Twin drives:

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by tronic592001, Aug 4, 2005.

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  1. tronic592001

    tronic592001 Registered Member

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    Hi Ive just purchest a second SATA drive, so ive got 160 gig SATA as system disk. and 80 gig SATA clone of system disk.

    my old config was a sata to pata, so i could go into bios and boot from ether one.

    Now with both disks conected (two SATA's) the option in my bios is still there disable one boot from other, but when i disable the 160 gig sata and enable the 80 gig sata (clone) when i boot into windows it will only boot with the 160 gig sata system disk not the clone.

    I now how to fix the MBR but i cant use it till i can boot from the clone.

    :'(
     
  2. pjb024

    pjb024 Registered Member

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    It sounds like you are disabling the 160Gb in BIOS but you still have that disk selected as the one to boot from ... check to see if there is an item in BIOS called 'Hard Disk Boot Priority' and make sure that the disk you want to boot from is the one showing at the top of the list.

    I'm puzzled ... why are you doing this? Are you cloning your disk as a means of backup? Wouldn't it be better and less troublesome to use the 80Gb drive for imaging rather than a clone? I'm sure you have a reason for what you are doing but it sounds a bit messy.
     
  3. tronic592001

    tronic592001 Registered Member

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    pjb024 hi thanks for the replie:

    yes im disabaling my 160 gig in bios, not tried (hard disk boot priority) yet!!
    PS just gone into bios and only options are the ones im useing..

    well im doing it because if this drive im working on now crashes/virus/etc. all i need do is go into bios and boot from my clone, but like you say i could image it. but ile like to now what im trying to do is posible. as stated above ive done this with sata to pata no problems after fixing MBR.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2005
  4. tronic592001

    tronic592001 Registered Member

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    :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
     
  5. TheQuest

    TheQuest Registered Member

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    Hi, tronic592001

    I do not know about your Asus BIOS, but on my Asus A8N-E it is:-

    BOOT>Boot Device Priority>Hard Disk Devices, that is where I can choose which HDD or Flash Drive to boot from.

    Sorry not to be of more help.

    Take Care,
    TheQuest :cool:
     
  6. tronic592001

    tronic592001 Registered Member

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    TheQuest hi thanks for replie:

    yes i now how to change boot priority, but still cant get it to boot!!

    that is 160 gig sata (system disk) 80 gig sata second (hard drive) trying to boot my clone 80 gig sata.

    what i did do is take the lead off my 160 gig system disk and conected it to my second cloned drive and managed to boot from it no problems.

    I also used MBR on the cloned drive which did not work, but still able to boot from it only when 160 gig system disk is disconected.

    strange as i done it no problem when i had a sata and a pata conected at same time.

    its not a big problem as i now now i can boot from my clone only if my system disk is disconected, but would like to now why or if this is posable to boot from ether one while both are conected......

    o_O
     
  7. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hi tronic,

    If not already done, have a read of this <Dan Goodell article> about Windows 2000/XP drive letters and then try Method #3 ("Kawecki's Trick").

    Regards
     
  8. TheQuest

    TheQuest Registered Member

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    Hi, tronic592001

    Thats Strange, because I can tell the BIOS to use Sata1[2] to boot [Sata0 being "Master" as there is no Real master and slave with Sata] with no problem, I do not have to unplug the HDD nor alter the MBR.

    I press the + key to move Sata1 [highlighted] up to the top to be first boot device.

    IDE [Pata] will always be first Boot HDD [if bootable] unless you alter the Bios by pressing + on the device you need.


    Take Care,
    TheQuest :cool:
     
  9. pjb024

    pjb024 Registered Member

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    TheQuest is correct that there is no master/slave for SATA drives, they each utilise (English spelling) a single channel. I think that maybe you are highlighting the drive you want to boot from but you are not moving it to the top of the hard drive boot list before you exit and save BIOS. As you will realise it's not the most user friendly way of managing a multi-boot environment and perhaps you should consider downloading Acronis Disk Director Suite. This will allow you to select a boot device at boot time without having to go into BIOS. It's worth a try and see what you think.
     
  10. tronic592001

    tronic592001 Registered Member

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    thank you all for the replies:
    pjb024 hi
    Yes as i said ive got two drives when i go into the bios i disable the system drive,and enable the clone there by the clone is selected as the top one auto in the bios. but not first boot as my first boot is my USB floppy then my CDRW drive, and last my hard drive.

    Menorcaman hi I dont think its a drive letter problem, as only letter that does get changed is the D: as ive two partitions C: and D: some times D: becomes F: after cloneing but i just change it back to D:

    pjb024 hi
    yes ile try the demo if there is one two download!!!

    and again thank you all for your relplies:
     
  11. TheQuest

    TheQuest Registered Member

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    Hi, tronic592001

    Yes that is for the Boot Device Priority, I am talking about HDD Boot Priority.

    Your Asus Bios may be different then mine [Asus A8N-E] under BOOT mine is like this.

    >Boot Device Priority
    >Removable Drives
    >Hard Disk Drives
    Press enter on this one to alter HDD Boot Priority, by pressing the key pad +
    >CDRom Drives
    >Bootsetting Configuration
    >Security


    Take Care,
    TheQuest :cool:
     
  12. tronic592001

    tronic592001 Registered Member

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    TheQuest hi

    On my mother board it says Two serial ATA (SATA) connectors, each supporting two ports!!!

    yet ive got 4 conectors on the board SATA 1/2/3/4 the system disk is on SATA 1 when i installed the new drive i put it on 3 not nowing at the time which one to put it on. i dont think it makes a difrence? anyway here is a link to my boards spesifications:

    compaq prisario
    I will enable both drives and then enstead of disabaling one ile just change boot priority, and see what happens then. ile get back l8ter.

    thanks again...
     
  13. pjb024

    pjb024 Registered Member

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    Hi tronic592001

    HP's description is slightly misleading. There are 4 ports and it doesn't matter which port you connect your drives to as they don't have any kind of master/slave relationship like in PATA, they are simply 4 separate ports and each port attaches to a single device (disk).

    I still think you need a boot manager. It will make life easier for you rather than messing with BIOS settings.
     
  14. tronic592001

    tronic592001 Registered Member

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    pjb024

    Can you recomend any good and reliable ones.
     
  15. pjb024

    pjb024 Registered Member

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    There are lots of them on the market but I can't specifically recommend a particular product other than Acronis Disk Director Suite which includes a feature called OS Selector that lets you boot from any partition on any disk. I use it and I'm happy with the way it works and of course you get all the other disk management features too. Don't buy a spanner when you can have a complete toolbox for around the same price.
     
  16. tronic592001

    tronic592001 Registered Member

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    pjb024 hi

    Yes ile go for the toolbox, :D thanks again for your help!!!
     
  17. pjb024

    pjb024 Registered Member

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    Have fun and good luck!
     
  18. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    The other good thing about Acronis Disk Director Suite's OS Selector is that it can happily co-exist with True Image's Startup Recovery Manager.

    Regards
     
  19. tronic592001

    tronic592001 Registered Member

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    than you all for the replies:
     
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