How to Create an Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk

[MudCrab]

Several recent posts requesting instructions on installing True Image on an external USB hard disk and being able to boot from it have prompted me to create a guide on the subject.

Including both general instructions for those familiar with True Image and step-by-step instructions for those new to the process, hopefully anyone with True Image 10, a USB flash drive and USB hard disk can successfully create an Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk. For those still using True Image 9 (build 3,677 or later), the process is only slightly different.

This will allow you to boot into the Acronis media (True Image, Disk Director, etc.) from your storage drive with no need to boot from the rescue cd or from a flash drive. If you have created a BartPE cd or flash drive, you can use the same instructions to boot BartPE from the USB hard disk.

Many thanks to Menorcaman for his suggestions and help in getting the guide posted on the Acronis support forum. I also want to thank K0lo for his continued help, suggestions and ideas throughout the entire process.

Enjoy the guide! :)

Guide for Creating an Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/supportfiles/acronis_bootable_usb_hd.pdf)

EDIT (August 23, 2007):- Further testing of the procedure detailed in the Guide has found that Acronis Media Builder does not always write the MBR to the flashdrive during its creation. This results in a flashdrive that will not boot and any image created from it and restored to a USB hard disk will also not boot.

To try and rectify this problem, I have created two "empty" images that can be restored directly to either a USB flashdrive or a USB hard disk. The images contain the MBR, the boot sector and an empty ACRONIS partition.

Details on the procedure can be found here (http://www.purviancecs.com/acronis.htm).

MudCrab

[K0LO]

I want to vouch for the method that MudCrab has come up with. I've done it and it works great.

I did this last year but the hard way, by using dd to copy bootsectors and then manually patching the partition boot record with the hex editor in Acronis Disk Director. While educational, it was not easy.

MudCrab's method is very simple and takes all of 5 minutes to do. Great job, MudCrab.

[Menorcaman]

A nice bit of lateral thinking MudCrab and a well produced guide. Thank you.

I've placed a link to this thread in the True Image forum sticky titled Product Links, FAQs & Useful Forum Threads (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=167169) under the subheading "Wilders Security threads on common True Image problems and solutions".

Regards

Menorcaman

[pja123]

That's excellent guys - well done!! Hopefully this will become a full feature of TI 10 as a future update, as it rightly should be.

[Powie]

Wow that's a lot of work, I just used the HP USB Format tool, then had True Image install the files.

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/support/files/serveroptions/us/download/20306.html

[K0LO]

Powie:

-{ Quote: "I just used the HP USB Format tool, then had True Image install the files." }-To a USB hard disk or to a USB flash drive?

[Powie]

-{ Quote: "Powie:

To a USB hard disk or to a USB flash drive?" }-

Well the format tool shows my USB hard drive, as well as my flash drive, I guess I should say I have only tried it on my 4G kingston flash drive, but since it worked with that, I don't see why it would fail on the USB HDD (60g), it just happens to be full of data at the moment and I don't feel like zapping it. :) This tool requires disk with bootable files, I just formatted a regular floppy as bootable, and used that as the source.

[MudCrab]

I have tried the HP tool with my 80GB USB hard disk and it failed to create a valid format/partition. I don't think it works with large drives.

[K0LO]

OK, so the HP format utility is capable of formatting your USB hard disk. Windows can format your USB hard disk too. That's not the main focus of Mudcrab's article.

The article shows you how to use a USB hard disk as the only tool required for backing up and restoring image files. In the past you always needed two tools; one to run the stand-alone recovery version of TrueImage and another to hold your image files. For example, to recover your PC from a backup image you would need the recovery version of Acronis TrueImage on a CD or a flash drive. You also need the image file which can be on CDs, a DVD, an external USB hard disk, internal hard disks, or on a PC on your network. The recovery process may require you to boot the PC from a CD and then restore the image from an external USB hard disk, for example.

The heart of MudCrab's technique is a method for using an external USB hard disk as the only tool needed for backup and restoration. You boot your PC from the USB hard disk and the image file needed for restoration is also stored on the same hard disk. The originality of his method is that it requires only one program -- Acronis TrueImage -- to create this tool. Other methods that have been used have required partitioning tools like Acronis Disk Director, PartitionMagic, or equivalent. His method does not require additional software.

[Powie]

-{ Quote: "I have tried the HP tool with my 80GB USB hard disk and it failed to create a valid format/partition. I don't think it works with large drives." }-


Thought I would double check and copied my data off, and you are correct! I apologize, but maybe I helped someone with a USB flash drive. :-[

[MudCrab]

Powie,

What version of TI are you using?

