Re: Resequence Hard Drive Connections

OK guys.
I've got the drives resequenced and running, with the WD as master, SG as
slave (both on IDE1), and the optical drive alone on IDE2. Programs run
although with an occasional hiccup - e.g. the system spontaneously rebooted
when I closed a MS Word file - every time. As I look closer, I'm finding
identical program files on both the WD & the SG drive - like MS Word. Seems
as if when the SG was originally installed, a lot of program files were
copied to it during the install. Things just don't feel 'stable'. I
suspect there's a major catastrophe (O/S reinstall) in my future.

Unless you disagree, I think my next step should be to remove as many
unnecessary files and replaceable programs as possible from the older WD, so
there's room to install SP 2, then format and partition the SG so it's ready
to be cloned from the WD. After the SG is cloned, I'll resequence it to be
the boot master , then if all is well, wipe the WD slave for other use.

If you know, tell me a bit about installing XP, SP 2. Will it prompt for
the XP O/S disk, to verify authenticity? And have you heard of any problems
with installation crashing the system, necessitating an O/S reinstall? Or
should I look elsewhere?

Thanks for the help to-date.

Toyman
______________________________

"The Toyman" <o1nyx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:oVUAf.725703$_o.33361@xxxxxxxxxxxx
:I need to resequence an existing hard drive setup for a friend. He added a
: 160GB Seagate (SG) to supplement a 13GB Western Digital Caviar (WD). The
: Seagate is jumpered as a master - shows up in the BIOS as Primary master
: (plugged into IDE1 connector). The Western Dig. is jumpered as a single
: drive (only drive in the box), and shows up in the BIOS as a Secondary
: master. I think it's showing as Secondary master because it was plugged
: into IDE2 connector on a separate cable. I'll change that to have both on
: the same cable going to IDE1. Boot files were copied from the WD to the
SG,
: and the system boots from the SG.
:
: All programs are on the WD, but the Registry thinks they're still on the
: boot drive (the SG) At least programs won't run from the Start button -
: will run OK from the executable file. To try to hopefully 'fix' things, I
: hope to:
:
: 1. unplug the SG (pull the power & data cable) so the PC sees the WD
as
: the boot drive
: 2. boot the PC
: 3. install XP, SP 2 (so the machine will see all avail. space on the
: SG). Have it on CD from MS. SP 1 has not been installed.
: 4. plug in the SG and jumper it as slave, and jumper the WD as master
: 5. boot the PC
: 6. run Partition Magic (PM) and use the 'copy' function to copy
: (mirror?) all files from the WD to the SG.
: 7. Rejumper the SG as master, and the WD as slave
: 8. Cross my fingers, boot the beast, and hope it works.
:
: Here's a major problem: The XP Pro O/S disk is lost, so if I need to
re-do
: the O/S, I'm up the proverbial 'crick' without the proverbial paddle.
:
: Here's some questions:
:
: 1. I've heard from others who have tried to install SP 2, that it
: could: 1) lock/freeze the O/S, necessitating an O/S reinstall; 2) the O/S
: disk must be inserted to verify it's a legitimate copy before SP 2 will
: install. Having no O/S disk will put me up that 'crick'. Any thoughts
: here?
:
: 2. After I do #'s 1 & 2 above (unplug the SG & boot the PC), is there
: anything I need to do in the BIOS or Windows - e.g. remove the SG from the
: BIOS, or will that happen automatically? And how about Windows?
:
: 3. I assume plugging in the SG (#4 & 5 above) will simply be a case of
: 'follow the instructions', which I have.
:
: 4. Also, when reinstalling the SG, should I format & partition it, or
: leave it alone, since it's formatted, partitioned and in use now?
:
: 5. I've tried running PM from the boot floppy & CD, but keep getting
an
: error message about 'the hard disks are recognized, and the appropriate
: software is installed, but hasn't been activated' (not the exact words,
but
: close). Then it goes back to a DOS prompt. Since the WD wasn't on the
same
: cable as the SG, nor jumpered as a slave, I'm hoping that
: recabling/rejumpering it will 'fix' this problem. If not, then I guess
I'll
: be back for more help. Comments here would be appreciated.
:
: Here's another thought re PM: I've never used PM for this purpose before
: (have Norton Ghost, but have never used it and know nothing about it).
I'm
: assuming that the drive with all of the programs (the WD) needs to be the
: boot drive (maybe not?). I wonder if it's possible to copy all files from
: the WD to the SG, with the SG as the boot drive & the WD as the slave.
Then
: I could simply try to install SP 2 onto the SG, and if successful, use PM
to
: copy all files from the WD to the SG. That's if I can get past the boot,
: error message.
:
: This entire operation should be pretty straight-forward, but since I don't
: have experience, don't know how to respond to the PM error messages, and
: especially since I don't have an XP Pro O/S disk, I'm reluctant to 'damn
the
: torpedoes, full speed ahead'.
:
: Comments, observations & opinions are welcome, particularly if you have
: experience with some or all of this.
:
: I've been to the 'windowsxp.newusers' group - it was suggested I come
here.
:
: Toyman
:
:


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