"Bonobo" <Bonobo@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2FC82D84-2FFA-4EAE-86E4-A3282F707AC0@microsoft.com...
> I do appreciate all the comments that have been given so far. I've taken
> into consideration all the issues raised.
>
> Will try to answer some of Uncle John's concerns within his post. See
below.
>
> "Uncle John" wrote:
>
> > Pegasus
> >
> > I believe you misunderstood me, I said
> >
> > " Casper XP or Acronis True Image do routinely copy or clone the old
drive C
> > to the new drive D. It will boot and Windows will of course call the new
> > drive D and call the old drive C ........."
> >
> > That is, if the original system disk is
> > " Disk 0 'D' " and the new disk is
> > " Disk1 'C' "
>
> The original system disk is Disk0 'C' ; which is a 40GB WD with Win98SE
that
> is on the way 'South'
> Disk1 'D'; is a 80GB WD with XP Pro.
>
> The system is set for dual booting; I can select Win98, XP or Recovery
> Console. Both drives are formatted Fat32.
>
> > the drive letter "D" will be maintained if the new disk is booted as the
new
> > system disk the drive letters will be reversed. In the management
Console
> > you will then see
> > "Disk 1 'D'
> > "Disk 0 'C' "
> >
> > To go further and change the Drive letter of the [new] System Disk to
'C' I
> > would need use software that usually works involving the change of mount
> > points and registry addresses which is very time consuming and not 100%
> > certain: I only do this if the drive letter had been corrupted already.
> >
>
> I've seen a post (can't recall where) that states that there is some
utility
> that will allow 'Find & Replace' on enties in the Registry. Given some of
> the other problems Pegasus has outlined, not sure if this will entirely
fix
> all the problems.
>
> Would like to know if anyone has had experience with this sort of utility.
>
>
> > Since neither of us saw the original post we do not know why the poster
was
> > trying to change the drive letter so may this technical chat is
irrelevant!
> > --
>
> In a nutshell, I would like to wind up with C: being XP on a 160GB drive
> (New), the current XP disk (which is D to be used as additional storage
> (after everything has been moved to the new disk and cleaned up to see all
> current programs and Registry entries as belonging on C. This takes the
> current C: (which is on the way South) out of the equation.
>
> Didn't think it would be this difficult, but learning everyhour. Again,
> thanks for all the feedback and if there are others who have gone through
> this, would really appreciate hearning about your experience.
>
> Bonobo1
>
>
> > Uncle John
> > "Pegasus" <I.can@fly.com> wrote in message
> > news:eQOy3FA%23FHA.1312@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> > >I did not see the "very" original post, hence my reply to what
> > > appears to be the first respondent.
> > >
> > > I have never ever seen a successful move of a Windows
> > > installation from one drive to another, unless the drive
> > > letter was maintainted (which is, in fact, possible). There
> > > are three reasons:
> > > - The registry is full of references to the original drive letter.
> > > They would have to be fixed, without inadvertently altering
> > > strings that do not relate to drive letters (e.g. altering
> > > "Office:smarttags" to "Officc:smarttags").
> > > - There are a number of binary references in the registry to
> > > the system drive letter. They must be changed too, without
> > > inadvertent corruption.
> > > - There are also some disk files that contain drive letter references.
> > >
> > > Now I'm not dogmatic about this. When I see a reasonable number
> > > of independent reports from competent posters that products like
> > > TrueImage can do it reliably then I'll accept it. Your claim is one
> > > solitary report - perhaps there will be more.
> > >
> > >
> > > "Uncle John" <unclejohn@uselesnospam.com> wrote in message
> > > news:#gbbtz$9FHA.2676@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> > >> Pegasus
> > >> Is the original post, which I do not see, talking about changing
drives
> > >> or
> > >> drive letters?
> > >> Of course it is easy simple to move System from Windows Drive "D" to
"C"
> > >> provided the user remembers that Windows does not assign drive letter
in
> > > the
> > >> same order as the bios.
> > >>
> > >> Casper XP or Acronis True Image do routinely copy or clone the old
drive
> > > C
> > >> to the new drive D. It will boot and Windows will of course call the
new
> > >> drive D and call the old drive C but underneath the GUI it knows that
> > >> what
> > >> it says it what it means, a bit like Alice in Wonderland!
> > >>
> > >> With boot disk switching in the bios it can be tricky, without using
> > >> Explorer, to know which disk has booted unless some prominent new
object
> > > it
> > >> placed on the original desktop just before rebooting
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Uncle John
> > >> "Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com> wrote in message
> > >> news:uJ2ISo99FHA.356@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > >> > It seems there is some misinformation in this thread. The basic
facts
> > > are:
> > >> >
