TeraByte Unlimited

=== edit === after 4 viewers -- sorry guys, my bad

I saw how it worked in IFL, to I went back to IFW and saw that it works the same there. So I removed all partitions and MBR data from the target SATA, fed it a totally blank SATA as target, and I set
[v] set active
[v] update boot.ini
[v] update boot partition
[v] write std mbr code

the system boots -- it does take forever for logical disk management services to "find new hardware" It's not like a regular restore back into the original sata.

feed it a blank SATA, no formats no partitions, check the above boxes ...

?is that the general rule I need to follow to build a stable system on a new hdd?

then use a partition manager to expand the old 10G out to 20G, and back fill the rest of the hdd with space for data. Then I will have enouigh space to update to latest version ...

=== everything below is edited out ===

I have two SATA HDDs

One is old 200G sata with OS XPsp3 on 1st partition. The partition is 10G and it's too small.

I have a newly formatted blank 500G sata, with a blank 20G 1st partition.

When I run backup, IFW requires that I select the partition to be backed up. That would be the partition on old drive SATA-1_partition-1. IFW requires that I then put the image in a file. That wouid be an extended partition on SATA-1_partition-2.

I want to restore the image from SATA-1_partition-1 (10G), to new HDD and new partition, SATA-2_partition_1 (20G).

When I select the file to backup, I am given only one option -- to backup back to original SATA-1_partition-1. I'm not allowed any other options. However, IFW is seeing all the drives and partitions. When I was instructed to chose a partition to backup, all drives and partitions were there. When I was asked to chose a target hdd and folder to save the image to, IFW is seeing all HDDs in the computer.

=== edit a few minutes later ===

when I boot out of Windows (IFW is preferred) and boot IFL, IFL allows me to choose a different target drive for the restore. I accept all the defaults. (I assume IFL knows that once I change the target drive from data stored in the image, then I am restoring to a new geometry, i.e. to a blank SATA2, so I assume IFL resets the defaults to accomodate the "usual" for that situation) Set active is blank, update boot.ini is blank, update boot partition blank, write standard MBR code blank (even though I would probably prefer writing std code to MBF to writing non standard code ... but I think the question is write any MBR code to target drive.

SATA2 is totally blank, so I coudl remove all partitions and partition tables an then restore a 10G partition, and then expand the 10G to 20G? and then backfill the remaining space with an extended partition containing logical partitions for data? I have 2 primary partitions, 1-boot active for the OS, and 1-extended for container. Then I have or want 3 logical data partitions inside the extended.

What do I do? Do I have the wrong codes? Is there a way to do this with IFW? I'm planning my entire system on that idea. that I can use IFW to restore an image wherever I need to (as long as there's adequate space obviously).

Thanks.

molecule wrote:
> the system boots -- it does take forever for logical disk management
> services to "find new hardware" It's not like a regular restore
> back into the original sata.

Depending on the system it can take a while for Windows to adjust and show that it has detected the new drive. However, there isn't normally a large time difference in the boot-up if nothing else has changed. Slower systems can be affected more, though. Were later boot-ups normal?

> then use a partition manager to expand the old 10G out to 20G, and back
> fill the rest of the hdd with space for data. Then I will have enouigh
> space to update to latest version ...

Assuming no file system errors, you could also resize the partition larger as part of the restore.

Thanks Paul!

I have an image of a 16G boot partition with my operating system on it.
I want to move the OS to a larger hard drive. I remove the front partition so it has 20G of open space in the front.
BUT, the rest of the drive is not empty. Beginning at 20G to the end of HDD it has an existing logical partition with 180G of data.

Can I do this? What options should I consider regarding restoring MBR etc?
When IFW restores a 16G boot image into 20G of clear space (waiting for partition 1, will the required changes to MBR [wipe out | not wipe out] any partitions in the back?
I think I read that in the manual, but I'm a little jumpy so I thought I'd ask. (I hope my quesiton make sense ...)

I have been using the following ... But I have been using these opetions while practicing with smaller drives that were totally blanked out.
[ ? ] set active?
[ ? ] update boot.ini?
[ ? ] update boot partition?
[ ? ] write std mbr code?
[ ? ] other?

Thanks,

Bert

Those options should be fine (you can also resize the partition as part of the restore by specifying the new size). Restoring to the free space won't affect the existing partition(s). Note that there would be a warning shown if any partitions would be deleted to do the restore. That being said, it's always good to have a backup of any important data.

Thanks Paul

I'm going to leave a 1g gap of unformatted space between the primary boot and the logical partitions that are behind it. The idea is that no matter which backup file for a 20g OS I am restoring from IFW will always have 21g of empty space to put it in.

I'm gettting more comfortable with IFW. Should have worked through this long ago. The whole team and product have been very helpful.