Re: replacing boot and only disk drive
On Sun, 23 Nov 2014 13:17:24 -0800, seeker5528 wrote:
> On 11/23/2014 12:03 PM, Doug wrote:
>> Yes, grub can boot Windows _just fine_ if Windows is bootable. Windows
>> wants to be "activated" and I found that GParted's activation does not
>> suffice.That's why I mentioned obtaining a program to activate Windows.
>> If you only have one computer, you should get that before you mess
>> around.
>> (I don't pretend to know why this happens, only that it does. That's
>> why there are programs available to take care of that problem.)
>>
>> --doug
>
> Windows activation is a separate issue, but I'm assuming you meant...
> Windows needs to be on the active partition.
>
> Setting the partition flag to bootable/active in gparted works fine for
> this.
My laptop uses the old BIOS with an MBR. I understand gparted converts
the driver to the new partition structure. Can XP handle that?
> It's the PBR (Partition Boot Record) that is the issue.
>
> If I remember correctly using the copy/paste feature in gparted to copy
> the partition to the new drive will copy the PBR, if someone knows
> different please correct me.
Would dd'ing the entire partition suffice? As long as the new partition
is the same size or slightly larger?
>
> If you need to write a new PBR.
>
> Booting off the XP install disk, going to the recovery console and using
> the fixboot command will write a new PBR.
No XP install disk. Any chance of using the old Windows XP to do this to
the new drive when it's on a USBtoIDE interface?
Well, I might be able to find an XP disk somewhere, but it won't be for
the same version of XP.
>
> Booting from Vista or Windows 7 install disk, going into the recovery
> tools,
> command prompt, and using the bootsect command also works
>
> bootsect /?
>
> for a list of options. Bootsect has an option for writing an XP
> compatible PBR.
Might work. I'll have to see if I can find such a Windows disk.
>
> Later, Seeker
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