> > >> > a) If WinXP saw the light of the day on drive D: then it must
always
> > >> > run off a drive letter D:. The reason is simple: The registry is
> > >> > full
> > >> > of references to drive D:, and if the system drive is C: all of
a
> > >> > sudden
> > >> > then you will end up with a very unhappy Windows installation.
> > >> >
> > >> > b) It is possible to run Windows off the very first partition while
> > > still
> > >> > calling it "Drive C:". Unfortunately it is not an easy matter to
> > >> > arrange
> > >> > this, and the probability of a mistake is high, resulting in an
> > >> > unbootable system.
> > >> >
> > >> > To avoid this type of problem in future, use a proper boot loader
such
> > >> > as XOSL. It's free. It lets you install any number of OSs on
separate
> > >> > partitions, each visible as drive C:.
> > >> >
> > >> > You can resolve your current predicament as follows. It will give
you
> > >> > a large boot disk which you can use to store your data, with WinXP
> > >> > still running off drive D:.
> > >> >
> > >> > 1. Install your 160 GByte disk temporarily as the secondary slave
disk.
> > >> > 2. Launch WinXP.
> > >> > 3. Partition/format the 160 GByte disk.
> > >> > 4. Mark it as "active".
> > >> > 5. Copy these hidden files to it:
> > >> > c:\ntldr
> > >> > c:\ntdetect.com
> > >> > c:\boot.ini
> > >> > 6. Disconnect the 40 GByte disk.
> > >> > 7. Make the 160 GByte disk the primary master disk.
> > >> > 8. See if you can boot into WinXP.
> > >> > 9. If you can't, use your WinXP CD to boot into the Recovery
Console,
> > >> > then issue these commands:
> > >> > fixboot
> > >> > fixmbr
> > >> >
> > >> > This is a safe path to follow, because you keep both existing disks
> > >> > intact.
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> > "BlÄckCaT" <BlckCaT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > >> > news:5E632732-55FD-49AF-BD54-4E3B12E4276A@microsoft.com...
> > >> >> Hello Bonobo,
> > >> >>
> > >> >> All that you want to do is possible, there are threads in these
forums
> > >> >> for
> > >> >> doing a repair install of Xp as well as how to go about swapping
hard
> > >> > drives
> > >> >> with Xp already installed.
> > >> >>
> > >> >> Do a search on "Repair Install Xp" as well as swapping harddrives
> > >> >> with
> > >> >> Xp
> > >> >> already loaded on it ( I've gone through it a few months ago )
all
> > >> >> went
> > >> >> well the forums here are great....
> > >> >>
> > >> >> Cheers and good luck, you'll have no problems doing what you have
> > >> >> planned.
> > >> >>
> > >> >> "Bonobo" wrote:
> > >> >>
> > >> >> > Have somewhat of a problem and not quite sure how to go about
> > >> >> > solving
> > >> >> > it
> > >> > and
> > >> >> > remain legal.
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > Current system is:
> > >> >> > C:\ = Western Digital 40GB (Win98SE) - Going bad
> > >> >> > D:\ = Western Digital 80GB (XP Pro) - Used the most
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > Current configuration is dual-booted. Very seldom do I use the
> > >> >> > Win98
> > >> > and
> > >> >> > have copied and save most of the files I'd want to keep. Both
disk
> > > are
> > >> > FAT32.
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > What I would like to wind up with in the end is:
> > >> >> > C:\ = Western Digital 160GB (With copied system from D: above)
NEW
> > >> > Drive
> > >> >> > D:\ = Western Digital 80GB (Used for additional storage after
> > >> > everthing
> > >> >> > has been copied to the NEW C: and verified working correctly and
old
> > > OS
> > >> >> > deleted).
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > This would then net the original C:\ (WD 40GB) gone.
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > I've read in various post that one possible solution to the
above is
> > > to
> > >> > use
> > >> >> > the Drive manufacturer's copy utility to make the move (if there
is
> > >> > one).
> > >> >> > Assuming that one exist and it works, then my question becomes:
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > How will I get the Registry to know that programs now exist on
C:
> > >> >> > rather
> > >> >> > than D:, and are there any other problems I might have to worry
> > >> >> > about.??
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > I'm sure this has been asked numerous of times, but I've looked
and
> > >> >> > have
> > >> > not
> > >> >> > found an answer that really makes me comfortable with
undertaking
> > >> >> > the
> > >> > task.
> > >> >> > It's not a matter of will the C: die, but when; and I'd like to
make
> > >> >> > the
> > >> > move
> > >> >> > before it does.
> > >> >> >
> > >> >> > Thanks for any assistance!

After you remove your first disk and reboot the machine,
the Windows system drive letter will most likely be moved
to C:. To move it back to D:, you must rename this registry
value:
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\C: to DosDevices\D:

Nothing else needs to be changed. Even though Windows
is now located on the very first partition, it will still be visible
on drive D:.

Doing this is easy if the machine is networked, and much
harder if it is not. Without the appropriate experience, you
risk losing the installation altogether, as said before.