How to clone my IBM Thinkpad X31's HDD with symantec ghost 8?

[Evil Techie]

hi

im planning to get a samsung 80GB from NCIX for 150$ with an external case too

my X31's HDD is 30GB and is 4200rpm
also im afraid of it dying on me

so

X31 does not have a cdrom drive
so how do i use symantec ghost 8 (which i already have)
to clone it to the new HDD if im getting one

ive been thinking of using a 2.5" to 3.5" ATA adapter to hook up the 30GB to my maindesktop
and dump the image onto the drive there
then switch to new drive and load the image onto new drive

any more idea?
also if old hitachi hdd has bad sectors will ghost clone those bad sectors too?

[chatbox]

Dump the image to a Ghost master (x31 as slave, or is it the other way around...can't remember). Or just dump the image to the Ghostcast server.

[Evil Techie]

hey chatbox thanx for the quick reply

but how do i even get to the console since my X31 doesnt have a cdrom drive?

[chatbox]

create boot floppy with the Ghost Boot Disk Wizard (or something like that)...then plug in your USB FDD drive. (assuming that you have one).

[Evil Techie]

heheh dont have that either

maybe ill use an USB key and boot off that

[nuropa]

if there are bad sectors, ghost will likely fail. in that case, i'd recommend you just copy whatever data you can onto the desktop computer.

2.5 to 3.5 adapter is a good idea. another thing you can do is to use a network boot diskette and ghost it onto the desktop computer over the LAN.

[Gee]

I am in the same situation, I have an X24 and I want to upgrade the drive. However, I have everything needed to Ghost the drives (using 2.5" to 3.5" IDE Adapters).

The problem is the IBM Service Partition. I can Ghost the drives no problem. But when I place the new drive into my system it will not boot. It gives me the following message

NTLD Missing.

Not a big deal. But my main concern is that the IBM Service partition no longer functions. The F11 option disappears when I boot up.

Unfortunately, I don't have the Recovery CDs and I don't want to pay IBM $49 USD for them.

Upon careful examination, I have found that the service partition is 760 Meg Windows ME. I tried to create it manually without success. Here are the details

Partition 1, NTFS 27 Gigs
Partition 2, FAT32, 760 Meg, Active

There is no way to use FDISK to make a primary partition as the second partition on the drive.

Anyone successfully accomplish this, I would really like to know.

[Evil Techie]

ive gone into the bios to make the hidden partition visible

is it still unable to clone properly after uve done that?

ive got recovery CD and so on but dunno how that would help as i want to keep all the software installed on it

[radeonboy]

if there are bad sectors, ghost will likely fail. in that case, i'd recommend you just copy whatever data you can onto the desktop computer.

2.5 to 3.5 adapter is a good idea. another thing you can do is to use a network boot diskette and ghost it onto the desktop computer over the LAN.

Ditto. If Ghost see's bad sectors then it won't proceed; it will give you an error.

[Gee]

ive gone into the bios to make the hidden partition visible

is it still unable to clone properly after uve done that?

ive got recovery CD and so on but dunno how that would help as i want to keep all the software installed on it

Are you kidding? You have it made. What I would do is install the drive into a desktop using a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter and then use the recovery CDs to install the drive. After you do that. Place the new drive into the X31 and then put the old drive into the USB case and transfer your data over. Ghost is not the answer for you.

It doesn't matter if the partition is hidden. Ghost will see it outside the ThinkPad. The problem is with how IBM creates the partition.

IBM seem to format the hard disk in a really weird manner that brings all sorts of problems. I don't totally understand it, but they seem to have setup the partition with 240 cylinders per head rather than the recommended 255. Even Partition Magic doesn't like this and reported my entire hard disk as a bad partition.

The IBM master boot record is comprised of 4 sectors, as opposed to the single sector expected by Norton Ghost. Since the boot is dependent on coding contained in all 4 sectors, the system hangs when it attempts to boot to the incomplete master boot record.

[Mr Nobody]

I am in the same situation, I have an X24 and I want to upgrade the drive. However, I have everything needed to Ghost the drives (using 2.5" to 3.5" IDE Adapters).

