captaincharisma :
by creating the install dvd with the windows 7 usb/dvd download tool
Thank you very much, I'll give that a try next time.
I ended up copying the CD to the new drive, unplugging the old drive that I did not want changed, and running the setup from the new drive. Crude but effective.
I wish I had seen your answer first.
BTW, it was BOOTMGR not NTLOADER that was the "missing" file. Which I don't understand, since bootmgr was in the root of the DVD. Do you know what caused this issue?