Cannot boot from new disk with image

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by woldage, Jul 27, 2005.

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  1. woldage

    woldage Guest

    Trying to move from a 40GB Seagate hard drive to a 120GB Hitachi. Ran the Disk Clone to get info to new disk from old, everything copied it appears.

    However computer will not boot from the new disk. Windows gives me an error msg similar to:
    "Windows did not start correctly. A recent hardware or software change may be causing...."

    Tried as slave, tried as slave without master, tried as master.

    Any ideas?

    WXP Home SP2 with latest updates
     
  2. pjb024

    pjb024 Registered Member

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    If you have simply cloned to the new drive and then replaced the old drive with the new one (on the same PC) and you have no other hardware changes then it should work ok. Have you checked your BIOS to make sure it is recognising the new drive correctly? Does your BIOS support that size of drive?
     
  3. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Apr 28, 2004
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    Hello pjb024,

    Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

    Please note that you should first prepare your operating system with Microsoft System Preparation Tool in order to migrate it to different hardware.

    Please read how to prepare your system and migrate your system with Acronis True Image on our web-site in Acronis True Image FAQ Section.

    It's recommended to remove one of your hard disk after cloning because two identical systems may occur boot problems.

    Thank you,
    --
    Oleg Shegay
     
  4. woldage

    woldage Guest

    Hi there.

    Thanks for the responses...

    BIOS
    The drive is recognized by the BIOS when it is used in conjunction with the other drives (as in a Slave or USB mode). I assume that means it is recognized by the BIOS.

    WINDOWS PREP
    I did follow the steps in the windows prep portion of the FAQ. The tool that I downloaded from MS for SP2 on XP is a bit different than what I read about in the FAQ but I followed it as best possible and it restored my XP to a factory settings though did not erase any updates or data. Even after it was at factory default settings, I had this same problem. Any suggestions?

    Thanks.

    Joshua
     
  5. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello Joshua,

    Could you please clarify what you mean by "The drive is recognized by the BIOS when it is used in conjunction with the other drives"? Is it shown in BIOS when it is plugged with and without other drives? Did you plug the new drive to the same computer?

    Thank you.
    --
    Ilya Toytman
     
  6. woldage

    woldage Guest

    Hi there.

    Upon doing more research it appears that the Windows registery might be remembering old drive letters and associations and not releasing those and therefore not allowing the new disk to be a bootable copy of the first....

    For example: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=91247

    I've gone through the steps listed there in terms of booting with a W98 boot disk and running fdisk /mbr to clear that out... still doesn't boot.

    What I have read with Norton Ghost as well as Acronis is that I should delete the Window's partition so that Windows looks at it as a new disk... and then use Ghost or Acronis's bootable disk to then do a disk to disk copy. Then remove the original disk and restart windows.

    The version of Acronis I have is a trial version which says its 100% functional for 15 days. However, it won't let me run that disk to disk copy off the bootable Acronis disk. Any solution?

    Thanks.

    Josh
     
  7. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello Josh,

    In order to clone the disk you don't need to delete any partitions. However, you need to unplug the old disk after cloning (Acronis True Image turns off the computer automatically right after the cloning is performed to let you unplug the drive). After that the computer should be bootable. Did you try this procedure?

    Thank you.
    --
    Ilya Toytman
     
  8. tlu

    tlu Guest

    In these cases usually a repair installation helps. Have a look at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx or better at http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
     
  9. woldage

    woldage Guest

    Thank you Ilya, I have tried it as the only drive plugged in and I get the same result.

    This morning it allowed me to boot it up in safe mode. However, that is it. I tried restarting it into normal mode with no luck.

    I think I might just do a clean XP install on the new drive this morning unless anyone has further suggestions. Is there anything I should watch out for in terms of Windows licensing as its already installed on my old drive?

    Thanks.

    Josh
     
  10. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello Josh,

    Since the problem persists I would agree with tlu and recommend that you perform a repair installation. It is less time consuming and keeps your applications and settings. There should be no problems with Microsoft EULA unless you boot another computer with the old hard drive. However, if you are unsure you may contact Microsoft Support Team concerning this problem.

