XP Pro & Partition Magic 8

[James]

In a reply Dave suggested:

These articles may help.

How to Move a Windows Installation to Different Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=249694

HOW TO: Replace the Motherboard on a Computer That Is Running Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=824125

Original Post ...

I have obtained a rehabed Compaq/HP D52 with a 40G WD400 drive & XP Pro
as a single partition. Can I use Partition Magic 8, from Power Quest
before Norton took it over, to duplicate the original 40G drive to
another of about 160G? On that drive I want the OS on the same 40G size
with the balance as 2 data drives of Fat32 so they can be seen by other
older OS's. I have heard XP ties itself to the MOBO but are there any
other issues that need to be addressed for this to happen. I have done
it many times with older OS versions but not W2000 or XP.

I look forward suggestions.

JamesSoCal

I appreciate Dave's direction but I am not changing the mobo, or
anything else for that matter, only the hard drive from a WD 40g IDE to
an Ex... (the drive is not here at the moment & it is a manufacturer in
China I have not heard of before) 250g IDE.

On my 1st try I used PM to copy the original drive to a 40g space on the
new drive and then partitioned the remaining space into 2 60g partitions
formatted NTFS. This was done in a different computer booting from
PM8's 2 disk floppy recovery set in order to make sure nothing was
changed on the original 40g drive. When the clone was place in the
Compaq/HP machine to boot it gets partway into the boot process & gives
a read error. When placed back in the other computer, as a data drive,
& checked it gets a clean bill of health yet consistently gives the same
error in the same general area. It could be a flaky part of the disk
that is biting me but could it be XP? Is it reaching a registered part
of the disk that is not registered with this copy of XP. I can see MS
having a fit about a new mobo, not really but a bit, on the other hand
nothing can be done with a hard drive if it is not attached to a
computer. For simply changing a drive there has to be an easier way
than the first post above. Hellppp.

Thanks for any suggestions.

JamesSoCal

 

[Andy]

1. Connect the 40 GB and 160 GB drives to the motherboard.
2. Boot computer from Partition Magic 8.
3. Copy 40 GB partition to unallocated space on 160 GB.
4. Apply.
5. Create two FAT32 partitions on remainder of 160 GB drive.
6. Turn off computer and remove 40 GB drive.
7. Boot computer from 160 GB drive.

 

[James]

I did exactly that but get an error while booting. Now that I have
replaced a new but very noisy cpu fan I will clear the C partition of
the 250g drive and try it again. If that fails I will create an image
of the partition & then restore that image. Perhaps there is a
defective area of the drive causing the problem that is not mapped
around when PM8 does the bit image copy. If it works, or does not, I
will post the results back here for others.

JamesSoCal

 

[DL]

Youve allready been told how to do it in your other post

 

[haunt]

Want to get rid of Windows Vista? Discovered that none of the software (and even some hardware) you've been using for years is compatible? You're not alone.

Windows Vista has been out for a year and a half now, and public opinion is still fiercly divided. Those who purchased ultra-fast new computer systems may love it, but the rest of the public, especially those who upgraded an older PC from Windows XP to Windows Vista probably wish they never had.

It's possible to go back to Windows XP, though it may not be easy. Especially not if you purchased a new system with Windows Vista but now find yourself pining for the easy charms (and fast loading times) of Windows XP.

Why would anyone want to go back to Windows XP? Well, because it still works just fine.

After all, you know that Windows XP runs fast, and you know it likes the software applications you've already paid good money for. Windows Vista has a lot of new features, and may prove to be the better OS in the long run, but for right now, many, many users will be better served within the familiar confines of Windows XP.

First the unfortunate truth: There is no 'undo' button for getting rid of Windows Vista. Sadly, there is no easy way to go back to Windows XP as such. you'll either have to remove the entire operating system and start fresh with Windows XP, or do nothing at all.

Making Preparations

Before PCSTATS gets into the nitty-gritty of preparing your computer for a Vista Exorcism, let's go over how to save your essential files, emails and contact information. Vista is going to be completely wiped off your computer forever, so you will need to preserve those precious bits of yourself that are already stored in the ill-fated OS.

If you've used Windows Mail in Vista and can't afford to be without your valuable email messages and contact info, here's how to back it up. Once backed up you can return it to Outlook Express or Windows Mail installed on Windows XP, for that matter.

Backing up E-Mail

Windows Vista stores all emails in the .eml file format at the location 'C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsMail\ Local Folders' where 'Username' is the user name that you use in Windows Vista. You will have to enable the viewing of hidden files and folders to navigate to this location. To enable hidden file viewing, open any directory, then go to 'organize/folder and search settings' and click the 'view' tab. Enable the 'view hidden files and folders' option.


