Upgrading My Harddrive

[hksoftware]

XP Pro System, upgrading from 40GB to 160GB.

I used Norton Ghost to clone my 40GB HDD to my new 160.
When I boot from the new drive however, it boots up and reaches a point just before XP Logon, where there's a blue windows screen with a small Windows logo. It's like the login screen without the login buttons.

It stops there. Stops loading and freezes.

I tried booting from my XP Pro CD and trying to repair the installation. It reaches about 60% of installing files and prompts me to locate 'viagp1.sys'. The mouse and keyboard completely lockup though and all I can do is restart.
I've tried removing my AGP GeForce graphics card and trying again with the integrated graphics but it still prompts for the file and freezes.

I have 3 options available to me. Install windows from scratch on the new HDD and copy stuff across from the old one, reinstalling all my apps manually. Don't want to do this!

I can also try and get the windows repair to complete without asking for the .sys file and locking up. I'd like to try this.

So, what can be done? Could I perhaps uninstall the hardware that uses the .sys driver on my small HDD, then clone it and attempt the repair again?

Could something else be done to get it to boot successfully without needing a repair?

Thanks for any help!

 

[kestrel1]

Did you defrag the old drive before cloning it? Normally a good idea. Don't know if that would do anything, probably not, but may be worth a try.
Is the file really viagp1.sys or is it viaagp1.sys.
Wasn't able to find any info on the viagp1.sys, but the other seems to be to do with the VIA AGP driver & is part of the hyperion driver set.
You may find that the only way around this is to clean install XP.

 

[Freestone]

I can see no reason why you would need a reinstall of any .sys file after a clone unless your XP install on the original drive wasn't working.

What Service Pack level was XP at prior to the clone? XP needs to be at least at SP1 level to support drives larger than 137GB. This may be pertinent if upon cloning you expanded the 40GB partition to encompass the entire 160GB drive.

Another thought is to run the drive manufacturer's diagnostics to be sure the new drive itself is not defective.

 

[hksoftware]

"Is the file really viagp1.sys or is it viaagp1.sys."

Sorry you're right, it's viaagp1.sys

"I can see no reason why you would need a reinstall of any .sys file after a clone unless your XP install on the original drive wasn't working."

It's working on the first HDD fine, I'm using it now and have done for 3 years.
It only asks during the repair of WinXP, when it's copying files to the HDD.

"What Service Pack level was XP at prior to the clone?"

It's SP2.

"run the drive manufacturer's diagnostics"

I actually used Western Digital's own software to clone the HDD first, I tried Norton Ghost thinking it could have been the software. For the record, Norton cloned in less than 30 mins, WD's own software took over 3 hours.

It appears that viaagp1.sys is the AGP controller for my motherboard, so I doubt it could be installed before cloning.

Looks like I'm going to have to do a fresh install. Nightmare!

 

[kestrel1]

Yes the VIAAGP1.sys file is to do with the mobo's AGP driver.
Have you tried copying that file to a floppy or if it is too big, a CD & pointing the installer to that location?
If that won't work, I think the only option is a clean install. At least your system will work a bit faster to start off with.

 

[hksoftware]

Like I said, it totally freezes when the dialog comes up. I can't even move the mouse cursor. The only way to exit is to switch off.

 

[kestrel1]

Sorry forgot that. Clean install then mate

 

[AcquisitiveOne]

I had this problem once where I cloned my smaller drive to a larger drive and could never get Windows to boot on the larger drive. I thought the drive cloning messed up or something but turns out that was not the case. I think it has to do with the fact that the MBR is also copied from the 40 gig drive to the new larger drive. B/C the MBR for the 40 GB drive does not work on the larger drive it does not read the new drive properly and therefore will not work right. I had to complete an extra step of recreating the MBR on the new larger drive then boot the drive to work. I think there is an option to do this either using the WD Utilities after cloning the drive or using Windows Recovery Console and using the FIXMBR command. After I rebooted and it worked like a champ. I seem to remember having this frustration you are having when upgrading my drive. It too was a Western Digital drive and I used the WD utils to clone the drive.



Acquisitive - 1. Characterized by a strong desire to gain and possess. 2. Tending to acquire and retain ideas or information

 

[paparazi]

I know this is a little retropective but I can't honestly understand why anyone would want to clone a 3year old install.
Ask any tech and I bet most will tell you that they clean install (or clone from a clean install) at least twice a year.
Personally I recommend a clean install for the average user at least once every 18months to 2 years, the overall benefits in speed and stability not to mention having the oportunity to clean update to the latest drivers far outweigh any short term gain of convenience.
It's not like you are going to loose any data, because all your important stuff is on the original drive that can be slaved once the new drive is up and running.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[hksoftware]

I take great care in maintaining my windows installation and it runs as quick (possibly even quicker) then when I first installed it.
It is completely optimized and I think the benefits of a clean install are far outweighed by the amount of work it'd take to start from scratch.

I'd have to reinstall many apps, I'd probably find that a couple of CDs have gone walkies too!

Looks like a fresh install is the only option though.