search, tried, and failed...cloned hd restarts pc right at windows xp loading screen

cloned my hd to a larger 640gb wd disk. upon booting my computer would get stuck in the loop of flashing windows xp loading screen and then rebooting itself, which brings up the option screen for safe modes, last known config and start norm...safe mode wont boot, last known boots, and start norm repeats the loop...when last known boots, it finds my new wd hd again and installs scsi drivers for it...i also have an external 500gb usb drive attached to the system

so far i have tried ubcd4win and driveimage xml...i reset both disk ids for the external hd and internal hd

i then used paragon rescue kit, the boot corrector prog, and freed all drive letters...i then assigned c: to hd 0 partition 0 as that is where windows xp is located, d: to hd 0 partition 1 as that is a partition i originally created on the new hd...and l: to hd 1 partion 0 which is my external hd that i use for music...so boot corrector does it thing, assigns those drive values in registry and i create the mbr using boot corrector and all that...still doesnt boot, still loops the exact same

so then i put the ubcd4win back in and look at the desktop that gives you a little system info and it says c:120gb which is correct d:500gb which is incorrect, that should be drive l, and l:520gb which is incorrect as that should be d:

no matter what i do or how i run boot corrector or driveimage xml this occurs....so how do i fix it to boot windows properly....currently it will only boot choosing last known config and this hinders me from installing updates and anything that requires a reboot gets lost as i cannot reboot without entering last known config

computer management->storage->disk management - shows the drive letters correct, but L: comes in the top list before c: even though the bottom pane is correctly listing everything...however in the bottom pane it says c: healthy (system) d: healthy l: healthy

isnt c: supposed to say active?

lil help please

sys info

amd athlon 3400+
via 8237r sata controller built into mb
604gb sata wd internal drive
500gb usb fantom external drive

let me know if you need anything else

 

slow6brick,

How large is the old HD?
What partitions are on the old HD? Sizes?
Are both HDs SATA?
Can they be installed in your computer as HD0 and HD1?
Any bad sectors on either HD?
Were you cloning one HD to another directly or using the image/restore method?

 

1. 120gb
2. 1 partition, 120gb
3. yes both sata
4. i could, then i'll have to setup raid array...crappy controller makes me
5. no and verified with multiple progs
6. cloning one to another, raid controller made me after installed 2nd hd, so i set it up to mirror the original hd...raid prog runs before win boots, and it copied( said cloning in prog) original hd to new hd(mirror setup)

hope this helps

 

OK. Can you attach the 120 GB HD via USB?

 

no, i would have to go and buy an external sata to usb enclosure to attach it

i can attach it back in the physical system however, i have an open sata connector currently

 

I'm a little confused. Can you have both HDs attached to your computer? I thought your controller caused a problem. If you can't have both HDs connected there is an alternative method.

 

i can connect it physically but its gonna probably ask me to setup a raid array...i will somehow bypass the raid bs...i can try it regardless...what do you need me to do because this is beyond annoying for 5 days now

 

I think I see your problem with two HDs. You will have to use image/restore which is more reliable than cloning anyway.

Install your old 120 GB HD and make sure everything is working. Use your favourite app and create an image of the C: drive, writing the image to your 500 GB external HD. Replace the old HD with the new HD. Boot from the recovery CD and restore the image from the external HD to the 640 GB HD.

 

Which app will you be using? Want a recommendation?

 

yeah recommendation that way we can be on the same page...thanks

also do i need to erase and reformat 640gb hd? or restore image to partition 1 of this hd?

 

OK. Download the trial version of Image for Linux.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/downloads-image-for-linux.htm

Unzip, double click makedisk.exe and choose the drive letter of your CD drive. You can use CD-R or CD-RW.

More instructions soon.

 

doesnt matter that i am currently not running linux? also i have ubcd4win recovery disc, original oem windows xp disc too...my original hd that i cloned has 80gb of data...not gonna fit on a cd, is that what you wanted me to do

 

You can have it blank or a single partition. The partition can be any size from 120 to 640 GB.

Boot from the CD. Choose Image from Linux on the menu screen.

There is no mouse. To navigate, use up down keys, Enter to go forward, Esc to go back, Spacebar inserts an X

To Backup whole hard drive

Backup
Full Backup
Linux Drive
sda (should be your 120 GB internal HD)
put X in Drive (this will also select your partition)
Single File Set
File (Direct)
Linux Drive
sdb (should be your USB external HD)
choose destination partition or volume
type a meaningful name in the Name field (high lighted in red), press Enter once and wait for the Options window
put X in Validate Byte-for-Byte and leave everything else alone
Start


Restore whole hard drive

Restore
Normal
File (Direct)
Linux Drive
sdb (should be your USB external HD)
choose partition or volume containing the backup
press Tab to go to the Files section
select the backup
select Drive
Linux Drive
sda (should be your 640 GB internal HD)
Y for yes (read it first) You won't see this window if the HD is blank
put X in Validate Byte-for-Byte and leave everything else alone
Start


Any questions?

