Boot Problem

Slime

Slime

Slime

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10 Nov 2006
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I bought a new HDD recently and decided that i'd install Windows on the new one and use my old one as a storage drive. Easy process i thought, install Windows on a partition on the new drive and format the old drive.

Initially, i had the option of choosing which Windows installation i wanted to boot to, so i had a dual boot scenario. So i format the first drive thinking that it would automatically detect the OS on the new drive and boot into that, but it's not. I've had to reinstall windows on the old drive just to be able to boot up.

Disk management shows that my old drive is my system drive. All the data on my new drive is intact on a separate partition. Whilst fiddling around, i stupidly marked the partition as active on my new drive. Now Windows won't boot as it can't find the correct boot files to be able to start windows. I've unplugged the new drive so i can boot into Windows on the old drive.

Is it a case of copying the right boot files onto the new drive using the recovery console? How do i change the boot priority so that my new drive is my system drive? Any help appreciated.

TIA ;)
 
You really should have removed the original drive when you reinstalled Windows, what you've ended up with is a copy of Windows on both disks but the actual boot files (ntldr, boot.ini etc) are only on the old drive.

I think you need to remove the original disk, boot from the CD, go to the recovery console and run the following commands with the appropriate parameters:

FIXBOOT
FIXMBR
BOOTCFG
 
Yeah, might be easier / safer. Just make sure that you check the boot order in the BIOS when you go to put the old disk back in otherwise you might end up booting back into your old copy of Windows.
 
OK i can't install windows on the new drive. Before i can even boot to the windows CD is tells me that NTLDR is missing. Any ideas? How are you supposed to get to the recovery console if it gives you error messages before the CD loads?
 
Right, ignore my last post, I was being silly thinking that the Windows CD was in the drive when it wasn't!

I've unplugged the first drive and tried to re-install windows on the second drive. It's stalled for 20 mins or so upon installation so i reset.

I'm back to square one. I'm copying all my data back onto the first drive, formatting the second one and then re-installing windows. In what order should everything be done bearing in mind i want the second drive to be my system drive?

I can't define which drive i want to boot first as they are both SATA drives. The BIOS doesn't say HDD1 or HDD2 it just says 'Hard Drive'.

I can't believe i've made such a mess of this when it should be so simple, what a noob! ;)
 
If you have a external case you could connect up the drive that doesn't currently have XP installed on it just to check it, and to set it up and format it using Disk management — Right Click My Com > Manage > Disk Management.

Once your happy the disk is ready, shut down and remove the SATA from the system, and swap it for the newly formated one — Install XP on it, going through the proper delete Partition > new Partition options. Once XP is running on that disk chuck the old disk you want to wipe into the external enclosure and format it using Disk management as before.


I presume you have everything of the old HDD you need??
 
OK, it's kind of working but now my system drive is my D: Drive and not my C: Drive and i can't re-assign drive letters and paths to system partitons.

I don't have a caddy with me as i've lent to a mate and there's no possibility of getting it back as he lives too far away.

I'm tearing my hair out, if i'd have known it was going to be this much trouble i would've just put the new HDD and used it as storage instead!
 
This is what happens when you install XP to a drive that isn't the first one that Windows sees. You've got 2 options:
  • Follow the instructions here
  • Reinstall XP with only the drive you want to boot from connected then add the second drive afterwards

I'd go with the second option, the first one will confuse things no end if you wipe the old disk because that's the one with the boot files on it.
 
OK, but that's what i've already done surely. My last installation went as follows:

1. Disconnected the old drive from the system.
2. Formatted and installed XP on the new drive (the only one connected).
3. Re-connected the old drive and changed the boot priority.

When it came to install windows, it said that the drive letter it was installing to was H: and not C: . When i started the computer back up after installing, it was saying that the removable storage on my card reader was C: .

Should i disconnect the card reader and old drive and start over?

Thanks :)
 
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