As you can see, the directories here mimic the various mail boxes in Windows Mail. Each contains multiple .eml files which correspond to individual email messages. Their names are not particularly revealing, so if you want to be picky about the messages you save, export the whole lot and delete the ones you don't want later. To export these messages to Windows XP, we simply need to copy the data onto removable media such as a USB drive or burn it to a CD. If you have a second hard disk or partition, you can also move the data to a folder there for safekeeping.

 

[haunt]

Is it feasible to recover the hard disk with the following method.

http://recoverdisk.blogspot.com/2009/04/freeze-it-myth-heat-it-myth-and.html

Is it possible to recovery data from a hard disk with freezer method as described at this website. I have crashed a hard disk, and wanted to recover some of my personal data from the hard disk. It is creating some CLICK CLICK sounds. Please reply

 

[SC Tom]

The drive is trash anyhow; why not try it? You may be one of the 3% lucky ones.

SC Tom

Is it feasible to recover the hard disk with the following method.

http://recoverdisk.blogspot.com/2009/04/freeze-it-myth-heat-it-myth-and.html

Is it possible to recovery data from a hard disk with freezer method as described at this website. I have crashed a hard disk, and wanted to recover some of my personal data from the hard disk. It is creating some CLICK CLICK sounds. Please reply

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Is it possible to recovery data from a hard disk with freezer method as described at this website.

That technique would sometimes, but only very rarely, work on the
relatively primitive SCSI hard drives that existed in the late 1980s to
mid 1990's, but I've not heard of anyone having any succest using to on
modern hard drives, of any interface.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[JS]

The article is all wrong about the science of this method.
Freeze had more to do with known properties of metal when
lowered in temperature, mainly contraction. This sometimes
would then allow the bearings in the drive motor to loosen up
just enough for the platters to spin again.

There is also an old term know as "Sticksion" that the freezer
might help on. So try it, who knows what wonders may spin again.

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com


Is it feasible to recover the hard disk with the following method.

http://recoverdisk.blogspot.com/2009/04/freeze-it-myth-heat-it-myth-and.html

Is it possible to recovery data from a hard disk with freezer method as
described at this website. I have crashed a hard disk, and wanted to recover
some of my personal data from the hard disk. It is creating some CLICK CLICK
sounds. Please reply

 

[VanguardLH]

Is it feasible to recover the hard disk with the following method.

http://recoverdisk.blogspot.com/2009/04/freeze-it-myth-heat-it-myth-and.html

Is it possible to recovery data from a hard disk with freezer method
as described at this website. I have crashed a hard disk, and wanted
to recover some of my personal data from the hard disk. It is
creating some CLICK CLICK sounds. Please reply

NOTE: Do *not* use quoted-printable formatting when posting to
newsgroups. Configure Outlook Express to use MIME (and select None for
encoding) for newsgroup postings.

Recover from your backups. If you don't backup, you have deemed all
your data as worthless or reproducible.

What happened after you tried the freeze method? After all, it's not
like you have many other choices other than paying hundreds or over a
thousand dollars to have a recovery lab open the hard disk and migrate
the platters to another assembly to build a new hard drive or use their
own equipment to directly read the platters. You could wait until you
win the lottery to afford to pay the lab for not doing regular backups.

You never said HOW the drive crashed. If it seized up, it's not going
to spin again even after freezing it. Of course, if seized, you could
try whacking with a hammer. If its PCB got fried, like the motor speed
control diodes burned out, then freezing won't fix the PCB and you'll
need to see if you can find another PCB for that exact same brand and
model is available (which is still likely not to work due to the
firmware programming needed during the manufacture of that particular
drive for, say, masking/remapping the bad sectors).

The techniques you are reading about could obviate the ability of a
recovery lab to get the data off that hard drive. They're home remedies
that can be destructive.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Is it feasible to recover the hard disk with the following method.

http://recoverdisk.blogspot.com/2009/04/freeze-it-myth-heat-it-myth-and.html

Is it possible to recovery data from a hard disk with freezer method as
described at this website. I have crashed a hard disk, and wanted to recover
some of my personal data from the hard disk. It is creating some CLICK CLICK
sounds. Please reply

=========================

No, it is not possible to recover the hard disk this way. It is in some
cases possible to allow it to run for a very short time, but as soon as it
warms up it will fail again, and that sometimes is only a few minutes.

You will probably need to take the disk to a recovery bureau, who will
dismantle the drive and mount the platters on custom electronics. In the
cases where I've had to take this route, the bill starts around $1K.

HTH
-pk