"?

What exactly are you trying to accomplish? You have a drive with XP on it
that is going bad - is that correct? Have you backed up the important data
files? Do that first.

Then there two things you can do. One is to get a new drive, install XP
clean, reinstall the apps from original media and restore the data from the
backup.

Or get drive cloning software to clone the contents of the old drive to a
new drive. Software that does this is Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, and
Casper XP. Note: cloning a drive that has problems might just result in a
problematic clone - the GIGO principle.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

sray1198 <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>How do i copy system files without a master disk. I have other blank drives.
>All i have is the system restore files that were stored on the disk. on a
>seperate partition.
>Before disk goes bad?

WTF are you talking about?

Sorry--- "Master disk" meant I don't have the original XP install disks.
All I have are the restore disks that I made.
Do those copy the system files to a new drive? Or do they just reinstall
windows on the same drive.
I have copied all files to a backup.
Thanks
Sorry about the confusion!!

"Rock" wrote:

> "sray1198" wrote
> > How do i copy system files without a master disk. I have other blank
> > drives.
> > All i have is the system restore files that were stored on the disk. on a
> > seperate partition.
> > Before disk goes bad?
>
> What do you mean "without a master disk"?
>
> What exactly are you trying to accomplish? You have a drive with XP on it
> that is going bad - is that correct? Have you backed up the important data
> files? Do that first.
>
> Then there two things you can do. One is to get a new drive, install XP
> clean, reinstall the apps from original media and restore the data from the
> backup.
>
> Or get drive cloning software to clone the contents of the old drive to a
> new drive. Software that does this is Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, and
> Casper XP. Note: cloning a drive that has problems might just result in a
> problematic clone - the GIGO principle.
>
> --
> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>
>

When you clone a drive using cloning software does that make the new drive
bootable?
With system files.
Just throw the old drive away and use the new one?

"Rock" wrote:

> "sray1198" wrote
> > How do i copy system files without a master disk. I have other blank
> > drives.
> > All i have is the system restore files that were stored on the disk. on a
> > seperate partition.
> > Before disk goes bad?
>
> What do you mean "without a master disk"?
>
> What exactly are you trying to accomplish? You have a drive with XP on it
> that is going bad - is that correct? Have you backed up the important data
> files? Do that first.
>
> Then there two things you can do. One is to get a new drive, install XP
> clean, reinstall the apps from original media and restore the data from the
> backup.
>
> Or get drive cloning software to clone the contents of the old drive to a
> new drive. Software that does this is Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, and
> Casper XP. Note: cloning a drive that has problems might just result in a
> problematic clone - the GIGO principle.
>
> --
> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>
>

"sray1198" wrote
> Sorry--- "Master disk" meant I don't have the original XP install disks.
> All I have are the restore disks that I made.
> Do those copy the system files to a new drive? Or do they just reinstall
> windows on the same drive.
> I have copied all files to a backup.
> Thanks
> Sorry about the confusion!!

No, neither an installation CD or a recovery CD will clone or copy an
existing installation. It's just a reinstall. Depending on the vendor it's
usually destructive, though some provide a non destructive recovery. But
neither will help you with a failing drive. You need disk cloning software.

> "Rock" wrote:
>
>> "sray1198" wrote
>> > How do i copy system files without a master disk. I have other blank
>> > drives.
>> > All i have is the system restore files that were stored on the disk. on
>> > a
>> > seperate partition.
>> > Before disk goes bad?
>>
>> What do you mean "without a master disk"?
>>
>> What exactly are you trying to accomplish? You have a drive with XP on
>> it
>> that is going bad - is that correct? Have you backed up the important
>> data
>> files? Do that first.
>>
>> Then there two things you can do. One is to get a new drive, install XP
>> clean, reinstall the apps from original media and restore the data from
>> the
>> backup.
>>
>> Or get drive cloning software to clone the contents of the old drive to a
>> new drive. Software that does this is Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost,
>> and
>> Casper XP. Note: cloning a drive that has problems might just result in
>> a
>> problematic clone - the GIGO principle.
>>
>> --
>> Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]
>>
>>



--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

"sray1198" wrote
> When you clone a drive using cloning software does that make the new drive
> bootable?
> With system files.
> Just throw the old drive away and use the new one?

A clone is an exact duplicate, so yes if the source drive is bootable, and
the cloning process goes properly, and you remove all other drives when
booting from the cloned drive for the first time, it should boot. However
you are cloning a failing drive so there are no guarantees.

<snip>

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]