Imaging Notebook Hard Drives

[Clayton]

Hi,
I have ghosted many desktop hard drives without a problem, but when I am
doing this with notebook hard drives it doesn't want to boot up, just shows
a flashing cursor.
Most times I need to do a repair install of XP, is there a quicker way to
fix this problem?
I have booted into recovery console and ran the following

fixmbr
fixboot
chkdsk c: /p /f

and none of these fixes the problem

cheers

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi,
I have ghosted many desktop hard drives without a problem, but when I am
doing this with notebook hard drives it doesn't want to boot up, just shows
a flashing cursor.
Most times I need to do a repair install of XP, is there a quicker way to
fix this problem?
I have booted into recovery console and ran the following

fixmbr
fixboot
chkdsk c: /p /f

and none of these fixes the problem

cheers

I can think of two reasons for this behaviour:
- The boot partition is not set as "active".
- The disk uses an incorrect geometry.

About the second point: Most desktop BIOSs let you
select the disk geometry (LBA, sectors/cyclinders etc).
Some laptops do not give you this option, e.g. many
Thinkpads. If you now image their disk on a different
machine then the geometry is likely to be incorrect.
You must first find out what the correct geometry is,
then select it on the desktop PC for the imaging process.
This could be a challenge because the laptop BIOS
won't tell you . . .

 

[Clayton]

Thanks for that, I usually do the ghosting for notebook hard drives from a
desktop pc, so is there an easier way?

 

[Unk]

Hi,
I have ghosted many desktop hard drives without a problem, but when I am
doing this with notebook hard drives it doesn't want to boot up, just shows
a flashing cursor.
Most times I need to do a repair install of XP, is there a quicker way to
fix this problem?
I have booted into recovery console and ran the following

fixmbr
fixboot
chkdsk c: /p /f

and none of these fixes the problem

cheers

I've run into that on occasion. Boot to the XP CD, and run the Recovery Console.
At the command prompt type FIXBOOT and press Enter. Then answer "Y"

HOW TO: Install the Windows Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=216417

Repair the Boot Sector using the Recovery console.
<http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm#How to Repair the Boot Sector:>

 

[Unk]

I've run into that on occasion. Boot to the XP CD, and run the Recovery Console.
At the command prompt type FIXBOOT and press Enter. Then answer "Y"

HOW TO: Install the Windows Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=216417

Repair the Boot Sector using the Recovery console.
<http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm#How to Repair the Boot Sector:>

Forgot to add that this was the only way I found that works on those particular laptops.
It's no big deal and only takes a few minutes.

 

[Clayton]

Done that and didn't work
Hence my original post!

 

[Unk]

Forgot to add that this was the only way I found that works on those particular laptops.
It's no big deal and only takes a few minutes.

I'm getting tired... That makes twice I missed the word "none" in the OP.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

This is not hard - as long as you know what the geometry
should be. I might add that you should provide ALL
relevant details in your original post. It was pot luck
that I guessed that you had performed the imaging on
a desktop PC.

 

[Anna]

Hi,
I have ghosted many desktop hard drives without a problem, but when I am
doing this with notebook hard drives it doesn't want to boot up, just
shows a flashing cursor.
Most times I need to do a repair install of XP, is there a quicker way to
fix this problem?
I have booted into recovery console and ran the following

fixmbr
fixboot
chkdsk c: /p /f

and none of these fixes the problem

cheers

(Clayton later adds...)
I usually do the ghosting for notebook hard drives from a
desktop pc, so is there an easier way?


Clayton:
It really would be more helpful if you provided additional details re your
problem...

1. What disk imaging program do you use? Symantec's Norton Ghost? Which
version?

2. Indicate precisely the steps you employ in carrying out your disk cloning
operation.

3. You say you "do the ghosting for notebook hard drives from a desktop pc."
What exactly does this mean? Are you trying to clone the contents of your
desktop PC to a laptop's internal HD? How do you go about it? Do you somehow
attempt to *directly* clone the contents of the desktop's HD to the laptop's
HD? Do you use a USB/Firewire external HD as the recipient of the clone and
then clone those contents to the laptop's internal HD? What method do you
use?

These days we rarely have occasion to clone the contents of a PC desktop's
HD to a laptop's HD. When we do we usually use a USB or Firewire EHD as the
initial recipient of the desktop PC clone and then clone the contents of the
latter drive over to the laptop's HD. There are other ways to achieve the
same results but that's the system we ordinarily employ.

We do *not* use CD/DVD media to store disk images. We *directly* clone the
contents of one HD to another HD. In so doing we usually use the Norton
Ghost 2003 program or Acronis True Image. We don't work with the Ghost 9 or
10 versions, much preferring the 2003 version for basic & direct
disk-to-disk cloning.
Anna

 

[Kerry Brown]

Hi,
I have ghosted many desktop hard drives without a problem, but when I
am doing this with notebook hard drives it doesn't want to boot up,
just shows a flashing cursor.
Most times I need to do a repair install of XP, is there a quicker
way to fix this problem?
I have booted into recovery console and ran the following

fixmbr
fixboot
chkdsk c: /p /f

and none of these fixes the problem

cheers

As Anna's post says we need more information. What program and what
procedure (details needed) do you use for imaging? Most newer laptops have a
hidden recovery partition and a non-standard boot sector so you can press a
function key to access the recovery function. Depending on what program and
how you image this can make things a little trickier. By far the best way to
image a laptop drive is with a firewire or USB external drive. I image to
the external drive, install the new drive in the laptop, boot from the
imaging software's CD/floppy, then restore the image to the new drive.