TI 9 & 10 can create an Acronis bootable usb flash drive directly. There is no need to use the HP utility.

[Powie]

Well I just bought 10, and tried to make a bootable flash drive with it, and it didn't work. So I went looking for a way to format usb drives on the net, found the HP tool, formatted my flash drive, (and saw my USB HDD listed in the HP tool too) ran TI and had it copy it's boot menu's and such over, booted it, and it worked. It booted 30 seconds faster than a boot cd which I created with TI fine. So not sure what went wrong.

[GroverH]

Mudcrab,

A nice--neat--very professional looking and well written document. My hat's off to you :thumb: and to Menorcaman.:thumb:

Grover

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "Mudcrab,

A nice--neat--very professional looking and well written document. My hat's off to you :thumb: and to Menorcaman.:thumb:

Grover" }-


Thanks, Grover.

[^Ale]

Thank you very much MudCrab to taking time to share with us. Very nice work!

^Ale

[farmerlee]

Yeah, great work on the guide, its so simple yet works so well. I was considering getting a 32G flashdrive to store my backups, now i can save my money and just use one of my spare laptop hard drives.

[cdmazoff]

Wow... I just found the guide.. I downloaded it and can't wait...

I use Acronis 9. It has come in really handy... I have cloned my drive to a USB enclosure.....

I was trying out the Rescue media today and 2 things happened.

1. my mouse wouldn't work (I got the graphical interface but couldn't navigate, even with cursors)

2. I found no option for cloning from an external USB...


So it looks like this will be great..

Thanks in advance

CD in Victoria BC

[herojig]

This looks like a cool procedure. I have not tried it cause my usb drive currently has all my backups on the partition (about 200gig). But do I understand this procedure correctly:
1. create a bootable flash drive partition
2. put that on the usb harddrive as the primary active partition with updated MBR
?????
Is that it? Ok.
I also want to try the bartpe methoud as I already have that disk build for CD. BUT i can't get this tool downloaded:
http://gocoding.com/projects/petousb/3LAV5/PeToUSB_3.0.0.7.zip
there seems to be a redirect and my download fails. Thanks!

[MudCrab]

Try and download the PEtoUSB program from here (http://gocoding.com/page.php?id=60).

If that doesn't work, send me a Private Message and I'll send it to you.

---

If you follow the method outlined in the guide, it will ERASE everything on the USB hard drive. Make sure you have your backups copied off so you can put them back on after you've got the drive setup and booting.

I have not run tests on creating the bootable USB hard drive and keeping the existing data on the drive. I may run some tests on this later as it would be a nice option. However, since it would involve resizing the existing partition to make room for the Acronis partition, I would still recommend having everything backed up in case something went wrong.

[herojig]

-{ Quote: "Try and download the PEtoUSB program from here (http://gocoding.com/page.php?id=60).

If that doesn't work, send me a Private Message and I'll send it to you.
" }-

>>Sent, thx.

-{ Quote: "
If you follow the method outlined in the guide, it will ERASE everything on the USB hard drive. Make sure you have your backups copied off so you can put them back on after you've got the drive setup and booting.

I have not run tests on creating the bootable USB hard drive and keeping the existing data on the drive. I may run some tests on this later as it would be a nice option. However, since it would involve resizing the existing partition to make room for the Acronis partition, I would still recommend having everything backed up in case something went wrong." }-

>>Well, I tried to keep the data by using another method - DiskDirector - I thought that I could copy the boot partition and juggle things around to get around the losing of data on the USB drive, but that just did not work. I also tried the procedure word for word, and I wound up with a non-bootable usb drive. I suspect the problem is that the only flash drive I have to make the bootable partition is an apple ipod shuffle stick. I made sure to reformat it first, but still no luck. I guess I'll scrounge around for another stick, there must be one here somewhere....

I also noticed that one laptop using phoenix bios does not seem to be able to see anything but floppy, CD, or internal ide harddrive as a boot device. The other computer has intel bios but the way that works is that you have to choose at Bios boot which DEVICE you want to boot from. For example:
1st boot device = USB drive
2nd boot device = CD drive
3rd boot device = floppy

There is another setting for assigning boot order for just harddrives, and only the drive listed in the #1 slot there ever appears in the device list above. So it's just weird but workable I guess...

thanks for any help!
ps. as soon as i get PetoUSB I can try that, as I do have a working BartPE image working...

