How to troubleshoot Microsoft Volume Shadow copy Service errors

Macrium Reflect uses a Microsoft service called Volume Shadow copy Service to enable disk images to be created and files to be backed up when in use.

When VSS fails it can sometimes mean that you are unable to create a disk image or backup open files with Macrium Reflect. In this tutorial I’ll take you through some troubleshooting steps to locate and fix VSS problems and enable your disk images and file backups to complete successfully.

Please Note: Microsoft Volume Shadow copy Service is a standard Windows service and not installed by Macrium Reflect. VSS has been included with every version of Windows since Windows XP SP1. Macrium Reflect cannot cause VSS to fail, it simply uses the service. Any failure is caused by other software or system configuration problems and will affect every program that uses VSS.

What is VSS?
VSS is a copy-on-write driver that intercepts disk writes before they actually happen. The current contents of the disk are written to a shadow copy buffer before the write takes place. This enables a disk image to represent an exact point in time and not be affected by disk write activity during image creation.

How do I know that VSS has failed?
When VSS fails there will usually be an indication in the image or backup log file.

You will generally see 'Failed to Create Volume Snapshot' followed by a hex result code. The result code is an error code from VSS and sometimes just Googling ‘VSS + Result Code’ will come up with a solution to your VSS problems.

You may also see:

Backup aborted! - Unable to open file handle for '\\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopyxxx' - The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

This may be associated with a 'VolSnap' error in your Windows logs.

VSS uses writer components to ensure that the file system is in a stable state when creating your disk image. For example, SQL database writers ensure that all transactions to databases are complete before allowing the shadow copy service to continue. Windows includes a VSS administration program that can list the status of all VSS Writers you have on your system.

Open a command prompt and type ‘vssadmin list writers’. In Vista make sure you start the command prompt with elevated privileges. This will list all your VSS writers with their current state and last error.

Typical output:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>vssadmin list writers
vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001-2005 Microsoft Corp.

Writer name: 'System Writer'
   Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}
   Writer Instance Id: {4e66d2f2-136c-434b-9a67-234a3b5d38e6}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: Non-retryable error

Writer name: 'ASR Writer'
   Writer Id: {be000cbe-11fe-4426-9c58-531aa6355fc4}
   Writer Instance Id: {9c9a72d9-70f4-414d-88e2-9894fd7f13ca}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'IIS Metabase Writer'
   Writer Id: {59b1f0cf-90ef-465f-9609-6ca8b2938366}
   Writer Instance Id: {ac62d67f-bc4f-4ae0-90d1-9fc058a8880f}
   State: [5] Waiting for completion
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Shadow Copy Optimization Writer'
   Writer Id: {4dc3bdd4-ab48-4d07-adb0-3bee2926fd7f}
   Writer Instance Id: {0b6a11ac-b009-44ec-a9f2-f3b94de74c7d}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'MSSearch Service Writer'
   Writer Id: {cd3f2362-8bef-46c7-9181-d62844cdc0b2}
   Writer Instance Id: {f9626a21-0848-4fca-a7a0-287ce50ebec7}
   State: [5] Waiting for completion
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'IIS Config Writer'
   Writer Id: {2a40fd15-dfca-4aa8-a654-1f8c654603f6}
   Writer Instance Id: {04a208b8-943b-425d-a694-6cc179ab6d46}
   State: [5] Waiting for completion
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Registry Writer'
   Writer Id: {afbab4a2-367d-4d15-a586-71dbb18f8485}
   Writer Instance Id: {6a4ffe24-b297-4602-b04b-0bf63caa5cd5}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'COM+ REGDB Writer'
   Writer Id: {542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f}
   Writer Instance Id: {894ebce3-7aec-4e9b-8b38-36d3eb624145}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'BITS Writer'
   Writer Id: {4969d978-be47-48b0-b100-f328f07ac1e0}
   Writer Instance Id: {dbe2fb09-898f-4b60-8539-3ca1e6cc4b67}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'WMI Writer'
   Writer Id: {a6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0}
   Writer Instance Id: {06504311-56ee-4f9e-82e6-1dc08ff7eb2c}
   State: [5] Waiting for completion
   Last error: No error

Writers with an error state or where the last error isn’t ‘No Error’ are probably causing a problem.

