Cloning a hard drive

[Menno Hershberger]

I am trying to install a new bigger hard drive in an older Compaq
computer that I had upgraded from ME to XP about a year ago. The drive
has a "SYSTEM_SAV" partition of about 2.5 gigs. This partition shows up
in Windows Explorer as drive "D", unlike some restore partitions that are
invisible.
I cloned the drive with Acronis True Image which cloned both partitions.
The new drive yields the famous "NTDLR is missing" error.
Using the Windows XP CD in the Restore Console, I tried running FIXBOOT
and FIXMBR both. No change, the error remains. All three of the files
NTDLR, NDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI are present in the root directory. To be
sure they weren't corrupt, I replaced those.
BOOT.INI reads....

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

One article I read while Googling stated that boot.ini might be pointing
to partition(2) instead of partition(1) and to edit it to make sure it
was pointing to parition(1). Since it was already pointing to (1) I
tried editing it to 2 and even 0, none of which made any difference.

Both partitions are FAT32. The old drive is a Western Digital and the new
one is a Maxtor. I even tried cloning it to a spare Western Digital drive
I have here in the shop, and that one wouldn't boot either,

I have used the Acronis software on at least 100 drives already and up
till now it has never failed.

What am I missing here?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am trying to install a new bigger hard drive in an older Compaq
computer that I had upgraded from ME to XP about a year ago. The drive
has a "SYSTEM_SAV" partition of about 2.5 gigs. This partition shows up
in Windows Explorer as drive "D", unlike some restore partitions that are
invisible.
I cloned the drive with Acronis True Image which cloned both partitions.
The new drive yields the famous "NTDLR is missing" error.
Using the Windows XP CD in the Restore Console, I tried running FIXBOOT
and FIXMBR both. No change, the error remains. All three of the files
NTDLR, NDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI are present in the root directory. To be
sure they weren't corrupt, I replaced those.
BOOT.INI reads....

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

One article I read while Googling stated that boot.ini might be pointing
to partition(2) instead of partition(1) and to edit it to make sure it
was pointing to parition(1). Since it was already pointing to (1) I
tried editing it to 2 and even 0, none of which made any difference.

Both partitions are FAT32. The old drive is a Western Digital and the new
one is a Maxtor. I even tried cloning it to a spare Western Digital drive
I have here in the shop, and that one wouldn't boot either,

I have used the Acronis software on at least 100 drives already and up
till now it has never failed.

What am I missing here?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

The machine is currently trying to boot from your SystemSave
partition. Try this:
1. Make sure that the WinXP partition is active, not the
SystemSave partition.
2. Possibly change "partition(1)" to "partition(2)" in two places
in boot.ini.
3. Hide the SystemSave partition.

 

[Menno Hershberger]

I am trying to install a new bigger hard drive in an older Compaq
computer that I had upgraded from ME to XP about a year ago. The
drive has a "SYSTEM_SAV" partition of about 2.5 gigs. This partition
shows up in Windows Explorer as drive "D", unlike some restore
partitions that are invisible.
I cloned the drive with Acronis True Image which cloned both
partitions. The new drive yields the famous "NTDLR is missing" error.
Using the Windows XP CD in the Restore Console, I tried running
FIXBOOT and FIXMBR both. No change, the error remains. All three of
the files NTDLR, NDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI are present in the root
directory. To be sure they weren't corrupt, I replaced those.
BOOT.INI reads....

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

One article I read while Googling stated that boot.ini might be
pointing to partition(2) instead of partition(1) and to edit it to
make sure it was pointing to parition(1). Since it was already
pointing to (1) I tried editing it to 2 and even 0, none of which
made any difference.

Both partitions are FAT32. The old drive is a Western Digital and the
new one is a Maxtor. I even tried cloning it to a spare Western
Digital drive I have here in the shop, and that one wouldn't boot
either,

I have used the Acronis software on at least 100 drives already and
up till now it has never failed.

What am I missing here?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

The machine is currently trying to boot from your SystemSave
partition. Try this:
1. Make sure that the WinXP partition is active, not the
SystemSave partition.

It is.

2. Possibly change "partition(1)" to "partition(2)" in two places
in boot.ini.

Tried that already (see above)

3. Hide the SystemSave partition.

How?

What I did do was to delete the restore partition so it isn't in the
picture anymore. So maybe if I go back and run FIXBOOT or FIXMBR it might
come out of it.

I'll be working on it again tomorrow. I've gotten sidetracked on another
one for a bit.

