How to Bootit image a dual boot system

I think that you need to run VISTA, and then it will be active, and can be backed up


I hope this helps !

the way bootit works is when the screen comes up you click on Maintenence.  Then you click on partition work.  At that point, it lists the partitions on each HD.

It shows the various partitions but only lets the XP partition Image.

Again, since Boot-it may be hiding partitions based on what you use.
So if Xp was last sued, it is available and Vista is hidden.

If you use Vista then the Xp will be hidden.

So try booting to Vista, shut down and try to image.



I hope this helps !

Else look for alternative ways to image


Free Drive imaging Free ghost alternatives
also some free alternatives

http://ghost.radified.com/ghost_alternatives.htm
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=16534
 
http://www.osalt.com/ghost

http://zdnet.com.com/3000-2248-10147532.html?tag=lst-0-17 DrvImager XP - not found

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image.html  free for 30 days full version

How to do a new hard drive install, copy a hard drive copy ghost a drive

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20092048/New-Hard-Drive.html


I hope this helps !

SysExpert:   Which OS you booted to last doesn't have anything to do with Boot-It's partition display.   Boot-It shows ALL of the partitions it's managing when you're at the Partition Work display --> the MBR is indeed set to what's appropriate for each boot item when you boot, but that is completely independent of the Partition Work functions.   You also absolutely do NOT want to use any other partition management tool on a drive that Boot-It is managing ==> if you "hose" the EMBR structure you could easily lose all of your data !!

Bob733:   Is the system booting to both OS's okay?   WHERE is the Vista partition "greyed out" ??  [In an OS Disk Manager display?  ... in Boot-It's Partition Work?  ... etc.]

... go to Partition Work and capture a screenshot of what's shown [Put a floppy in your floppy drive and press F12].   When you're back to the OS load the .PCX file from the floppy into Irfanview and save it as a .JPEG => then post it here.

The system is one fire truck away from being hozed.... I have been having multiple problems with this application to the point I am almost ready to pull it and wait for it to be ready for prime time GUI capibilities.

It is a very powerful program, but it is also one that if you touch the finger, the foot may very well fall off.

I am now at the point where XP will not Boot.  Only Vista.  Additionally, when I get into partition mode, and hit F12, nothing happens.

I will go and boot from the Bootit ng Cd and get into partition mode.  Then I will write down exactly what I see for HD0 and come back (into Vista) and type everything I see.

It aint pretty.

Wait a couple please.
Bob

Boot-It IS a bit "geeky" ... but if you get past the "geekiness" it's very powerful and completely reliable.   A GUI would indeed be nice ... but most of the GUI-oriented partition management utilities run from within an OS that's actually USING the partitions that are being modified.   I think "hot imaging" is far more dangerous than the "geekiness" of Boot-It's menus.   But there IS a learning curve ... and if you don't get beyond it, you can definitely have some issues (as you're learning here).

Ok, did a restart with the Bootit cd in the drive
It booted and I went to Partition Work
Here is the display for HD0
HD0     NewRaptor_C_X-1   Partition    58000 MB HPFS/NTFS
            Vista Try 2               Partition E 85079 Mb HPFS/NTFS
            Mbr entry 2              Partition E 85087 MB HPFS/NTFS
            Bootit EMBR-3          Partition            8 MB HPFS/NTFS

Notes about the above:
1.  HD1 displays the other internal drive I have (a WD 250 gb dirve)
2.  HD2 displays ---------- and the right disk size (but not the name                 ONETOUCH like it used to display (before today).
3.  Notice the different MB sized for Vista Try 2 and MBR Entry 2 (whatever that is)
4>  Earlier today, the first partition was NewRaptor_C_X-0
5.  The Bootit EMBR-3 was a different name earlier (but I forgot e4actly what)

Hope this helps
Bob

Clearly SOMETHING has hosed the EMBR structures.

This is trivial to fix IF you saved images of XP and Vista on another drive [In perhaps an "OSImages" folder] as I suggested when we set this up last month ... and almost impossible to fix otherwise !!

In either case, you need to somehow resolve the corrupted EMBR/MBR info.   This MAY wipe out Vista ... but you need to try this:   In Settings, check the "Limit Primaries" box ... and then reboot to Boot-It and see what Partition Work shows.   If "Limit Primaries" is greyed out, then for EACH of your drives that have the option, click on the "Undo EMBR" button.

SOMETHING has made some structural changes to the disk partitioning ==> have you run any 3rd party disk utilities or made changes in Disk Management within Windows??

The system is hammered and it is my fault.... screwing around with Bootit and not knowing about the consequences...

See my 7:50pm entry:

Bootit can see HD0 (see above) but the only partition it will work with is first partition (NewRaptor).  When selecting the other two partitions, the options are greyed out.  It cannot see the external HD (onetouch) which contains the XP Image.  Therefor, I can not even paste an image from an external HD to the first partition (which is the only one it will work with).

