Post HDD upgrade: Win XP Pro will not complete shutdown

[davidspalding]

After using an X32 for a while, I've upgraded my trusty T43 to a Hitachi 7K100 drive (and flashed it with the MCZIA5CA firmware to eliminate the 2010 error on boot), performance is faster, but there are a couple of idiosyncrasies that I can't seem to figure out. (First problem is listed in a separate thread, so don't worry that it's omitted here.) Particulars: Win XP Pro (shipped with T43), SP3.

Background: partitions (C:, U:, P:, L:) were backed up with Ghost. I used Ghost to copy from the original Toshiba HDD to the Hitachi in the UltraBay, then checked the HDD in the HDD0 position with PartitionMagic, all good. After these problems surfaced, I restored the system and program partitions (C:, U:, P:) with a Ghost recovery disc, checked again (all good), and booted. Same problems.

Second problem,... On normal shutdown, Windows XP locks up while the mouse cursor is still displayed, but after the "saving your settings." Nothing in the Event Viewer (EVENTVWR.MSC) is recorded. After the second restoration of partitions, booting into Safe Mode (to assign proper drive letters), I initiated CHKDSK with /f option, and the C: and U: drives (U: is where the user settings and application data reside) requiring reboot for full check, when the checks were done, once the system wouldn't reboot after CHKDSK was complete. On all the occasions, waiting 30 mins makes no difference; I have to secure power manually (not my preferred shutdown method). Shutdown from Safe Mode also locked up.

I've returned BIOS to factory defaults, no joy. Everything else about the drive operates fine.

Any troubleshooting suggestions welcome. I'm not sure how to enable logging to record the shutdown process, so a reminder would be great. "Safe Mode with Logging?"

[lukee]

Well, it seems you're describing some another problem than in your previous post. My suggestions is that HDD cloning after an HDD upgrade is the worst way how to restore the system to the previous state. Fresh installation of OS (in your case Windows XP) will bring you more reliability and performance. So the best way is to backup your documents, images, music, videos and other files which are important for you and restore the system from rescue media. Then run ThinkVantage System Update software (get it from Lenovo Support) and it will install all tools/drivers for you - just prepare LAN/WLAN driver in advance - then you will able to connect to Internet. After this you will get rid of the problems with uncompleted shutdown, Bluetooth problems etc...

[davidspalding]

Yes, I separated out the two problems because threads with multiple questions/topics/issues get confusing.

I was hoping to see if someone else had encountered this, many have posted about upgrading HDDs (I actually found the solution linked from the recent thread here about eliminating the 2010 boot error), and some using Acronis or other backup/restore solutions.

Fresh install isn't possible with Thinkpads, I'm sure you know ... you have to do a restore from factory discs. (Which is actually better because you get a fresh install of the OS with the IBM Thinkpad config specifically for your model, I consider that a major value-add when you bought a TP.) I actually did better. I created those when I got the TP, kept them safe, then also made rescue discs the next day with the partitions parceled out the way I prefer (for performance and ease of backup) and updates from the date of unboxing applied. I have those somewhere; used them to rebuild this system about 12-18 months ago. BUT ... note the caps ... these restore images have updates only to 11/2005 and no applications, so after restoring those discs, I'd have to spend a day or two applying new archived updates, apps, configuration files (which can be tricky with Photoshop and others which store configs and settings in multiple places). Restoring docs -- easy, that's why all my docs are on that L: partition.

Backing up a partition and then restoring it to an new drive, or simply copying drive to drive, with good software (Ghost 9.0 in my case) is pretty tried and true, have done it before. The only difference here is that the partitions now reside on a different HDD, which Windows seems to have recognized properly (as per DEVMGMT.MSC). This should not be the problem. It could be; I just need to determine what is locking up during system shutdown. Could it be ACPI, having trouble with the HDD?

Note, the old System Update worked pretty well, but I recall that when Lenovo switched to another one, it started pulling down updates which were not necessary for the T43, and in fact broke it several times. I disconnected the updates at that time, nothing new was coming for T43s anyway, I could watch the Lenovo site for those, and I had archived the latest, greatest stable updates with fixes for T43. Some of the mods can confirm for you that I've been pretty critical of Lenovo's updates in the past. This is the voice of painful experience speaking.


So. The solution you're presenting is my next-to-worse case scenario ... going back to the images I created in 2005, and having to re-install updates and productivity apps. I hope to rectify these issues without a baby-and-bathwater restoration.

[davidspalding]

Well, just f's and g's, I popped the old drive in and the same problem occurred, leading me to worry that I'd borked up the hardware somehow. I realized I'd change out hard drives at least once without removing the battery. But I don't suspect that was the root cause. Just a careful root technician performing the work.

While confirming that I still had my recovery discs and "post-setup and -update backup" discs, I happened up recovery backups I'd made in 2009. I'd restored the T43 to the 2005 post-setup backup, applied all known good updates since 11/2005, and saved as "New base recovery 2009." This was with little differences (setup of personal user, installation of third party content creation apps from Allaire, Adobe, et al) to the setup that I'd started using again this summer. So your suggestion was not as labor intensive as it seemed; I only need to apply 2 years of Windows updates (that'll kill a few hours), and install the applications again. IBM's System Migration Assistant will make easy work of copying over the user and MS Office settings.

Since I have all user files backed up, I decided to user R&R 3 from these disc to restore this to the Hitachi 7K100 drive. This completed without a hitch, and then booted up fine. And ... drum roll ... shut down fine. So I suspect there was something on the operating system install on both drives that was causing Windows to fail to complete normal shutdown. Odd, since nothing was changed on the older, Toshiba HDD that prior to this had no such issue.