Need hard disk cloning help-T23

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paramount · #1 Post by **paramount** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:29 am

I have a T23 running XPpro SP3 with the original 4200 rpm HD. I have ordered a new hard disk (Seagate Momentus 5400.3 ST980815A 80 GB) to replace the original disk, which works fine but which I don't trust to last much longer. I do not have system disks and the current HD has no partition.

Question: When I clone the HD, would it be smart to install the OS in a separate partition, and if so, how do I do that? I was planning to download the Seagate DiscWizard (Acronis) software and follow the instructions for the cloning. I have an external USB enclosure.

Thanks for your help.

#2 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 2:23 am

Your current hard drive does have a partition; it's just that it's one large C: drive. If you are thinking about the very good idea of keeping the operating system on a separate disk partition than your data (as it makes backing up the data and/or upgrading your OS a lot easier) then I don't believe that you can do that at the same time you clone your drive.

Yes, most cloning software can partition the target drive as part of the process of performing the clone, but as far as I know, they can't automatically separate or even be manually told which directories (folders) go to the C: drive and which others go onto the D: drive during the time when the files are actually being transferred. Your best bet would be to partition the new drive with something like a 40GB C: drive and a 40GB D: drive, clone your existing drive into the new C: partition, then manually move your data from the C: drive to the D: (and in doing so, tell Windows that the "My Documents" folder should point to the one on the D: drive). After that you then use some partitioning software to re-adjust the sizes. Note that you may have to individually change some applications that think that the "My Document" folder is still on the C: drive (like a browser's download manager or maybe even some Office-type programs).

Sometimes it's much easier just to start from scratch and do a fresh load of the OS and applications but that assumes you have the Windows restore and all of the install disks. That way you know exactly what's loaded on your drive and is the perfect opportunity to rid the system of unneeded (or unwanted) junk.

I would also recommend that you do nothing to disturb the data on your existing 40GB drive before or after you perform the clone. You should keep the drive intact for a little while and treat it as a backup until you are satisfied that the new drive is working fine.

ref: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/11/2 ... and-vista/
(Google: "change path 'my documents' partition")

bobgarty · #3 Post by **bobgarty** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:07 am

rkawakami wrote:Your current hard drive does have a partition

I think he refers to a recovery partition to rebuild from ....

paramount wrote:Question: When I clone the HD, would it be smart to install the OS in a separate partition, and if so, how do I do that?

If you do move stuff ... be careful that is not going to affect paths specified in the registry or in any environment variables. You can probably source a copy of the T23 XP recovery CD by putting a wanted add on the marketplace if you want to rebuild it from scratch.

#4 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:23 am

I could flog you a set of those XP-Pro restore CDs, but they are from before XP even got it's first Service Pack.

Get the networking-driver(s) on a separate floppy/CD/USB-key before you 'disable' the old HD.

You are better off using an XP Pro CD with slipstreamed SP2 and SP3, possibly slimmed down via nLite.
Install the above networking driver(s).
Then install ,NET Framework V2.0/SP1, install SystemUpdate V3.14 or newer and run that to get your IBM drivers and stuff.

paramount · #5 Post by **paramount** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:42 pm

More info: The current HD is a 20 GB IBM disk formatted with FAT32. About 8.5 GB is used. I have 512 MB RAM.

I put the new disk in a USB enclosure and needed to use the Windows disk management utility to get it recognized. (The enclosure uses a Y cable that plugs into two UBS slots on the computer.) I formatted the disk with two partitions (15 GB fat32, ~63 GB NTFS). Then I tried several times to run the Seagate/Acronis disk cloning utility. Each time when I came to the choice to go forward with erasing the partition on the new disk, the computer crashed. I tried deleting the partitions, switching the USB plugs, and fiddling with the options in the cloning program. Each time I get the crash, and each time when I restart the computer runs Chkdsk. Here's the message from the error screen:

BCCode : 1000008e BCP1 : C0000005 BCP2 : 804D92C2 BCP3 : F7D96418
BCP4 : 00000000 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 3_0 Product : 256_1

What's happening here? More importantly, how should I clone my disk? Thanks.

#6 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:38 pm

Instead of disk-cloning, take an image of the 'old' hard disk, while it is in your enclosure.
Don't use the laptop, but another PC.
Then swap 'old' for 'new' hard disk and restore the image onto the new one.
Put the new HD in the laptop.

londonarnold · #7 Post by **londonarnold** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:58 am

If it's any help there's a Linux boot disk available as an .iso called PING that is just as good as Norton ghost and many say much better than ghost for backing up partitions and whole drives to DVD-R etc, and USB drives etc.