Thanks for your input.

 

[q_q_anonymous]

Menno Hershberger wrote:
<snip> The new drive yields the famous "NTDLR is missing" error.<snip>

oh, it's famous is it?
You're right. It is famous

****you probably know about it And know what to try to fix it, because
the people that received the error in the past were good enough to
allow their posts to be archived****

They didn't make an explicit declaration for their posts to disappear.
As you have.

I've yet to see somebody who makes that declaration inadvertently.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am trying to install a new bigger hard drive in an older Compaq
computer that I had upgraded from ME to XP about a year ago. The
drive has a "SYSTEM_SAV" partition of about 2.5 gigs. This partition
shows up in Windows Explorer as drive "D", unlike some restore
partitions that are invisible.
I cloned the drive with Acronis True Image which cloned both
partitions. The new drive yields the famous "NTDLR is missing" error.
Using the Windows XP CD in the Restore Console, I tried running
FIXBOOT and FIXMBR both. No change, the error remains. All three of
the files NTDLR, NDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI are present in the root
directory. To be sure they weren't corrupt, I replaced those.
BOOT.INI reads....

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

One article I read while Googling stated that boot.ini might be
pointing to partition(2) instead of partition(1) and to edit it to
make sure it was pointing to parition(1). Since it was already
pointing to (1) I tried editing it to 2 and even 0, none of which
made any difference.

Both partitions are FAT32. The old drive is a Western Digital and the
new one is a Maxtor. I even tried cloning it to a spare Western
Digital drive I have here in the shop, and that one wouldn't boot
either,

I have used the Acronis software on at least 100 drives already and
up till now it has never failed.

What am I missing here?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

The machine is currently trying to boot from your SystemSave
partition. Try this:
1. Make sure that the WinXP partition is active, not the
SystemSave partition.

It is.

2. Possibly change "partition(1)" to "partition(2)" in two places
in boot.ini.

Tried that already (see above)

3. Hide the SystemSave partition.

How?

What I did do was to delete the restore partition so it isn't in the
picture anymore. So maybe if I go back and run FIXBOOT or FIXMBR it might
come out of it.

I'll be working on it again tomorrow. I've gotten sidetracked on another
one for a bit.

Thanks for your input.

Is this a laptop or a desktop?

Since you have deleted the SystemSave partition, there is no
need for you to hide it.

The partition(x) entry in boot.ini can have x=1, 2, 3 etc. but not 0.

I am beginning to wonder if your disk geometry is incorrect.
In desktop BIOSs you can usually select between LBA and
CHS operation. With many laptops you can't - it is fixed. In
such cases it is essential that you select the correct mode
prior to cloning. If you don't then the machine won't boot.

To confirm that the Windows installation itself is intact you
can boot the machine with a WinXP boot disk. Here is how
to make one:
- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC.
Don't do it on a Win9x PC - it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Copy boot.ini to A:\

 

[Menno Hershberger]

Menno Hershberger wrote:
<snip> The new drive yields the famous "NTDLR is missing" error.<snip>

oh, it's famous is it?
You're right. It is famous

****you probably know about it And know what to try to fix it, because
the people that received the error in the past were good enough to
allow their posts to be archived****

They didn't make an explicit declaration for their posts to disappear.
As you have.

I've yet to see somebody who makes that declaration inadvertently.

Actuslly, I wan't aware the Microsoft server paid any attention to it
since I still see posts of mine clear back as far as they are retended.
Anyway, I have turned it off.
I can't really remember when or why I turned it on in the first place.

 

[q_q_anonymous]

Actuslly, I wan't aware the Microsoft server paid any attention to it
since I still see posts of mine clear back as far as they are retended.
Anyway, I have turned it off.
I can't really remember when or why I turned it on in the first place.

thank you

it's nice to know that MS servers don't pay any attention to it. But,
the microsoft website you are posting through is actually an interface
to usenet. And the google usenet archive does pay attention to it. It
Honours the declaration - which I will bastardise somewhat to guarantee
my post gets archived. " X - No - ABCDEFG Archive : Yes "

Many people post through google, others through their ISPs news
servers.
For those that post to many newsgroups, it's convenient not to go to a
different website to post to each one.. Infact, most newsgroups are
just on usenet, they don't have additional web interfaces unique to
them.
Also, since it is usenet, it makes sense to post in a traditional way,
or a way that isn't specific to only one group.
Googlegroups works out nicely as a general web interface to them all.
And an archive. and I find the tree it shows on the far left very
useful.