 

IFL will work with Windows partitions.

The image goes to your external HD, not the CD. No problems there.

 

ok, my wd 640gb drive has 1 partition...operating files are on the 120gb partition and other media is on the other 540gb partition...do i have to erase the partitions and just have 1 drive or can i leave the partitions alone and restore to the 120gb partition which is labeled c obviously

let me know and i'll get started...thanks

 

I'm confused, again.

You don't have to do anything with your 500 GB USB HD. The image of the 80 GB of data will be about 60 GB. It's a file so you can put it anywhere on the USB HD you like.

What is on the 640 GB HD? A 640 GB partition (well, probably closer to 600 GB) or two partitions? What is the 540 GB partition?

 

new internal drive is 640gb that i have in 2 partitions...partition 1= 120gb and what i want to run any programs, etc from....partition 2 = 520gb and this is where i store videos

so do i need to delete the partition to make 1 big 640gb partition or can i keep partition 2 and overwrite partition 1 with the image from external hd


i understand everything else

 

We can do whatever you desire. You don't need to delete any partitions if you don't want to.

Do you already have data in the 520 GB partition?
What size would you like the OS partition on the new HD? 120 GB or larger?

 

i do have data on the 520gb partition...im completely happy with the 120gb size for system partition...

so tell me how to keep the 520gb part so i dont lose any data and lets do this...

 

Easy. Stand by.

 

Leave the partitions on the 640 GB HD alone.

This is a revised Restore section.


Restore
Normal
File (Direct)
Linux Drive
sdb (should be your USB external HD)
choose partition or volume containing the backup
press Tab to go to the Files section
select the backup
remove the X from Drive
put an X in the Partition line
Linux Drive
sda (should be your 640 GB internal HD)
select the 120 GB partition
Y for yes (read it first)
put X in Set Active
put X in Validate Byte-for-Byte
and leave everything else alone
Next
Start

 

Don't want to interfere too much and confuse things, but, yes, the partition you intend to boot from should be "Active".

 

Once you you complete the restore unplug all the drives that have windows installed except for your "restored drive", you don't want to bootup a computer with 2 xp c: drives at the same time, this will always cause problems. Once you bootup successfully the restored drive for the first time, then you can reconnect the other drives.

Your original problem was definitely "partition ID" drive letter related, the reboot at the logon screen is the classic symptom. The "boot corrector" should have fix that but it might have got confused with the multiple drives in your computer. The reason it goes on a loop is because windows is looking for the next startup files in the wrong partition. But it is also a good symptom because this problem narrows your troubleshooting and is easily fixed.

If the drive letters checked good, download the following "bootcd" , it will bypass the windows boot files and use the bootfiles in the cd to boot to windows.
download the following iso file and burn to cd "CD-R fixntldriso.zip"
http://tinyempire.com/notes/ntldrismissing.htm

 

ok did everything as brian k stated, everything copied over to ext hd...unplugged old 120gb hd before booting....booted up worked then upon reboot which is when this always starts, again same thing...its like windows will not remember there is a new drive installed....keeps loading same wd scsi drivers,etc...tried boot corrector again and nothing...

also i originally never booted the computer with more than 1 drive that contained operating system...so at this point i think im just going to have to reformat the new hd and start this all over...thoughts?


should i try that bootcd?

 

try the fixntldr bootcd, this will at least rule out a windows problem and point you to a hardware driver problem. Since this is a clone of a drive that is going back into the same hardware all drivers should be already installed and since your drive is starting the boot process, that means that drive is being recognized by windows.

If you had a drive letter problem, fixmbr/fixboot, restarting the entire cloning process again won't fix the problem. Doing the clone again won't change the underlying "partition ID's", you'll be back where you are right now.

Something that you can try with the "boot corrector" is release all the drive letters, and just assign c: to your system drive, when it boots up it will automatically assign the rest of the drive letters. One more thing is that you need to verify what your "mounted devices" drive letter is? Maybe it isn't c: drive. Maybe that is where the mismatch is. To fix this you will need a bartpe bootcd to get into the registry and delete all the mounted device drive letters and during reboot it should reassign c: back to your system drive.
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=210322

The fixntldr bootcd won't make any changes to your drive, all it does is bypass windows boot files. It has it's own boot.ini file that will let you choose each partition till one of them boots your computer. Once you have your computer booted up, you just update windows boot.ini file.