[herojig]

Almost got this working, as PEtoUSB sees the shuffle and puts the bartPE stuff on it. But, when I try to use the stick to boot, I get as far as the WindowsXP slash screen and then the BSOD comes up.:-[ Anyone have any ideas about that? The BartPE CD data directory used in this process works perfect. Thx.

[Brian K]

-{ Quote: "But, when I try to use the stick to boot, I get as far as the WindowsXP slash screen and then the BSOD comes up" }-
Same here. Does anyone have an answer?

[MudCrab]

herojig & Brian K,

There are posts about this on the BartPE forum (http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?s=&showtopic=7632&view=findpost&p=72342) (posts #139 & #140) and the MSFN forum (http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=26612&view=findpost&p=228102) (post #35) that deal with this.

You may want to post in the BartPE forum for more specific help.

[herojig]

-{ Quote: "herojig & Brian K,

There are posts about this on the BartPE forum (http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?s=&showtopic=7632&view=findpost&p=72342) (posts #139 & #140) and the MSFN forum (http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=26612&view=findpost&p=228102) (post #35) that deal with this.

You may want to post in the BartPE forum for more specific help." }-

Thanks mudcrab!
It seems there might be 2 issues: usb1 PORT vs. usb2 PORT (where usb1 resets on XP boot, killing the load) and fat32 vs. fat16. In my case, it must be the usb issue, as I get the BSOD no matter what format the stick has.

So now I just have to figure out what usb1vs2 is all about.:-X How do you tell which is which? There are 6 ports on the motherboard. thx again.

[MudCrab]

Have you tried booting from all 6 usb ports?

Does you computer support USB 2.0 or is it only USB 1 (or 1.1)?

[herojig]

-{ Quote: "Have you tried booting from all 6 usb ports?

Does you computer support USB 2.0 or is it only USB 1 (or 1.1)?" }-

They are all usb2.0 and i am working my way thru them, but the reference was to usb ports, as in one and two. but I can't see where a distinction is made there. Maybe it's just not possible in XP, if xp is going to reset the usb "ports" as it loads. but that was from one of those posts that you cited. Seems like a lot of folks have the same problem. I loaded the stick partition on a usb drive and i get the same result when i try and boot that. Well, one more usb slot to test...see ya later!

..UPDATE..all usb slots tried with same results. oh well. maybe its the build, but the bartPE CD works fine...arg.

[MudCrab]

Do you have another computer that will boot to USB that you can try the flashdrive on? Perhaps it's the particular hardware that's causing the problem.

[herojig]

Hi mudcrab! Well, I just gave up on the PEtoUSB route, as a new flash drive produced the same exact results, so I went back to your original procedure from the PDF file and guess what, with the new flash drive, it worked just great. So at least i now have a bootable usb drive with ati and DD on it. all is well, thanks!
:D
it would be nice to the extra functions of bart, but oh well...it must be something in the PEtoUSB tool that messes things up.

[radman2020]

mudcrab,

this question in no way should insult you... I am a neophyte...

but I read your guide and don't understand all the flash drive stuff...

For the past 2 years, I have just had acronis make an image of my c drive on an attached usb hard drive. I have an emergency boot cd.

I thought that if my hard drive burns up, all I would have to do is put a new one in, boot with the cd and copy back the image and I would be in like flynn...

what is all this about usb flash etc?

also, now, as you already saw in my other post, I have a hard drive bigger than my outside drive. I see your advice about a system partition...

How do I make that without formatting. How do I know what to put in that partition?


thanks.

[MudCrab]

Booting from a USB flashdrive (or USB hard drive) is sometimes just easier than using a cd. It's just personal preference.

In the case of my Guide, this lets you create a bootable USB Hard Disk that you can just plug in, boot the computer and restore your image from the drive without need to boot from a cd or a flashdrive. It's just a "plug in one device" solution.

I will reply to the other question in the other thread (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=182276).

[lautamas]

Can someone explain me why I dont find my "Removable Drive" in the list of drives listed in Step 3? I have attached my USB drive and formatted FAT32.

I also have another drive in my 2nd HDD ultrabay (using thinkpad T60)..but Acronis doesnt detect any of them. i have only listed:
- ISO Image file
- RIS Server

Why cant I find the removable drive?


I am using Acronis True Image Corporate Workstation 9.1 build 3887/ Thank You.

[titanad]

-{ Quote: "Can someone explain me why I dont find my "Removable Drive" in the list of drives listed in Step 3? I have attached my USB drive and formatted FAT32.

I also have another drive in my 2nd HDD ultrabay (using thinkpad T60)..but Acronis doesnt detect any of them. i have only listed:
- ISO Image file
- RIS Server

Why cant I find the removable drive?