    Thank you.
    --
    Ilya Toytman
     
  11. woldage

    woldage Guest

    Thank you, I'll give it a shot.

    Thanks.

    Joshua
     
  12. woldage

    woldage Guest

    Hi there.

    Tried the Windows repair as noted, it worked... sorta. It rolls windows batch to its original state pre-updates. So then it booted, however when I then installed SP2, same problem.

    I then gave up and tried to install Windows on this disk as a clean install. Same thing; works great on XP until you put SP2 and then gives the same error msg.

    The comp is not hooked up to the internet so there is no way for it to be checking licensing or anything unless windows has some sneaky licensing key stuck in the bios somewhere which recognizes hard drive changes... grrrr.

    Well I've given up, using this stupid drive as a plain external drive now. Pisser.

    Thanks to all for your help, don't wish this prob upon any of you.

    Josh
     
  13. tlu

    tlu Guest

    Weird. I've never had this problem. Perhaps your SP2 is corrupt?
     
  14. pjb024

    pjb024 Registered Member

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    I don't believe you have mentioned before that this is an external drive! How is it connected ... 1394 ??
     
  15. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hi pjb024,

    I believe what Josh is saying is that he has given up trying to use the new HD as a replacement internal drive and is now using it externally (in either a USB or Firewire enclosure I assume).

    Regards
     
  16. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello Josh,

    It is very strange problem. Have you tried to install Windows from that particular installation CD to another hard drive and install SP2 after that? If so was everything ok? Also there may be a problem with the drive itself, though in this case you should have noticed that when using it as an external drive.

    Thank you.
    --
    Ilya Toytman
     
  17. navkan

    navkan Registered Member

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    I am a confused newbie. Had I wanted to do what I believe Josh wanted, I would simply have cloned my old drive, taken it out, put the new drive in as master and away we go. I would not have done sysprep because, based on what I have read in other threads, it is to prepare for the drive being installed on another computer. Is it possible that sysprep caused the problem?
     
  18. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hello Fred,

    You needn't be confused any longer!! As far as the above scenario is concerned, you are absolutely correct, you don't need to carry out Sysprep.

    Just make sure you disconnect or fdisk and format the old drive before you boot back into Windows from the new dive for the first time.

    Regards
     
  19. emtownsend

    emtownsend Registered Member

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    Aug 5, 2005
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    I have had a similar experience.
    My original drive is a 4200RPM 100GB drive on my HP laptop.
    My new drive is a 5400RPM 100GB drive.

    I put the 5400 in an external USB enclosure and ran the clone operation through Windows. Says successful.
    I put the 5400 in the laptop and did not connect the 4200 at all.
    Boots only to a flashing line in the upper left corner.

    Tried sysprep. Same result. Reformatted, ran sysprep again. Sam result.
    So, tried with and without sysprep...
    Cannot run clone from CD due to trial version.

    I am concerned that if I buy this program and it still doesn't work, I am stuck with it. Does Acronis garauntee it will work?

    Any ideas why it will not boot? I've even tried having the jumper on CS and Master. The stock drive has a jumper on CS. No luck there either... I haven't tried the repair yet. I will do that from home.
    Acronis tech support has been very helpful, but nothing has made this work.
    Thanks!
    Eric
     
  20. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello Eric,

    Thank you for your interest in Acronis Disk Backup Software.

    Please try to clone the drive without sysprep once again, then if you cannot boot with it please try to fix MBR using either Windows Installation CD or one of the methods proposed in Acronis Help Post. Please let us know the result.

    Thank you.
    --
    Ilya Toytman
     
  21. woldage

    woldage Guest

    Good morning.

    Eric's and my problem sound the exact same.

    As you had suggested I re-cloned the drive (numerous times) with and without sysprep. Without it, I then tried to fix MBR by running both a repair of Windows from Windows CD per instructions above, and also through a couple of the other methods listed above. Still no luck.

