copying os to drive/system boot error possibility?

[wixostrix]

Okay, so I have a Seagate HDD and I have it split into 2 partitions. 1 i was planning on moving my XP to from my Maxtor External HDD (I used it as internal to install the XP on). However, when I tried to use MaxBlast to clone the now external HDD to the second partition on my HDD it wont let me select that as a target. So i used the Disk Management to make the partition active. that didnt solve the problem so now im just copying the the operating system files to the drive manually cuz it said if there is no OS present on the drive then the computer my stop working (disk management said that).

So I want to know if manually copying files actually works cuz arnt there supposed to be some boot files on the hdd? Is it possible that my computer may not boot now. but if that happens then running a repair would just fix it right?

BTW: The second partition is not a logical drive, its a primary partition.

 

[PC eye]

A primary as well as extended partition is still seen as a logical drive. The only way that would work there would be to delete the second partition and then move the XP primary over to see a new partition created at the front of the drive. Moving a primary "takes forever" with a good partitioning tool.

Moving see the exact same installation while still not being usable if now connected by usb and not eSata to the same port for a sata drive. Simlpy manually copying files from one partition to another won't see Windows run. Windows like any other software would need to be "installed" or cloned to a second partition leaving two copies on the same drive while on separate partitions.