Cloning a partition - WinXP fails to load

Hi,

I could need some help with the following scenario:

True Image 8.0 - latest build.
3 primary partions, all running WinXP SP2.
Bootmanager installed, so that the non-active partitions are hidden. I'm using my bootmanagers option to really hide (encrypt) the partitions, so that they are completly invisible in Windows.

I want to clone my main Windows installation to one of the other partitions.
Image creation went fine within Windows. Reboot, and selected the target parition to unhide and activate it. Started the True Image Boot CD to restore the image. Edited Boot.ini to reflect the different partition. Started the cloned Windows. It booted fine, but stopped with the light blue-colored screen with the XP logo. Nothing more ...

What went wrong? The boot.ini was obviously correct, because I could boot the cloned windows, but it hangs just every time before the login-screen.

Regards,
Michael

 

Most likely, your boot.ini specifies a wrong partition. This happens very easily when copying one partition to another OR restorig a partition into a different one. boot.ini typically contains something like:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

You can see the "partition(1)" in 2 of the lines; this will boot the first partition. If you have this boot.ini in the second partition, it will not boot unless you change the "partition(1)" to "partition(2)".

One warning, the XP Recovery Console does NOT contain an editor NOR will it let you copy boot.ini onto a floppy, so you'll have to change it on another system then load it off a floppy if you're stuck with the recovery console only.

 

Disregard my reply, didn't finish reading your full post to realize you editted boot.ini...

As the Emily Latella character on Saturday Night Live would say, "Nevermind..."