Mad Max · #8 Post by **Mad Max** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:21 pm

I have Acronis and I love it. I've dupped my main drive three times now for my T-Pads and it works great. It is very easy to use. Just follow the prompts and you will be fine.

paramount · #9 Post by **paramount** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:34 pm

I followed the advice: used another PC to copy an image of the old T23 HD, then put the new HD in the enclosure and copied the image onto the new HD. I then put the new HD into the T23, started it up, and can't get past the bios screen. I get a message that says "no operating system found. Check cable." I'm pretty sure I hear the HD spinning around so I think it's plugged in ok. Any thoughts? More details: The old HD was 20 GB, had one partition as FAT32. When I copied the image (just under 10 GB) onto the new HD (80 GB), I copied it into a partition labelled F: set to a size of 15 GB, and did not make a partition from the rest of the HD. I didn't have any option for file format so I assume it's FAT32.

What do I do? Thanks for your help.

#10 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:59 am

You don't COPY images, you LOAD them, using the "Restore" option of your imaging program.
You need to do it again.
Put the T23 HD in the USB enclosure, connect to the PC, then click on Start/Run, type in diskmgmt.msc and click on OK.
In Disk mgmt, delete all partitions from the USB HD.
Then Restore your image. The program will/should put it in a 20GB partition on the new HD.
Put the HD back in the laptop.
Should work now.
Once in XP in the laptop, use disk mgmt again to create a partition on the rest of the HD.

paramount · #11 Post by **paramount** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:37 pm

I deleted the partition on the new HD, then followed the steps to "restore" the image onto the new HD. It ended up with one 20 GB partition as expected. I can view the files and everything looks ok when I have the new HD in the USB enclosure and plugged into the desktop. But when I put it into the T23 I got the same result as before: can't get past the bios, won't recognize the OS, basically as if I had a broken HD. This is becoming a pain in the a$$.

#12 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 8:43 am

Get PC Doctor (choose the .ISO and burn it onto a CD) and run that with the new HD in.
Can you get into BIOS?
If so, check the Startup and see if the Hard Disk has a + in front of it, indicating it sees the HD.

Doublecheck that the HD is pushed fully in, and that no pins are bent or missing.

paramount · #13 Post by **paramount** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 9:51 am

RealBlackStuff-

You're the man! I took the disk out and then tried several times to reinstall it, but I couldn't be sure that the pins were seating. This was all while I had the HD attached to the metal bracket that the original HD was mounted in. So then I tried installing the HD without the bracket, and now the OS is recognized and everything seems fine.

But my question now is: Do I need that bracket to keep the HD safe? It seems that the HD will rattle around if I don't have the bracket. Any opinions?

Thanks for the help.

#14 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:17 am

You have to put the bracket on with the two short inward 'lips' at the side of the HD pins. Make sure the 4 screws to mount the bracket are not too 'big-headed', as that may prevent the lot to go in properly.
Check that the tray is not bent.

marditti · #15 Post by **marditti** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:23 pm

Maybe I am late, but here is how I backup and image my system on a T30. It works great.
First, my 80 GB hard disk is partitioned into three logical drives, C, D and E. C is used for programs only. D drive is used only for my data, pictures and other files that may be impossible to re-create. E drive is used to back up and create an image of my entire C drive. I use the program Casper, for the backup of C. Casper is available from www.fssdev.com and I used the bootable CD version. Boot from the Casper CD. Once the boot is finished, I copy and create an exact image of C into E. If for any reason, assume virus, boot again with the Casper CD and copy back from E to C. I have done this on several computers and it worked every time.
Since all my data in on drive D, I back that one to an external hard drive and/or DVD. It works very well and it is safe. The current Casper version is 5 (approximately $40). I have been using this program since version 3 and am very happy with it. Caution, Casper needs approximately 30% of free disk space on C in order to work, therefore, make sure that it is available. Drives C and E should be approximately the same size.

If you have only one partition on the hard disk, use Partition Magic or Partition Commander to re-partition of the existing hard drive without loosing anything.

Once there is an image of C drive in E drive, it is possible to copy the entire E drive to DVD or external hard drive. The one ‘fly in ointment’ is that the T30 has only slow USB 1 port. Copying E drive to external device is slow.

Mort

dragon · #16 Post by **dragon** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 7:33 am

paramount wrote:I followed the advice: used another PC to copy an image of the old T23 HD, then put the new HD in the enclosure and copied the image onto the new HD. I then put the new HD into the T23, started it up, and can't get past the bios screen. I get a message that says "no operating system found. Check cable." I'm pretty sure I hear the HD spinning around so I think it's plugged in ok. Any thoughts? More details: The old HD was 20 GB, had one partition as FAT32. When I copied the image (just under 10 GB) onto the new HD (80 GB), I copied it into a partition labelled F: set to a size of 15 GB, and did not make a partition from the rest of the HD. I didn't have any option for file format so I assume it's FAT32.

What do I do? Thanks for your help.

How do you connect a laptop hard disk with 44-pin into a PC?

#17 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 8:35 am

Get a 2.5" to 3.5" Hard Disk adapter, such as this:
http://www.fast-accessories.com/product ... ts_id=1911

dragon · #18 Post by **dragon** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 8:45 am

RealBlackStuff wrote:Get a 2.5" to 3.5" Hard Disk adapter, such as this:
http://www.fast-accessories.com/product ... ts_id=1911

Thanks.

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