If you select automatic using Acronis Trueimage 8.0 with the above mentioned laptop after selecting all the partitions for cloning you will end up with Drive C as the primary active drive and recieve the error message "missing NTLDR" when you boot your new hard drive.
 
What has happened is simple but can be perplexing if you have not encountered it before. Acer uses a small hidden drive F: as their boot drive on many of their laptops. Other manufacturers do this as well. To change the windows boot drive from C:\ where Acronis sets it back to F: where Acer has the M$ boot files use the Repair function on your XP install CD to get into MS numbingly limited version of DOS designed that they have carefully designed to frustrate anyone that knows DOS, including the ability to run files - lol. Nevertheless ;p , let the XP Install cd run until it get to the option for install or repair (do not hit F2 on the way to this menu or you will have to reboot again).
 
When you select "R" you will asked to pick the windows install you want to repair which is usually "1" and then are asked for the Administrator password - if you are brave enough not to use an admin pw just hit enter to see the DOS prompt.
 
At the DOS prompt type bootfix F:\
 
This did the trick for me without having to bother with bootcfg etc. because all the boot files you require to boot including ntdect.com amnd ntldr are safely on the f: drive. Now reboot and be happy.
 
I did not have FDISK handy but think that making the small F: Drive the active primary drive there will do essentially the same thing.
 
Hope this saves someone a little time on their next notebook / laptop HD upgrade ;D