I am using Acronis True Image Corporate Workstation 9.1 build 3887/ Thank You." }-

lautamas,

I had the same problem. But, after restarting my computer the drive with both partitions showed up.

HR

[lautamas]

-{ Quote: "lautamas,

I had the same problem. But, after restarting my computer the drive with both partitions showed up.

HR" }-
Rebooted so many times...retried...no luck..it doesnt show any removable drive.

[titanad]

MudCrab,

I just have to say, You have a gift for writing instruction manuals. I have never seen a manual as concise, accurate and complete(including screenshots) as this one.

Now, If I just had a manual this good for setting up the XP partition on a Vista installation, I would not have to worry about getting it wrong.

I know of a lot of software developers that should hire you to do their guides. Most of them are good programmers, but severely lacking in the writing department.

HR

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "Can someone explain me why I dont find my "Removable Drive" in the list of drives listed in Step 3? I have attached my USB drive and formatted FAT32.

I also have another drive in my 2nd HDD ultrabay (using thinkpad T60)..but Acronis doesnt detect any of them. i have only listed:
- ISO Image file
- RIS Server

Why cant I find the removable drive?


I am using Acronis True Image Corporate Workstation 9.1 build 3887/ Thank You." }-
I have not tried creating a bootable flashdrive using Workstation 9.1, but according to the manual it supports USB devices.

Does the USB flashdrive show up in My Computer correctly?

What size is the flashdrive (512MB, 1GB, etc.)?

Does it show up in the Safely Remove Hardware program?

Do you have Workstation 9.1 installed on another computer that you could try and see if the USB flashdrive works with it?

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "MudCrab,

I just have to say, You have a gift for writing instruction manuals. I have never seen a manual as concise, accurate and complete(including screenshots) as this one." }-
Thanks for the compliment. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed creating it.

-{ Quote: "I know of a lot of software developers that should hire you to do their guides. Most of them are good programmers, but severely lacking in the writing department." }-
Depending on the project, I'm open to the idea. It's part of the work I do. You can always send me a Private Message.

[lautamas]

-{ Quote: "I have not tried creating a bootable flashdrive using Workstation 9.1, but according to the manual it supports USB devices.

Does the USB flashdrive show up in My Computer correctly?

What size is the flashdrive (512MB, 1GB, etc.)?

Does it show up in the Safely Remove Hardware program?

Do you have Workstation 9.1 installed on another computer that you could try and see if the USB flashdrive works with it?" }-

Hi Mudcrab..thank you very much for replying back to me. Very thorough and nice article. It needs a lot of time to works something like that.

Let me answer you one by one...
>>Does the USB flashdrive show up in My Computer correctly?
Yes it does..Let me make clear: I am having a USB external drive (80gb) and internal 2nd HDD (attached to ultrabay in my thinkpad 120GB). Both act like external drive. Each has the Drive letter D and E respectively.

>>Does the USB flashdrive show up in My Computer correctly?
Yes...they do..both of them listed and act normally.

>>What size is the flashdrive (512MB, 1GB, etc.)?
As mentioned above...USB External Drive is 80GB (FAT32) and 2nd HDD drive attached in the Ultrabay is 120GB (FAT32)

>>Does it show up in the Safely Remove Hardware program?
Yes..both do...

>>>Do you have Workstation 9.1 installed on another computer that you could try and see if the USB flashdrive works with it?
Havent worked on it..should try that tommorow and let you know the update...

Thank you again for responding. I appriciate it..

Michael

[MudCrab]

It sounds like you are using USB hard drives. Acronis Media Builder won't show any hard drives in the list (USB or otherwise).

You need to try a regular USB flashdrive (PNY Attache FlashDrive, Crucial Gizmo!overdrive, etc.). The size doesn't have to be too large. Mine are in the 256MB to 2GB range and they work fine with Acronis.

[lautamas]

-{ Quote: "It sounds like you are using USB hard drives. Acronis Media Builder won't show any hard drives in the list (USB or otherwise).

You need to try a regular USB flashdrive (PNY Attache FlashDrive, Crucial Gizmo!overdrive, etc.). The size doesn't have to be too large. Mine are in the 256MB to 2GB range and they work fine with Acronis." }-
Well..can I use an external drive like the one I have to boot up acronis?

[MudCrab]

Yes you can (assuming your computer boots USB hard drives) after you create the bootable USB flashdrive. You need the flashdrive so you can create the image to put on the USB hard drive.

