Other Norton Products

[808Dave]

I used the 'copy drive wizard' to copy my old c-drive to an SSD, then found I couldn't boot with new drive.  That's when I came across the post at http://community.norton.com/t5/Other-Norton-Products/Windows-7-migration-with-Ghost-15-copy-function... (to which I for some reason can't reply to continue that thread - why?)  

I followed what I think was the intent of that fix:

"It happened because you had a drive letter already assigned to the new drive.

You need to do the "copy disk" onto a drive without any partitions or drive letters assigned so that it can become C when it boots like the original.

You can either delete the partitions and do the drive copy again into unpartitioned space, or..."

I decided that rather than go off on possibly still more tangents, I would skip the "or..." part of that and just start over with the copy procedure.  

Parenthetically, I am wondering why it is that Norton STILL hasn't fixed/clarified these instructions.  There's been ample time, and I only just downloaded the latest version, plus it's gotta be a huge proportion of users that want to do just what I am trying to do:  migrate to a new C-drive without having to reload their whole existence in the process.  BTW, it's also necessary to check the box that says "show hidden drives," or the unlettered drive doesn't appear on the list.  Why not make this a less hours-of-frustration-y process by providing a specific wizard for "replacing your OS drive" or some such?

Anyway, no, another couple of hours of drive-copying has still not fixed my issue - still won't boot, and the suggested 'repair OS' options fail with my Windows disc inserted.  Looking at Norton's copy drive wizard now, I see that the new SSD is named identically to my C-drive, but there's been no magical assignment of the letter "C" to it, nor do I know when that's supposed to happen.  It's now called *:\ , while the orig C-drive is C:\.  

How does unlettered clone become new C-drive, then?

[Brian_K]

808Dave,

I'm not sure what you have done.

Did you copy your OS to a partition with a drive letter?

Did you try to boot the SSD while the old HD was still in the computer?

[Brian_K]

Also, can you post a screenshot of Disk Management on the old HD? Or a link to a screenshot?

Are you using Ghost 15 SP1? Live update produces this version.

Which OS are you using?

How large is your C: drive?

How much free space is in the C: drive?

What size is the SSD?

What error messages or monitor appearance did you see when the SSD wouldn't boot? The errrors give us a good idea of what went wrong.

[808Dave]

Brian - answering your followups:

Did you copy your OS to a partition with a drive letter?

Initially, yes, I allowed it to be named "E".  That's when I got a blue screen with the "non genuine Windows 7" message that, after some googling, took me to this forum, specifically to the post I linked earlier in which Dave directed another victim to "delete the partitions and do the drive copy again into unpartitioned space."

I did that - re-copied the C-drive rather than trying to go through whatever the added steps would have been to try to salvage the first attempt - taking pains NOT  to assign a drive letter.  As I wrote, rebooting after that failed repeatedly, and I wasted more time trying to use the Windows install disc to effect repairs (it's the only suggestion offered during the reboot/fail process).

Did you try to boot the SSD while the old HD was still in the computer?

After the above failures, yes, I had to go back to the original C-drive to have any functionality.  That's when I found the just-cloned SSD is un-lettered - it only shows up in Ghost as a "hidden drive," probably because it's got a wild-card (*) instead of a letter as its name.  I'm guessing this isn't as simple as using a boot disc and renaming the SSD during that boot, right?

Your next post had some added questions:

Also, can you post a screenshot of Disk Management on the old HD? Or a link to a screenshot?

Tried to, taking great pains to do this by transfering from other computer to this one - but this forum gives me guff about the attachment - wants extension to be .txt, .log, .lue (.wtf?  not even a pdf allowed?)

Are you using Ghost 15 SP1? Live update produces this version.

Purchased and installed yesterday, and did Live Update, so I think so.

Which OS are you using?

Win 7 home prem 32 bit.

How large is your C: drive?

Old = 80GB, new (SSD) = 120GB

How much free space is in the C: drive?

Old has 67.5GB in use, of 74.5GB total.  

What size is the SSD? New is 120GB.

What error messages or monitor appearance did you see when the SSD wouldn't boot? The errrors give us a good idea of what went wrong.

"windows failed to start.  A recent hardware or software change might have...", followed by suggestions for using windows install disc to repair - then,

Status:  0xc000000e

Info:  The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.

Over 10-20 reboot attempts, I many times set the boot device to the SSD (no difference).  I also tried using the Win7 install disc to 'repair' via the "launch startup repair" option - also a failure.  Since my SSD doesn't have a drive letter, as I discovered later, this doesn't surprise me greatly.

