help: is it possible to copy XP os to another HDD?

[chee]

i've bought a new hard disk of 120g and wanted to move most but not all of the files on the old one of 40g onto the new one.

most of all i want to copy the existing xp os on the old one to the new one

before copying the existing xp os on the old one to the new one,i'd partitioned the new one into 3 primary partitions, which are for linux,win 2k3,win xp separately, and 9 logical partitions.

then i tried to copy the whole partition c: with the existing xp os of the old hard disk to primary partition 3 on the new one,and booted the pc from the new one, but the booting process stopped right after the log-on dialog boxed appeared, nothing happened then,and pressing "strl+alt+del" gave nothing at all, except that the mouse was still active.

and then i tried dumping primary partition 3 on the new one with an image file of the whole partition c: on the old one made by using Ghost, but the result is the same.

one of my freinds sugested dumping from disk to disk, i.e., to dump the whole old disk into the new one,yet this will wipe out all the partitions and info and files on the new one, cause i've already stored some files on the new one and spend one whole night to partition the new one with Partition magic

it's said that changing the hard configurations of a pc would make an existing xp os inaccessible cause the hash code produced won't match the new settings, is this related to the problem encountered?

could there be some way else to copy an xp to a new hard disk, so as to save the painstaking job to reinsatll and set everything completely?

thanks for any of your replies and suggestions

[jaclaz]

If I get it right, on your OLD HD, XP is installed on First Active Primary Partition oF HD, thus it is C:.

On your new HD you have:

1) Primary partition for Linux (this would be either EXT2 or EXT3 or ReiserFS, so that it is ignored by XP) See below note.

2) Primary partition (Active?) for 2003 (if Active this one becomes C:) See note below

3) Primary partition (Not Active?) for XP

4) Extended partition with 9 Logical volumes inside

The above, sorry to say it, is prone to give some problems, even if you re-install XP.

NOTE:

1) Linux file system is BORN to live in EXTENDED partitions (hence the EXT)

2) The only part of a NT based windows Operating System that NEED to be on a Primary Acyive Patition are these files:

a) NTLDR

b) NTDETECT.COM

c) BOOT.INI

d) Only needed for SCSI systems NTBOOTDD.SYS

You SHOULD NOT use the booted operating system to copy system files.

The GHOST cloning procedure is much better.

You can try booting from an XP CD-ROM and make a repair install, that "should" fix things up.

How I would do that if I were you (my personal opinion):

NEW 120 Gb setup

1) First Active Primary Partition

2) Extended partition with 9+2 Logical volumes inside

Clone the old drive XP partition on the new HD one

Install 2003 in a logical volume.

Install Linux in another logical volume (remember that you will need another volume for the Linux SWAP partition

see my other posts here for more partition related info:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=34761

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=33964

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=35351

jaclaz

[chee]

thanks a lot, Jaclaz!

i've spent a whole day till at last a full "copy" of an existing xp os was got and worked perfectly.

yet i didn't try out your idea because the word "should fix things up" in this sentence:

"You can try booting from an XP CD-ROM and make a repair install, that "should" fix things up.",

doesn't not make me fully ensured!

anyway, i do appreciate your idea and i'll reserve it for a future trial if i have to copy an existing os onto another pc.

the real reason why the copied os stops after showing the log-on dialog box could be extracted by booting the pc from the copied os in safe mode,which is

"a problem is preventing windows from checking the lisence of the ......."

so it's somthing from **(which i won't write out clearly) that prevents the copying of the whole of an existing xp os onto any pc with different hardware configurations. (copying an existing os onto another hard disk is equivalent to copying an os to a pc with a different hardware configuration.)

so changing the keys containing the encodings of information on the hardwares and the product key in the registry of the copied os into those derived by a fresh

installation of the xp os from the cd-rom would make the copied os work well!

and this really succeeded.

before this operation i'd spent about 7 days last summer questing the encoding mechanisms of **,hence i know where the encoded infomation resides in the registry.

i'm now using this hybrid,copied os to reply to u!

if i still keep writing what i'd done here, i'll probalby be accused of violating the copy rights law.

sorry for that!

[jaclaz]

so it's somthing from **(which i won't write out clearly) that prevents the copying of the whole of an existing xp os onto any pc with different hardware configurations. (copying an existing os onto another hard disk is equivalent to copying an os to a pc with a different hardware configuration.)

Yep, that is one of the problems.

That's why I said

You can try booting from an XP CD-ROM and make a repair install, that "should" fix things up.

It has worked for me sometimes, and sometimes it did not.

hint: results from a google search for "antiwpa" could enlighten you on this particular problem.

jaclaz

[chee]

thanks again for your further suggestion!

this time i've got your real idea and i've posted YOUR IDEA on the bbs of Peking University of China as a reference for other keen university students like me!

really, with my appreciation again!