Duplicating OS from one HD to another.

[Tom Haughton]

I have an XP system that the HD is showing preliminary signs of failing. On
previous versions of non-NT windows I have done the following and would like
to know if this works for XP. I remove hard drive from the system and set
it up in a second system along with the new hard drive. With the setting to
display all files including system files in Windows explorer I copy all
files from the old hard drive to the new hard drive. I then install the new
hard drive in the old system. I would like to do this as opposed to
purchasing a third party product. Will this technique work on XP?

Thanks,

Tom Haughton

 

[Rich Barry]

Tom, that won't work. You could try your hard drive manufacturers website.
Some have free software that copy one drive
to another. Also, Knoppix Linux Live CD has that feature. You can get it
at www.distrowatch.com Might be worth a try
before investing in Ghost or True Image.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have an XP system that the HD is showing preliminary signs of failing. On
previous versions of non-NT windows I have done the following and would like
to know if this works for XP. I remove hard drive from the system and set
it up in a second system along with the new hard drive. With the setting to
display all files including system files in Windows explorer I copy all
files from the old hard drive to the new hard drive. I then install the new
hard drive in the old system. I would like to do this as opposed to
purchasing a third party product. Will this technique work on XP?

Thanks,

Tom Haughton

Contrary to what other respondents say, your approach will
work nicely, provided that you copy all hidden and system
files. You must also set the target partition to "active".
When finished you need to do this in order to restore the
boot environment:
1. Install the new disk in your PC. Do NOT connect the old disk.
2. Boot the machine with your WinXP CD.
3. Select Repair / Recovery Console.
4. Type these commands:
fixboot
fixmbr

 

[Timothy Daniels]

I have an XP system that the HD is showing preliminary
signs of failing. On previous versions of non-NT windows
I have done the following and would like to know if this
works for XP. I remove hard drive from the system and
set it up in a second system along with the new hard drive.
With the setting to display all files including system files
in Windows explorer I copy all files from the old hard drive
to the new hard drive. I then install the new hard drive in
the old system. I would like to do this as opposed to
purchasing a third party product. Will this technique work
on XP?

That's too much work. Just download a free 30-day
trial copy of Casper XP from:
www.FSSdev.com/products/casperxp/ . Then copy
the partition containing the OS to the same numbered
partition on the new HD. Then, with the new HD *alone*
in the old PC, start the PC. Your OS will boot normally,
thinking that it's just its ol' self, not realizing that it's a clone.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Richard Urban]

Can you please email me. I would like to discus this further with you
off-line.

Thanks!

--


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!

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Tom

Go to http://www.acronis.com .. download the 15 day full trial of Acronis
TrueImage 9, and use it to clone to your new drive..

Backup important stuff first.. the instructions for TrueImage are simple,
but still read carefully.. the process does not take long..

Resist any temptation to follow a route that includes any DOS function..


-
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User

 

[Tom Haughton]

Thanks Rich. I will try the Knoppix. Do you know why it is this will not
work? Hidden or System files that XP refuses to copy?

Tom Haughton

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have opened this temporary account for you:
(e-mail address removed)
Replace both letters "z" with "s".

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Go to http://www.acronis.com .. download the 15 day
full trial of Acronis TrueImage 9, and use it to clone to
your new drive..

A caveat is in order. If True Image version 9 is like
version 8, True Image can only copy an entire HD
contents to the 2nd HD. If all you have on the 1st HD
is one partition, True Image will do the cloning fine.
But if there are two or more partitions on the 1st HD
and all you want to clone is one of them, OR... if the
2nd HD has a partition which you wish to keep, you're
SoL with True Image.

Casper XP, on the other hand, can transfer just
a designated partition on the 1st HD to the 2nd HD,
and it can put it among pre-existing partitions on the
2nd HD.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Richard Urban]

True Image can't do the job, even in it latest version.

Ghost 9.0 (and later I presume) "can" copy just one of many partitions (the
Windows partition comes to mind) from a hard drive to a "new" hard drive, as
long as the new drive is as large, or larger, in capacity as the source
partition.

