Windows 7: windows won't start after cloning hard drive

i just cloned the OS hard drive in my computer from an 80GB to 160GB (both IDE) using acronis true image enterprise edition.

the clone process completed fine, but when i try to start the computer with the new hard drive plugged in (power and data cables disconnected from the old drive) i get the 'disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter' message when the OS is supposed to startup.

i booted to the windows 7 OS disc and chose the repair option which detected that there was a startup issue with the disk and apparently fixed it, but when i restarted the computer i still get the same error message. i also used the startup repair option from the windows OS disc but it didn't detect any issues.

the interesting thing is that i can boot the new hard drive while the OS disc is in the DVD drive, but if i take it out i get the message again.

i've also tried changing the jumper settings on the hard drive (master/single to cable select) but that didn't make a difference.

any help is greatly appreciated.



thanks.

Is it marked active?

there are a few files not accesable from windows, but u could try dual booting with ubuntu with the windows installer and u can uninstall ubuntu using add or remove programs.

then copy the the missing files from the original files to the second hard drive

if that does not work find a disk cloner on ubuntu there are no access restrictions in ubuntu

Are you sure the MBR got cloned to the new disk?

James

the system reserved partition is marked active, the main partition is not.

that one i'm not sure about, but was curious about... is there a way i can check if the MBR is present or not?

Here's a tut on restoring the mbr in win 7. You can also use the free bootable CD of Partition wizard.

Not sure about ATIE, but in ATIH, you can choose to clone the mbr separately. In version 2011, it hides the MBR and you have to put a click on the 'Show MBR' link in the Restore window, then select the MBR for copy as well (or separately).

James

thanks, i tried the Partition wizard software and also tried using Acronis True Image again using the Automatic method this time which is supposed to make the drive bootable, but i'm still getting the error message when Windows is about to load.

i'd like to get this working without getting into the manual process of restoring the MBR (if that's the issue), and i'm thinking that i may be missing something simple here.

does this seem like it's related to the Windows 7 partitioning or maybe it's something else?

You could run a startup repair:

Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

As the title indicates, it may be necessary to run it 3 times.

And while you were in the partition wizard program...did you notice if there is a separate 100 mb partition? If so, was it marked active? And if no 100 mb partition, is your C:\ partition marked active?

Also, one other thought...how old is your bios? Updating the bios once resolved a similar issue for someone I know. Are you comfortable flashing your bios? (run the 3 time startup repair first, though).

James

should the startup repair still be run even if it doesn't find any problems?

there is a system reserved partition which is set to active (separate from the partition that windows is installed on, which is not set to active).. on the original hard drive it's around 100MB but on the new hard drive it's around 200MB... the new hard drive is twice the size of the original (80GB to 160GB).

i'm pretty sure i have the latest version of the BIOS firmware for the motherboard.