Look for messages in your Windows logs.
When VSS fails you will always get a corresponding message in your Windows event log.

1. Right click on 'My computer'
2. Select 'Manage'
3. Expand the ‘Event Viewer’ node
4. Look in the ‘Application’ message node for error messages  relating to ‘VSS’, ‘Shadow Copy’ or 'VolSnap'.
   
   

If you find any messages then these with give you an ‘Event ID’ and sometimes a ‘Result Code’ or 'hr'. These two pieces of information can generally pin point the cause of your VSS failure. Try Googling the Event ID(s) and Result Code(s) for more information.

Make sure that the VSS service isn't disabled
Changing the startup type of the VSS service and rebooting can often resolve issues.

1. Right click on 'My Computer'.
2. Select 'Manage'.
3. Select the 'Services' tree node.
4. Right click on 'Volume Shadow Copy'
5. Select Properties
6. Change the startup type to 'Automatic'
   
   
   
7. Reboot
   

Re-register the VSS components
Sometimes re-registering VSS core components can fix errors. Copy the following commands to Notepad and save the file with a ‘.bat’ extension. Run the .bat file by opening a command prompt and entering the .bat file name.

cd /d %windir%\system32
net stop vss
net stop swprv
regsvr32 /s ole32.dll
regsvr32 /s oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 /s vss_ps.dll
vssvc /register
regsvr32 /s /i swprv.dll
regsvr32 /s /i eventcls.dll
regsvr32 /s es.dll
regsvr32 /s stdprov.dll
regsvr32 /s vssui.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml3.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml4.dll
vssvc /register
net start swprv
net start vss

Footnote
It is very probable that others have had a similar problem to you, so use Google as much as you can to find potential solutions. If all else fails you should contact Microsoft support for a resolution.

Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Copy 
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc785914.aspx 

How to create a bootable Linux USB stick

If your PC doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive then there is no way to boot your PC into the rescue environment using the supplied CD/DVD images. However, just about every modern PC has the capability to boot from a USB flash drive (memory stick) and fortunately there is a free utility to convert your Linux CD image into a bootable USB stick.

In this tutorial I’ll show you the simple steps required to create a USB stick that boots into the Macrium Reflect Linux rescue environment.

Prepare your USB stick
Make sure your USB stick is formatted as FAT16. It must be FAT16 not FAT32 or NTFS. FAT16 is nearly always abbreviated to just FAT in most Windows operations.

Open ‘My Computer’, right click on your USB drive and select properties:

If the ‘File system’ isn’t FAT then you’ll need to format the USB stick as FAT16 (FAT). Right click on the drive and select ‘Format’.

Make sure that FAT is selected as the file system. It’s best to leave the ‘Quick Format’ option un-checked.

Note: If you receive a message saying ‘Windows was unable to complete the format’ then in some cases the format has actually finished and this message can safely be ignored.

Create the Linux ISO image
We need to create an image of the bootable CD so we can transfer the contents to the USB stick.

1. Start Reflect, click the ‘Other Tasks’ panel, and then click the ‘Create a boot-able Rescue CD’ option.
   
   
   
   
2. The Rescue CD wizard will open.
   
    
   
   Ensure that the Linux option is selected and click 'Next'.
   
   
3. The next Wizard page is the burn page.
   
   
   
   
   Click the CD/DVD burner drop-down list and select ‘Create ISO image file’. 
   
   
4. Click ‘Finish’ and choose a location for your image file. For this example we’ll choose c:\rescue.iso’ as the destination.

Copy the ISO image contents to your USB stick
To make your USB stick bootable with the contents of your Linux boot image we need to download a free utility called ‘UNetbootin’ from here: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ . Choose the ‘download for Windows’ option and save the file to your desktop or anywhere you can easily access it.

1. Double click ‘unetbootin-windows-282.exe’. The following dialog is displayed:
   
   
   
   
2. Choose the Diskimage option and enter/select the path to your image file created previously.
   
   
3. Select ‘USB Drive’ as your target disk type and choose your USB stick drive letter in the drop down list.
   
   
4. Click ‘OK’ to copy the image files and make the USB stick bootable.
   
   
   

That’s it! You’ve made a bootable USB stick.  When you restart you should see the Linux rescue environment loaded from the stick.

