Cloned windows xp system drive to new 2nd drive. won't boot

[diy_engineer]

Hello,
I used Macrium Reflect to clone (successfully apparently) my windows system drive c: to a new 1TB internal drive - 2nd slot - in my HP laptop. I took out the old drive and have tried to boot from the 2nd drive, as well as use the Macrium rescue disk, and the HP Recovery discs I made when I first got the computer.

It's gone through very lengthy 'blue screen' check disk/repair procedures where it appears to be deleting and restoring thousands of files/entries - but no boot. I am able to put the old system disk back in and boot up fine - and second drive is there with cloned parts - but it won't work as the boot drive. I'm at a loss. What step have I missed?

It seems like I need to do something similar to what was done on this post -

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/268500-45-boot-original-hard-drive-cloning

but I just don't know what to do.

my HP laptop came with windows xp pre-loaded, so I'm not sure I have the windows xp disc per se - but I have another copy of windows xp professional (without sp2 built in), and sp2 from another computer.

my hp laptop is running XP SP2.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Cyberat_88]

I used minitool drive copy, works flawlessly:
http://www.minitool-drivecopy.com/
Download and install SP3 from microsoft "network installation" version.

 

[diy_engineer]

I used minitool drive copy, works flawlessly:
http://www.minitool-drivecopy.com/
Download and install SP3 from microsoft "network installation" version.

Thanks for the response Cyberat. Are you saying I need SP3 for this cloning/windows xp migration to work - or I just need it to use the minitool drivecopy program you recommend.

I'd rather not re-do the whole cloning thing as it seems to take up a lot of time, etc.

As an update I've booted to a windows xpsp2 disk to get to the recovery console - and it says it cannot see any hard drives. I took out the old drive and only have my new drive with the cloned c drive on it. it is an advanced format Hitachi 1TB. I set it to 'basic' when I formatted it before the clone - and it seemed to work fine in my xp sp2 environment - but I can't get to it in the recovery console.

Is it something to do with advanced format?

Perhaps I need to go to sp3 either way.

thanks for any more info.

 

[diy_engineer]

Ok - a further update.

I looked into the advanced format with windows xp issues - and went onto hitachi - hgst - and downloaded the align tool -

http://www.hgst.com/internal-drives/advanced-format-drives

It seems that the avanced format drives will work - as the new advanced format drive I've cloned to is working fine for storing data, photos, etc. - it's just that you can't run windows xp/boot from it.

so I am running the align tool software now - it's actually an acronis tool but free through hitachi - and I will update if it fixes my problem and allows the new drive to be the system/boot drive.

 

[Cyberat_88]

You want it done right, invest the time and clone it right.
You want to be limpy skippy with your computer, keep as is.
Use SP3 for less bugs and better performance.

 

[DinosaurGeek]

Hi diy_engineer,
if things don't work out, you might want to install XP as a "fresh" installation to your new Hard Disk Drive.

You should be able to pick up a copy of the XP Installation CD, with it's Activation Code included, from e-bay or Gumtree or wherever, at a reasonable price.

One thing to remember is that the BIOS of some older computers cannot boot or work with partitions that are larger than 137 GB, because "back in the day" HDD's didn't get that big.

I would use a CD-bootable Linux, like Puppy Linux, to format your 1 TB HDD into several NTFS Partitions, each being 130 GB or less, which XP and your computer should be able to work with once you've installed it.

Puppy Linux 5.2.5 (which is a free distribution) can be downloaded from here:
http://ftp.nluug.nl/ftp/pub/os/Linux/distr/puppylinux/puppy-5.2.5/

The file you need to download and burn to CD is:
lupu-525.iso

Having formatted your HDD so that it's compatible with your computer, I would follow The Elder Geek's advice to do a "clean install" of XP to the first Partition of your HDD:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/clean_installation_of_windows_xp.htm

From memory, the first Partition of your new HDD might have to be (temporarily) formatted to FAT32, then during the XP installation process, when prompted, you allow XP to re-format it to NTFS.

Good luck with it.

 

[Cyberat_88]

Use the tool I listed, install SP3 when you get a chance.
You don't need to purchase a new code, your laptop has a registry code for XP on the back. Also, cloning will copy XP as registered.
The only reasons to have BSODS is improper cloning software or switching drive to another computer where hardware is not identical.

 

[DinosaurGeek]

If the sticker on the PC has been removed or defaced, you can get the Product Activation Key from your existing XP installation by using the Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder, which is Freeware:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

Once you get the Activation Key for XP, write it down and keep it in a safe place for future reference.

The BIOS of many older PCs are unable to boot from partitions that are greater in size than 137 GB. So the Partition you install XP to should be 130 GB or less (to keep BIOS happy and allow you to boot) but once XP has booted, the XP Operating System should be able to handle Partitions much larger than that. You could format your 1 TB HDD into 2 partitions:
- first partition 80 GB NTFS[strike]
- second partition 920 GB

Then follow Cyberat_88's instructions to get XP booting from the 80 GB partition.

 

[Cyberat_88]

You don't have to have the 2 partitions SP3 and SP2 will recognize drives greater than 130gb and adjust accordingly.
Also you don't need to clone identical drives, you can clone content only. The default cloning is to clone and keep the drive sizes as they are.

 

[DinosaurGeek]

Hi Cyberat_88,
Windows XP will work with drives bigger than 137 gb ONCE XP HAS BOOTED.

The issue is: will the computer's BIOS recognize the bigger drive and allow XP to boot? This was an issue on many PCs from the XP era.

We have given diy_engineerplenty of options to try out. Hopefully some combination of them will work and hopefully diy_engineer will report back how it all went.

 

[Cyberat_88]

You're talking to someone who actually Has owned a C64 and learned programming on it. Yes, the Bios shows 120gb but that does not halt booting.

 

[Thor_39]

Cyberat_88:-
Barn gillar du som är otrevlig mot folk kommer att finna att ingen vill tala med dem.

 

[Cyberat_88]

Care to translate in English ? I speak other languages, English is international. I don't understand yours Thor_39.