[GroverH]

lautamas,-{ Quote: "Post #31: Can someone explain me why I dont find my "Removable Drive" in the list of drives listed in Step 3? I have attached my USB drive and formatted FAT32." }-All references in Step 3 is to the Flash Drive only. The drives you are expecting to see is the flash drives; floppy drives; cd/dvd drives . The usb hard drive is not expected to appear as Acronis does not consider the USB hard drive as bootable media. MudCrab's guides helps us to overcome the Acronis limitation. On my computer, when creating a bootable flash drive (as in Step 3), the flashdrive is listed last--just below the floppy--both listed as removable drives.
192718-{ Quote: " In post #37, You said: Let me answer you one by one...
>>Does the USB flashdrive show up in My Computer correctly?
Yes it does..Let me make clear: I am having a USB external drive (80gb) and internal 2nd HDD (attached to ultrabay in my thinkpad 120GB). Both act like external drive. Each has the Drive letter D and E respectively.

>>Does the USB flashdrive show up in My Computer correctly?
Yes...they do..both of them listed and act normally.

>>What size is the flashdrive (512MB, 1GB, etc.)?
As mentioned above...USB External Drive is 80GB (FAT32) and 2nd HDD drive attached in the Ultrabay is 120GB (FAT32)

>>Does it show up in the Safely Remove Hardware program?
Yes..both do..." }-All your answers in post #37 refer to Disk Drives whereas the questions asked in post #35 all referred to the Flash drive. Are we confusing the miniature keyring size flash drive (also known as "thumb drive or travel drive, etc.") with the usb hard drives?

Your 80G external drive can become the Acronis Bootable USB Hard drive as begun as illustrated beginning in Step 5.

[turnjac]

Hello Mudcrab,

I've tried creating bootable rescue media on a usb flashdrive but get 'No bootable partition in table' when trying to boot from the flashdrive - I'm using TI10 (Trial) & vista.

[MudCrab]

turnjac,

I have not tried that particular combination (Vista and TI Trial) so I don't know if it would work differently.

Are you using a standard USB flashdrive? (Not one with any security software or programs that start when you plug it into Windows.)

What format did you use (FAT/FAT16 or FAT32)?

Has the computer successfully booted from other USB devices (flashdrives or USB hard drives)?

Does the USB flashdrive show up in the BIOS of the computer as a Hard Disk?

[turnjac]

Standard 128MB flashdrive, tried both FAT16 & FAT32.
First time trying to boot from usb device.
Flashdrive doesn't show up in the BIOS as a HD.

[GroverH]

turnjac,-{ Quote: "First time trying to boot from usb device.
Flashdrive doesn't show up in the BIOS as a HD." }-In order to boot from a bootable flash drive or bootable USB hard drive, temporary changes are often required in the BIOS.

Different brand BIOS have different options but my Phoenix Award BIOS has these options listed under the Advanced BIOS Features menu:
1. Option where you choose the Floppy/Cd/Hard drive as the first/second/third boot devices.
2. Option listed as "USB Flash Disk type" where you select "HDD" from a choice of HDD or floppy.
3. Option menu listed as "Hard Disk Boot Priority" . This option lists ALL the drives on your system (1-5 etc). My flashdrive is listed as "USB-HD0" and listed last. The drive listed as "1." is the boot drive used during bootup. To change the boot drive from the current drive to a different (USB) drive: Use the arrow keys to select/highlight a different boot drive; then use the pageup/pagedown keys (or + - keys) to move the selected drive (USB-HD0) upwards so that it becomes "1." in the listing.
4. Save your BIOS changes--usually by pressing the F10 key or as otherwise listed on the BIOS menu instructions.
5. After you are finished booting from the USB device, then the changes made in #3 will need to be reversed.

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "Standard 128MB flashdrive, tried both FAT16 & FAT32.
First time trying to boot from usb device.
Flashdrive doesn't show up in the BIOS as a HD." }-
I sent you a Private Message with a test to try.
Please let me know how it goes.

[lautamas]

-{ Quote: "lautamas,All references in Step 3 is to the Flash Drive only. The drives you are expecting to see is the flash drives; floppy drives; cd/dvd drives . The usb hard drive is not expected to appear as Acronis does not consider the USB hard drive as bootable media. MudCrab's guides helps us to overcome the Acronis limitation. On my computer, when creating a bootable flash drive (as in Step 3), the flashdrive is listed last--just below the floppy--both listed as removable drives.
192718All your answers in post #37 refer to Disk Drives whereas the questions asked in post #35 all referred to the Flash drive. Are we confusing the miniature keyring size flash drive (also known as "thumb drive or travel drive, etc.") with the usb hard drives?

