Creating a bootable disc

I cloned my HD and now does not boot (this morning)
I tried twice burning that EaseUS back up tool,but every time I use it,it opens as the regular cloning program :confused
No Xp boot?
I read the FAQ and it said try disable Anti-virus,I did that too,but just again ciomes out as the same screen as EaseUS
Can anyone suggest how I can creat a bootable disc,so that I can boot my newly cloned larger HD.
PLEASE

 

Greetings, greybuffalo...

I have an .iso burning tutorial using ImgBurn on my website.

Make sure the EaseUS back up tool is in .iso format, and that your machine's boot order is set to boot from the optical drive first...

 

When you complete the ISO boot disk if you ever want too un pack it i would use Win RAR too un pack it Best tool for unpacking ISO's

http://majorgeeks.com/WinRAR_d524.html

 

You could all ways try this too SelfImage v1.1

http://majorgeeks.com/SelfImage_d5588.html

 

Thank you for your reply,
I am now reading about IMG burn.
See the cd;s I have been burning http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/3944/isoburn.jpg they appear to be in CDFS format and I cannot appear to change to iso ?
As you tutorial explains the XP burn,I will try download that program and give it ago.
Can you spot something I did wrong in the attached image?
Cheers

 

EaseUS should be creating a bootable disk - I see nothing there that would prevent the creation...

If not, then download and install ImgBurn, point the program to the .iso file indicated in that "Export ISO" line, burn the disk and attempt a boot...

 

I am now on Img burn,but which file do I burn?
And am also a little confused now,as if,I would still have to unpack the file using Win Rar,how could I do that if I could not boot up?

 

I tried to unzip using WinRAR,IMG Burn does not recognise that unpacked file
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/4403/winrarf.jpg
Should I have burnt it packed up in WinRAR?

 

I have no idea how the WinRAR reference applies to this situation.

I was under the assumption that EaseUS created an image file - is this true? If so, then if ImgBurn is pointed to that file, the program should create a bootable disk. No 'unpacking' should be required.

 

Hi Caliban,
what is the file name I should be looking for to create a bootable disc for xp ?
Cheers

 

I think you are burning the disc correctly. The Easeus disc is just a bootable version of the program if you are booting from the disc and getting to TODO backup it is correct. That is what the bootable disc does. It is not a boot disc for XP.

Using the third option there to export the ISO gives you "Emergencydisc.ISO" onto your desktop. Burning that with Imgburn will do the same as using the second option which burns that ISO using Easeus's own program.

***
You cloned the drives and then disconnected the smaller drive and booted to the larger drive without problem yesterday. But today the larger drive will not boot. Have you changed anything? What do you see on screen when you try to boot the larger drive?

 

Also, are these IDE or SATA drives? If they are IDE then you would need to have the jumper on the large drive set as Master to make it bootable after the cloning.

 

I changed nothing................
What are IDE or SATA drives? and how do I find out?

Does that mean,I have to have the "first lead" as main..? I did put it like that

 

If you want too find all of your info of your computer i would use this program Speccy from CCleaner.

http://majorgeeks.com/Speccy_d6358.html

 

IDE drive is the top one in this picture: http://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/download/Number/45902/filename/sata-ide_lg.jpg

Which type do you have?

I've used Todo and had success with it. So, I'm thinking all the files necessary to boot are on the drive.

What do you see on screen when trying to boot from the large HD?

 

Are there any messages when it fails to boot? Anything about hal.dll, or no operating system found?

 

I have IDE
It says files are corrupted...........

 

Please give the exact message. I'm trying to figure out if it is referencing a particular file name or is suggesting a chkdsk.

Just to be sure you have the large HD attached to its own wide (IDE) cable and it is on the end connector NOT on the middle of the cable--correct?

 

Well,
I have been changing them.
Can I connect the large HD while everything is running,as when I had them both connected,I couldnt boot at all,the large HD was at the end.
Tell me what I should do,turn off and try boot with the small HD in the middle and the large one at the end :confused
Will have to wait until I try again to get the exact message.
Thanks

 

I think we should determine if the large HD will boot when on its own cable by itself. If it won't boot that way we want to troubleshoot any error message you get.

Turn off and unplug the computer. So you have two wide (IDE) cables. One goes motherboard to CDROM. Leave that one alone. The other is for your HD. One end is connected to the motherboard, connect the other to the large HD. Leave the middle connector empty. (So only the large HD connected, smaller one disconnected).