Note: You need to make sure that USB booting is enabled in your BIOS. Please refer to your BIOS manual or help guide. If you don’t have access to these then you’re bound to find information on your BIOS configuration for USB booting if you search the internet.

How to create a BartPE Rescue CD for Macrium Reflect

So, you’ve created your Linux based recovery CD, you push it in and boot up and it doesn’t find your hard drives, network or both – what’s next?

If the Linux Based Recovery CD option doesn’t work for you – usually because it has trouble recognizing your disk or network cards - then you may want to use the BartPE or Windows PE 2.0 recovery CDs.

BartPE is a freely available preinstallation environment for 32-bit Windows XP or Server 2003. It's a bootable environment created from your exisiting Windows system files. It can also potentially support your RAID controller although that is not going to be covered by this article. If you do want to add RAID support to Bart PE then the best place to start is on the PE Builder website.

If you're working with 64-bit Windows, Windows Vista or Server 2008 then you'll need the full version of Macrium Reflect which includes paid-for licensing for Windows PE 2.0. The Windows PE 2.0 environment includes RAID support.

BartPE has the benefit of providing a graphical user interface and a plugin architecture that means many 3rd party custom plugins are available. Macrium Reflect provides a plugin that allows you to restore files and partitions directly once you are booted from your CD/DVD drive into BartPE.

Anyway, to business; you will need:

• Access to Windows XP or Windows 2003 installation files
  
• The latest PE Builder install file (the BartPE rescue disk creation software). You can download it via http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/#download
  
• Macrium Reflect installed
  
  Note: BartPE is only suitable for 32-bit Windows XP and 32-bit Windows Server 2003 environments.

To create your BartPE / Macrium Reflect Rescue CD:

1. Install PE Builder from the install file you downloaded earlier
   
   Make a note of where PE Builder is installed. The default location is similar to C:\PEBuilder3110a
   
   
2. Finish the installation by allowing it to run to check it works.
   
   You are presented with a Search files? dialog
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click No
   
   The main PE Builder dialog is displayed. We shall return to this once we’ve configured the Macrium Reflect plugin from within Macrium Reflect
   
   
4. Start Macrium Reflect
   
   
   
5. Select Other Tasks > Create Rescue CD
   
   The Rescue CD Wizard is displayed
   
   
   
   
6. Select BartPE and click Next
   
   This displays a dialog for copying the necessary Macrium Reflect plugin files to the BartPE plugin folder.
   
   
   
   
7. Click Updates to check online for updates to the Macrium Reflect plugin
   
   
8. Click the browse button ‘…’ and select the plugin folder below the PEBuilder installation folder. For example C:\PEBuilder3110a\plugin
   
   
9. Click Finish
   
   The Macrium Reflect plugin is immediately copied to the PE Builder plugin folder.
   
   Now when you use PE Builder to create a BartPE rescue CD it contains the files necessary to run Macrium Reflect and restore disk images or files.
   
   
10. Return to PE Builder
    
    If you closed it earlier then start it from the Start menu.
    
    
    
    
11. Specify the path to your Windows installation files in the Source text box
    
    For me these were on my original Microsoft installation CD/DVD which occupied the only drive bay on my server – more on that later. If you believe they may be on your hard drive but don’t know where then you can search for them by selecting menu Source > Search. Otherwise, simply select their location
    
    Note: The directory that contains the Windows installation files is called ‘i386’ but the path that PE Builder wants is the parent directory to ‘i386’. So, if you have your installation files at ‘c:\i386’ then you need to enter ‘C:\’ as the path to the Windows installation files.
    
    
12. Leave the Custom text box empty
    
    
13. Leave the Output folder as BartPE or point it to a location suitable for storing 153Mb of data
    
    
14. Select the Media Output.
    
    You may be able to directly Burn to CD/DVD at this point. I couldn’t because, as I mentioned, the DVD drive was already in use for my Windows installation files. Instead we selected Create ISO image and resolved to burn it to disk later. An ISO image is a complete disk image as a file.
    
