Subject: Re: OT: copying a WinXP disk
To: Steven M. Bellovin <smb@cs.columbia.edu>
From: Tom Spindler <dogcow@babymeat.com>
List: port-i386
Date: 12/17/2006 01:11:24
If I were you, I'd do the following:

* use one of the gnu parted bootable ISOs to partition the new disk
such that the windows partition is the same size as, and starts at the
same sector offset as, on the old disk.

* boot NetBSD, partition the remaining space, install NetBSD, install
the boot selector.

I suspect (but am far from sure) that the reason Windows is flaking out
is that the MBR/primary partitioning goo is different. FWIW, I've done
this procedure when swapping out laptop drives, and it worked for me.