Try to boot and if no success then give the error message or what you see on screen.

********
If you are only having trouble booting when both HD are on the same cable then that is likely a jumper problem. One HD has to be set to Slave and one has to be set to Master. But let's see if the large HD will boot on its own. Then we know the files are OK but it is just a jumper problem/conflict.

Jumpers are these little plastic things that connect pins on the HD. Yours are probably both set to master causing a conflict which can be easily fixed later.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleimages/200504/hddinstall_jump.jpg

 

Hi sach2,
I think you are onto the problem ,when I tried the large HD with the last cable it said "Error loading operating system" and I noticed unlike the small HD which has no jumpers this large HD appears to have two,in a space that seems to fit three? these two are on the ends,leaving a little space maybe for one in the middle.
What should I do next ?

 

While you are waiting for sach2 try this. The jumper positions should be shown on a diagram on the disk, labelled CS, M, and S. Either put the jumper in the M (=Master) position or put it in the CS (=Cable Select) position and always connect to the end connector on the ribbon cable. Until you have the large disk booting normally don't try connecting the other disk, as you will need further guidance on how to set its jumpers.

 

I'm going to have to read up on this but my quick take is a problem with XP and the partition size.

If you have just the one HD connected at the end of the cable it should have booted since the HD is shipped from factory with jumpers in Master or Cable Select position and you haven't touched them.
If I have the situation correct, you cloned the drives were able to boot XP ONCE off the new HD and then upon trying to restart you get the "Error Loading Operating System" error. But you were able to boot at least once.

I'm beginning to think it may have something to do with the computer being older and their being a 137gb limit on the size of an XP partition size for certain computers. The problem seems to occur after that 137gb limit is exceeded.

If it were me and I wanted to just get things running, I would reclone the 60GB H to the large HD using Easeus's Clone Disk option. Setting the Target partition size to 120gb. After cloning disconnect the small HD, put the large HD at the end of the cable and restart twice to make sure it boots more than once. Then we can use Disk Management in XP to create and format a new partition on the unallocated space on the HD. This partition allows you to use the additional space on the HD for data storage but won't conflict with XP's 137gb limit.

If everything still boots up a couple of times then we can figure out jumpers on the 60gb drive and add it back to the system.

I'll look for another solution but I would probably reclone limiting the partition size to 120gb to see if that fixes the problem.

 

O.K,I will try that.btw you are correct in your thinking about what I have done so far.
When I attempt to reclone,where should the small drive be on the cable? and where the large?
large at the end,small will be primary in the middle?

 

You seem to have been able to clone the way you've been doing it so I would say large on the end and small in the middle should be fine since the cloning program seems to be able to read both drives.

The way I have always done it is using the bootable CD but if you have been using the Windows program that is fine too.

Choose Full Disc option rather than Partition option. You should then get a screen where you can increase the size of the partition on the Target drive from 60gb to 120gb, by dragging the slider or inputting the number, which I believe you did last time but now we want to limit it to 120gb. When cloning is complete turn off the computer and remove the small HD (keep it disconnected until we get this sorted out). We want to make sure we can boot the cloned drive several times and format the unallocated space before attaching the small drive again to avoid confusion. There is no need to reattach the smaller drive until we know the system is completely stable.

 

I did the clone,so it had th 57Gb on it,but before I was able to extend it to 120Gb,I couldnt boot it up,it said "insert boot media" thats at only 57GB?
I did try that boot disc I made but no go?
My computer struggles with both drives on and now only boots up halfway,windows comes to life,but the internet does not connect if I have them both on,so I had to unplug the large HD to get on now :confused

 

Great!
I got windows to load fully,eventually,then I extended the HD to 120GB like you said,unconnected the small HD and booted the large HD in "Known last good settings" and it seems to be working...........so far
So I guess I should just try it like this for a couple of days and then report back for more instructions?:-D

 

I just finished making screenshots...:cry

So, you have only the large HD connected at the end of the cable and it boots.

How large did you make the partition? Edit: You made 120gb so we will want to create a second partition to use the full capacity of the drive. I would do another reboot to make sure it starts with no problems before making any changes.
What is the model number of the small HD? (When you choose to add it later you will need the correct jumper settings. Does it have a diagram on the label with jumper settings?)