Your 80G external drive can become the Acronis Bootable USB Hard drive as begun as illustrated beginning in Step 5." }-
Dear GroverH,
I think I didnt read through everything correctly. After completely read the guide, I know roughly what the manual is all about. Anyhow, I have sucessfully created the image into my USB HD from my USB Flashdrive.

One question though...
I have my 2nd HDD 120GB partitioned into 2 partitions. One partition is only 120mb and the other will be the rest of the space.
If I'd like to update the build of Acronis....I dont have to reformat the whole HD..correct? I can just build the image over to the 120mb partition?

[MudCrab]

Unless Acronis changes something with the booting process, you don't even have to restore the image. Just create a new flashdrive and then copy the files to the Acronis partition on the USB hard drive. This may change with TI 11. We'll just have to wait and see.

[lautamas]

-{ Quote: "Unless Acronis changes something with the booting process, you don't even have to restore the image. Just create a new flashdrive and then copy the files to the Acronis partition on the USB hard drive. This may change with TI 11. We'll just have to wait and see." }-
Thank you..we shall see and try. Nice article..thank you again..

[chamiltn]

Thank you for your excellent work. I just purchased this product and need understand a couple of things .. and assume that I am using your process using an external USB disc for bootup and restore.

1. WHEN do I need to do a "new build" and run the Media builder?
a. EVERY TIME I do a complete image backup (anticipate weekly) OR
b. when I decide to change the partition size on my external disc.
If "a", why?

2. I'm thinking of NOT having a SecureZone on the external disc so I can manage the image file names rather than allow TrueImage to manage them. What do you recommend?

[lautamas]

Anybody can explain me what's the difference between Secure Zone and Bootable Rescue Disk..if both are put in my external HDD?

[GroverH]

Chamiltn,
1. Create a new Rescue CD whenever you install a new build or new version on your computer. It is always a good practice to use a "Sharpie" marker and write the version; and build number; and serial number of current (& even serial of old versions if you installed an upgrade rather than full version); and retain any Rescue CD's that you create.

2. Secure zone: Do NOT place a secure zone on a removable drive. If placed on a removable drive and the drive is removed, you could loose your backups--and possibly not be able to bootup.

[GroverH]

lautamas:
For info about the merits of the secure zone, click the Useful Forum Threads and check out the Secure zone threads listed at the bottom of the page.

The Rescue CD has almost all the functions of the installed version. You can perform most important functions from the Rescue CD. Should your drive fail or become non-bootable, or want to restore your system partition, the Rescue CD can be used to perform this function plus backups or restores, etc. In fact, many choose to use the CD exclusively.

The secure zone should not be placed on your external drive otherwise you can loose your backups when disconnected. Having a usb bootable rescue disk makes the Rescue CD un-necessary or adds another option to your recovery choices; plus you can store your archives on the same disk--one device does it all. It's a matter of personal choices.

[MudCrab]

You only need to use Acronis Media Builder to create a new flashdrive (so you have the updated files) when they release a new build of the program and you've installed it. This may be six months or more depending on when updated builds are released. Or you may decide to stick with the current build if it's working okay for you and the new build has too many reported bugs.

I don't recommend installing the SecureZone on an external drive (and absolutely don't if you plan on activating the Recovery Manager). If you don't have a pressing need for the SZ, then don't use it. Manage your backups manually for the most control.

[MudCrab]

Having problems getting your Acronis USB Flashdrive or USB Hard Disk to boot?

Further testing of the procedure detailed in the Guide has found that Acronis Media Builder does not always write the MBR to the flashdrive during its creation. This results in a flashdrive that will not boot and any image created from it and restored to a USB hard disk will also not boot.

To try and rectify this problem, I have created two "empty" images that can be restored directly to either a USB Flashdrive or a USB Hard Disk. The images contain the MBR, the boot sector and an empty ACRONIS partition.

Details on the procedure can be found here (http://www.purviancecs.com/acronis.htm).

----

Many thanks to Menorcaman for adding this information and link in the first post of this thread.

[BooII]

MudCrab,

In your post titled 'How to Create an Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk', dated 'June 7th, 2007, 03:04 PM', do you mean True Image 9 build 3,677? The latest build available for True Image 9 is 3,854. This typo is on page 52 of your 53 page PDF titled 'A Guide To Creating A Bootable USB Hard Drive' (v1.0 - Initial release, June 7th, 2007) and also on your webpage 'http://www.purviancecs.com/acronis.htm'.