The problem is the IBM Service Partition. I can Ghost the drives no problem. But when I place the new drive into my system it will not boot. It gives me the following message

NTLD Missing.

Not a big deal. But my main concern is that the IBM Service partition no longer functions. The F11 option disappears when I boot up.

Unfortunately, I don't have the Recovery CDs and I don't want to pay IBM $49 USD for them.

Upon careful examination, I have found that the service partition is 760 Meg Windows ME. I tried to create it manually without success. Here are the details

Partition 1, NTFS 27 Gigs
Partition 2, FAT32, 760 Meg, Active

There is no way to use FDISK to make a primary partition as the second partition on the drive.

Anyone successfully accomplish this, I would really like to know.

This is an interesting problem. Here's my experience, with a twist. Ghosted the entire drive of a IBM factory load (OS and recovery partition). Restore this to another laptop. No problem. It boots up fine. Restore it to a third laptop. Doesn't boot. Give's a blinking underscore in the top right corner. Pressing the enter key to gain access to the boot option doesn't show the option to boot the recovery partition. Ghosted another factory fresh laptop. Same problem - first laptop is fine, second is toast. I don't recall if I used the exact same laptops for the restores. Never paid much attention to the problem since I don't use the factory load - was just messing around. I have the resources to do more testing since this is all work equipment. Let me see if I can find the time.

In your case, why can't fdisk set the first partition to active? Have you tried using PartitionMagic?

[Gee]

It doesn't matter which partition is active. Partition Magic doesn't even recogonzie it.

After I wrote my post, I had an idea and it seems to be working so far. But this is one tricky situation. Here are the exact problems.

IBM does not use standard boot sectors.
IBM allocates 250 cylinders per head, everyone else uses 255.

You can verifty this in Ghost. Launch Ghost and make an image. When it asks you where you want to save it. Hit the drop down menu and you will see all the available hard drives, including the IBM drive. All the other drives will have 255 next to them and the IBM one will only have 250

As for your blinking cursor problem. The reason you are having problems is because Ghost didn't copy the boot sectors correctly.


This is an interesting problem. Here's my experience, with a twist. Ghosted the entire drive of a IBM factory load (OS and recovery partition). Restore this to another laptop. No problem. It boots up fine. Restore it to a third laptop. Doesn't boot. Give's a blinking underscore in the top right corner. Pressing the enter key to gain access to the boot option doesn't show the option to boot the recovery partition. Ghosted another factory fresh laptop. Same problem - first laptop is fine, second is toast. I don't recall if I used the exact same laptops for the restores. Never paid much attention to the problem since I don't use the factory load - was just messing around. I have the resources to do more testing since this is all work equipment. Let me see if I can find the time.

In your case, why can't fdisk set the first partition to active? Have you tried using PartitionMagic?

[Mr Nobody]

As for your blinking cursor problem. The reason you are having problems is because Ghost didn't copy the boot sectors correctly.

Untrue since restore to one laptop is fine. Restore to a second is not. So there's nothing "wrong" with the image.

[Gee]

Untrue since restore to one laptop is fine. Restore to a second is not. So there's nothing "wrong" with the image.

I think if you looking closely at the drive you successfully cloned. It probably does not have the IBM Service Partition. Boot the machine, and hit F11, if nothing happends. Then you don't have the partition.

My first few attempts gave me a blinking cursor too. Then I got a few NTLD Missing. But I am happy to say, I have got it all working.

[Mr Nobody]

I think if you looking closely at the drive you successfully cloned. It probably does not have the IBM Service Partition. Boot the machine, and hit F11, if nothing happends. Then you don't have the partition.

My first few attempts gave me a blinking cursor too. Then I got a few NTLD Missing. But I am happy to say, I have got it all working.

I'll mess around on my side when I have some time.

What was your resolution?

[Gee]

I'll mess around on my side when I have some time.

What was your resolution?

Took me a while to disect the boot sector. But I found out that there are actually four boot sectors used. That is why there are only 250 Cylinders per head. The rest are use for the boot sector. When you use Ghost, it uses one boot sector. So Ghost will image the drive with 255 Cylinders per head. It gives back the remaining cylinders.

So when you boot after cloning with Ghost, it will hang because it is looking for the other three boot sectors.

