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Bootable copy of XP partition.

S

surferdude2

Flightless Bird
The xxclone freeware that I mentioned back in post #8 does what you
want. I use it all the time for cloning a bootable copy of my 80 Gig c:
drive over to a 10 Gig partition on my F: drive. It has a feature that
sets up the dual boot (if you select to do so) so it saves the manual
editing of the boot.ini file. I use the cloned copy for my "Test Dummy"
system so I can play fast and loose without worry. When it gets too
hosed to work properly, I just xxclone over it and start anew.

It does not format the entire drive. It operates from one partition to
another. It does not clone by reading bit by bit. Instead, it copies
data only. That allows you to use any size partition for the
destination partition so long as it's at least large enough to hold the
data. In the process, it automatically defragments the data since it
copies one file at a time.

It has several other accessory tools that can be useful for
initializing the destination drive and making it stand alone bootable.
That takes care of the MBR string and also placing of the bootloader
files (boot.ini, ntdetect.com, and ntldr) that are required to be on the
root of the primary partition. It also has full user friendly
instructions.

I just thought I'd mention it this second time since you seem to be
getting nowhere fast.
 
B

bobster

Flightless Bird
Daave,

You said,


"Did you find an answer to your original question?"

I forgot what the question was ;-)

Actually, the original question was asked by Bob Taylor in the first post of
many on this topic. It had to do with how to get a bootable partition for
backup (I think).

You suggested Casper might be a good clone app. I agree -- been using it
for several years.


"Daave" <daave@example.com> wrote in message
news:embbG%23$ELHA.4120@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
Thanks for the clarification, bobster. Apparntly, I misread your initial
post.

I've never use it, but
I believe Casper can do the type of cloning you are looking to do. And
the added bonus is that it also does incremental cloning (another thing
Acronis can't do).

bobster wrote:
> Daave,
>
> Update on my previous post:
>
> Just for kicks I temporarily reconnected my external HD enclosure via
> a USB2 cable rather than the eSATA cable. The enclosure contained a
> HD that had previously been cloned from my "C" drive. I started the
> boot sequence, pressed F12 to get to the boot order in the BIOS and
> lo and behold, the USB2 connected drive showed up as a bootable
> option. I selected it, and continued the boot sequence and my
> computer successfully booted to it. It took a bit longer (~20
> additional seconds) to boot when compared to the eSATA connected
> one, but the point is that it did boot directly from a USB2 connected
> HD. Surprised me.
>
> ======================================================
> "bobster" <fauxie@bogus.net> wrote in message
> news:i00a9l$j4s$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> Daave,
>
> My external enclosure is connected via an eSATA cable to the third
> SATA port of the motherboard in my Dell Inspiron 530 computer (circa
> (2007). Thus I am able to easily boot from the "C" clone HD in this
> enclosure.
>
> When I first installed this enclosure, I connected it via a USB2 port
> and was able to clone my "C" drive to it. But in order to use this
> as a bootable HD, I had to physically remove it and install it into
> the second internal HD slot. Worked fine but was inconvenient. I
> finally RTFM and discovered that the extra cable that came with the
> enclosure was an eSATA cable. After using it to connect to the extra
> SATA port on my MOBO, I was able to boot directly from the HD in the
> enclosure -- just like having a third internal HD slot but located
> externally.
>
> In my previous posts I described how I have used this setup for the
> last 2 years. While it doesn't support an "instant" re- boot, I can
> re-boot into the external HD or the second internal slot HD in the
> time it takes for my computer to do a re-boot -- generally under one
> minute.
>
> ======================================================.
> "Daave" <daave@example.com> wrote in message
> news:us6uuf8ELHA.2276@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> It would be helpful to know the make and model of your motherboard and
> your BIOS version.(If this information is in another post, I didn't
> see it.)
>
> Cloning a drive and making it a bootable choice in real time is
> ordinarily an easy task. But if your external eSATA enclosure is
> hooked
> up via USB rather than via the SATA connection (which would be the
> case
> if your motherboard does not support eSATA), you have a very different
> situation.
>
> Or is your goal disaster recovery without the need for an *instant*
> boot (this method is preferred by people like day traders who can't
> afford a wasted second)? If so, creating an image of the drive would
> serve that purpose because once the image is restored, you will wind
> up with a bootable drive anyway.
>
> bobster wrote:
>> OOPS,
>>
>> Previous post should have read, That quote was from a post by "Paul",
>> not Paul Taylor
>>
>> "bobster" <fauxie@bogus.net> wrote in message
>> news:i005j9$tcc$1@news.eternal-september.org...
>> Sorry, Dave, that quote was from a post by Paul Taylor.
>>
>> My hardware configuration is described in another post on this topic.
>> It is an all SATA3 setup including an eSATA external enclosure for a
>> third drive.
>>
>> =================================================
>> "Daave" <daave@example.com> wrote in message
>> news:uPilsu6ELHA.4120@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> bobster wrote:
>>> Daave,
>>>
>>> You said,
>>>
>>>> "If you plug a usb hard drive
>>>> in and reboot, it does not see the drive until XP has loaded. Too
>>>> late to boot it.

