[nordic87]

Hello,
I have two issues both related to cloning a new Hard Drive, but at this point I'm most concerned about getting my computer to boot.

I can't get my laptop to boot Windows Vista
I attempted to clone a new WD 500GB Scorpio Blue hard drive from the original 80GB HD that came with my laptop (Compaq Presario V6000 series, runs Windows Vista). I used the apricorn drivewire adapter and SW to clone the new hard drive and it told me that it was a successful clone. However, the only way that I was able to run the clone was by installing the new 500GB HD in the machine and hooking up the adapter to the original 80GB HD. Because of this I had to boot the cloning SW from my USB flash drive. I thought that I followed all the directions but now I can't boot the system with either the old 80GB HD installed or the new 500 GB HD. I've manually changed the boot order in the BIOS and also tried selecting the drive to boot from on the startup and I still get just the flashing cursor. I then ran a hard drive test on the old 80GB hard drive in the BIOS menu and it doesn't return any errors. Hoping that somebody sees something simple that I'm missing.

Thanks.

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Sounds like you may have accidentally cloned the contents of the new 500GB drive onto that of the 80GB drive. Hopefully that isn't the case, but to find out, you will need to hook up one of the drives to another computer as a Slave on another working computer so that you can see the contents of the drive.

[Fenor]

Sounds like you may have accidentally cloned the contents of the new 500GB drive onto that of the 80GB drive. Hopefully that isn't the case, but to find out, you will need to hook up one of the drives to another computer as a Slave on another working computer so that you can see the contents of the drive.

[nordic87]

Thanks for the reply. I plugged the original HD into another computer as an external drive and I was able to see all my files so it doesn't appear that I cloned the two drives backwards. However, the new 500GB drive that was supposedly cloned is empty. If I'm trying to simply reboot my laptop with the original HD installed is there a possibility that something with the boot setup is incorrect? even after I've restored the default settings?

Thanks.

[happyrock]

what is the name of cloning software you used
with the new 500 GB drive installed in the computer does the bios "see" the drive...
no...
then what about the 80 GB...

[nordic87]

I used the EZ Gig IV Cloning SW that came with the Apricorn Drivewire USB adapter. I did the clone installing the new 500GB HD into my Compaq and then attaching the old 80GB HD using the Apricorn Drivewire. Because the new drive didn't have an OS I booted directly into the EZ GIG SW from a USB flashdrive. I ran the SW and it said the clone was successful, as it turns out it wasn't since the new drive didn't boot upon start up and isn't recognized.

Then I reinstalled the old 80GB HD and now find out it won't boot. I reset the BIOS back to default and still won't boot. I went to to boot menu and select HD and it still won't boot.

The computer recognizes the old 80GB HD in the BIOS menu, I run the diagnostic tests on it and it returns no problems.

Thanks.

[happyrock]

the normal way to clone a drive is to leave the original drive in place and connect the new drive with docking station or by usb then boot from the cd containing the cloning software...
once the cloning is complete you remove the old drive and put the new one in its place using the same connectors and power up...
since you connected them the way you did I suspect windows assigned the wrong drive letter to the new drive...
let me ask for some more eyes on this before we try anything like fixboot or fixmbr

[happyrock]

I reread the thread and noticed that the cloning actually did nothing...
so putting the old drive back in should have put you back exactly where you were prior to trying the clone...try disconnecting and reconnecting the drive again

I'm trying to simply reboot my laptop with the original HD installed is there a possibility that something with the boot setup is incorrect?

in case that doesn't work I will try to figure out how to look at / edit your boot file using puppy linux

[happyrock]

do you have a vista recovery dvd...

[nordic87]

I don't have an original vista disk as it didn't come with the machine. I purchase an iso image for a vista recovery disk from the neosmart website. I burned the image on a cd and tried to boot but it didn't seem to respond (I'm not sure if the cd drive really works). Is there a program to make the iso image bootable on the jumpdrive? Assuming that the iso image actually works.
I'm currently working off my older machine that runs XP so I don't know if that presents and issues

[Fenor]

Is there a program to make the iso image bootable on the jumpdrive?

The following program will help you create all matter of bootable USB drives using an ISO image:

http://www.softpedia...Installer.shtml

*Scroll all the way to bottom of the list in the drop-down list and you will see the Windows Vista option there.

It is an amazing program!

MAKE SURE YOU BACKUP EVERYTHING OFF THAT USB DRIVE BEFORE CREATING THE BOOTABLE USB DRIVE USING THE PROGRAM!

Edited by Fenor, 23 April 2012 - 01:04 PM.