1 Topic by nettobr2

  • nettobr2
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Topic: Partition not usefull after Cloning - Win XP.

Hi People,

I´m making a HDD Downgrade (From 500 Gb to 320 Gb, Both Samsung).

Many times in my life I had problems cloning XP using free software, and last year Clonezilla made me happy, but this time No software is making a good Job for me.

Ok, let me explain:

On My 500 Gb HDD I have on

   sda1 - Win XP SP3 System Only - 25Gb
   sda5 - swap                               -  1 Gb
   sda6 - Kubuntu 9.10                  - 25 Gb
   sdaX - Other Patitions with my data Movies Photos, etc...

I know 500 doesn´t fit on 320, but these 3 partitions I want to copy (as is, same size) to the new 320 HDD.

First, I gave Clonezilla a try. I had some minor problems (grub in error), but got sda1 cloned.

But when booting, I got nothing. I Tryed to ntfsfix sdb1 but Clonezilla was getting access denied on that FS.

Second, tryed SysrescueCD and got same as Clonezilla.

At last, I gave GParted Live a try. I copied only the 3 first partitions.

ntfsfix was executed without an error.

HDD is booting without Grub, no problem, I´m just waiting 29th of April to install Kubuntu 10.4.

Boot is loading Win XP directly (I think because after first Clonezilla I ran Bootfix from XP Boot CD.).

Well, but boot process goes on until winXP logo, just before Users logon Screen and it hangs, freezes...

Just like many times in my life of cloning.

Does anybody have any Idea, what am I doing wrong?

Is there a solution.

Thanks a lot,

NettoBr2
Bye from Brazil.

2 Reply by class413

  • class413
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Re: Partition not usefull after Cloning - Win XP.

I understand that you can't shrink the otiginal drive's partitions to keep them under 320GB in total. In that case you could just clone the entire drive, with no or less issues. An eventual problem comes perhaps from the fact that the partition table on the master boot sextor of the new drive isn't the same as the old one.

Did you try to boot into windows with both drives connected on the computer? If the clone/drive is the only one connected, it appears /dev/sda in GParted not sdb.

Furthermore, you need perhaps to verify that the windows partition on the new drive is marked "bootable". Partition flags aren't copied automaticaly.

*** It is highly recommended to backup any important files before doing resize/move operations. ***

3 Reply by nettobr2

  • nettobr2
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Re: Partition not usefull after Cloning - Win XP.

class413 wrote:

I understand that you can't shrink the otiginal drive's partitions to keep them under 320GB in total. In that case you could just clone the entire drive, with no or less issues. An eventual problem comes perhaps from the fact that the partition table on the master boot sextor of the new drive isn't the same as the old one.

Did you try to boot into windows with both drives connected on the computer? If the clone/drive is the only one connected, it appears /dev/sda in GParted not sdb.

Furthermore, you need perhaps to verify that the windows partition on the new drive is marked "bootable". Partition flags aren't copied automaticaly.

Hi Class413 and all the people,

Thanks for your answer.

Yes, Master Boot Record are not the same and I made sdb1 part. Bootable using Partition Magic. (I tried to copy partition Using Partition Magic too, but at the end of process it says that the FS is a unknown  version.).

About your question Booting Single HDD and both HDD.

If I boot the machine using only the New HDD (just recent copied), boot process goes on until WinXP logo, just before Users logon Screen and it hangs, freezes...

If I boot the machine using both HDD´s (Old and New), forcing system to boot from new HDD (sdb1) boot process goes on until the end, but WinXP C: drive, believe it or not, is assigned to sda1.

Well, I know it is not a problem directly associated To GParted cloning procedure, but see what I think, whats the use of cloning a system partition, if I cant boot it correcty. What I Know is that Norton Ghost does, but I dont have it.

Is there a trick, or work around to make it work? I mean, without formating and installing system from scratch, or re-installing the system.

Forget about downgrade, size, or number of partitions... What I need is to clone sda1 (System Only WinXP SP3) to another HDD and use it.

Does anybody made it work??? Just tell me how. Any tutorial?

Once more, thanks a lot,

NettoBr2