>>
>> No, I didn't say that. I said this:
>>
>> People have had mixed success with making ordinary USB external hard
>> drives bootable (it's rarely recommended). The motherboard and BIOS
>> must support the method and you would need to configure the BIOS
>> correctly.
>>
>> The easiest way to do this is to use an eSATA hard drive (of course
>> the motherboard must support eSATA).
>>
>> How about telling us about your hardware?
 
D

Daave

Flightless Bird
ROFL !

I confused you with Bob Taylor (he never did answer my question; I then
got confused and thought you were him because you sort of replied to
me). Now it all makes sense. :)

bobster wrote:
> Daave,
>
> You said,
>
>
> "Did you find an answer to your original question?"
>
> I forgot what the question was ;-)
>
> Actually, the original question was asked by Bob Taylor in the first
> post of many on this topic. It had to do with how to get a bootable
> partition for backup (I think).
>
> You suggested Casper might be a good clone app. I agree -- been
> using it for several years.
>
>
> "Daave" <daave@example.com> wrote in message
> news:embbG%23$ELHA.4120@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Thanks for the clarification, bobster. Apparntly, I misread your
> initial post.
>
> I've never use it, but
> I believe Casper can do the type of cloning you are looking to do. And
> the added bonus is that it also does incremental cloning (another
> thing Acronis can't do).
>
> bobster wrote:
>> Daave,
>>
>> Update on my previous post:
>>
>> Just for kicks I temporarily reconnected my external HD enclosure via
>> a USB2 cable rather than the eSATA cable. The enclosure contained a
>> HD that had previously been cloned from my "C" drive. I started the
>> boot sequence, pressed F12 to get to the boot order in the BIOS and
>> lo and behold, the USB2 connected drive showed up as a bootable
>> option. I selected it, and continued the boot sequence and my
>> computer successfully booted to it. It took a bit longer (~20
>> additional seconds) to boot when compared to the eSATA connected
>> one, but the point is that it did boot directly from a USB2 connected
>> HD. Surprised me.
>>
>> ======================================================
>> "bobster" <fauxie@bogus.net> wrote in message
>> news:i00a9l$j4s$1@news.eternal-september.org...
>> Daave,
>>
>> My external enclosure is connected via an eSATA cable to the third
>> SATA port of the motherboard in my Dell Inspiron 530 computer (circa
>> (2007). Thus I am able to easily boot from the "C" clone HD in this
>> enclosure.
>>
>> When I first installed this enclosure, I connected it via a USB2 port
>> and was able to clone my "C" drive to it. But in order to use this
>> as a bootable HD, I had to physically remove it and install it into
>> the second internal HD slot. Worked fine but was inconvenient. I
>> finally RTFM and discovered that the extra cable that came with the
>> enclosure was an eSATA cable. After using it to connect to the extra
>> SATA port on my MOBO, I was able to boot directly from the HD in the
>> enclosure -- just like having a third internal HD slot but located
>> externally.
>>
>> In my previous posts I described how I have used this setup for the
>> last 2 years. While it doesn't support an "instant" re- boot, I can
>> re-boot into the external HD or the second internal slot HD in the
>> time it takes for my computer to do a re-boot -- generally under one
>> minute.
>>
>> ======================================================.
>> "Daave" <daave@example.com> wrote in message
>> news:us6uuf8ELHA.2276@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> It would be helpful to know the make and model of your motherboard
>> and your BIOS version.(If this information is in another post, I
>> didn't see it.)
>>
>> Cloning a drive and making it a bootable choice in real time is
>> ordinarily an easy task. But if your external eSATA enclosure is
>> hooked
>> up via USB rather than via the SATA connection (which would be the
>> case
>> if your motherboard does not support eSATA), you have a very
>> different situation.
>>
>> Or is your goal disaster recovery without the need for an *instant*
>> boot (this method is preferred by people like day traders who can't
>> afford a wasted second)? If so, creating an image of the drive would
>> serve that purpose because once the image is restored, you will wind
>> up with a bootable drive anyway.
>>
>> bobster wrote:
>>> OOPS,
>>>
>>> Previous post should have read, That quote was from a post by
>>> "Paul", not Paul Taylor
>>>
>>> "bobster" <fauxie@bogus.net> wrote in message
>>> news:i005j9$tcc$1@news.eternal-september.org...
>>> Sorry, Dave, that quote was from a post by Paul Taylor.
>>>
>>> My hardware configuration is described in another post on this
>>> topic. It is an all SATA3 setup including an eSATA external
>>> enclosure for a third drive.
>>>
>>> =================================================
>>> "Daave" <daave@example.com> wrote in message
>>> news:uPilsu6ELHA.4120@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>> bobster wrote:
>>>> Daave,
>>>>
>>>> You said,
>>>>
>>>>> "If you plug a usb hard drive
>>>>> in and reboot, it does not see the drive until XP has loaded. Too
>>>>> late to boot it.
>>>
>>> No, I didn't say that. I said this:
>>>
>>> People have had mixed success with making ordinary USB external hard
>>> drives bootable (it's rarely recommended). The motherboard and BIOS
>>> must support the method and you would need to configure the BIOS
>>> correctly.
>>>
>>> The easiest way to do this is to use an eSATA hard drive (of course
>>> the motherboard must support eSATA).
>>>
>>> How about telling us about your hardware?
 
