Full disc ISO image / backup

[Chris Linder]

Hello all
recently I discovered that the seagate 300G im using is going bad, witch is my C: drive at the moment. I have a 500G drive id like to use in its place. Id like to create an ISO image of my OS so Im not faced with the painful task of reloading my os along with all it programs. I purchased Acronis work station. Ran the program and created an image of the os on an extra 2.5 60G drive I had. Once I had the image I burned the Acronis boot CD. I boot from CD and restore the computer using the image. Once it reboots I tell my bios to boot from HDD that now should contain my OS. But its a no go. Am I missing a step or doing something I shouldn't. Also , Should I be using something other then Acronis.

Any help would be greatly aprisheated.

[glc]

Try cloning the drive instead of image and restore.

[Chris Linder]

OK , Ill try cloning
Also wile were on this issue. Id like to ask something ells. Iv had the same issue once with Norton. Why is it that when you look for the image with the acronis program. It will not see the HDD if its hooked up externally via (USB) , But when I hook the HDD carrying the image internally. Its sees it. My question is , Is there a 2.5 sata enclosed I could use that will work for this purpose. I will need to do this for some notebooks coming up and therefore wont have the ability to just add HDDs internally

[glc]

Your version of Acronis may not have new enough USB drivers.

[Chris Linder]

Got ya. That would make seance. So what would be the best program to use that would be completely updated with USB drivers , Vista friendly regardless of the price. ( Its for my company - Tax write off : )

[Chris Linder]

OK So I clone the drive. Everything looks good. But when Im ready to boot from the new drive. It gives me this screen.

http://i511.photobucket.com/albums/s...4/CIMG3922.jpg

Like if the boot loader is missing. I put my old drive back in so I can boot up my os. Hook the (cloned drive ) up with an adapter. And its exactly the same as what my old drive is. for some reason she just dosnt want to boot from the new cloned drive. I spoke to many others that did exactly what Im doing and they report it works just fine. I feel like im missing something. Maybe activate the partition someware? Im just not sure.

[Determin2Excel]

Considering that your current HD is failing, there seems to be a few bad sectors on the drive that prevents the image process from completing succesfully onto the new drive. So, the Acronis software is working properly. At this point you would have to use the Windows repair option on the drive to add the required boot files. Boot from the Vista CD while the new HD is in place and select the repair function.

Sometimes if you run a chkdsk /f /r or in My Computer right click on the drive, properties, tools, and select the check now or check disk it should repair the HD and add the correct files then re run the image.

[Chris Linder]

Ya
I kinda new where this was heading. I have tried booting from my (XP CD) but I get lost with the command prompts. What prompt do I need to simply restore all my windows files. ( im guessing that will include the boot loader )

[liambl]

Proceed to install as you normally would a new install, but after accepting the license agreement, the installer will find your existing installation and give you the option to repair.

[Chris Linder]

AAAAAA OK thats what i was missing. Ill try that this afternoon.

Thanks a bunch

[glc]

You may be able to use the repair console - fixboot, fixmbr.