disk upgrade with XP

[jswillms]

Seems like the usual steps that worked on 95/98 don't work with XP. (And yes, I looked a the FAQ first, no joy)

I need to upgrade my system disk. My old disk is an IBM and it is starting to make weird noises. So, I purchased a copy of Partition Magic 7.0 which is supposed to support XP. I installed the new disk (60Gb Wester Digital) as Primary Master. Moved existing disk to Primary Slave. Copied both partitions (primary - C, Logical - D) to new disk. Booted from IDE0 (primary master). System booted OK but when I looked at My Computer, old disk (primary slave) still mapped to drive C/D and new disk assigned G/H. Tried disabling primary slave in BIOS, XP still finds the disk. Unplugged the old disk, XP boots to blue screen with XP logo but does not get to logon screen.

Is it still possible to migrate partitions to a new disk with XP? Is this wonderful copy protection biting me? Can I simply remap the drive letters? Any other advice?

Any help is appreciated...

 

[WhoDeeny]

Persinally, if I had a new drive I would've just installed the OS on it instead of trying to move the stuff over. In my experience that tends to create more problems in the long run, which you're already starting to find out. Back up everything you want to keep and just reinstall...

 

[jswillms]

Should I reinstall over the copied partition, or should I wipe the disk and start brand new? I really hate spending tons of time installing and reconfiguring every stinkin app again...

Any other ideas ?

 

[Bglad]

Yes, it is entirely possible, but I don't exactly understand what you did. What you really need is Drive Image, not Partition Magic. What did you use to copy the partitions over to the new drive?

Anyway, XP recognizes the drive letters associated with the volume serial number created when you installed the OS. As long as it finds a serial it recognizes it will use the drive letter assigned to it during previous use and assign a new drive letter to any new drive. You are doing this like Win98 where whatever drive was on the primary was automaticall drive c:. Doesn't work that way in XP. Problem is, that wouldn't work for you in Win98 either until you removed the old drive because the primary on the old drive would become d:, extended on new drive would be e: and extended on old would be f:.

You need Drive Image and you need to run it from DOS. Use it to copy the old drive to the new then remove the old drive before booting into Windows. That way Windows will be bypassed completely, the serial and drive letter will be transferred to the new drive and Windows won't know the difference other than the likely size change. You do not want to boot that machine into Windows with both drives mounted or you will have a drive letter conflict and it will move the drive letters of the new drive. If you do that, o Windows you have 2 drives with 2 identical c and d partitions. Windows doesn't know what to do with this and can't have 2 partitions assigned the same drive letter so it reassignes drive letters for you.

In order to solve this now, you will probably have to re-copy the old to the new as Windows will not allow you to change the drive letter on the boot volume. All of your program registry entries will be wrong i.e. when you go to load a program, windows will look for it on the c: or d: but now it is on the e: or f:.

If you are using something other than Drive Image, same theory applies. When you install the new drive, boot to DOS, run the copy in DOS, shut down, remove the old drive then boot to Windows.

 

[Bglad]

By the way, if your current install is working well, there is no reason to do a fresh install just to swap a hard drive. A fresh install is a good idea if you are swapping something like a motherboard and it is an excuse to do it if you are having some problems. For just a hard drive, you just need to do your copy correctly.

As for the copy protection, swapping only the hard drive is not enough to invalidate your license. It allows you I think 7 hardware swaps, although some pieces of hardware count for 2 points. This should not be affecting you unless you have swapped other pieces of hardware since the install of XP.

 

[mee987]

<< I really hate spending tons of time installing and reconfiguring every stinkin app again... >>


you dont sount like you are having much fun trying to get the stuff copied, and the process described by bglad seems long and complicated... perhaps you should reconsider formatting. starting clean always has more benefits than you initially expect.



<< you will probably have to re-copy the old to the new as Windows will not allow you to change the drive letter on the boot volume. >>


as I was informed of a few days ago, yes it will. its in the FAQ called something like "changing drive letters in windows"

 

[jswillms]

Thanks,

I now understand my problem. I should have unplugged the original drive. I have used drive image and partition magic a lot before on win98, so I am reasonably sure I reproduced the image correctly on the second drive. I just did not understand the new mapping process. I will give it another try tonight and expect it to work.

I have found that I can do everything in partition magic that drive image does with respect to partition copying, but it gives me more features that I can use elsewhere.

BTW, does Norton Ghost work any better than Drive image?

 

[Bglad]

Norton Ghost has some NTFS limitations that Drive Image does not suffer.

Read my opinion of Ghost here.

 

[Bglad]

I just looked at my Partition Magic and now I see you can copy a partition and contents. I didn't even realize you could do that! I just always reach for Drive Image for that.

 

[jswillms]

Bglad,

Worked like a charm... Copied primary, then extended, shutdown, unplug original drive, reboot, and back up on the new drive in no time. Definately much eaiser than the clean install suggestions... Unplug was the key... thx much!

 

[Bglad]

Glad to help.

Your payback is to help someone else here when you know the answer to a question.