With partition magic, Boot magic, I was able to boot from the second partition it saw (which was Vista).

What I need is to somehow paste the 10/01/2008 XP image from the External HD to the 1 st partition on HD0 and hope that it will boot normally.

This is almost to complecated for continueous entries to try to fix it with Bootit.  That is why I am thinking another program that will be able to see the usb external HD (containing the image), and to paste it into partition 1 of HD0 is the only recourse I have.  Fortunetly, the data is on another internal HD.

Gary, you are the Bootit expert.  If there is a good time to call you, I will be glad to... just email my you phone nr.  But as you said, it may be impossible to fix with Bootit.

BOb

Bob

HD0 partition 2 appears to be intact.  That is, Vista boots if I point to it via Partition Magic, Function Boot Magic.

HD0 partition 1 appears to be the correct size, but I cannot get to it (or at least, I am not sure I am getting to it.)

I am going to try to copy the first file of the XP image to whatever partition Bootit can see, to detemine if I can somehow paste the rest of the files to the partition 1 and hopefully salvage XP

Now I know what a Test Pilot feels like when flying a new jet for the first time

That's it, I am done with BootIt.

I will NEVER, repeat NEVER use Bootit again.  I will admit, I got myself into this problem.  However, this program is NOT ready for prime time play.

Only very knowledgable individuals should be using Bootit.  This program just does not have an easier GUI (ie., compared to Partition Magic), and it does not have the safe guards to stop one from completly destroying a system.

And once locked into Bootit, you are locked in solid... I belive there are some ways you can back out the Bootit Supremacy, but it is not evident.

And, if you change certain parameters withing Bootit, you can not even do simple things like change drive letters within Windows without causing major problems with Bootit.

Futhermore, while trying to see if I could somehow copy an Image file from my external HD to the ONLY drive that Bootit can now see cause major problems.  Everytime I did a copy (from the external) and then a Paste (to the only drive Bootit could see), it somehow caused the source to disppear!  I just hope it did not delete it physically from the External HD!  I have to put the External HD on another system to see if those image files are still there!

In 25 plus years of experience in IT, I have seen many programs where if you touch the finger, the foot falls off.  Bootit, in my opinion now stands close to the top the list.

I would say to the Vender (Terabyte), you have a very powerful program, but you really should conduct a major redesign of your product and bring it into the current GUI environment.  You should build in safeguards to stop destroying systems inadvertantly by users not totally versed in your product.  You should give feed back information of every task you are about to execute (AKA Partition Magic).  You should allow for an Undo feature.  You should set some kind of restore points (etc., etc., etc.).  This list could probably be added to.

Give me a program like Partition Magic any day of the week.. with all the back up documentation of exactly what it is going to do, with all the graphical pictures of what it is going to do, with all the undos..... it is a far superior product to the likes of Bootit.

I am sorry Gary.  I respect your knowledge of the Computer Technologies.  It if far above mine.  It is far above many experts on this forum.  I respect your willingness to help any and all.  I respect your advocating a product like Bootit Ng (because you belive so strongly in it).  But I can no longer go down the path of Bootit for I now have lost that same belive you hold.

I know have a week (or more) of somehow recaptureing a lot of programs (reloading and finding serial numbers), and data (if the USB external was not hozed (and I didnt even do anything to it with BOOTIT)).

Am I discusted.  Yes I am.  But I still have some professionalism left in me to say, I will recover somehow from this but it is not going to be easy.

Thanks, Gary.  Thanks everyone. But I am closing this out now and starting to somehow recover from probably the worst crash (PC wise at least) in my life.

Bob Wagner

Clearly I don't share your opinion of Boot-It.   As I've noted many times, it IS a bit "geeky" ... and you DO have to be SURE you do NOT use any other partition management tools unless you've set it to "Limit Primaries".   But changing a drive letter in Windows absolutely does NOT cause any problems -- only making changes to the physical partition structure.

I suspect what you've done is run Partition Magic on the disk while Boot-It was installed ... and consequently caused some corruption of the EMBR structure.

As for causing damage to your external drive --> almost certainly not.  The ONLY time Boot-It writes to a drive is if you select it as the destination for a Paste operation (as part of a Copy or an Image restore function);  or if you select it for a ReSize, Slide, or Delete operation.   You may simply not have "USB 2.0 Support" checked in the Settings menu.

But if you prefer other tools, that's fine.   I've tried most, and will NOT use Partition Magic anymore (aka "Partition Tragic").   I do like Acronis ... and may use it on a couple systems I don't use for multiple boots.    I also agree Boot-It's "geeky" interface could use some improvement ... although I'm NOT in favor of making it an OS-based GUI --> as I've noted many times, "hot imaging" is simply a bad idea.

When set up right, it's a tough utility to beat.   These are the boot menu's for my two main systems => every OS works perfectly; they're all isolated from each other;  I can image any OS on either system with a simple double-click; and a restore for any OS is a simple 5-minutes-of-my-time (and 10-15 of the computer's) operation.





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