    Note: Your CD/DVD burning software may or may not support ISO. If it doesn’t, it is often an extra cost option that you get for buying the full version. Alternatively, you could use CDBurnerXP; a free utility that you can download from http://www.cdburnerxp.se/.
    
    
15. Click Build
    
    If the BartPE folder does not exist then the Create directory dialog is displayed
    
    
    
    
16. Click Yes to create the folder and continue
    
    BartPE uses your Windows XP or Server 2003 installation files and so you need to read and agree to the Windows license before proceeding.
    
    
    
    
17. If you agree with the terms click I agree
    
    PE Builder builds the BartPE installation. In my case, as an ISO file:
    
    
    
    
18. Click Close to finish
    

That’s it! You may now eject your BartPE CD/DVD and check it by using it to boot your machine.

Note: If your machine isn't set to boot from CD/DVD then you need to adjust the boot settings in your BIOS. Accessing the BIOS varies from PC to PC but you will always see a brief message that tells you how to do this as the PC is starting. Power on your PC and watch the screen carefully. Look for a line of text that says something like, 'Hit Del to enter setup' or 'Press F2 for BIOS settings'. Once you've found the correct key (generally, Del, or one of the function keys), press it repeatedly until you see a BIOS setup screen - from there you can set the boot order so that CD/DVD takes precedence over your hard disk drive (HDD). You can find pictures of BIOS setup screens at http://www.hiren.info/pages/bios-boot-cdrom.

Once booted into BartPE, to start restoring files or partitions, select Go > Programs > Macrium Reflect.

8th August 2008

4.2.xxxx (xxxx < 2020)

Free, Full, Trial

Macrium Reflect uses Windows volatile environment variables to communicate with VBScript and MSDOS batch files.  These varaibles should not persist through successive reboots and should not cause any performance degredation.

It has beed noticed that under certain conditions these environment variables may persists between reboots. The effect of this is a build up of variables under the registry key 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Volatile Environment' and a general slowing down of certain actions in Windows. This includes opening Internet Explorer and other common Windows functions.

Note: Your backup and image archive integrity is not affected.

Upgrade to version 4.2.2020. Either download and install the latest version from www.macrium.com or click the 'Check for updates'toolbar button within Reflect. This update will automatically purge the variables and ensure that new environment varables do not persist through reboots.

How to transfer Windows XP to different hardware

1. Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL). 
   From Wikipedia: “A hardware abstraction layer (HAL) is an abstraction layer, implemented in software, between the physical hardware of a computer and the software that runs on that computer. Its function is to hide differences in hardware from most of the operating system kernel, so that most of the kernel-mode code does not need to be changed to run on systems with different hardware. On a PC, HAL can basically be considered to be the driver for the motherboard and allows instructions from higher level computer languages to communicate with lower level components, such as directly with hardware.”
   
   There are five types of HAL, and you will get a BSOD if you are moving from a multi processor (not multi-core!) to a single processor, but not vice versa. So a single Pentium 4 to a Pentium Quad is not a problem and neither is a single CPU to a multi CPU motherboard. The latter will require you to update the CPU in device manager after migration.
   
   You’ll also get a BSOD if you are moving between different Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) motherboards. However, most modern PC’s share a common ACPI so this shouldn’t be a problem.
   
   Basically, you’re probably going to be OK with the HAL already setup on your source PC. For this example we won’t be touching the HAL.
   
   
2. Mass Storage Controller.
   This is a much bigger problem. The mass storage controller for the primary hard disk is the interface between Windows and your disk. With the wrong driver you won’t even begin to start booting Windows and you’ll probably just recursively boot with flashes of blue. Don’t bother reading the error message, the only useful thing it says is STOP.
   
   Fortunately we can set the primary disk controller (the one that loads Windows) to a default driver. This is the same as the one used when Windows was first installed and before any specific motherboard drivers were loaded. If we do this then Windows can be transferred to another PC, crucially, without that BSOD this time!

1. Right click on ‘My Computer’ and select ‘Manage’
   
   
2. In the management console select the ‘Device Manager’ tree node.
   
   
3. Expand the ‘IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller’node, right click on the first IDE/SATA Controller and take the ‘Update Driver’ option.
   
   
   
   
   
4. In the next dialog click the ‘Install from a list…’ option. We want to override the automatic detection and selection of the correct driver.
   
