Re: Issues with external hard drives

PeteK <YouHaveToBe@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> First of all, let me apologise for a confusing description of my problem, and
> thank you all for your suggestions, which I will follow up carefully. For the
> record, this is what I did:

> (A) Normal operation:
> EIDE Master : Disk1 (with boot partition)
> EIDE Slave: Disk 2.
> Ext USB2 : empty

> (B) Clone disk1 (boot partition only) to disk3:
> EIDE Master : Disk1 (with boot partition)
> EIDE Slave: Disk 2.
> Ext USB2 : Disk3 (new 160GB EIDE in ext enclosure)
> Here, I just cloned the boot partition from Disk1 to Disk3 using Partition
> Magic (v8 this time)

This is likely the problem, both using PM and only cloning
the boot partition and not the entire physical drive.

And it isnt clear if you ever boot XP with the original and
the clone visible to XP during the first boot after the clone
has been done. XP can get VERY confused if you do that.

> (B) Test that disk3 is bootable:
> EIDE Master : Disk3 (now has boot partition)
> EIDE Slave: Disk 2.
> Ext USB2 : empty
> This works just like (A).

That may be a fluke in the sense that Disk3 by pure luck
has an MBR on the physical disk, in the first physical
sector of that disk, which is identical to that on Disk 1.
That wont be copied if you just clone the bootable partition.

> (C) Clone disk3 (boot partition only) to disk 2.
> EIDE Master : Disk1 (with boot partition)
> EIDE Slave: Disk 2.
> Ext USB2 : Disk3 (with boot partition)
> I could have gone direct from Disk1 to Disk2, but this way is
> faster. Later, I did try the direct approach, with the same result D).

> (D) Test that disk2 is bootable (this fails):
> EIDE Master : Disk2 (now has boot partition)
> EIDE Slave: empty.
> Ext USB2 : empty
> Boots part-way then hangs (just after the small windows logo is displayed)

That may be because you either let XP see both the original and
the clone on the first boot of XP after the clone has been made,
or because Disk2 doesnt have the same MBR as Disk1 and Disk3
since it doesnt get copied in a clone of just the boot partition.

One obvious difference is that disk3 was in the Ext USB2
when its the destination for the clone. See what happens
when disk2 is in the Ext USB2 when doing the clone.

> (E) Clone disk1 in ext drive this time (boot partition only) to disk
> 2. EIDE Master : Disk3 (with boot partition)
> EIDE Slave: Disk 2.
> Ext USB2 : Disk1 (with boot partition)
> This also fails when configured as (D).

> (F) Test disk2 alone (this fails too):
> EIDE Master : Disk2 (now has boot partition)

> Some other points:
> All drives are housed in removable caddies.
> After cloning a boot partition, I always check that the new partition is set
> to "Active".
> I CAN boot from the original master (disk1) when it is the only disk present.

That indicates that you arent getting all you
need onto disk 2 for it to boot for some reason.

I'd try cloning the entire physical drive and see if that makes
any difference, just for a test of what is actually going on.
Not clear if that is practical tho, disk2 may be too small for that.

Certainly try with disk2 in the Ext USB2.

> I think that the above should answer the questions that were raised in your
> posts (for which I am very grateful). I had not considered the boot.ini and
> related issues, so I will try the booting from my windows CD and see if I can
> get any further using the recovery console.

> Just to report back, I tried using the Windows recovery console FIXMBR and
> later) FIXBOOT commands, but the issue is still there.

What happens if you do an install in place with the XP CD to disk 2 ?
That is a check to see that disk 2 is bootable with XP. Its unlikely that
its not, but its a quick and easy check of that unlikely possibility.

> If there was a problem with the MBR before I cloned the drive, then maybe the
> cloned image isn't any good.

Yes, but a clone of JUST the boot partition wont clone the
physical DRIVE MBR. Its possible that that has some crap
in it like the wrong physical geometry which prevents XP
being booted from that drive or something. Thats the main
reason for trying the install in place.

> What is the best way to scrub the whole disk and start from scratch ?

Something like clearhdd from
http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/clearhdd.htm

> Previously, I did this with partition magic v8 (I deleted all partitions and
> then recreate the primary) ?

That's not as good as wiping the hard drive completely.
Mainly because it doesnt completely wipe the MBR and
there may even be something a bit strange in the boot
code in the MBR too.



.

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