Solution?

When you launch Ghost from DOS, use the following switch

ghost -ib

This will copy the boot sectors. If you just launch Ghost, it does not copy the boot sector and creates a single boot sector.

I tested the boot partition and it is working great.

[Mr Nobody]

When you launch Ghost from DOS, use the following switch

ghost -ib

Nice tidbit! [Quickly pulls out Ghost manual to do some reading] :)

[Evil Techie]

very interesting

time to bookmark this thread :D

[Gee]

very interesting

time to bookmark this thread :D

If you want to make an exact copy of your Hard Drive. Then save youself some grief. Forget the USB enclosure, unless that is where you plan on putting the old hard drive.

Get the 2.5" Adapters (you will need two of them) and use a regular desktop to Ghost the drives.

Ghost 8.0 Corporate uses two floppies. After the first one boots. Hit F5 to exit into DOS

Insert the second floppy and type

cd\ghost
ghost -ib

Then clone Disk to Disk. But adjust the size of the Service partition to match the original drive. After that is done, go back to the primary partition and enter a big number to use up the available space freed up from service partition. 1000000 is a good number.

Then you are off to the races. If your original drive is starting to die off, better do it soon.

[Evil Techie]

If you want to make an exact copy of your Hard Drive. Then save youself some grief. Forget the USB enclosure, unless that is where you plan on putting the old hard drive.

Get the 2.5" Adapters (you will need two of them) and use a regular desktop to Ghost the drives.

Ghost 8.0 Corporate uses two floppies. After the first one boots. Hit F5 to exit into DOS

Insert the second floppy and type

cd\ghost
ghost -ib

Then clone Disk to Disk. But adjust the size of the Service partition to match the original drive. After that is done, go back to the primary partition and enter a big number to use up the available space freed up from service partition. 1000000 is a good number.

Then you are off to the races. If your original drive is starting to die off, better do it soon.

ah thanx

im only noted the external enclosure for the sake that it is a good deal
and i can use my old drive as an external storage solution after the cloning is done

now ive gotta find the 2.5" adapters locally

[Gee]

ah thanx

im only noted the external enclosure for the sake that it is a good deal
and i can use my old drive as an external storage solution after the cloning is done

now ive gotta find the 2.5" adapters locally

You can usually find them for about $15. Well worth it. I would pick up a pair.

[chatbox]

You can usually find them for about $15. Well worth it. I would pick up a pair.

hehe...they're only $10 bucks here, in HKD :cheesygri

[7-Endless]

Would another option be to use either a Ghostcast server or Acronis True Image Enterprise Server to do the image over a network?

[chatbox]

Would another option be to use either a Ghostcast server or Acronis True Image Enterprise Server to do the image over a network?

Mentioned that, 2nd post (first reply).

[7-Endless]

Mentioned that, 2nd post (first reply).


Sorry my bad :|

[Gee]

hehe...they're only $10 bucks here, in HKD :cheesygri

That is only $2 Cdn. Maybe you can send some over.

[akide]

easiest way is to connect a external hard drive.. and then just dump it over..
no fuss no muss and no need to take out your laptop hard drive and then bust open your desktop computer and connect it up..
cheers and good luck.

[Gee]

easiest way is to connect a external hard drive.. and then just dump it over..
no fuss no muss and no need to take out your laptop hard drive and then bust open your desktop computer and connect it up..
cheers and good luck.

Ghost has to be booted from a Floppy drive. He has an IBM X31 Notebook. There is no CD, no Floppy on this notebook and he doesn't have the dock.

Unless he has a USB floppy drive or CD ROM, he will have to remove the drive. He has to remove it upgrade it anyways.

[Evil Techie]

i think ill just get an external case for a cdrom drive
ive got plenty of burners and readers lying around
and do a clean install using the recovery CDs

will it use up my winxp cd key if using the recovery CDs?

[Gee]

i think ill just get an external case for a cdrom drive
ive got plenty of burners and readers lying around
and do a clean install using the recovery CDs

will it use up my winxp cd key if using the recovery CDs?

If you use the recovery CDs. it will basically make an image of the factory install of the X31. So it will not ask for the CD key.