[RESOLVED] SCSI to IDE Disk Copy Solution

Yesterday, I tried to transfer a system from an existing 4GB IBM SCSI drive to a new Maxtor 80GB IDE drive. The SCSI is attached to an Adaptec 2940uw Card and the IDE could be attached to either the on-board controller or a Promise UDMA card.

Maxtor's MaxBlast software didn't seem to support this scenario (i.e. SCSI to IDE transfer), so I tried PowerQuest's DriveCopy. Unfortunately, I ran into an issue with conventional memory. When I booted the system with the SCSI card attached, the maximum conventional memory available was 558K - well below the requisite for DriveCopy to complete successfully, and, sure enough - it didn't.

Since I don't have much experience with SCSI to IDE transfer, I would appreciate a steer toward a good solution for this scenario.

I suppose you're booting from a floppy disk. That's about how much memory you'll end up with from a raw DOS bootup with the SCSI drivers loaded low. If this is the case & you're not used to DOS, post the contents of the CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT files from the floppy & someone will suggest alterations.

Basically you'll need HIMEM.SYS on the floppy, the lines DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS and DOS=HIGH at the start of CONFIG.SYS, then change to DEVICEHIGH=ASPI.SYS (or whatever the SCSI driver(s) names are) rather than just DEVICE=.

If any driver is loaded from AUTOEXEC.BAT put LH in front of it, eg LH MOUSE.EXE

If I'm telling you stuff you know, please ignore it. :)

Thank you for the suggestions. I am comfortable working in DOS and have tried all of your suggestions, but still no success. I have largely given up on DiskCopy and I am now looking for altenative software. I know Ghost is popular but I have never used it. Do you know if it or some other package can handle SCSI to IDE disk copy? Perhaps one with a smaller conventional memory requirement than DiskCopy?

[quote]Originally posted by GenuineZ:
<strong>Thank you for the suggestions. I am comfortable working in DOS and have tried all of your suggestions, but still no success. I have largely given up on DiskCopy and I am now looking for altenative software. I know Ghost is popular but I have never used it. Do you know if it or some other package can handle SCSI to IDE disk copy? Perhaps one with a smaller conventional memory requirement than DiskCopy?</strong><hr></blockquote>


With ghost as long as you can see the drive under dos you shouldn't have a problem copying IDE to SCSI.

Note: I have never done it so I am only hypothosizing

One quick question. What OS does the machine have on it? Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Linux?
If it's just 9x, copy everything (while in Windows Explorer) except the Windows directory to the new drive. Next, make a Windows directory on the new drive and copy everything except the win386.swp file. Shut down the machine. Switch drives so the new drive is the bootable drive. Insert a bootable disk with fdisk on it and set the new drive partition to active. And presto chango, the new drive is a duplicate of the old drive.
:cool:

Mmm, still puzzled about only getting 580k, even with the bloated DOS7 should be able to get about 600k. Unless like me you've also forgotten to include DEVICE=EMM386.EXE /NOEMS and DOS=UMB... :o

Thank you all for your suggestions. I modified my boot disk a little further and corrected some syntax. I was able to boot with a little over 600K convetional free. Unfortunately, DiskCopy still wouldn't finish. It keeps crashing with Error #3 near the end of the process. I am on-site now and attempting Hippie Tech's method before I throw in the towel.

Stay tuned.....

[quote]Originally posted by GenuineZ:
<strong>Thank you all for your suggestions. I modified my boot disk a little further and corrected some syntax. I was able to boot with a little over 600K convetional free. Unfortunately, DiskCopy still wouldn't finish. It keeps crashing with Error #3 near the end of the process. I am on-site now and attempting Hippie Tech's method before I throw in the towel.

Stay tuned.....</strong><hr></blockquote>


check your private messeges , answer in the post!

Well, I am happy to report that Hippie Tech's method did the trick. Of course I am still in shock that such an obvious, straightforward solution worked, and a little embarassed that I didn't think to try it myself.

The OS was WinMe so I also had to disable the restore feature and reenable it after the copy process, but the system transfered intact and my customer is a happy camper.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed.

you might also have done this by using PQMagic or Ghost, lucky you had a 9x O/s otherwise you can't do the copy trick
triple check that everything in the \program files\ copied over because you get alot of 'locked' files if windows is running