Adding a cloned partition to a HD with pre-installed OS

Hi,
I have a special situation here. I'll appreciate any comment. First, I cloned the HD of my note book (Windows XP) into an external HD (USB) by using True Image. And, I have a desktop that has pre-installed Windows XP and single volume HD. I am trying to transfer the cloned HD into my desktop.

My goal is making the desktop have two OS (both Windows XP) working from separate partition. So, I created the partition back up file of the cloned HD, and recovered it from the second partition of my desktop HD. I cannot make it bootable though. The OS selector doesn't recognize the second OS. Is there any way to make it happen? Thank you.

 

Hello Kims,

Please accept our apologies for the delay with the response.

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Disk Management Software.

In your particular case you should do the following:

1) Prepare a partition(primary) for a new OS(the cloned one) on your desktop.

2) After you prepare a partition, you should start the installation by means of Acronis OS Selector:

a) In the Menu line of Acronis OS Selector main window select OS → New → Boot from floppy;
b) When a new item is created, open its Properties with the context menu and select Partitions;
c) Flag the partition you want the new OS on as Active;
d) In the left side bar of Acronis OS Selector, in the Tools group select Options → General options and flag Yes, protect folders;
e) In the active OS properties select Folders and set Enable option active for all system folders included;
d) Reboot and select the newly created and edited diskette bootup from the Boot menu. When you see some complaint about not-bootable device(or "Please insert the diskette" message), ignore it.

These steps make your partitions layout prepared for the new OS. Please remember that the partitions layout would be changed next time you boot your old Windows XP copy using the OS Selector.

3) Restore your imaged partition (or clone it) to the newly created partition. Edit the boot.ini file of your new Windows XP copy if necessary using the Windows installation CD.

Now you can boot your newly restored Windows XP copy. However there still could be troubles with booting caused by the difference between hardware (desktop and laptop computers) for the cloned OS.

Here is some information that may also help you:

Every time you boot any operating system from the Boot Menu of Acronis OS Selector the corresponding partitions layout is applied to your hard disk drive (e.g the active partitions are set during this operation).

We are always at your service should you have any further questions.

Thank you.
--
Semyonov Vasily