   
   
   
5. Then choose ‘Don’t Search…’ and click ‘Next’. We can now choose the default disk controller, the one that was first used when Windows was installed.
   
   
   
    
6. Here it is! It’s the ‘Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller’. Select it and click ‘Next’.
   
   
    
7. After a few seconds it will be installed. Click ‘Finish’.
   
   
    
8. Select ‘No’ to the reboot option and we’re all done.
   
   
   

• Just image the drive as normal
  http://www.macrium.com/blog/2008/03/25/HowToCreateADiskImageWithMacriumReflect.aspx
  
  
• Restore to your new hardware
  http://www.macrium.com/blog/2008/06/30/HowToRecoverYourPCUsingTheLinuxRescueCDPartII.aspx
  
  
• To put your correct driver back on the source PC, follow the steps above to  but choose ‘Search automatically for updated driver software’ in step 4.
  
  
• You’ll need to install disk controller, graphics, network and any other drivers necessary for optimum performance on the target PC. At first boot your network probably won’t work, so make sure you’ve got local access to the driver install files.

1. This won't work with Windows Vista.
   
   
2. This won’t work if the HAL’s are incompatible on the two computers. As already mentioned, this won’t be a problem in the majority of cases.
   
   
3. Microsoft doesn’t like this. You will almost certainly have to re-activate Windows after the swap. If you’re using an OEM version of Windows this may not be allowed. If this is the case then you’re stuck. I’m afraid you will have to start from scratch with a fresh copy of Windows. If you’re using a retail or volume licensed version then you should be able to re-activate without problems.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. If the primary controller on the target PC can’t run as a standard PCI IDE interface or if you are using RAID then this might not work.

This is the second part of the fifth tutorial in our series on working with Macrium Reflect. Last time we created a Linux rescue CD. This time I'll show you how to restore your 'drive C' image using this Rescue CD and return your PC to exactly the same state as it was when the image was created.

Don't let the word Linux scare you! You don't need to know anything about Linux. The restore program uses an XP style wizard with familiar mouse and keyboard operation. 

I've included an FAQ section at the end to help those of you that may have issues with the restore process.

OK, let's begin...

1. Put your CD in the CD tray and start your PC. After a few seconds the first introductory page will be shown. Click Next.
   
    
   
   

2. The next page shows locally attached drives and partitions labelled as drive letters like Windows.
   
   Note: These letters may be different to your Windows drive letter assignments. This is because Windows assigns, and remembers drive letters as you attach devices, the rescue CD assigns letters as devices are detected during start-up.
   
   
    
   
   Select the directory that contains the image you are restoring.
   
   Note: Clicking the folder icon or the +/- icon expands the directory/drive node. You must click the directory name to select the contents of the directory.
   
   If your image is stored on a network share then click the 'Map Share' button.
   
   
   
   Simply enter the share and user name details to add a network share to the 'Network Neighborhood' tree node. 
   
   Note: Make sure your network share is using WORKGROUP as the Workgroup name.
   
   Once you select the directory that contains your image file, the right window lists all partitions in all image file in the chosen directory.
   
   Select the correct partition image in the right windows and click 'Next'.
   
   
3. The next page shows the details of all partitions saved in the chosen image file. In our case we have only one, but you could have many partitions from different drives.
   
   Select (C:) and click 'Next'
   
   
   
   
   
4. You are now presented with the contents of all locally attached hard disks.
   
   You can restore this partition anywhere, you can even restore to free space on any disk.
   
   
   
   
   For this example we'll restore our saved partition to the whole of 'Disk 1'. All we have to do is select both the tick boxes on the first hard disk. Hold down the 'Ctrl' key and select both boxes.
   
   
   
   Click 'Next' to continue.
   
   Note: You must select at least the same size as the partition you are restoring otherwise the 'Next' button won't be available. If necessary use the 'Total Selected' value at the bottom of the dialog as a guide.
   
   
5. The next page allows you to select the type of partition to create when you restore. This flexibility gives you the ability to create logical partitions from primary and vice versa. For most restores this isn't necessary and the default partition type will be the partition type you originally imaged. For your Windows system partition you should always select 'Active'. This will be defaulted for you so just click 'Next' to continue.
   