--


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!

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

Can you please email me. I would like to discus this further with you
off-line.

Thanks!

Richard,

actually, no thanks, because others would like to know more
about this as well.

I personally would wish that the technical discussions are
carried out openly here, unless there are overriding reasons.

Hans-Georg

p.s. While I'm in this thread, there is some information about
this at http://winhlp.com/WxMove.htm .

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Richard,

actually, no thanks, because others would like to know more
about this as well.

I personally would wish that the technical discussions are
carried out openly here, unless there are overriding reasons.

Hans-Georg

p.s. While I'm in this thread, there is some information about
this at http://winhlp.com/WxMove.htm .

The information is the same as in my previous reply. It is
largely based on what the OP found out by himself:
1. Boot the machine in such a way that the Windows installation
to be copied is ***not*** active. You could do this by
running the disk as a slave disk in some other PC, or by
booting the machine with a Bart PE boot CD.
2. Make the target partition active.
3. Copy the Windows system drive to the target partition. Make
sure to include hidden and system files.
4. Put the target disk back where it belongs.
5. Boot this PC with a WinXP installation CD.
6. Select Repair / Recovery Console.
7. Type these commands:
fixboot
fixmbr

The nice thing about this method is that it is completely safe
(because it does not alter the source partition in any way)
and that it will work even if Windows won't boot, thus
making it ideal when attempting to repair a failed installation.
The method on the web page you quote relies on a working
Windows installation.

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

The information is the same as in my previous reply. It is
largely based on what the OP found out by himself:
1. Boot the machine in such a way that the Windows installation
to be copied is ***not*** active. You could do this by
running the disk as a slave disk in some other PC, or by
booting the machine with a Bart PE boot CD.
2. Make the target partition active.
3. Copy the Windows system drive to the target partition. Make
sure to include hidden and system files.
4. Put the target disk back where it belongs.
5. Boot this PC with a WinXP installation CD.
6. Select Repair / Recovery Console.
7. Type these commands:
fixboot
fixmbr

The nice thing about this method is that it is completely safe
(because it does not alter the source partition in any way)
and that it will work even if Windows won't boot, thus
making it ideal when attempting to repair a failed installation.
The method on the web page you quote relies on a working
Windows installation.

Pegasus,

thanks! Actually I also prefer this method.

I haven't had to do step 7 if the new partition was created by
Windows. My impression was that Windows creates proper boot
sectors. What do you think about that?

Hans-Georg

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

The method on the web page you quote relies on a working
Windows installation.

Pegasus,

in fact, I had the other method described as well, but only in a
later chapter.

I have now rearranged the chapters in
http://winhlp.com/WxMove.htm such that the preferred method
comes first.

The article had been showing age. It originated from the times
when it was difficult to have an extra operating system
installation. Today this has become much easier through
minimized bootable installations like BartPE or Knoppix.

Thanks for pointing this out! You shoved me over the hill to
rework the article.

Hans-Georg

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Pegasus,

thanks! Actually I also prefer this method.

I haven't had to do step 7 if the new partition was created by
Windows. My impression was that Windows creates proper boot
sectors. What do you think about that?

Hans-Georg

Your web page http://winhlp.com/WxMove.htm is well done
and very comprehensive. Well done!

I have noticed too that fixboot and fixmbr may not be
necessary for partitions formatted under WinXP. However,
my sample size is too small and I haven't researched the
topic properly to draw any valid conclusions. Running these
two commands won't damage anything, hence I usually
include them in my responses.

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

Your web page http://winhlp.com/WxMove.htm is well done
and very comprehensive. Well done!
Pegasus,

thanks!

I have noticed too that fixboot and fixmbr may not be
necessary for partitions formatted under WinXP. However,
my sample size is too small and I haven't researched the
topic properly to draw any valid conclusions. Running these
two commands won't damage anything, hence I usually
include them in my responses.

Yes, makes sense.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Hans-Georg