Big problem. changed OS partition from E: to C: , now i cannot change back, cannot boot

Which OS is it?

Do you have a standard Microsoft OEM or retail Vista/Windows 7 DVD?

Changing the OS partition's drive letter assignment is just asking for trouble. Do you have a backup image from before the change?

so i have windows xp pro. i changed partition with OS from E and C.

no i dont have an image

It seems like acronis should give you a warning like "you are about to change the drive letter of a primary active drive, this can cause problems......."

The problem is that you can't easily get E: back as the drive letter by using normal methods (Windows would want to assign C: to the Active partition).

Is this on the "copied" partition or the original partition (from your other thread)? If it is, then you should have an image. If it's not, what was the original configuration? Why was the Windows partition assigned E:?

mudcrab

thanks for your help

i think the original partition was imaged, then due to a problem, was restored to E, and the original C was erased.
but this has been working for some time without a problem. It was stupid to change to C.

why is the change letter grayed out?

Usually, when a drive letter other than C: is assigned, there is already another version/copy of Windows installed or you're not installing to the Active partition and this causes the new installation to get forced into using a later letter. XP is especially bad at this.

When it's grayed-out, how are you using DD? As far as I know, DD can only make that type of change in the running Windows system. Any external use of DD to try and do the change wouldn't actually change it for the running system.

What build of DD are you using?

i am using DD from the CD, i cannot get into windows.

I have DD 10

i came across the post http://forum.acronis.com/forum/8950

that person used

BOOTCFG /REBUILD

and repaired the problem. when i followed the instructions for this i got an ominous warning from windows that i could loose data in the partitions.

any thoughts.

That won't help because it doesn't change the drive letters.

Do you have Vista or Windows 7 DVD available?

no just windows xp pro

Will XP boot into Safe Mode?

i hit f8, hit start up safe mode, get to the blue windows xp logo screen, then it stops there.

That's what I figured.

I don't suppose you have a BartPE or VistaPE CD either.

What i dont get is this. i can clone a partition C, and put it into a new partition called G, and then boot off of G. how is that different then changing the name of C to G

??

sorry, i dont have either of those
(bartpe or vistape)

Because, unless it's done correctly, Windows still uses the original C: partition for everything even though you told it to use G:.

In this case, there is no other partition. If there were, it would probably be C: and Windows is looking for E:.

What happened to the original C: partition? You said it was erased. Is the space that it used still there (unallocated)? Maybe if you used DD to recover that partition, you could boot it (assuming it was working at the time it was erased).

Or did the space used by the the original C: partition get written over?

no the space was written over. could i reinstall windows back over C without loosing data or programs?

actually i do have a vista cd available

Okay. Do you know how to boot the Vista DVD into Repair Mode?

i can try. will that change my computer to vista?

No. It will still be XP. The Vista DVD will just allow fixing the problem.

Put the Vista DVD in and boot the computer.
Press a key when asked to boot from the CD or DVD.
Select the Language, etc. and then click Next.
There should be a link in the bottom-left to Repair Your Computer.
Click on it.

If it suggests any auto-repairs, cancel them.

You should be on the screen with a list of installed Windows (probably empty). Click Next. Then click Command Prompt. This should bring up a standard Command Prompt window.

If you run dir c:\ it should show your Windows partition's root folder.

it says choose an os to repair, only vista os are listed. so nothing is listed.

i hit next and got options on a new screen

"start up repair, system restore........"

Click the last one: Command Prompt

From the prompt, run dir c:\ and make sure you can see your Windows drive okay. If it's there, I'll post the rest of the instructions.

okay did c:\ and got dos directory

i can see windows directory

Good.

Do the following:

1. Run regedit
2. Click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key to select it.
3. Click on the File menu and select Load Hive...
4. The C: drive is probably already selected (if it isn't, select it).
5. Browse to the C:\Windows\System32\config folder.
6. Select the system file and click the Open button.
7. A box will come up asking for the Key Name.
8. Type in XP_System and click the Ok button.
9. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. You should see the XP_System entry.
10. Expand XP_System and click on the MountedDevices key. (It should be XP_System\MountedDevices.) 
11. You should see the list of drive letter assignments as seen by the XP system. One of the entries should be \DosDevices\C:. Right-click on it and select Rename. Change it to \DosDevices\E: and press ENTER to save the change. (Note there shouldn't already be an "E:" entry.)
12. In the tree on the left side of the screen, click on XP_System key to highlight it, select the File menu, then select Unload Hive... Finally, click Yes and then close the registry editor.

Reboot the computer and try booting into XP.

WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It worked. That is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am truely impressed.

Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're welcome.

You might want to consider making a current backup image of the partition.

Its running as we speak

I may or may not have a similar problem. Here are the details: using True Image 2010, build 7046 & the associated Plus Pack. Windows XP Pro SP3. Upgrading motherboard and hard drives. Had completed all backups and prepared Acronis bootable media. When I built the system about seven years ago, for some reason long since forgotten, the boot drive is F: (not C:). Here's my question: when I restore the boot drive to new hardware and hard drive, how will Acronis handle the boot drive letter assignment? C:? Or F:?

Several years ago I reviewed the Microsoft literature regarding changing the boot drive letter to C: and realized that such a change might prevent my computer from booting or preclude many of my critical programs from working properly. Following some of the threads in this forum, I have gotten the same general impression. So I wish to avoid doing anything which would compromise my very straightforward objective of upgrading hardware. It does not matter to me as to whether the boot drive is C: or F:! However, I am uncertain as to how Acronis will handle the drive letter assignment. Without being completely clear on this, my second question is: is it necessary to change the boot drive on the original machine from F: C: before backing it up and then restore using the plus pack? If it is necessary, is there a way this can be done without jeopardizing boot-ability and/or program? Please advise. I am ready to go and do this is my only question before proceeding.

I don't recommend trying to change the Windows drive letter. It's best to leave it as it was when it was installed.

When C: is used, it's much, much easier to fix drive letter issues because XP will automatically want to assign C: to the Active partition. When another letter is used, the change needs to be done manually or you need to make sure that the automatic assignment used by XP will result in the XP partition being assigned F:.

I have not tested TI 2010 in this particular scenario, but this is what I would try:

1. Create an Entire Disk Image backup (check the Disk # checkbox).
2. When you're ready, restore the Entire Disk Image (do not resize anything) and also restore the Disk Signature.

Doing this should allow the new disk to be detected the same as the old one and retain F: for the Windows partition. You can then resize F: larger (don't move the start of the partition -- resize only from the right side) using a partitioning program (DD, for example).

If you have BartPE, VistaPE, Vista/Windows 7 installation DVD, or other standard WinPE-based media, you can boot into it and make any Registry changes (like in Post #27).