Rats.  I'm changing my notebook (HP dv6436nr) from 160 GB 5400 RPM to 320 GB 7200 RPM. 

I successfully completed a full image of the primary partition.  I then swapped out the drives (I can only have one in the notebook).  I booted into the SP Recovery Environment using Selection 2 since I'm running WinXP Pro.  I used the Restore Wizard to restore the Exact Partition to the beginning of free space and use the MBR from the image file.  Upon reboot I am staring at a blank screen with "NTLDR is Missing.  Press Ctrl, Alt, Delete."

I wipe the partitions from within the RE and try again, this time adding the Restore Hidden Track selection.  Upon reboot I'm staring at the same NTLDR error.  I've searched the manual and the knowledge base and can't find any information. 

This next time I'm going to log into the Vista RE and try the MBR from Windows.  I'll be back in about 19 minutes...

Thanks for the help,

Greg 

P.S.  I'm using ShadowProtect Desktop 3.2.0.2

SOLVED.

I booted into WinXP and loaded the Recovery Console.  I then copied ntldr and ntdetect.com to the root of C:.  Rebooted and voila!  I'm up and running.

The image worked great - it's amazing to have the system boot right up and into Windows, on a brand new drive, as if it had been originally installed there.

 Question: Why were the ntldr and ntdetect.com files not present after restoring the image to the new drive? 

Greg
 

Greg,

Were you running multiple partitions on your system?  ntldr and ntdetect need to be on the boot partition.  I have been using SP for some time now and never had these files omitted from backups.

 Ron 

ps - I use a separate tool to check and assign drive letters after a multiple partition restore prior to booting the new configuration the first time.

Ron,

I had 3 partitions imaged but was only restoring the boot partition.  I have not checked the image to see if it contains the missing files and they simply weren't restored.  Other than ntldr and ntdetect.com everything else came up just fine.   

 ghanson,

Mysterious. "NTLDR is missing" can be a partition order problem. Can you view the boot.ini from the old HD image and see if it references partition(1) or partition(2)? Even though the OS may have been the first physical partition, it may not have been the first partition in the partition table.

Please let us know what you discover from that boot.ini.

Brian,

There is no boot.ini file in the image.  Nor are ntldr or ntdetect.com in the root, although I did find them in \Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386.

But not a boot.ini in sight.  There also isn't a boot.ini on my operating hard drive.  I have two permanent partitions on the drive and only the first partition is active.  Again, though, no boot.ini.

I have View set to show hidden and system files.  I'm running WinXP Pro SP3.  I have an HP dv6436nr, 2 GB RAM, AMD Turion 64 X2 processor.
 

 ghanson,

 Thanks for replying. I think it is important to resolve this issue so it doesn't happen again.

Those 3 files are Protected OS files, so to be seen you have to remove the tick from "Hide protected operating system files" in Folder Options, View tab. I note you have already selected "Show hidden files and folders."  The 3 files will be in the root of your C: drive.

Can you recall the order of the three partitions on your old HD?

Brian,

Well, I guess I qualify as an idiot: I had scanned through Folder Options|View and overlooked that "Hide protected OS files" was checked.

I had 3 partitions on the original drive.  One was created by HP as the Recovery partition.  Boot.ini is found there.  Ntldr and ntdetect.com are also located in the recovery partition.  Here is the original boot.ini:

[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I had not restored partitions 2 and 3 onto the new drive -- I was waiting to put them on until I knew I could get a good restore of my boot partition.

Here is my current boot.ini:

[boot loader]
timeout=20
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional" /Fastdetect

I believe this proves the rule that 99% of the time it is operator error.  (Sheesh!)

Greg

 

 Greg,

 I'm pleased you have the answer.

This article on the boot.ini makes interesting reading.  It explains why the numbering in boot.ini isn't related to the physical order of the partitions.