Clone XP to new HD

[M Jones]

My main 40Gb hard disk is very noisy and I think it's about to fail so I
have cloned it to my spare 20Gb hard disk using Norton Ghost 9.0. All the
files and folders are there and it boots but doesn't give the XP user name
login prompt. I get the XP blue login screen saying XP is starting but it
doesn't get any further than that.

Is there anything I need to do with the XP OS on my old hard disk before I
clone it to my new one? I thought it would be pretty straightforward
because I did it very easily with my Win98 machine. Is it because XP is not
able to recognise the new disk as installed hardware?

Thanks.

 

[beb]

Have you tried starting in safe mode? Cloning or imaging a defective hard
drive is a risky thing. Sometimes problems are transferred to the new image.
Make sure that you backup your important files before transferring images. I
would try a repair installation ,AKA, an in place installation just for fun.
However I would do a clean installation to be sure that some other problem
won't happen in the future because of damage carried over. You will need a
windows XP installation CD, upgraded to the current service pack level of
the current operating system on the drive and the license key to do a repair
install. Good luck

 

[Richard Urban]

If the hard drive is currently noisy, you may already have existing
conditions - such as bad sectors which make the data stored in them
unavailable. When cloning a drive, you will not be able to copy across all
the pertinent files and information. This may prevent operating system on
the cloned drive from functioning properly.

The time to Ghost a drive is when you are 100% certain that there is
"nothing" amiss with the operating system, or the drive itself.

It appears this is your situation. You can now try a repair/install of the
operating system using a valid Windows XP CD, equivalent to the operating
system you presently have installed (Home /Professional, retail/OEM etc.).

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[M Jones]

As far as I am aware the disk doesn't have any errors on it at the moment.
It's making a whining noise.

I was hoping to clone the drive because it seemed easier than reinstalling
windows, SP updates and all my applications.

 

[beb]

When cloning a drive under normal circumstances a copy of the drive is what
you will get, all the files and information, on the source drive will moved
to the new drive.

 

[Guest]

Visit the old hard drive's manufacturer's site for a free utility that
transfers the data to a new drive.

Eric,
PC Buyer Beware!
http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/

 

[Richard Urban]

That is why I said: "The time to Ghost a drive is when you are 100% certain
that there is
"nothing" amiss with the operating system, or the drive itself."

You don't want to copy /clone corrupted files due to a defective hard drive.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Kerry Brown]

My main 40Gb hard disk is very noisy and I think it's about to fail
so I have cloned it to my spare 20Gb hard disk using Norton Ghost
9.0. All the files and folders are there and it boots but doesn't
give the XP user name login prompt. I get the XP blue login screen
saying XP is starting but it doesn't get any further than that.

Is there anything I need to do with the XP OS on my old hard disk
before I clone it to my new one? I thought it would be pretty
straightforward because I did it very easily with my Win98 machine. Is it
because XP is not able to recognise the new disk as installed
hardware?
Thanks.

As others have already mentioned it is likely that the 40GB drive is already
failing causing the problems with Ghost not being able to clone it. You may
want to try again. I'll list the steps to use in order to ensure a good
copy.

1) Install source drive (40 GB) as the primary master drive and set the BIOS
to boot from this drive.
2) Install the target drive (20 GB). It doesn't matter how it is set up as
long as the BIOS recognises it.
3) Confirm the BIOS recognises both drives.
4) Use Ghost to clone the source drive to the target drive.
5) DO NOT REBOOT the computer when Ghost is finished.
6) Shut down the computer and remove the source drive (60 GB)
7) Install the target drive (20 GB) as the primary master
8) Confirm the BIOS recognises the target drive as the primary master and is
set to boot from it.
9) Boot Windows from the target drive.
10) You are finished. You can now reinstall the source drive if you like.

The key is to not boot immediately after cloning with both drives installed.
The first boot should be done with only the target (20 GB) drive installed
and the source (60 GB) removed.

Kerry