Cloning XP install from SATA hdd to IDE

[thebuxster]

So I recently built an unraid server and now I want to move some hdd's around to add more space to it. I currently have winxp installed on a sata hdd in my main box. I've cleaned out one of the ide hdd's in the same box and used EASEUS partition manager to copy the sata drive over to the ide. After doing that I've marked the ide partition as active and set the bios to boot from it. When it gets to the windows login screen I type in my password and the normal start up process starts for just a second and then it immediately goes into closing things and takes me right back to the login screen. Is there a better program to use to clone the image from one hdd to another? Is there an issue doing this from sata to ide? Any help is greatly apprecited. Thanks in advance.


j

 

[REC]

I've successfully used Acronis TrueImage combined with Norton Partition Magic to do a similar task, but it was from a small IDE to a larger SATA drive, and it was a few years ago. It's worth noting that I was very impressed with TrueImage. Fantastic software, at least that version was back then.

Quick question though; it wasn't very clear in your post so I have to ask. The computer that you're installing the image on to is the same as the image was originally created from, correct? The way you phrased it makes it seem like you're taking an image from your main rig and installing it onto your non-RAID server, which will cause all kinds of problems.

 

[thebuxster]

Thanks for the reply REC. I upgraded my version of EASEUS partition manager and I'm going to give it another go tonight. If that fails I'll try out Acronis.

To clarify, the image will be going into the same machine that is running it now. The goal is to move the sata drive to the unraid box for more storage. Thanks.

j

 

[thebuxster]

Interesting development: my c drive (the sata) now shows as active in EASEUS partition manager and Healthy (page file) in computer management and G: (the ide I cloned to) shows as the system drive. Despite this the system still won't boot without the sata drive connected (it does the login loop described previously). I'm going to try booting with just the sata and then without it to see what happens. I'll report back. Thanks.

j

 

[thebuxster]

As expected, I get the login loop without the sata connected, but I can login just fine without the ide connected. And without the ide the status of C: in admin tools is back to Healthy (System). I'm running out of ideas....

j

 

[REC]

As expected, I get the login loop without the sata connected, but I can login just fine without the ide connected. And without the ide the status of C: in admin tools is back to Healthy (System). I'm running out of ideas....j

Sorry, but I'm unfamiliar with your softtware; are you making this image from a bootable version of the software, or are you running the software inside an OS? Sounds like it's calling to a resource stored on your SATA drive; when it cannot find the resource, it 'breaks' the sequence and restarts. It would make sense if you're running your imaging software from inside the OS. Not so much if you're running from a bootable cd..

 

[REC]

Hey, something that may be of use: check out the section on 'Sysprep'

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=265026

 

[thebuxster]

I tried Acronis TrueImage and got the same results. I've got all day tomorrow to mess with it, so I'm going to give the sysprep thing a go. Thanks again.

j

 

[bruceb]

You must remove all the old SATA drivers. Then swap the drives, change the BIOS to boot from the new IDE drive, then do a repair install of XP to load the new drivers. You may also need to do a FIXBOOT and also maybe a FIXMBR to get it to boot properly.

 

[thebuxster]

So would this be a much simpler operation if I was doing sata to sata? I'm not opposed to buy a 300gb sata drive to use for this. I even think I would like it better because of the speed boost in sata vs. ide for a boot drive. Thanks.

j

 

[bruceb]

SATA to SATA or even IDE to IDE is just Clone the old drive to the new one. Swap the drives and reboot. Done.

 

[thebuxster]

New sata drive ordered. I'll update with how things go when it gets here. Thanks.

j

 

[thebuxster]

Ok, new sata hdd is here. I copied all the data from the current sata boot drive over via EASEUS partition manager and the system won't boot from that drive. I've tried different sata ports without any luck. When booting from the old drive the new one shows in fine in windows and all the files are there, but I can't get it to boot from it, the boot process just hangs. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

j

 

[bruceb]

You don't do it with Partition Manager .. you need something like Acronis TruImage to Clone the old drive to the new one. You can usually download a program to do this from the web site of your hard drive maker. Their program, while somewhat limited will do the job, as long as 1 of your drive is their make.

 

[thebuxster]

You are 100% right. For some reason the clone function on EASEUS didn't do the trick, but Acronis TruImage did it just fine. Up and running on the new drive now. Thanks for the help everybody.