O.K, I'm not that stubborn. Have downloaded trial copy of Acronis TI and was
impressed that it was a DOS program for a change. Same result though. Any
suggestions as to where I can go from here?

"DL" <address@invalid> wrote in message
news:uqcvKA13IHA.2336@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> To repeat, I've used Acronis TI to clone winxp systems with no
> problems.(numerous times)
> If you have a problem its not within winxp, but within your system.
> If memory is slightly iffy this will allmost certainly cause clone
> problems
>
> "Tim Hurley" <tim.hurley@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:OkLot8x3IHA.5012@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> Many thanks for the reply. I think that failure with both of the
>> heavy--weight cloning programs that I used pretty much rules out cloning
>> alone as a solution. There is a problem, I'm told, with XP. This
>> situation is courtesy of Microsoft. I don't know what people are
>> expected to do if thier C: drive crashes. They can't copy a backup to
>> their new replacement drive.
>>
>> Thanks again for your effort.
>>
>> "DL" <address@invalid> wrote in message
>> news:%23twDKSs3IHA.1428@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>> I've not used either of those apps, but I've cloned systems using
>>> Acronis with no problems
>>> BTW Theres little advantage in partitioning a single HD & using one
>>> partition as the Sys. If the hd goes bad you still lose all.
>>>
>>> "Tim Hurley" <tim.hurley@comcast.net> wrote in message
>>> news:ObnRZxr3IHA.1436@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>> My C: drive (WD 80 Gig SATA) is getting crowded so I bought a new
>>>> Seagate
>>>> SATA 500. I partitioned it into two partitions, the smaller 160 Gig to
>>>> be
>>>> my new system drive. I have cloned the old drive to the new drive
>>>> first
>>>> using Ghost 9 then XXCLONE both of which resulted in the hal.dll error
>>>> after
>>>> I shut down, pulled the data cable from the old drive and rebooted.
>>>> Have
>>>> also tried it using Ghost full backup. Same result. Talking to
>>>> computer
>>>> savvy friends confirm that this is common, but no one has come up with
>>>> a fix
>>>> yet.
>>>>
>>>> Help! Please!
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>