 

Sorry about you making the screen shots.didnt you see my folow up post? as I could not edit.
My small HD image.
It appears to be booting :-D
http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/2477/topbmpb.jpg

 

Hi,
My screenshots were just a tutorial for re-cloning using the full Disk option in Todo. I had just finished them when you posted and was only joking.

From what I can see you have been using a 60gb drive for some time and only recently have run out of space. You have upgraded to a 250gb drive so it should take you quite a while to use up that space. You don't really need the 60gb drive connected to your computer on a regular basis. If I were you, I would put the 60gb drive in a little box and save it as a fully bootable backup drive. If you ever have problems with your current drive you could just plug it in and be back in business.

I would run the new larger drive and get used to it being your primary drive. All your files are exactly the same as on the smaller drive so no need to have both attached. When you are confident everything is working well then you want to create a new partition in the unallocated space on the large drive to make use of the additional storage. You have a 250gb HD using 120gb for the C: (XP) partition, and about another 114gb of unallocated space that can be used for a new partition for data files. Creating a new partition will give you a new drive letter in My Computer where you can store important data independent of the XP partition which is a wise thing to do.

This is a basic guide to partitioning in XP. If you have any questions I'd be happy to customize it if needed.

 

sach2,
thanks a ton!.
Just a simple question,how do I make the welcome screen go away,as I am the only user,so I have only to start the pc up and it goes into use mode,without me having to first press my user name button :confused
Cheers

 

Not to worry,I worked that little snag out

 

new partition

Can I use that new partition to keep my pictures folder,I use that a lot,will it still work in the new partition?

 

Hi,

Sorry, I don't seem to be getting email on replies to this thread.

I'm glad you have things booting and got past the Welcome screen issue.

It sounds like you have created and formatted the second partition so it should show as a drive letter in My Computer. The simplest thing to do as far as your photos is to create a folder on the new partition/drive and begin storing your pictures there. That is what I do. I have a Photos and also a Documents folder on a non-OS partition and keep copies of my important documents and photos there. I still use the default My Pictures and My Documents for new documents and images but periodically copy the important ones over to the other drive.

If you don't want to have extra copies there is a way to move your My Pictures and My Documents folders to the other drive. I've never used it but I have seen posts by others here at MG that seem to do it with no problems. I believe this will guide you through the process.

***
I just wanted to say, I was only suggesting you keep the small HD as a separate backup drive until you needed the space for something else. If you want to add the drive back to your computer now that is possible--it is entirely up to you. (The only thing is if there are no jumpers on the drive you will have to find two spares off an old HD or CDROM so the drive can be set as slave.)

 

I tried putting "My documents" in the E drive,but they do not appear that easily accessible,as,I use them all them time,so I put them back in C
What can I use the old HD for,isnt a slave the ?what is a slave drive

 

A 'slave' drive is merely a 2nd (or 3rd, 4th, etc.) physical hard drive, one that does not serve as the 'root' 'C:' 'bootable' drive. A slave is usually considered a dummy drive, only used for storage space...

By the way: congrats to all of you guys for sorting this thing out. Y'all did good...

 

A slave drive is just a non-bootable, non-OS drive. It is a slave to the master drive because the master has to boot the computer for you to access the slave.

I'm just going by the fact that you only used 45gb of a 60gb HD when I say you don't need the small HD attached to your computer. You now have ~200gb free on the one HD so it should take you quite a while to use that space if past is an indication of future space needs. I'd leave it disconnected until you need the space so that the XP files remain intact should you ever want to use it to boot your system.

As far as the pictures on E:, I can't really help. I just make a folder on E: for pictures and start thinking of that as the location for my pictures. So I start saving them there rather than C:. The good part of that is even if C: should become corrupt the pictures remain secure on E: separate from the OS.

 

Max 132GB on old computers ?

I never heard of that max that you mentioned on old computers.
Around what year does old kick in,as I am looking to buy my son a computer,for his games and surfing and I should know to make sure I get him a newer generation..........could you throw me a bone and give me a clue please

 

Thanks for the clarification, plodr. Can a Windows OS boot off the second HD as long as the bootloader is on the first HD? I know I see references to it but it has been a while since I had multiple OSs on IDE computer.

@greybuffalo,
I'm not really clear on the specifics so if someone has a better understanding/explanation, I hope they will jump in.

