Moving system to new partition on new hdd

[Nabarun]

It's not a new problem, and there;s a lot of info out there, but I'm still facing it. I cloned my "7" partition to my new drive and tried to fix the startup using boot DVD, but the damn installer can't "see" the OS, and the "startup repair" and other fixing tools are stuck. I CAN reinstall and reconfigure everything, but it's a LOT of trouble, particularly configuring the HIPS and firewall. Both drives are "mbr". And I'm not booting UEFI. Any ideas? Can Neogrub fix it? I kinda created and formatted the partitions already using Linux, to get rid of the extra stupid PRIMARY partition 7 creates,,, (I mean AFTER the cloning stuff failed).

 

[Jetster]

You have probably spent more time trying to fix it then it would have taken to do a clean install. And you need those extra stupid 100 - 250 mb partition that windows creates

 

[Aquinus]

More information about what is on each partition and how you would like it setup would give us a little more idea for what you're trying to accomplish and what should be in charge. If you're multi-booting, GRUB 2 seems to handle most OSs fairly well, however with that said, you really need to install Windows first. If you're running both 7 and 8, you should install 7 first, then 8, then any linux distro you may be using.

If most of the partitions are just for files, just backup your stuff and nuke the entire drive. I'm sure we can think up a better way for managing your data.

 

[Nabarun]

I just want to make a working copy of my current system partition on another (empty) HDD. Because it takes more than a day to fully configure a system. I tried following lifehacker's guide and made the partition cloning, but then the instal DVD cannot "see" that "new" clone, so I cannot run a startup repair. My question is simple: How can I boot from this new "clone"?

I'm gonna try some more apps to do it, but feel free to throw in some tips if you can.

you need those extra stupid 100 - 250 mb partition that windows creates

It's not about the size, sir It is a waste of 1 of only 4 possible primary partitions in a HDD, which is required for many OS installations. I do know about and use visualization, but there are some stuff which require "real" installs. I usually have multiple Solaris, Linux etc in multiboot setup.

You have probably spent more time trying to fix it then it would have taken to do a clean install

Installation of windows takes 10 - 20 mins, but configuring the system takes up more than a day.

 

[Aquinus]

It's not about the size, sir It is a waste of 1 of only 4 possible primary partitions in a HDD, which is required for many OS installations. I do know about and use visualization, but there are some stuff which require "real" installs. I usually have multiple Solaris, Linux etc in multiboot setup.

You're right. It's not about size. That small partition is the bootloader for Windows. You remove it and you won't be able to boot Windows. It's as simple as that. You should be putting on your *nix partitions on a logical block so you can have as many as you want. What would be even better is using LVM to manage them. That way you only have 3 primary partitions with all your *nix installs under LVM.

A: Windows boot
B: Windows
C: Linux (LVM)
c1: Solaris
c2: Something else
c3: Another something else.

At least, that's how I would do it. I would just re-install everything and do it right from step one. Otherwise you'll spend more time trying to replicate your installation without a good plan on how it should be laid out. I also recommend going the VM route unless you're doing something that explicitly needs access to the GPU or something.

 

[zsolt_93]

Go back to the original had take a cloning software such as Acronis an clone all partitions of the OS to the new drive both the Windows partition and the boot one. After that you can try repair if needed with the old hd plugged off. Otherwise just reinstall.

 

[Nabarun]

Never mind, I have managed to transfer the os with all settings intact.

That small partition is the bootloader for Windows. You remove it and you won't be able to boot Windows. It's as simple as that

That's not true. That portion contains the stuff to "repair" the startup. It is not created if there are no unused space (not partitioned) on the hdd, and windows boots just fine.
I install linux in the end, because it's relatively easier to manage multiple bootloaders with grub2 via chainloading etc.

 

[de.das.dude]

wd arconis tool.
dont listen to what others say, these transfers are actually not that bad.

 

[Nabarun]

wd arconis tool.
dont listen to what others say, these transfers are actually not that bad.

Yeah, I was surprised at how fast these tools are. I just migrated the system drive and ran a startup repair from the dvd.

 

[itsakjt]

There are commands for doing that. When you enter the Windows installation section by booting from the disk, pressing shift + F10 brings up the CMD console. There are commands which will help you create the 100 MB "System Reserved" partition or MBR partitions on BIOS/UEFI systems or will help you create a 100 MB "System" and 250 MB "EFI" partition on GPT partitions exclusively for UEFI computers. I did this a few months back just to make my system UEFI ready. I did those just by using Easeus partition manager(as I had no unallocated free space for the extra partitions) and another copy of Win 7 installed on another HDD different from my primary drive. And trust me I succeeded and not even 1 bit of data was lost. To this day, that installation of Windows 7 still runs along with a dual boot manager containing Win 8 Pro.

 

[Nabarun]

Win 7 installer creates that partition by default, if there' room. I didn't want that