Is it possible to transfer boot files from one hard drive to another?
I have 2 hard drives (S-ATA): one is a 320GB, and the other is a 1TB.
I have Windows XP installed on the 1TB drive, yet I notice that these bootup folders and files are on the 320GB drive:
[$RECYCLE.BIN]
[RECYCLER]
[System Volume Information]
AUTOEXEC.BAT
boot.ini
CONFIG.SYS
IO.SYS
MSDOS.SYS
NTDETECT.COM
ntldr
pagefile.sys
Therefore, when I wanted to use this 320GB drive for another computer (that had a defective hard drive), I backed up all the important data from the drive, then I took the drive out, then booted the computer back up, just to make sure it still works. That's when I got that "Reboot and select proper boot device" error.
I guess this is because the boot files got created on the 320GB drive (which is NOT the drive that Windows XP is installed onto) instead of the 1TB drive.
So, what I'd like to know is if I can somehow just copy the folders and files (including hidden ones) and then be able to boot from the 1TB drive. I doubt it would be that simple, but there MUST be a way to transfer the boot information to the 1TB drive.
Does it have something to do with BootMBR, or Windows Recovery, or something like that?
I don't want to change anything until I get some opinions from others.
Thanks.
I have 2 hard drives (S-ATA): one is a 320GB, and the other is a 1TB.
I have Windows XP installed on the 1TB drive, yet I notice that these bootup folders and files are on the 320GB drive:
[$RECYCLE.BIN]
[RECYCLER]
[System Volume Information]
AUTOEXEC.BAT
boot.ini
CONFIG.SYS
IO.SYS
MSDOS.SYS
NTDETECT.COM
ntldr
pagefile.sys
Therefore, when I wanted to use this 320GB drive for another computer (that had a defective hard drive), I backed up all the important data from the drive, then I took the drive out, then booted the computer back up, just to make sure it still works. That's when I got that "Reboot and select proper boot device" error.
I guess this is because the boot files got created on the 320GB drive (which is NOT the drive that Windows XP is installed onto) instead of the 1TB drive.
So, what I'd like to know is if I can somehow just copy the folders and files (including hidden ones) and then be able to boot from the 1TB drive. I doubt it would be that simple, but there MUST be a way to transfer the boot information to the 1TB drive.
Does it have something to do with BootMBR, or Windows Recovery, or something like that?
I don't want to change anything until I get some opinions from others.
Thanks.
