I’m trying to clone my hard disk partitions, 'coz I’m switching from a 20GB drive to a new 80GB drive.
I’m using PowerQuest Drive Image ver. 7. It’s giving an error saying something to the effect that the active FAT doesn’t match the redundant FAT copies. and therefore cannot complete the drive imaging process.
I’m trying to clone my system partition on C:, which has Windows XP with FAT32.
Is there any utility that can fix this FAT error and create identical copies of all FAT entries ?
Is there any other utility that can clone an image of the active system partition so that I can restore it on a new drive ?
First of all, you have an error on the hard drive. This error must be fixed. While MS OSes come with their own disk fixing tools, better commercial programs are available. Do not do anything with the old disk until this problem is fixed.
Secondly, your new hard drive should have come with software to copy your old disk to the new one. If for some reason you lost it, download the software from the new disk maker’s web site.
Thirdly, never use XXCOPY and such to copy whole disks/partitions. They do not make perfect copies. XXCOPY’s own web site FAQ clearly points this out and why it is inherent. But since the OP has XP …
It seems you’re right that XXCOPY might not work for the OP since it won’t copy certain system files when run from within XP/2K/NT, and apparently there are problems with very long path names if you run it in real mode. You could copy just the system files from real mode, but you’d have to know exactly which files. I will point out that the XXCOPY method works fine under Windows 95/98/Me. You have to make the target partition bootable yourself, of course. I done it dozens of times with no problems.
Again, do not use XXCOPY for drive/partition copying. It will do an admirable job but it will not do a perfect job. In Win9X family, it will screw up long/short filename associations. In particular, long OS file names with short names in the registry (which are used during bootup) are a major worry.
And again, just read the XXCOPY docs for details of how and why.
I’ve had a good look round www.xxcopy.com and assume you’re referring to this bit:
That only applies if you are copying between different file systems. If you are simply cloning a partition, the short file names are correctly preserved.
Usram: Umm, you read the info but think it somehow doesn’t apply? Of course it does. Copying is copying. Across directories, partitions, drives, same problem.
I went thru this argument a year or so ago here. Some guy “just didn’t get it.” I finally ended up giving code that showed precisely how the problem does indeed occur.
Don’t make me go there.
How you think long and short names are matched up and how they really are matched up are two different things. (And this is getting way off the OP since NT-class OSes have their own special copying problems.)
Again (how many times does this make?), do not use XXCOPY for partition/drive copying.
I do not intend to use xcopy, partly for the reasons mentioned and partly because it also messes up the attributes. It also takes way longer than a bit-copy would, especially on such a large volume. Besides I’m not sure how it will handle deep trees.
I was looking for a bit level copying utility. The trial version of Acronis True Image seems to have cloned my disk successfully, and with ease. I am still to test the boot up on the new hard disk. I’ll do that tonight. But it did it without the FAT error that PowerQuest Drive Image was giving me.
Strange thing is that chkdsk c: /f under Windows XP and scandisk c: /surface in DOS show no errors on the old (current) hard disk. Scandisk shows the FAT to be correct. So I’m wondering whether PowerQuest Drive Image’s statement was correct, and if so how do I check for and correct this using some 3rd party utility.