-------------------

If I'm still on my way down the rabbit-hole, I'd much rather I'd spent the previous hours, plus time to come, in reloading Windows on the new SSD - tell me and I'll abort now.  Ghost isn't any timesaver in this regard from my experience thus far, plus it seems it may result in my transporting unwanted problems to the new installation.  This was supposed to be a quick and relatively painless way to migrate and to see if it worked well, but clearly not so, at least for me.  Please advise.

--Dave

[Brian_K]

Dave,

Thanks for the answers. Yes, it should have been an easy process and yes, the Ghost userguide for Copy Drive is a disaster.

To post a screenshot of Disk Management ...

http://community.norton.com/t5/Forum-Feedback/Forum-Tip-How-to-post-screenshots-in-the-forum/td-p/25...

The booting OS assigns the drive letters. As you chose a drive letter of "none" when you did Copy Drive, the Win7 on the SSD will not have a drive letter when the old HD has the booting OS. This is correct. When the SSD boots on its own it will assign C: drive letter to itself.

The main issues we see with Copy Drive are..

failure to copy the SRP or the partition containing the booting files. It doesn't sound like you have a SRP.

copying into a partition with a drive letter

booting the new HD with the old HD still in the computer

Where are you at now? Are you still getting a Windows Boot Manager screen? (the black screen with white text)

Did you zero the Disk Signature at any time?

Are you familiar with Diskpart?

I know you now have both drives in the computer but since the latest Copy Drive did you try to boot the SSD with both drives attached to the motherboard?

Did you use the options below? I guess so because your first Copy Drive booted. However you said "I allowed it to be named "E"." Do you mean you chose the Drive letter of E: in Ghost or did you copy to a partition on the SSD which had the E: drive letter?

http://community.norton.com/t5/Other-Norton-Products/Ghost-15-options-for-recovery/td-p/218202

[808Dave]

Brian - thanks for the image-upload instructions.  ('Tree.'  How could I not know?)

Where are you at now? Are you still getting a Windows Boot Manager screen? (the black screen with white text)

Yes - black screens aplenty.

Did you zero the Disk Signature at any time?

I didn't even want to figure out what this meant when it was mentioned as an option in Dave_H's post so no, not that I know of.

Are you familiar with Diskpart?

Nope.  Partitioning utility?

I know you now have both drives in the computer but since the latest Copy Drive did you try to boot the SSD with both drives attached to the motherboard?

Yes, probably several times - after the first failed boot, for example.  Never occurred to me to disconnect the SSD after that, if that was important.

Did you use the options below?

I don't know what SRP means - something to do with recovery point?  Which of those sequences you posted applies to my setting?  I followed the Win7 procedure you provided but just based on dead reckoning:

Check source for file system errors
Check destination for file system errors
Resize drive to fill unallocated space (ONLY if you want to)
DON'T SELECT Disable SmartSector copying
DON'T SELECT Ignore bad sectors during copy
Destination partition type : Primary
Drive letter : None

...I guess so because your first Copy Drive booted. However you said "I allowed it to be named "E"." Do you mean you chose the Drive letter of E: in Ghost or did you copy to a partition on the SSD which had the E: drive letter?

"E" was the default option offered by Ghost when I did the first copy go-round, as I recall.  Didn't copy any partitions that had that letter, no.  ONLY the old C-drive was used as source, ever, and it's not partitioned - I've not had any other drives connected during this process.

[Brian_K]

Dave,

You can see your screenshot but we can't until it is approved. Hopefully soon.

One last question. When you did Copy Drive on the last occasion, was there a drive letter for the SSD in Ghost? A drive letter before you did the copy?

[808Dave]

No drive letter from me, nor from any process outside yet.  It's still blank, called "WD 80GB (*:\)", apparently named after the old C-drive, which is called  "WD 80GB (C:\)"  (Size isn't the same in reality, of course - that's just the cloned name.)

BTW, why doesn't the forum check-box for "Email me when someone replies" work, ever?

[Brian_K]

Dave,

Still can't see your screenshot. In the meantime I think you should start again and there are a few things you can do until we see the screenshot.

Both drives in the computer. Win7 running. Open an Administrator command prompt. (right click on Command Prompt in Accessories, Run as administrator) Press Enter after each line.

diskpart

list disk

select disk X          (X is the number of your SSD)

list disk                   (make sure the * is next to your SSD)

clean

exit

exit

Open Disk Management. You should see an Initialize Disk window.

Choose MBR, not GPT, click OK.
The Disk will remain Unallocated. There is no partition.

That's all at present.

[DaveH]

Every Sunday we all sit here waiting and waiting for a picture to get approved.  They must be all out hunting Easter eggs.