Please excuse if I'm mistaken about this. Possibly the build your referring to (9,677) is for one of the True Image 9.x corporate products instead of True Image 9.0 Home which I'm referring to. I would have PM'd this message but new 'Wilders Securtity Forums' posters apparently can't PM until a certain minimum number of posts have been made.

BooII

[MudCrab]

BooII,

Yes. Sorry about that. It is a typo. I just blurred it into 3,677. It should be 3,677 and not 9,677. I'll send a PM to have it corrected.

---

TI 9 Home build 3,677 was/is a good stable build and a lot of people still use it even though there was another build (3,854) released later (after TI 10 was released). The procedure would be the same for the later build. The main difference is that TI 9 versions won't normally let you image your flashdrive from Windows.

I did not test with any builds before 3,677 as that was the first build of TI that I have.

[MudCrab]

For users with Flashdrives larger than 2GB, Acronis Media Builder may have a problem (according to Acronis Support). I have successfully used the TI 10 and TI 11 Media Builder programs on a 4GB FAT32 Flashdrive.

However, it seems that users of TI 9 won't be able to use a Flashdrive larger than 2GB because Media Builder returns with a "Disk Full" error and won't copy the files. I have not tested a Flashdrive larger than 4GB as that's the largest I currently have, but I assume the same problem would exist for 8GB and 16GB Flashdrives.

To work around this, you can do several things:

1) Restore the 125MB FAT "Empty" image from my website to the 4GB flashdrive. It is important that you use the FAT image. The FAT32 image will not work. Normally, you'll need to boot to the Safe Mode version of TI to restore the image. If you select to restore the Entire Disk Image, TI will expand the image to 1.99GB. If you want (or need) the partition smaller, you can select just the partition and resize how you want, then go back and select to restore the MBR and Track 0.

2) Use Acronis Disk Director (or another partitioning program that works with Flashdrives) to remove the existing partition (usually FAT32) from the Flashdrive. Then create a small Primary FAT partition (125MB or so). I would recommend doing this while booted to the Safe Mode version of DD. --- Note: Using Windows Disk Management, XP and Vista will only allow one partition to be created on a Flashdrive. XP can't create a 4GB FAT partition and forces you to use FAT32 (at least, this is what it did on my computer). Vista will create a 4GB FAT partition, but it uses a larger cluster size and Media Builder gives the same error message.

Once the 4GB Flashdrive has a Primary FAT partition with a size under 2GB on it, reboot into Windows and plug in the Flashdrive. If Windows doesn't automatically assign a drive letter, go into Windows Disk Management and assign one. You should now be able to use Media Builder to create a bootable USB Flashdrive.

[ocular]

This is a great thread on creating a bootable external USB HDD. I have also seen your pdf and additional info on your website. You have managed to design this instruction manual so that it is easy to follow.

I was able to use my 4GB Flash drive by using Disk Director (in windows) to resize the fat32 partition to <2GB. Got the reboot message so did this and then got back into WinXP, disk management and then assigned a drive letter. Effectively the 4GB flashdrive is seen as a 2GB Flashdrive.


I have been using Acronis TI Workstation 9.1 build 3854 with universal restore and put the files onto the USB flashdrive (including diskdirector) via media builder and have been able to create a tib image of the bootable flashdrive from within windows rather than having to go to Safe mode from the bootable CD.

However the bootable usb flashdrive when it boots into TI doesn't show the acronis menu with the options of full mode, safe mode and the DiskDirector modes (like the bootable CD does) but just goes straight into the TI screen , presumably TI Full mode with universal restore.

Is this bug of no menu an issue with ATI Workstation or perhaps specific to this version 9.1 build 3854? Is there a workaround to get the boot menu to show up -so I then can set up the USB HDD that is bootable into a menu with the options of Full,Safe mode and DiskDirector too. Can anyone else confirm this lack of menu issue?

[whistl3r]

Works great. Thanks!

I've used the Sandisk 4gb and had no problems booting.

[kenny22]

Can i just say many many thanks for this post.
My hp laptop dvd drive is broken so had no way of reinstalling windows media centre, i knew there would be a way with a usb hard drive but have spent nearly a week of trying different ways.

