Cloning does nothing!?

I bought a new larger hard, installed it and set out to clone it using TI10. I selected manual mode, select the source and destination drives and elected to keep the data and size the partitions proportionally.

When I click proceed it INSTANTLY tells me I need to reboot, so I click OK and the computer reboots. On startup Acronis does some partition validation (or something like that) and within seconds tells me that it is done and my disk has been cloned. It says to press any key to shut down but that doesn't work, I have to turn the power off manually.

I thought something was odd as there was no way roughly 300GB of data was copied (or cloned) in a matter of seconds. Sure enough, I turned off my PC and disconnect my original drive. Upon boot up with the new drive I get a message that the drive isn't bootable.

I reconnected everything to try the process again and Acronis sees the new drive as unpartitioned space. In other words it's still empty and untouched. I tried cloning with the same settings once more, but ended up with the same empty drive.

I've got the manual in front of me, so I know I am doing it right, so then why isn't it working?

I've read some other threads here that discourage cloning in favor of some sort of restoration. The only question I have with that is that I was surprised to see that my original physical disk has two hidden partitions; one is 55MB (EISA Configuration), and the other is 4.64GB (Primary Partition).

I have no idea what they are but I did notice the cloning was going to attempt to create them proportionally on the new drive. What are they, and do I need them? If I migrated to my new hard drive via the restoration method (or whatever it is called), they are surely not included in my weekly back-up of C:

Thanks!

-Brad

PS - If it matters I am running Vista SP1

PPS - Sorry for being so long-winded.

 

PilotBrad,

Many people have reported good cloning results by booting from the Acronis TI CD and cloning from there. Don't clone from Windows.

I guess you have a Dell computer. Desktop or laptop? How is the second HD connected?

 

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

Good guess, yes a dell desktop.

2nd HDD is connect on one of the open SATA connectors. BIOS and windows sees the drive correctly.

 

Ahhh, after a little searching now I understand how you knew I had a Dell.

This PC was shipped with XP and upgraded to Vista, so I don't really care about the Dell restoration data, however I don't want to break anything. That being said, I'll probably clone the disk but then resize those partitions back to their original sizes for now.

 

I suggest creating a backup image of your Vista partition and then you could safely delete that 4.64 GB partition. The 55 MB diagnostic partition is worth keeping.

Have you seen GroverH's guides?

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=203480

 

PilotBrad,

Inside the link below are additional links to cloning; and to Restore with Resize.
Perhaps you will find this helpful. This includes the link mentioned by Brian above. (Thanks BrianK)

Clone or Restore using Resize comparison
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1299861&postcount=9

 

Thanks Guys!

It seems like no matter which rock I turn over I am running into issues.

I mangaged to get the disk cloned and functioning (I am using the new disk now), but then I ran into the issue of the Dell Restore Partion (DRP) blocking me from expanding my primary volume C:. Since the DRP contains XP and I had long ago upgraded to Vista, I didn't see a need for it so I deleted it and recovered the space. I then expanded my new current volume C: and created a new D: volume from the unallocated space. This new D: partition is for the purpose of running XP in dual-boot mode.

Now when I attempt to install XP, I get a blue-screen hardware error, which tells me to run Chkdsk \f. I booted back into Vista and ran it at the command prompt but no error were found. Grrrrrr! I thought this was supposed to be easy!

I am looking into this "STOP: 0X0000007B" error now, but suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
Brad

 

Looks like I found the cause... SATA drivers are missing from the XP disc.

 

Brad:

The stop error is probably caused by the fact that the XP install disks are old and do not have the drivers needed to install on modern hardware with AHCI disk controllers.

You could try poking around in the BIOS to see if there is a setting for an "IDE Compatibility Mode" for the disk. If so, set to this mode, install XP, and then change it back. The next time you boot into XP, Windows should discover new hardware and should then download and install the correct driver.

 

PilotBrad,

It looks like you are trying to setup a Microsoft dual boot. I don't like that choice at all. See....

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/principles.htm

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/index.htm

 

Mark, you got it! Unfortunately I don't have an IDE mode, although I have to play around a bit more in the bios. I can turn RAID on or off in the bios (or something like that), but as I said one issue get solved but leads to another.

I've currently got Vista on C and XP on D, and both will boot ONLY if I select the correct SATA mode in the bios. RAID Off for XP and on for Vista.

I created a slipstream CD using nlite, and attempted to include the SATA drivers but it didn't work. Apparently there are other needed drivers that I missed. It looks like I have my research cut out for me.

Brian, as far as dual-boot... I wouldn't be doing it if Vista would behave itself. I've been dealing with a software issue for weeks. I've tried with the help of many to resolve it, but word on the street is that it might be a bug in Vista.

THANKS!

 

Brad:

If your only reason for dual-booting XP is to run one program that doesn't work well in Vista then you could also consider virtualization as a solution. I've had very good luck running XP in a virtual machine on my Vista PC. I use Virtual PC 2007 with 512 MB of RAM dedicated to the XP VM and it runs extremely well.

 

Thanks!

I figured out what my problem was... I was using the wrong driver. D'oh!

I recreated a new slipstream disc with the correct sata drivers and XP setup booted just fine. Right now I'm about halfway through a reinstall of XP... my finger are crossed!

As far a virtualization... in this particular case I am not sure it will work. In addition, I want to dedicate as much of the systems resources that I can to running this app.

 

Like I said, it's always something. ;-)

The reinstall of XP went fine, and I was able to repair my Vista boot record so that I am able to choose between Vista and XP, however once I choose XP I am presented with another boot menu which contains two identical choices for "Windows XP". In other words, I choose XP from the first menu and then I am forced to choose XP again from the second.

Something must be a little haywire with the XP partition... Hmmmm... one more problem to solve.

The good news is that both Vista and XP appear to be working just fine!

 

OK, fixed.

I had edited the registry for XP to prevent XP from deleting the System Restore Points on the Vista volume but this also had the effect of preventing access to boot.ini on C:.

I removed my registry entry and then was able to modify the boot.ini on C: to remove the erroneous XP entry. Then I booted back into XP and performed my registry entries once more. Now it is booting fine with only one choice required.

The only issue I have is that the drive that XP installed to is F: (as listed in XP), when I would have preferred D:. I know I can't change the drive letter now, but I am curious as to why I was never given the choice when installing. Oh well, I could probably learn to live with it.

Thanks again!