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My PC has two hard drives, each 160GB (153GB when formatted) arranged as triple boot as follows

Drive 1
C 39GB XP Pro
E 30 GB XP Pro
F 30 GB XP Pro
G 54 GB Data

Drive 2
D 153 GB Data

My problem is that my C drive has slowed down to the point such that drastic action is needed.

As my F partition is working well and was installed with SP3 and some of my most used programs, I would like to take an image of it to replace C with it and rebuild C.
Is this possible and would it then boot?
If so I guess I may have to copy over the boot.ini file and ntldr from C before imaging F.
I would be pleased to have advice &/or directions particularly from anyone who has done this.
I do not have AISBackup but from reading the literature it would seem that the above is possible, but having been disappointed with other BU software I am not yet ready to take the plunge & buy.

Peter

I would do as you suggest and start by copying the boot files to the copy of Windows you want to copy from, AISBackup can do this using:

Tools / Edit Windows Boot Menu / Copy Boot Menu / Choose the destination drive

Vista users should note that a folder called ‘Boot’ is not copied properly using AISBackup version 2.6.1 (Build 317) and below because a file is opened exclusively, this will be corrected from build 318. Vista users should use the Tools / Disk to Disk Copy option to copy the Boot folder from the boot partition to the destination drive.

You may also want to backup the faulty copy of Windows before you replace it.

If you have not already running from the operating system you want to copy from then re-boot, in fact you could also boot into the ‘third’ copy of Windows and copy the ‘second’ to the ‘faulty’ if you want to. I have booted into the ‘copy from’ version of Windows.

Optionally format the faulty copy of Windows, however if this is still the boot drive (primary active partition) then you will not be able to do this – this will not affect the copy.

Use the Tools / Disk to Disk Copy option to copy the source drive to the destination drive. If the delete dialog is displayed then you could take the ‘YES to delete’ option rather than displaying a list of files to be deleted. I should delete all files as conflicts in the operating system may be caused (Deleting all files is equivalent to formatting the disk in the first place).

Re-boot into the copy.

Barry

OK Barry let’s see if I have got this right by using the example below.

1. Install AISBU on Partition E (XP Pro)
2. Copy boot files as suggested to Partition F (XP Pro)
3. Backup C in case everything goes pear-shaped !
4. Now make image of F
5. Use Disk to Disk Copy to replace C by the image of F
6. Re-boot & it will boot into the new C & the old C will be gone

One final point which is bugging me.----The image of F contains references to F (Registry entries etc). When this image is on C are these references changed to refer to C ?

The instructions I gave did not make an image, instead you just copied the source Windows to the Destination, in your case you copy the boot files from C to F and then copy F to C. You must not be booted into C to do the actual copy phase but you may choose to boot F or E. If you do all the work from F (which is what I did) then you may install AISBackup onto F: - You can install AISBackup as many times as you like on 1 PC.

Your steps 4 and 5 should be combined into: Use disk to disk copy to copy F: to C:

The only reason why we move the boot files from C: to F: first is in case they are deleted by the copy phase, they would be selected for deletion as they do not exist on F:.

When you boot F: it is C? Anyway, no matter what the drive letter is when you copy it to C: and then boot from C: the OS will look and behave exactly as it does when booted from F: - it's a clone of Windows from F: Once you have completed the task you will know what I mean.

A traditional backup made with AISBackup makes an equivalent to an 'image', the disk to disk copy option is quicker as you only require a file copy.

Barry

Thanks for your quick response Barry.

OK, Carrying out the procedure as you suggest & making sure any data currently on C is copied to a neutral partition so that it is not lost, I should end up with two identical systems on C & F.

Does this mean that my programs (from F) on the newly created C will work properly ?

Sorry if this sounds a bit dim – I think old age is getting to me !!!!

Yes the copy will behave like F:, the programs will still work.

Barry

Excellent.
I will download today.
I will post back a report but it will be a while as there is still some sorting to do.
Thanks again

It's been a long time but I finally got round to doing the disk to disk copy of Partition F to Partition C. It took just under an hour & went smoothly.

Fortunately I had named my partitions according to their partition letter namely Charlie, Echo, Foxtrot as I would have been even more confused to find that when booting to the first partition it was still Charlie but had partition letter F, with the former F partition denoted C !!!!

Although this is logical as the first partition is a copy of the former F & the former F needs a different letter and so takes on the now available C, it was a surprise as I had always believed that Windows needs the first partition to be C.

Just a question -- What would happen if I deleted the contents of Echo & Foxtrot and merged them with Charlie and now had just one partition ? Would it still be F or would it revert to C.

Just for completeness sake, when booting to Echo or Foxtrot the first partition reverts to its original letter C

Drive letter assignments in Windows 2000, 2003, XP & Vista are logical and installing Windows as an upgrade to a different disk partition will install Windows to a new drive letter, XP on the PC I am using now runs from the J: drive. It is not a good idea to change this drive letter, as some files will become inaccessible - as some registry entries will be hard coded with the drive letter, in your case F. You may also have problems if you transfer the other drives to the F: drive (Charlie) if systems’ expect the contents to be on C and D.

When restoring Windows to a different drive letter AISBackup has to alter a registry setting to ensure that Windows will boot as the same letter it is on the source drive, otherwise it may not boot, it does this by swapping the logical drive letters on the two physical disk partitions, that's why the old 'F' copy of Windows is 'C' when you boot the new copy of Windows and the reverse is true if you boot the old copy of Windows.

If you format the drive designated C: and install a new copy of Windows onto it then it should boot as C:, however this is not necessary as Windows is just as happy running from another drive letter.

The next version of AISBackup has a new option to enable you to change the logical drive letters of installed disks on all installed copies of Windows (in a multi-boot environment). This option can be used to correct errors in drive letter assignments - but you should always keep Windows itself on the drive letter it was installed as.

If any of your Windows boots a 'C' and you prefer to have Windows on the 'C' drive then this is the copy of Windows you should be copying.

In DOS and Windows 95 style operating systems disk drive letters were based on physical drive positions, where all the primary drives were given a drive letter starting with C, and logical partitions the remaining letters. Adding a new disk would change drive letters for drives after C - so the move to logical disk lettering by Microsoft was a good one!

Barry

Many thanks for all your help. I hope it might encourage some others to try the method. It is certainly quicker than a fresh install if using a dual boot system when you haven't got a good copy of the main partition.
I have made life a little less confusing by using a freeware program hidedrv.exe to hide the now designated C drive when running from the first partition now F.