reinstall windows?

A

adder1

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I want to install windows on a different hard disc but at the same time keep my old installation. I clone the disc then restored it to new disc while windows booted and the desk top came up I could not use it (it could not find any files) i assume this is because it kept paths to files to the c drive intact instead of reasigning them to new drive.
I remember reading somewhere windows keeps a file with the activation codes and if this was copied to a fresh installation there would be no need to reactivate as long as the same hardware was used if some one knows where this file is located this would be great as i could simply install onto the alternate disc copy the file with out having to reactivate and risk losing access to my main instalation

any help greatfully appreciated thanks
 
How exactly did you clone the drive and what did you do afterwards with the new copy?
 
After making the image but before restoring it to the new drive did you remove the old drive and install the new one to replace it? Cloning a drive should make an exact copy and then if you restore it to another drive which appears with the same drive letter (presumably C: ) then you should be able to use your machine as if nothing had changed.
 
No I wanted to keep the main drive c: and be able to boot into either drive because I wanted to install a program (pinnacle studio)that seems to cause problems to my main installation it seems to prevent cds and dvds from launching automaticaly and seems to cause several crashes. It once crashed and prevented the system from starting as I had cloned the drive I was able to recover without much problem after uninstalling the programme there was no more problems. I thought if I could install on another drive and leave just that programme on it would be easier but I would have to reactivate windows. I seem to remember reading some where that windows keeps a file that you could copy to a new installation on the same machine and it would not require reactivation as it is the same hardware. I may be wrong

I forgot to mention that I also added an extra line in the boot.ini file (using regtoy) to point to the new disc as follows

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition1" /FASTDETECT

As I had cloned the drive I had a backup in case anything went wrong I normaly save the backup file to a removeable drive as a extra precaution

if all else fails I can install a caddy for the main drive and swap drives as needed but this is an awkward solution and the drive would not be cooled by the hd bay fan. I already have a caddy installed for backup purposes

I am no expert at this and appreciate your help, Thanks for your reply
 
If the original drive is still C: and the cloned one is D: then it won't work without some hacking.
 
baldyman27 said:
This would make me a complete imbecile :eek:
Click to expand...

afraid I am not expert as I got the info how to do this from the help pages in magazines and as making the backups and restoring them is fairly easy using acronis (after a few mishaps). I thought to give it a try with some variations but as you can see it did not work very well so I am stuck at the moment
 
How about a fresh windows install on the new drive ? You can then use the new drive for pinnacle only. I did this once and I didn't need to reactivate windows (using the files in the i386 folder on my original image for the windows installation)
 
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