Cloned HD Boot Problems

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by rbrown3rd, Apr 10, 2006.

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  1. rbrown3rd

    rbrown3rd Registered Member

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    I have seen this topic on the forums but do not see a clear answer. Could someone hold my hand as if a three year old and tell me how to resolve this Windows XP problem? I am getting nagged to reactivate Windows within two days now having spent all weekend trying to do this seemingly simple task.

    1. I downloaded the trial copy of TI
    2. I cloned my existing smaller HD to a new larger HD using True Image/... sucess
    3. I changed the jumpers on the new drive to master.
    4. I swapped out the old drive and replaced it with the new cloned drive.
    5. I booted the system and it will not go past the pale blue screen with the Windows logo on it.

    I am using my wife's computer and when I post this I will place my old HD back in the system and log on over there.

    I know that this topic has been discussed before but would someone please tell me step by step how to copy my WinXP primary drive with the OS on it to a larger drive and get it to boot?
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2006
  2. Chutsman

    Chutsman Registered Member

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    There seems to be several problems that can occur using the Clone feature. And some of the reasons for the problems seem to be the different hardware configurations.

    If you can check whether all the files were actually transferred over to the cloned drive, I would first try a Windows Repair. When you boot with your original Windows install CD, there is a Repair feature on two of the dialog screens. You want the second one. Using this one will keep all your programs and data intact.
     
  3. rbrown3rd

    rbrown3rd Registered Member

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    Ok so you are saying:

    1. Install my new cloned hard drive
    2. Place the Windows Install CD in the CD drive
    3. Boot the system
    4. Select the repair feature on the second screen

    Thanks. I will try that now.
     
  4. rbrown3rd

    rbrown3rd Registered Member

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    Ok, I tried this once unsuccessfully. I booted from the original install CD. After the boot routine loaded all of the drivers I was presented with a screen that had the following options:

    To setup Windows XP now, press Enter
    To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R
    To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

    I am guessing that I am to select R for repair?

    I pressed R and was presented with the option of selecting a Windows Installation in the Recovery Console.

    I selected the only Windows installation available which was C:\Windows.

    After entering the admin password I was presented a command line prompt C;\Windows.

    This does not sound like what you are telling me to do. Can you please advise me what I am doing wrong?

    Gosh. I had no idea that moving my OS to a larger drive would be so complicated. I am beginning to wonder if it is worth it.
     
  5. rbrown3rd

    rbrown3rd Registered Member

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    Ok, I found the repair option you must be speaking of. I had to actually go into the Windows install module and there the second repair option came up. At this moment it is copying files to the hard drive. Let's hope the repair works. At least it seems to be doing something.

    So, cloning a Winxp OS system HD is not as simple as just cloning the drive. I would have thought that if the drive is duplicated sector by sector it would be an exact copy of the original and would work just fine. Surely, I am not the first person to want to move their OS HD to a larger HD? I have a fair amount of experience with computers and have been trying to do this for two days now. My gosh.
     
  6. rbrown3rd

    rbrown3rd Registered Member

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    Now my machine is asking me to insert the Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 1 CD. It looks as though it is trying to install Windows again. I hope it is just installing the necessary files. I have no Service Pack 1 CD only the original WinXP Cd. Anyway, it appears to be doing a Windows install on my new HD. That is not what I wanted. Oh well, it is the new drive. I still have the original to fall back on. If I have to clone that original drive one more time I am going to start getting stressed out. LOL.

    So the simple procedure for cloning a primary OS WinXP drive is:

    1. Set the new drive jumpers as a slave drive or leave at cable select.
    2. Intall the new drive in the slave position on the ribbon cable.
    3. Run TI and clone the original HD to the new one.
    4. Remove the new HD and change the jumpers to master or leave at cable select
    5. Unplug the original HD ribbon cable.
    6. Plug the new cloned drive in at the master position on the ribbon cable.
    7. Boot the new drive with the original Windows XP install disk in place
    8. Select the install Windows XP option
    9. When the screen for installing Windows comes up select the Repair option
    10. Reboot the system after the repair process completes
    11. Insert the original Windows XP CD in the drive
    12. Watch as various options to install hardware and software are presented for you to puzzle over.
    13. Let the install procedure reinstall Windows.
    14. ...........this is where I am now.

    Boy, this sure is a quick and simple way to clone a system from a smaller drive to a new larger one. I am glad I didn't have to know anything technical to do this. At this point I still don't know what I am going to end up with when done.

    Please excuse my sarcasm. I have been at this now for going on two days.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2006
  7. Chutsman

    Chutsman Registered Member

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    I can understand your frustration. Cloning is not the best feature by any means in True Image. It is so easy for different hardware to "throw it a curve". Check your PM.

    You had me worried there for a while when it seemed that you were going to do the first Repair option. :D Glad you went past it and saw the second one.

    What you outlined is of course not the "normal" procedure to clone a drive using TI, but just a workaround to get you out of a jam. Do you have multiple usb devices or wireless keyboard/mouse on your system?
     
  8. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello rbrown3rd,

    Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

    Please remember that in order to clone your Windows system to a different hardware, you should first prepare Windows using Microsoft System Preparation Tool (sysprep) as it is described in this FAQ article.

    Please note that we recommend you to unplug one of the hard drives right after the disk cloning process has been finished, since keeping both original and cloned hard drives connected might cause different boot or drive letter assignment problems.

    If the cloned drive does not boot then please do the following:

    - Boot the computer from Windows 2000/XP Installation CD and run "fixmbr" command in Recovery Console;

    - In case it still does not boot, perform Windows Repair Installation as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

    You may also look at this post where RetiredBri described successful clone method.

    Thank you.
    --
    Aleksandr Isakov
     
  9. rbrown3rd

    rbrown3rd Registered Member

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    Thanks Aleksandr. I tried everything above except for the sysprep application. When I looked at the Microsoft site it seemed aimed at commercial applications that were setting up to distribute large numbers of duplicate systems. I never did locate the actual sysprep software described.

    I did finally get the new hard drive to boot after running the repair routine from my original Windows install disk. The bad news from that is that many of the drivers that were installed on my original disk were no longer present. Many of the software packages did not work properly after booting that drive. Many dlls that I had installed for various software packages no longer were present. Complicating the issue was the fact that the drive was not the default C drive but was designated as the H drive. I don't even want to go down the road as to why that designator was H.

    So, my simple little task of upgrading my system to a larger drive has turned out to be a rather time consuming task far beyond my expectations. True Image was a delight to use in terms of its user interface and ease of use but I still did not end up with a useable, upgraded drive.

    I guess I need to go back to square one and grab that sysprep appliction and start over.
     
  10. Chutsman

    Chutsman Registered Member

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    If you are starting all over, and you have a third drive, you might first want to try making an Image backup, instead of Cloning. This requires the additional step or Restoring, but is usually more successful than Cloning.

    Put the Image backup on the third drive, remove the original and install the drive you wanted to Clone in place of the original then using the bootable Rescue CD, boot the system and Restore the Image from the third drive.

    If you do not have a third drive and your original drive has the space, you can tell True Image to store the backup Image in a folder on the original drive. I haven't tried this myself, but it has been suggested by others here.
     
  11. rbrown3rd

    rbrown3rd Registered Member

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    Thanks. Drives are so cheap now that I might just pick up another one soon and try that.
     
  12. zeze

    zeze Registered Member

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    I was going to suggest that, since I'm also trying to figure if disk backup and restore is more trustable than disk cloning, before I choose one or the other method.
     
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