From: philo on
ElJerid wrote:
> "GlowingBlueMist" <GlowingBlueMist(a)truely.invalid> wrote in message
> news:4b76a201$0$65846$892e0abb(a)auth.newsreader.octanews.com...
>> ElJerid wrote:
>>> "philo" <philo(a)privacy.net> wrote in message
>>> news:gJqdndv3M_vsCunWnZ2dnUVZ_qRi4p2d(a)ntd.net...
>>>> Grinder wrote:
>>>>> On 2/11/2010 3:15 PM, ElJerid wrote:
>>>>>> "Grinder"<grinder(a)no.spam.maam.com> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:JsOdnfTrs4ox1OnWnZ2dnUVZ_gZi4p2d(a)mchsi.com...
>>>>>>> On 2/11/2010 11:27 AM, ElJerid wrote:
>>>>>>>> I have a HD with 2 partitions: C for system (XP Pro) and
>>>>>>>> programs, and D
>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> data. I installed an 80 GB Intel SSD and copied the partition C
>>>>>>>> to the SSD
>>>>>>>> using Acronis. Checked the SSD partition and all files from the
>>>>>>>> C disk are
>>>>>>>> present. Went to bios and changed boot priority from C to SSD.
>>>>>>>> When I reboot however, I get the message " no valid OS
>>>>>>>> detected..." What am I doing wrong? Any idea? I searched the net,
>>>>>>>> but
>>>>>>>> didn' t
>>>>>>>> find a
>>>>>>>> solution.
>>>>>>> It sounds like you may not have the master boot record copied
>>>>>>> over. Boot
>>>>>>> with an XP disk, and get a command line by using the Repair
>>>>>>> option. Use fixmbr to write a suitable mbr on on your SSD.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks for your help!
>>>>>> MBR could indeed be the problem. Acronis offers the option to copy
>>>>>> the mbr,
>>>>>> but doing so resulted in an error while creating the image file.
>>>>>> So I created the image file without this option, but then got the
>>>>>> warning: "You
>>>>>> are about to recover a partition containing OS files to an existing
>>>>>> non-active dynamic volume. Activation of dynamic volumes is not
>>>>>> supported.
>>>>>> System will be unbootable."
>>>>>> Tomorrow I will try to fix the mbr with the Repair option.
>>>>> Ah, if you have a dynamic volume, you might have additional
>>>>> problems. Still, it's worth must fixing the mbr as you have a
>>>>> backup.
>>>>
>>>> Won't work from a dynamic drive
>>>>
>>>> Do NOT use the dynamic drive option and it should work
>>>> as long as the mbr is copied
>>> I found an option in XP's disk management to convert the (SSD)
>>> dynamic drive to normal active drive.
>>> I reformatted the drive and with Acronis I created a new image of the
>>> C on the SSD. This time I got no warnings during the process. Thus, I
>>> thought things were going better...
>>> But when trying to boot from the SSD, now I receive a BSOD...
>>> Acronis offers the option of copying the mbr or not, and I tried both
>>> options, with the same bsod result.
>>> Still one possibility left: fix the mbr with the recover option,
>>> which I will try next...
>> One other option might be to give the freeware version of XXClone a try.
>> It
>> too does not work with a dynamic formatted drive like you have already run
>> into with your current program.
>>
>> It has the options to make the copy bootable and even copying the Volume
>> ID
>> if you need to. It can also be told to modify the boot.ini file in the
>> original drive so the option to boot from the new copy is offered with out
>> first removing the original hard drive.
>>
>> You can download or read about it at www.xxclone.com.
>>
> Fantastic tip, GlowingBlueMist, this worked at the first trial !!!
> The program is very easy to use, fast, and has the required settings to copy
> a system disk to a new one. And... it's free.
> I spent two days trying to do with Acronis and Ghost what I successfully
> achieved here in only 10 minutes !!!
> 1000 x thanks !
>
>



WOW


Glad you got it working

and thanks for posting back!
From: GlowingBlueMist on
ElJerid wrote:
> "GlowingBlueMist" <GlowingBlueMist(a)truely.invalid> wrote in message
> news:4b76a201$0$65846$892e0abb(a)auth.newsreader.octanews.com...
<<snip>>
>>
>> One other option might be to give the freeware version of XXClone a
>> try. It
>> too does not work with a dynamic formatted drive like you have
>> already run into with your current program.
>>
>> It has the options to make the copy bootable and even copying the
>> Volume ID
>> if you need to. It can also be told to modify the boot.ini file in
>> the original drive so the option to boot from the new copy is
>> offered with out first removing the original hard drive.
>>
>> You can download or read about it at www.xxclone.com.
>>
> Fantastic tip, GlowingBlueMist, this worked at the first trial !!!
> The program is very easy to use, fast, and has the required settings
> to copy a system disk to a new one. And... it's free.
> I spent two days trying to do with Acronis and Ghost what I
> successfully achieved here in only 10 minutes !!!
> 1000 x thanks !

Glad to be of help.

I have been able to use XXClone to copy my "installed" W7 from my laptop and
XP Pro base unit over to what have now become bootable USB backup images of
them. If or rather when the internal hard drive becomes corrupt it will be
much faster restoring things after booting the USB version and reversing the
process. No need to restore to factory and then go through the process of
decrapafying and updating things until it's back to normal.

I plan to upgrade to the purchased version of the program real soon so I
will have the added ability to do incremental backups rather than having the
only option of image copying that the freeware allows.

I use a Thermolake USB/SATA docking station (looks like a toaster) which
allows me to make and keep more than one backup version in storage quite
easily. Pop in "bare" drive and let the program do it's thing then eject it
or leave it depending on what it is being used for. No more installing a
drive into an external chassis just for temporary usage.

Acronis has it's place in the scheme of things, and I have purchased it in
the past for some machines but it looks like XXClone is a real strong
contender for doing the job as well.