    Eric, I gave up at this point but I'm very intrigued that your situation is the same. Good luck, let me know if you come up with a solution.

    Thanks.

    Joshua
     
  22. billd58

    billd58 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2005
    Posts:
    2
    I've had this exact same issue and tried everything suggested here and the bootable MBR disk recommended by Acronis and everything. I also sent an email to tech support and am awaiting a response. FWIW my image was restored from a network drive, not from a disk-to-disk clone. I've tried other things that I had no idea if they had any chance to be successful - like running FIXMBR and FIXBOOT and etc. I also tried checking the partition with Partition Magic and it seemed to think it was healthy. One interesting thing is that if I put a WindowsXP install disk in and pretend I want to reinstall XP onto this partition, Setup sees it as an NTFS partition, but when I select it it says "this disk does not contain a WindowsXP-compatible partition". Pretty bizarre.
     
  23. DS-MP

    DS-MP Guest

    Few questions..
    Make sure you have the latest Sysprep tool. Windows XP SP2 doesnt work with the WindowsXP SP1 tool
    here is the link:
    http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=838080

    1 - when you do sysprep, where are you running it from.
    generally I create a c:\sysprep directory and copy the sysprep.exe and setupcl.exe files into the directory.
    Then from a command line in windows, I run
    Start\Run
    cmd
    In the command window type:
    c:\sysprep\sysprep.exe –nosidgen

    2 - Have you tried creating an Full Backup image file of the c drive and restoring it to the USB connected drive to see if you get the same results? Since its a trial version, there may be a bug in the tools allowed functions. Ive run into this several times with Corp trial builds.

    3 - Is the build your trying to image an already registered version with Microsoft? meaning you build the system and register with microsoft for updates

    Someone documented sysprep having an issue with the default account creation that was causing the imaging to fail.. the fix they used is as follows
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1. Create WinXP Environment with a different user profile
    then when done, copy the profile to the DUP.

    Prior to running sysprep. Create a backup copy of the new DUP directory in a temporary location like. "C:\temp\Default User"
    Add a command in the sysprep.inf file under the line:

    [GuiRunOnce]
    Command0="C:\temp\chgdup.cmd"


    Create the chgdup.cmd file
    call :RMDUP
    call :COPYDUP

    attrib +h +r "%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\Default User"
    goto :END

    :RMDUP
    rd /S /Q "%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\Default User" > NUL
    goto :EOF

    :COPYDUP
    move /Y "%SystemDrive%\Temp\Default User" "%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\Default User" > NUL
    del /F /Q "%SystemDrive%\Temp\chgdup.cmd"
    goto :EOF

    :END
    EXIT


    Save chgdup.cmd to the Temp dir then run Sysprep
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
     
  24. billd58

    billd58 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2005
    Posts:
    2
    I finally resolved my problem, which depending on how I did the restore seemed to in one case be the same as woldage's and in the other seemed to be like emtownsend's....

    When I did the restore and took the default (and presumably ill-advised) option of 'Logical drive', I got just the flashing cursor on reboot, like emtownsend's. When I did the restore and chose Active Partition, I got the 'Windows could not start because of......' error like woldage.

    The latter is the appropriate thing to do (Active Partition), and of course the error was the next nut to crack. The problem in my case was a BOOT.INI issue because it referred to the OS being on multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2). My guess is that the original drive this image was created from had some kind of small partition(1) and of course TrueImage doesn't change that when it restores the image to a new drive, so the BOOT.INI is not consistent with the new drive's configuration.

    Following this hunch I used the BOOTCFG program from an XP Recovery Console command and did exactly as described in this MS KB article and I am back up and running and happy.

    Microsoft Knowledge Base Article

    Acronis Tech Support was helpful and reasonably prompt and helpful in pointing me in the right direction on this, but ultimately (and after much hair-pulling) I basically stumbled my way to this solution myself.

    I hope my post saves others from the agonizing hassle I had with this - the solution seems obvious to me now that my machine is up and running here (isn't that always the case?). If anyone needs more information on this from me either post here or email me: Bill D'Amico
     
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