I did a backup from my W7 HP laptop 160 gig with norton 15 to an external usb 260 gig drive,with no errors.  put in a different 160 drive selected mbr and make drive active did a restore took about 20 min. all looked good.
when it tried to boot got error message NTLDR is missing.

thanks

@ cricket

Sorry--looks like the Ghost 15 and Win7 folks are fishing this weekend!  I, unfortunately, have neither program or OS, so not speaking from direct experience.  That said.....


Quote:

when it tried to boot got error message NTLDR is missing.

I actually don't know if NTLDR is still in use with Win7--but apparently it is!  In WinXP, that error usually meant that the partition layout had been changed on the destination drive from what it was from the original *source* HDD--and the *boot.ini* file was *pointing* to the wrong partition to boot from!

But, *boot.ini* is not used any longer in Win7! 

An HP computer's HDD will usually have 2 or possibly 3 partitions--or now with Win7, there may also be a System Reserve Partition (SRP)--(the SRP partition is where some of the boot files are--they are on a separate partition from the OS partition)--1.  an OS partition, 2.  a Recovery partition with a backup image to restore to the factory fresh software status (this partition may have the SRP files also), and 3.  possibly a Utility partition for trouble shooting, etc.

If you only backed up the OS partition--and/or only restored the OS partition--whatever file tells the boot process where to find the NTLDR file is probably pointing to the wrong partition. 

You could try creating an image of all the partitions--note their order!  And, then restore them in the same order!  At the very least, the partition that has the SRP files needs to be restored along with the OS partition--I've seen reports that Ghost 15 warns folks that that partition needs to be included in as part of the image backup process, and restored along with the OS partition--did you see any such warning(s)?

But, that may not be enough--you may still have to do some type of *Boot Repair* from the Win7 installation disc (which you probably don't have if it's an HP OEM computer--they usually don't include the Win7 installation CD!  If this is the case, this may help:  How to Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc--(Even if you do not have a Win7 installation disc!)


There could be other boot considerations as well--you may have to wait for someone with actual experience to help with those issues!

@ cricket

Could you look in Disk Management (original HD) and let us know about the partitions on that HD? Which is the System, Active partition?

Are you dual booting with WinXP and Win7?

i did a image of the current active os = w7. i do have a dual boot system with xp w7 is the default active partition

thanks

@ cricket

Ah, the joys of a Microsoft dual boot. Try this. Boot from a Win7 DVD and do 1 or 2 Repairs. You have to get to the big menu where Startup Repair is available.

You didn't really answer my question. In Disk Management (when booted to Win7) which is the System partition? Which is the Active partition? Which is the Boot partition?