Copy XP boot partition to external USB disk

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lars-Erik Østerud
  • Start date Start date
L

Lars-Erik Østerud

How do I do this? The program I have that can either copy a whole
partition OR write a new XP bootsector (if I copy the files manually)
will only run from DOS (not from WinXp or Win98) and in DOS the
USB-drive is not available (as there are no DOS drivers for it).

So how do I do this? How do I make the WINNT/XP bootsector on the
partition on the external disk from within Win98 og WinXP. Help?

I imagine it won't help buying any disk/partition cloning/moving
software either? Those doesn't run inside XP either, right, and then
the external USB disk won't be available to them eihter :-(

How on earth do I do this? Grr.. Why does it need to be so hard :-)
 
DL said:
winxp wont natively boot from an external hd
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to do that either, I'm just having the HDD in an
external case while preparing it. It's going on the on-board S-ATA as
soon as it's ready. But then the active partition needs a bootsector.
 
What is the make/model of your motherboard?

As I see your still struggling with your sata hd installation
 
DL said:
What is the make/model of your motherboard?
Click to expand...

Asus P4PE (version with a Promise S-ATA raid controller)
As I see your still struggling with your sata hd installation
Click to expand...

Actually the main problem is how to write a WINNT bootsector (to load
"ntldr") on the new XP partition on the external disk BEFORE putting
that back in the PC as the main drive (like Win98Se's SYS command :-)

I also don't quite get the 64GB and 137GB limitations in Win98se and
old XP. They don't seem to ally when the disk is connected as an
external disk using USB, why is that? Isn't it the same program code?

Question then is, do the 64GB/137GB limits apply when I put the disk
on the internal S-ATA controller (and if "yes", why?)? It's not a
build-in chipset controller (like the IDE one) but a 3rd party one,
that is just added on the mainboard (Promise RAID controller).

And what will happend if I boot this disk with Win98se or with XP w/o
any SP. Will they see the first two partitions (within the first
137GB) or...? And what happends if I use one partly over 137GB?
 
How do I do this? The program I have that can either copy a whole
partition OR write a new XP bootsector (if I copy the files manually)
will only run from DOS (not from WinXp or Win98) and in DOS the
USB-drive is not available (as there are no DOS drivers for it).

So how do I do this? How do I make the WINNT/XP bootsector on the
partition on the external disk from within Win98 og WinXP. Help?

I imagine it won't help buying any disk/partition cloning/moving
software either? Those doesn't run inside XP either, right, and then
the external USB disk won't be available to them eihter :-(

How on earth do I do this? Grr.. Why does it need to be so hard :-)
Click to expand...

Lars-Erik,

it isn't that hard. I do it often.

Please read http://winhlp.com/WxMove.htm first, then please ask
me for details if any questions remain unanswered.

I prefer an external SATA connector, by the way. I regularly
back up the entire main hard disk partition to a second hard
disk, so I can simply swap disks when one fails.

You could do the same via USB though. I do that for my laptop.

Hans-Georg
 
Hans-Georg Michna said:
Please read http://winhlp.com/WxMove.htm first, then please ask
me for details if any questions remain unanswered.
Click to expand...

Grrr... I have allready made the partitions using "Disk manager" :-)
And copied all the files (I used my Win98se to copy the XP files).

Does all other partition tools make the "winnt bootsector" (like the
partition tools on the "Ultimate boot cd"?) The problem using the XP
install CD or another partition manager is that they can't see the
disk when it is in the external USB casing (no USB drivers loaded).

I wish somebody had just written a small tool to write the executable
part of the bootsector (just like the SYS.COM in DOS and Win98)...

I have a utility called "bootpart" that can rewrite the bootsector, so
I'll see if that does the trick (I'm not sure if there are any
differences in a FAT32 winnt bootsector and a NTFS one, and what kinds
this program makes, but since I have copied all the files I'll try)
 
A disk cloning app, at least True Image, can be run from within win or using
the True Image cd.
So if you create an image, that image can be recovered by using the bootable
cd
 
I have a utility called "bootpart" that can rewrite the bootsector, so
I'll see if that does the trick (I'm not sure if there are any
differences in a FAT32 winnt bootsector and a NTFS one, and what kinds
this program makes, but since I have copied all the files I'll try)
Click to expand...

Lars-Erik,

bootpart should be able to do it, and the Windows XP repair
function also contains such a function named fixmbr. Doesn't
work reliably though, but may be worth a try. Then there is the
fdisk /mbr utility from DOS or Windows 98.

Hans-Georg
 
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