Boot Drive changed to D:

[AjayK47]

Disk 1 normally contains the System Reserve Partition and the C: drive containing the bootable WIN 7 Pro 32 Bit Operating System.

Disk 2 normally contains my D: drive only

Last night I ghosted the whole of C: to D: as a form of backup using NG.

Now on Disk 1 I still have the System Reserve Partition but now D: drive containg the bootable operating system.

Disk 2 is now assigned as C:

Basically C: and D: letter idents seemed to have got swapped over. Everything is working fine but I want my bootable operating system to be assigned C:

Help appreciated.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello AjayK47.




Will you please post a snip/screen-shot of the entire disk management drive map so we can see what you have going on.

In the Windows start menu right click computer and click manage, in the left pane of the "Computer Management" window that opens click disk management and post a snip of that, it should look similar to this.

How to Post a Screenshot in Seven Forums

 

[AjayK47]

Disk 0 and 1 are the internal hard drives and disk 2 is an external usb hard.

Thank you

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again.





What is on "Disk 1 C:" the one in the snip?

Is "Disk 0 D:" the only OS on the system?

 

[gregrocker]

In OP you said that you ghosted DISK1 to DISK2, but the screenshot shows that DISK0 is System Reserved and Win7 so we have to assume that you ghosted DISK0 OS partition to DISK1 as in the screenshot.

If this is the case, and System Reserved is booting DISK1 as you believe, then unplug DISK1 to see if DISK0 will start as before. Make sure DISK0 is set as first HD to boot in BIOS setup.

If not, boot the WIn7 DVD Repair console or Repair CD, accept any offered repair, then if it doesn't start boot back in to DVD Recovery Tools list to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times with reboots until Win7 starts again on DISK0.

When you plug DISK1 back in you can try booting it via BIOS one-time Boot Menu key but it should not boot as it was using the System Reserved MBR to boot before if it was indeed booting. You did not copy System MBR when you only copied OS partition.

 

[AjayK47]

Just before this problem occured I had used the copy hard drive function of Norton Ghost to clone drive C: (which was then on disk 0 and contained the boot) to D:

C: Now contains a copy of the whole operating system and data but no boot.

I suspect however that although it is booting from D: the data on C: is being used.

It's very confusing. If I try and create a system image using the WIN 7 inbuilt untility it insists that the system reserve partion, D: and C: must be imaged for the process to be successful.

When I did the NG clone hard drive I did not tick copy MBR.

 

[gregrocker]

What makes you think you are booting the clone instead of the original WIn7 on DISK0?

There is perfectly normal for WIn7 backup imaging to includ the 100mb SysReserved partition as it is needed to boot. You should use that method saved to your external or secondary and not clone an unbootable Win7 which doesn't have an MBR to clone anyway without the 100mb.

 

[AjayK47]

I don't think it is booting from the clone. It's just that what was the C: drive on disk 0 has changed to D: and C: is now on disk 1.
I am now also getiing very random system error messages where WIN7 asks if I want it to find a solution to the problem. I think I might do a clean install of the whole OS. Any advice so it installs on the correct drives and C: on disk 0 is the boot.

Thanks

 

[gregrocker]

I do not know why a clone would take the C letter away unless it booted.

Does the original Win7 boot up as C when you unplug clone?.

Repair it's boot if necessary using steps given earlier to get it started on its own.

Use Paragon Rescue CD to correct the original OS drive boot letter in registry. Unplug clone during repair. http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...-win7-partition-another-drive.html#post484430

In the future use backup imaging or a cloning program that lets you choose another letter.

 

[AjayK47]

I went for completely reinstalling the whole OS so now everything is back to normal.

What would you recommend is the best way to keep backups of both data and the OS.

I have the latest Norton Ghost software but WIN 7 also has it's own backup and restore features.

What combination would anyone suggest is best?

Maybe I should be posting this on a new thread - apologies.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again AjayK47.





Glad to see you found a solution and thanks for the update.


FWIW, a majority of the people that frequent these forums don't put much trust in the Windows based backup program.

 

[gregrocker]

I keep our home computers backed up using Win7 backup imaging saved to an external HD with a copy in a primary partition on HD if there's room.

About monthly I drag and drop active User files to the computer's folder on external.

The image can be kept in the folder but needs to be moved into root of external to be discovered when reimaging from Win7 DVD or Repair CD.

Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup - Windows 7 Forums

I have had no problems with Win7 backup imaging so far, and have Acronis which I use to back up XP and Vista installs. Have not had to migrate to Macrium as others have done for a little more flexibility.

 

[AjayK47]

Hello again AjayK47.

Glad to see you found a solution and thanks for the update

FWIW, a majority of the people that frequent these forums don't put much trust in the Windows based backup program.

I think I spoke too soon.

Turned on computer this morning and all initially well. Came back into room about half an hour later to find a black screen with white writing on saying:

"Phoenix Rom Bios Plus Version 1.10 A07
Copyright 1985-1988 Phoenix Technologies Ltd
Copyright 1990-2006 Dell Inc

Dell DXP051 Series
Bios Version A07

Drive 0 not found : Serial ATA, SATA - 0
Strike the F1 key to continue
F2 to run the setup utility"

I did neither but just switched off and rebooted when I was asked if I wanted to boot windows normally or in safe mode etc.

I chose boot normally and now all ok again (for now).

What is going on - Could one of my hard drives be on its way out?

Help appreciated.

 

[gregrocker]

Enter BIOS setup to see if drive is detected there.

If not check cables, replug, try another HD.

If so, boot the maker's diag/repair CD scan which will autostart to attempt to repair HD. Then run Disk Check.

 

[AjayK47]

All drives detected properly in the BIOS. Have checked all cables and they are fine. Also run the comprehensive "Long Test" on "Seatools for DOS" Seagate utility which detects no errors on either of the hard drives.

As I said in previous post after getting the error I described and rebooting everything worked fine again. It was just a bit worrying having had the problems that originally caused me to start this thread that I should suddenly get that error.

Hopefully it is a one off but any other suggestions welcome.

Both hard drives are about 5 years old.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

"Both hard drives are about 5 years old."





It's probably way past time to replace them.

 

[AjayK47]

I am indeed thinking of replacing them. The only thing I need to be careful of is that the hard drives in my Dell Dimension 9150 are held in place within a blue plastic cradle / surround. To remove each drive you you unclip and slide the whole cradle out. The drive can then be removed from within the cradle.

I therefore need to know that any new SATA drive I purchase is going to fit ok within this existing cradle / mount from a size perspective.

Has anyone come across this situation with a Dell desktop before?

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

If they accept the 3.5" standard Hard Disk Drive there should be no issue.

 

[gregrocker]

Run Check Disk (chkdsk) from Command Line on booted DVD.

Next unplug all other HD's, make sure Win7 HD is set to boot first in BIOS setup, Then use these DISKPART commands to see if it sees DISK0 and that 100mb System Reserved partition is still marked Active: Partition - Mark as Active

Then Boot Win7 DVD Repair console or REpair CD, click through to Recover Tools list to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times with reboots.

If this fails, boot back into Command Line to mark Win7 partition Active, next mark SysReserved partition Inactive, then run Startup Repair again 3 times with reboots.

If this fails, do you still have the clone on the other HD and would you want to try to start it up? If so, plug only it in, set as first HD to boot in BIOS setup, mark it Active and run Startup Repair three times with reboots to see if it will start up.