   
   
   
6. Because we selected a larger size to overwrite than the original partition size we now have the opportunity to extend the restored partition to fill the selected space (the whole disk in this case).
   
   Note: If you just restore to the original partition that you saved, then you won't see this page.
   
   
   
   Drag the slider to the right and click 'Next'.
   
   
   
7. The next page allows you to verify the image before restoring. It is rare for an image to fail verification and this step can add a considerable amount of time to the restore process. The restoration will abort if any part of the image file is corrupt. However, if you are restoring to a new disk or if the partition you are replacing is already corrupt, then it isn't strictly necessary to verify.
   
    
   
   For this example click 'No' then click 'Next' to continue.
   
   
8. The next page gives you options for restoring the Master Boot Record (MBR).
   
   The Master Boot Record a small program that executes when your PC starts up. If this program has become corrupt, perhaps due to a virus, then you may have problems starting your computer.
   
   Each backup contains a copy of the Master Boot Record which can be recovered by selecting 'Replace with the Master Boot Record from the backup'. This is the default option, so leave this selected and click 'Next'.
   
   
   
   
9. Windows can run an automatic verification of your file system when it starts. The next page allows you to force Windows to run this check when you first boot after restoring.
   
   For this example select 'No' and click 'Next'.
   
   
   
   
10. We're now at the final Wizard page. This shows a summary of all your selections. Click 'Finish' to begin the restore.
    
    
    
    Your restore will now begin. At the end you have the option to click 'Back' and restore another partition or click 'Cancel' to restart your PC.
    
    
    
    Click 'Cancel' then click 'OK' in the reboot message box.
    
    
    
    

All Finished! The time taken for the restore process may be slightly longer than backup process.

There seems to be a lot of dialogs here, but most options are defaulted for you and clear explanations are provided on the relevant wizard pages.

In the next tutorial I'll cover the Windows PE 2.0 recovery environment. This environment has many more options to help you, including image browsing to recover individual files.

FAQ

• How do I restore an incremental or differential image?
  
  Incremental and differential images are restored in exactly the same way. Simply select the image by date and the restore process will locate the relevant files and recover your image automatically.
  
  
• Why is the 'Choose partitions to overwrite' wizard page empty?
  
  The Linux Rescue CD cannot recognize your internal hard disk(s) therefore you cannot select any destination partition(s) to overwrite.
  
  This is possibly because you are using an unrecognized SATA mode. Go to your BIOS settings for your main hard disk controller and check for an option like ‘Compatibility’ mode. If this doesn’t work or you can’t find any SATA option(s) to change then try the BartPE rescue CD or use Windows PE 2.0 rescue CD.
  
  Note: Windows PE 2.0 is only available with registered version of Macrium Reflect.
  
  
• I'm restoring an image from multiple DVDs but the restore wizard can't locate the image.
  
  You must place the last DVD in the CD tray first. The final part of any image contains the image index.
  
  
• When I select the directory containing my image file nothing is displayed.
  
  You must click on the directory name to select the directory contents.
  
  
• My computer won't boot with my new hard disk.
  
  This can be caused by XP not recognising your new disk. XP sometimes needs a driver for recent SATA disks running in AHCI mode. To fix this problem you may have to modify your BIOS settings to enable 'Legacy Mode', 'IDE Mode' or similar. When XP boots you should then locate and install the correct SATA drivers, then change your BIOS settings to match the driver.
  
  Alternatively, your 'boot.ini' file may be incorrectly set up. This file is automatically adjusted during the restore process so you normally won't have a problem with this. However, to correct any errors with this file and other boot related issues you should locate your original XP installation disk and start the XP recovery console. Details about this can be found here:
  
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058 
  
  http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/1ed79310-13ee-4352-8e1b-bbb59bc15b961033.mspx?mfr=true
  
  The relevant commands for fixing boot related issues are:
  
  fixboot: Replaces the partition boot sector
  fixmbr : Replaces the MBR.
  bootcfg/rebuild: Rebuilds the boot.ini file
  
  Note: If you have the Windows PE recovery environment then there's an option 'Fix Boot Problems' that runs these commands and others automatically for you.