"Blinking cursor" after Restore

Using Vista x64 on a Lenovo T61p laptop. I had made a backup (4 TIB files) about 4 months ago and now have bought a 500GB hard drive.

I restored .TIB files successfullly as well as even an option to restore the MBR.

The drive that I restored, when booted....just gives me the "blinking cursor".

If I have original laptop drive and the "newer" laptop drive in the ultrabay, can I simply copy a file or files over so the drive will boot??

I think the issue is simply a boot file, but I don't want to spend too much time on this. I could install Vista alll over again, but I am just trying to avoid installing all the drivers over again.
It looks like all the folders and files were copied to the "newer" drive, but obviously something is missing for it to boot.

The Restore is fairly quick ~ 25 minutes. Are there certain steps I need to do to make this work??

 

xoxoteiro,

IBMs are "different". Where was the 500 GB HD when you restored the image. Mounted internally in the laptop or mounted in the ultrabay?

Did you restore from Windows or the Acronis TI boot disk?

 

The laptop has never changed, this is the same hardware -- a Lenovo T61P. The BIOS has NOT changed at all since backup was made and what is currently there.

I had restored via Acronis TI boot disk and the 500GB drive was mounted in the "primay" drive bay, NOT the 2nd ultrabay area where the CD/DVD normally is.

The .TIB files were on an external USB drive when I did the restore and nothing at all appeared to error.

Again, I am just trying to migrate Vista x64 to a bigger laptop drive.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. I'm out of ideas. Sorry.

 

Is there a reason you don't want to clone your small to your large HD?

 

Mostly b/c I have a bunch of "crap" on my existing drive. When I did a backup 4 months ago or so, it was a fairly "clean" image. I specifically bought TI with the future vision that larger drives would come down in price, so when I got my Vista OS with Office and all the necessary drivers, I backed it all up.
I now bought a 500GB for $85, and I thought this would be snap to restore my TIB files and I would have another 400GB to fill with "more crap". I say this jokingly, as I just like to keep everything.

I think I am just going to do a new install, I have a feeling I could just waste time messing with this TI product (that might not work anyway).

 

That makes sense. If you decide to clone, make sure the new HD is mounted internally and the old HD is mounted in your USB enclosure. IBMs need this "reverse" clone. I think it's worth trying as it should only take 30 minutes. If it works it will save time compared with reinstalling Vista etc.

 

Did you try doing a Vista repair from by booting from the Vista installation DVD?

Probably not, but the Vista repair has gotten me out of similar situations.

You don't want to have the original drive attached to the notebook the first time you boot from the restored drive. Windows hates seeing two identical drives on that first boot. If you did that, repeat the restore but without the old drive attached.

 

I just did a "clone disk", it got to the 4th step where it copies the "MBR" and it gave me error. Although, this time around I was able to boot the drive.

It is not ideal as I have about 50-60GB of folders/files I did not want (and who knows what else).

It still gives me a good 300+ GB of extra space I was really looking for.

Thanks for the suggestions, but perhaps those TIB had become corrupted....