It has to do with LBA 48-bit addressing which wikipedia says came out around 2003. I think (my guess) is any computer with a BIOS update of around 2004/5 should be fine.

As far as I know the problem occurs not at XP install but later as the HD partition fills up. (It is the BIOS of the machine that can't see past 137gb. XP itself has no problem seeing the whole HD. So once XP is booted everything runs fine.)

So you have a computer that can use a 250gb HD. You install XP to the maximum ~232gb partition that this allows you to create. All your XP files are at the beginning of the large partition because it is unfragmented and that is where they are created. You use XP for some time and accumulate lots of data files. Eventually as the partition fills up an important XP "system" or OS-critical file gets moved out past 137gb limit. Now, the next time you reboot, the BIOS of the old machine only sees the 137gb and because the important file is outside that range, XP hangs.

The reason I suggested you use a partition under 137gb is to avoid this possibility as the cause of your problem when reboooting the cloned drive. So, your clone booted fine initially as all the files were within 45gb of the beginning of the drive. Then something happed while running XP that caused a problem. Just in case your computer had that limitation ( a 60gb HD could have been from around 2003) and XP was moving a file out to the end of the partition for some reason, I thought it best to eliminate that as a possible cause.

 

How about I try and extend the main partition?
Would you think it would not boot up if its just over 200GB?

 

My bad.............

I tried as a matter of interest to extend my partition to 135 GB and it would not boot,so took it back to 120 Gb and now says missing "NT**l" ? meanwhile that extra space has gone into "unallocated" :-o
If it aint broke dont fix it :cry
Now Im trying to merge those partitions

 

I don't know if it is fixable once the boot problem occurs. I'm going to try to find a link that describes the problem better. I know I read something a while back that explained how the HD is misread.

I think the 137gb may be a manufacturer's 137gb which is about 7% higher than the way XP reads the disk capacity. That is why I said set the partition to 120gb to be safe. 137 x .93 =127.41gb as the actual limit.

I don't know if you want to go the route of a BIOS update but if you give the make/model number of your PC, I could check if there is a BIOS update that would address the LBA48 issue which might eliminate the problem.

 

I used this Hi definition format tool to try and reformat my disk after I wiped it in order to do a new clone, unfortunately it does not have appeared to have reformatted it? could you suggest a tool to try?
How/where do i find the model of my computer,I think its home made with a Nivida motherboard :cry

 

I use SIW to get system information. Under Hardware on the left click on Motherboard and get the Manufacturer and Model number. Click on BIOS and get the Vendor and the version number. That should help determine if you have the latest BIOS.

As far as preparing the large HD for recloning, I don't think you have to do anything. The cloning software should just erase the partition table and create a new one when you use the Clone Whole Disk option.

If you've added new pictures or files to the cloned HD you would want to save them to USB flash or something. Did you have a lot of new data that has to be saved from the large HD or can you just do a new clone?

 

I swiped my disc clean,so that I could re clone it to get back the missing files it was showing about,now that drive is not even recognised as there is no file system in there,but I will try just clone the whole disc
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/1967/majorgeeks1.jpg
http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/2361/majorgeeks2.jpg

 

It looks like your BIOS is from June 2006 with the latest in March 2007. There is no reference to LBA-48 in the updates and a computer manufactured in 2006 should have no problems with a 250gb HD. So a BIOS update isn't really applicable.

I'm having a busy week but will see if I can come up with some possible reasons for your problem in the next day or so. I can't understand why this is so troublesome. I've only cloned a few times but once I got it to boot up the first time, I never had a problem.

 

I have had a disaster,after I formatted the large drive the smaller one,will not boot up?all my stuff is on there,it says again"error loading operating system" and looks like it is now the slave? and one cannot boot a slave?
It has the connectors in like it appears in the diagram i posted of it earlier.
How I did it before,I was offered to configure in last know good configuration,however I have pressed F8 and it will not give me that option.
How do you think I can boot it up,in order to clone the large HD?I have had to reinstall windows on the large HD and so far is o.k with the 250GB.

Thanks

 

This is a very long thread and I have not attempted to study it at length, however, no you cannot boot a slave. If you have installed an OS on each of two IDE drives without in the process configuring a dual boot, then the system will always try to boot the drive configured as Master. In your case that is currently the large hard drive, but if you set the small drive as Master and the large as Slave you will then be able to boot and clone the large drive.