Boot Cloned Image?

[T3chGuy]

So to "simplify" things in case my HD died I have been making a cloned image of it. Clone c: to d: my thoughts being if c: fails then just unplug it put d: in its place and voila we're back. I can see all my data and files on the cloned drive using another PC but I cannot boot from it.

Windows repair recognizes that a valid copy of windows is there and i have tried the fixboot and fixmbr commands which have still not made the d: a bootable drive. Before i tried running the full windows repair (basically installing windows over windows) but with the hopes of keeping all files and applications from being destroyed. I thought I should check here as there must be a simple way to do this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[vacunita]

Technically speaking it should just boot up on the same machine it was created from without any issues to it provided it is cloned image.

If you are trying to boot from it on another computer, then that is a different story all together. As the difference in drivers, and Windows XP own Activation check would negate that possibility. However running a Windows XP repair on it should get it boot, but you'll likely still have to activate it afterward.






----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[T3chGuy]

used drive image pro to clone the drive. It is the same box, it does not recognize it as bootable and after failing to find any bootable devices says insert bootable device and press enter. This made me think the drive was empty so i moved it to another tower to have a look and all the data is there it's just not bootable

 

[fisheromacse]

sounds silly, but did you check the jumper settings on the hard drive?
i have had this occur on Dell boxes in the past.

 

[vacunita]

Was the BIOS picking it up when you tried to boot from it?

I have to second the jumper deal. Specially if there is something else attached to the same cable.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[T3chGuy]

sata drive, it's the only drive in the box now and its intalled where the primary used to be. The BIOS sees it, just doesn't recognize it as a bootable device.

I am now in the process of running a windows repair, and it recognizes the drive and that there is a valid copy of windows on the drive. Seems a little extreme that this has to be done to make the drive boot but fingers crossed this will work.

 

[T3chGuy]

ok so I tried to do the repair and it copies over all the files and then gets to the part where it reboots, it reboots and then just comes back to the Welcome to Setup screen instead of proceeding with the repair. There is a prompt to remove any disks in drive a: but it doesn't say anything about the windows cd, do i need to remove the cd?

 

[fisheromacse]

one other thing that has vexed me in the past is a BIOS setting where the drivers for the SATA drive were not 100% with the drive controller (or maybe the controller didn't work 100% with the drive, either way) and to fix it I had to change the drive type in the BIOS from SATA to EIDE.


yes, after restart, generally you remove the install media.
OR you could go into the bios and change the boot order and put the hard drive 1st then the CD drive (if it has CD 1st)

 

[G0AOZ]

When you actually MADE the clone, did you do it on the original machine, or did you make the clone on a different PC? Some BIOSs interpret the cylinders/heads/sectors differently - I've run into this kind of problem with some of the older Compaq machines. So whilst the cloning appears to successfully conclude without errors, the drive isn't bootable... Do the cloning on the same machine, if you've not done that already.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[linney]

Is this partition marked as being "Active"?

Active Partition - Definition

http://www.real-knowledge.com/active-partition.htm

An Active Partition is a partition from which an x86-based computer starts up and generally contains the operating system to be used on the computer. The active partition must be a primary partition on a basic disk. If you use Windows exclusively, the active partition can be the same as the system volume. Only one partition on a computer can be set as an active or bootable partition on a hard disk drive.

Changing Active Partition Can Make Your System Unbootable

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/228004

How to set active partition in Vista and XP

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/set-active-partition-vista-xp/eide

ide

 

[firewolfrl]

good tips above..here is the issue
in the registry it sees the old drive as c:\ and the new drive as a different drive letter
you should slave the drive or run Barts PE
you have to load the HIVE file SYSTEM from the cloned drive
"this is okay directions on how to load a registry from a slave drive"

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=409638

the google search

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=edit...=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=37132dca8f7438ee

then

when you are in read read this page on removing the mounted
devices

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/articles/drive_letters.html

it does not matter that this says vista...it works in xp too

 

[BadBigBen]

it has nothing to do with the REGISTRY, as that would indicate that the drive is BOOTABLE, from what the OP states it is not being picked up by the BIOS boot routine.

Try what Linney suggested first, then if that does not work, CLONE that drive onto another drive, I've come across drives that just simply would not boot no matter what you tried (Boot Sectors damaged)...

a suggestion: when you do a CLONE of a system drive, power down and detach it from the mainboard and power, that saves wear and tear as well as XP making changes to it...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[goombawaho]

We need to determine if it's a simple "drive not being looked at as a bootable drive" problem, which it sounds like

vs.

"Something bad happened during the cloning where it didn't do what you were expecting" because a clone (a real image of the other drive) should boot right up.

 

[firewolfrl]

lol... I should have read the post better

Do you have any USB card readers installed?
if you do unplug them

hmmm? see in the bios if IDE is first over SATA and see if it is setup as RAID or SATA