cloning system disk from IDE to SATA (XP sp2)

[kowderoi]

Hello,

I would like to clone my system disk from an ATA drive to a SATA on. I'm running WindowsXPproSP2. I only have IDE drives hooked up at the moment. I've learned enough here and there to understand that I will need SATA drivers for Windows to recognise my new drive.

I'm quite familiar with cloning system drives IDE to IDE, but just want to check that I'm not missing the boat on the change to SATA. Here's the procedure as I now understand it (in short):
- install the SATA drivers in Windows before beginning;
- backup EVERYTHING (always);
- power down and hook up the SATA drive;
- boot to BIOS, activate the SATA option, verify that the drive is detected in the BIOS;
- boot to Windows and see if the (still empty) SATA drive is recognised (test it perhaps...);
- clone the system drive to the new SATA drive (Norton GHOST);
- power down, remove the former system drive (IDE);
- boot to BIOS and change the boot sequence;
- boot to Windows and sing hallelujah, it's working!

Can anyone wiser than I see a problem with this? If I have to run the system repair, that's ok. I'd rather avoid reinstalling from scratch - that's what cloning's all about, right?

Thanks in advance,

kowderoi

 

[linney]

I can't answer your specific question (other than try it and see what happens, as they say experience is a good teacher). Here are some general links from other peoples experience.

Loading Windows XP on a SATA drive

http://cruftbox.com/blog/archives/000867.html

disk question
thread779-1098558

Cannot boot / install XP on new PC
thread779-1147500

 

[Jump1ng]

Yes your step should in theory work fine

Even if you have to do a Windows repair you should have to lose any current information if you follow these steps

The only worry I have about your steps is this part

- clone the system drive to the new SATA drive (Norton GHOST);

what version of Ghost are you using? If you are using an old version like Ghost 2003 and booting from a floopy disk you might have problem with loading a SATA driver.

I have succesfully used Acronis True Image to clone from IDE to SATA, it will work on most SATA controllers.

Beside that happy cloning!

---
Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.

 

[kowderoi]

Thanks for the advice.

@linney, I'd seen the cruftbox blog thanks to google. Pretty funny (and good) advice about the floppy. The others were informative too.

@Jump1ng, thanks for the idea about Ghost 2003 - exactly what I'm using. It does offer the option of loading SCSI and USB drivers, so maybe there's a workaround possible here. Perfect example of how one question leads to another.

FYI, I've now got the SATA drive up and running as storage, partly to test it before leaping in head first, partly because I haven't the time to do it all in one go. So far so good.

I'll do a standard backup image of my system drive and see if Ghost 2003 can pick up my new drive. If not, well, then I'll find a way. I'll check back when there's something new on the matter.

Thanks again and happy computing!

kowderoi

 

[kowderoi]

Hello all,

I'm back and have successfully cloned my IDE system disk to a SATA disk, no trouble at all.

My advice to anyone attempting this is:
- install the SATA drive first and make sure Windows can work with it properly;
- if using Norton Ghost 2003, only use the "boot from floppy" method; don't ask me why, but the number of people who've ended up s**t creek without a paddle by using the Windows interface is astounding - it supposedly creates a vitual partition which Ghost boots from, but because if it then runs into trouble with the SATA drive, no booting to Windows.

By the way, Ghost 2003, using the standard Ghost boot floppy (no USB, Firewire, LAN or network drivers - obviously no SATA drivers on there!), recognises not only my SATA drive, but also my external USB drive. Could this be because the chips are integrated into the motherboard, and not on PCI extensions cards? Your guess is as good as mine.

Two things about this SATA drive:
- the benchmarks show exactly the same level of performance as my other IDE drives (it's running as SATA I, so perhaps it's not surprising);
- boot time is actually much slower! After POST, the screen goes black for about 30-40 seconds, then continues. Whole boot process about 60-80 seconds, about twice a long as before.

In the future, I'll just incorporate SATA drivers into my installation CD using nLite, a very handy tool.

Thanks for your answers and hope this info can be of use to some.


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kowderoi