M

mm

Flightless Bird
On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:50:26 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
<kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote:

>On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:56:02 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
>wrote:
>
>> >We'll see what happens with the newsgroups. I'm spending more time now
>> >in the web-based Microsoft forums (using the NNTP Bridges), and I'm
>> >afraid that these newsgroups may gradually peter out.

>>
>> I sure hope not. Newsgroups are far more efficient that web forums,
>> allow easy saving of replies on one's own computers for future
>> referecne, and work for people with dial-up, just as well as with
>> highspeed.

>
>
>I'm with you entirely, but I'm still pessimistic.
>
>And don't forget that you can use your newsreader with the Microsoft
>web-based forums and the NNTP bridges.


Really!

I won't forget becuse I never knew.

How do you do that?

>That gets back at least some of
>the advantages of newsgroups.


Yeah, it sure sounds like it.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

Flightless Bird
On Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:20:29 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

> On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:50:26 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
> <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote:
>
> >On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:56:02 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
> >wrote:
> >
> >> >We'll see what happens with the newsgroups. I'm spending more time now
> >> >in the web-based Microsoft forums (using the NNTP Bridges), and I'm
> >> >afraid that these newsgroups may gradually peter out.
> >>
> >> I sure hope not. Newsgroups are far more efficient that web forums,
> >> allow easy saving of replies on one's own computers for future
> >> referecne, and work for people with dial-up, just as well as with
> >> highspeed.

> >
> >
> >I'm with you entirely, but I'm still pessimistic.
> >
> >And don't forget that you can use your newsreader with the Microsoft
> >web-based forums and the NNTP bridges.

>
> Really!
>
> I won't forget becuse I never knew.
>
> How do you do that?



See https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=927




> >That gets back at least some of
> >the advantages of newsgroups.

>
> Yeah, it sure sounds like it.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup
 
M

mm

Flightless Bird
On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:56:46 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
<kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote:

>On Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:20:29 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
>wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:50:26 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
>> <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote:
>>
>> >On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:56:02 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
>> >wrote:
>> >
>> >> >We'll see what happens with the newsgroups. I'm spending more time now
>> >> >in the web-based Microsoft forums (using the NNTP Bridges), and I'm
>> >> >afraid that these newsgroups may gradually peter out.
>> >>
>> >> I sure hope not. Newsgroups are far more efficient that web forums,
>> >> allow easy saving of replies on one's own computers for future
>> >> referecne, and work for people with dial-up, just as well as with
>> >> highspeed.
>> >
>> >
>> >I'm with you entirely, but I'm still pessimistic.
>> >
>> >And don't forget that you can use your newsreader with the Microsoft
>> >web-based forums and the NNTP bridges.

>>
>> Really!
>>
>> I won't forget becuse I never knew.
>>
>> How do you do that?

>
>
>See https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=927
>
>

Thanks a lot. I'll try it tomorrow.
>
>
>> >That gets back at least some of
>> >the advantages of newsgroups.

>>
>> Yeah, it sure sounds like it.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

Flightless Bird
On Fri, 25 Jun 2010 01:45:07 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

> On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:56:46 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
> <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote:
>


> >> >And don't forget that you can use your newsreader with the Microsoft
> >> >web-based forums and the NNTP bridges.
> >>
> >> Really!
> >>
> >> I won't forget becuse I never knew.
> >>
> >> How do you do that?

> >
> >
> >See https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=927
> >
> >

> Thanks a lot. I'll try it tomorrow.



You're welcome. Glad to help.

But remember that it's far from perfect. Better than using the
web-based forums, in my view, but there will undoubtedly be things
about it you don't like.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup
 
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