Hard Drive Replacement Using Free Tools?

[fireworker]

At a Russian forum I met a quote:

Differences in Windows 2000 NTFS 3.0, Windows XP’s NTFS 3.1 and Vista’s NTFS
There are a number of small but important changes, one of which is the ability to ‘Shrink’ or ‘Expand’ partitions which NTFS version 3.0 partitions do not allow.

Unfortunately, the source does not open.

On this and other things I read, I suggest try the following.
Restore the first partition of Disk0 from the existing backup, without changing the original size (before that remove the one that's there now). Would check. If the same does not boot, then
Would make RAW-backup this first part (Home - Settings - Backup - Copy and backup options - check 'Partition Raw processing'). Restored it to a new disk. Check.

But first of all I would make Disk1 "self-sufficient", so that the PC could be started from it without requiring an additional Disk0. To do this, can copy the files ntldr, NTDETECT.COM and boot.ini from "C:" to "H:" then Paragon "Update MBR".

[Steve Sr.]

At a Russian forum I met a quote:

Unfortunately, the source does not open.

On this and other things I read, I suggest try the following.
Restore the first partition of Disk0 from the existing backup, without changing the original size (before that remove the one that's there now). Would check. If the same does not boot, then
Would make RAW-backup this first part (Home - Settings - Backup - Copy and backup options - check 'Partition Raw processing'). Restored it to a new disk. Check.

But first of all I would make Disk1 "self-sufficient", so that the PC could be started from it without requiring an additional Disk0. To do this, can copy the files ntldr, NTDETECT.COM and boot.ini from "C:" to "H:" then Paragon "Update MBR".

This is good to know. new information in the next post

[Steve Sr.]

The processor heatsink has been upgraded/replaced. Thinking about John's "hardware incompatibility" theory I decided to run some more tests and simplify the problem.

1. I verified that the original 2K disk had 4K clusters which rules out partitions size over 137GB? causing an issue.

2. I verified through BIOS that BOTH new AND old drives have the same transfer characteristics as follows:

LBA supported
Block Mode - 16 sectors
PIO Mode 4
Async DMA - Multiword DMA-2
Ultra DMA - Ultra DMA-5

3. I then installed the OLD 2K drive solo and verified boot.

4. I then tried installing one of the NEW disks as a SECONDARY no-boot drive.

5. Boom! 2K would NOT boot. Same INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE error.

This sort of proves that the existing 2K implementation does not like the NEW drive either as SECONDARY or BOOT! The drives are basically the same drive (same MFG, same series) manufactured 6 years apart. Now it looks like I am off to Western Digital to try to get meaningful support. Do either of you have a higher up support contact at WD?

Any other suggestions on how to fix this Win 2K implementation to fix this issue? I think that if I can fix the secondary issue the boot will also work. I suspect that this has to do with the drivers but finding the correct ones and then installing them might be problematic.

[Steve Sr.]

Continued to try to figure out why connection of the new hard drive would cause the existing hard drive not to boot...

Found that Win 2K SP3 & SP4 supports LBA48 drives (partitions greater than 137GB) but it is NOT enabled by default! You have to go in and add a registry key to enable it. Added the key... no change.

To remove any chance of data on the new drive from causing an issue I used the WD utility to write zero's to the drive. Now the system wouldn't even begin to boot. Got stuck in NTldr. Insert boot disk...

More research showed that the new drives were SATA II (3.0 Gb/sec) while the originals are SATA I (1.5 Gb/sec). The hardware is supposed to be backward compatible. However, after a LOT of digging on the WD web site there appeared to be a jumper setting to force SATA I transfer rate. Not believing anything I used Hiren's and HWinfo to confirm that the jumper worked as intended. Still couldn't get past NTldr...

In one final hail Mary attempt I decided to restore the 2k drive from the previous backup AND replacing the Boot.ini file. Due to the proportional re-sizing it did create a partition greater than 137GB. I plugged it in expecting nothing good to happen. Much to my amazement and disbelief the system actually booted 2K on the new drive!

I need to go back and to another restore to fix the partition sizes on the new drive but it looks like the worst is over. A half day project turned into a month long project. Now to figure out how to make 32 bit WinPE recovery environment.

[Steve Sr.]

Continued to try to figure out why connection of the new hard drive would cause the existing hard drive not to boot...

Found that Win 2K SP3 & SP4 supports LBA48 drives (partitions greater than 137GB) but it is NOT enabled by default! You have to go in and add a registry key to enable it. Added the key... no change.

To remove any chance of data on the new drive from causing an issue I used the WD utility to write zero's to the drive. Now the system wouldn't even begin to boot. Got stuck in NTldr. Insert boot disk...

More research showed that the new drives were SATA II (3.0 Gb/sec) while the originals are SATA I (1.5 Gb/sec). The hardware is supposed to be backward compatible. However, after a LOT of digging on the WD web site there appeared to be a jumper setting to force SATA I transfer rate. Not believing anything I used Hiren's and HWinfo to confirm that the jumper worked as intended. Still couldn't get past NTldr...

In one final hail Mary attempt I decided to restore the 2k drive from the previous backup AND replacing the Boot.ini file. Due to the proportional re-sizing it did create a partition greater than 137GB. I plugged it in expecting nothing good to happen. Much to my amazement and disbelief the system actually booted 2K on the new drive!

I need to go back and to another restore to fix the partition sizes on the new drive but it looks like the worst is over. A half day project turned into a month long project. Now to figure out how to make 32 bit WinPE recovery environment.

[Steve Sr.]

Past my bed time... Forgot to thank everyone for their efforts and help in finally getting this resolved. Once again proving that 3 heads are better than 1!

[oldhippie]

You are now in the 21st century. Update to windows 10. Get a separate HD for an internal backup. This internal backup can be synced data using microsoft's sync program. Also get an external HD and make another backup to that using some backup program instead of syncing.