Found this thread thanks to google and 2 hours later laptop up and running, very very happy

many thanks again

kenny

used my hp key with 1gb card in it, although i had to use the dummy file to get it to boot

[MTX]

This is how I make a bootable USB flash drive to backup/restore my C: drive

1. Create bootable rescue media to the flash drive (8GB Sandisk Contour)

2. Boot and load ATI11 from the flash drive

3. Backup C: to the flash drive

Note: I have no problem using a single partition.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g116/ohvictor/2008-01-06_123919.jpg

[sparkyguy]

Using TI Home Ver 11.8053
External USB drive 2.5" Western Digital 250GB Passport. It's been cleaned & wiped of all applications. Started with no partitions defined. Computer is Dell E1705 Laptop with the Dell original hidden "restore" partitions still intact.
Problem: After I make the bootable external USB drive, it will not boot on the Dell Laptop. Interestingly, the computer will boot into TI if I let it boot off of the flash memory stick I used for the creation process. Therefore, I know the creation process is working OK.
Here is the kicker . . . . if I move the external USB hard drive to a different computer, it works perfectly. I have the USB external hard drive moved to the top of the boot priority order and I've tried dozens of combinations of FAT16, FAT32, tried Mudcrab's empty partitions (PE to USB; both the FAT16 and FAT32).
I understand the process, but can't understand why it works with every computer I have (total of 5) but it won't work the the principal unit I need it for.
One last wrinkle, if I use the exact same process on a different external USB hard drive, it works successfully. The Passport drive works perfectly, except for this problem. Anyone seen similar problems??

[MudCrab]

Can you be a more specific with what you mean by will not boot?

Do you get an error message?
Does Windows boot directly?

In the BIOS, what does the USB hard drive show up as? Does it get listed as a "generic" USB-HDD entry or does it show the USB device brand/model?

Have you tried booting anything else on a USB hard drive on that computer (BartPE, VistaPE, Grub4DOS, etc.)?

Has any other USB hard drive booted TI correctly on that computer?

[sparkyguy]

Thanks for the reply. I realized my problem was getting lengthy and didn't want to ramble on too long.
As I noted in the original message, I've moved the external USB drive to the top of the boot order. During a boot (warm or cold) it quickly flashes "No Boot sector in the USB drive", then jumps into the Windows splash screen and loads Windows fine. I've tried more than a dozen times and methods, restoring both the drive and Track 0 at the same session, and alternately restoring them one at a time. No difference in the results. When the laptop doesn't boot from the external USB drive, it (correctly) steps to the next device in the boot order which is the internal laptop Hard Drive so it then boots right into Windows XP Pro. The external drive shows up in the BIOS as a very general "USB Storage Device", it does NOT indicate any unique make, model, or capacity.

Strange observations:
1. The external USB hard drive drive will boot properly and run TI when installed on another computer. I've verified this on >6 other computers. No errors when loading. Therefore, it's an issue with the Dell E1705 Laptop.
2. After my original posting, I found that rather than moving it to the top of the boot list in the BIOS, if I hold down the F12 key after the POST (which manually lets you changes the boot order order), then select "USB Storage Device" it will successfully load TI. However, it also quickly flashes the "No Boot Sector in the USB Drive", then proceeds to ignore the error and launches right into the TI loader and program. This seems to be a solution but is a bit discomforting since it still flashes an error.
3. After I created the emergency files on the external flash thumb drive, I verified it will boot correctly into TI without error. This is the exact flash drive I used to create an image from and restore into the external USB hard drive.

For some reason, it appears to me that the WD Passport 250GB drive isn't getting the MBR/Track 0 to restore quite properly. As an experiment, I'll try to create another bootable external USB hard drive, but I'll need to dig one up and make an image of the contents before I can do so.

[MudCrab]

Since the Passport boots properly on 6 other computers, I have to assume that the MBR/Track 0 is getting restored properly to the drive, otherwise it wouldn't work at all.

The problem does indeed seem to be with the E1705. If you can boot using the F12 method, then just do it that way.

You might want to check if there are any BIOS updates available for the E1705. Perhaps there is a newer version that better handles booting from USB devices.

Also, out of curiosity, when you boot from the USB Flashdrive on the E1705, does the BIOS show the same "generic" USB device or does it show a Brand/Model name?

[sparkyguy]

Both the BIOS and the "Manual Boot" F-12 selection say exactly the same thing:
"USB Storage Device".
There is no further information shown.

After some further thought, I believe you are correct . . . it seems to be the way the Dell Laptop is processing the USB port data and I may just have to live with it on this particular laptop. The Dell also has an extensive list of on-board self tests. I believe the tests are located on one of the additional partitions that Dell puts on their computers. I ran it through all tests (takes almost an hour), with no errors whatsoever.

I'd be interested if anyone else with a Dell Inspirion E1705, or it's smaller brother E1505, have had similar experiences.

[sparkyguy]

Update on my issue with the Western Digital Passport USB Drive:
There is an issue with the Western Digital Drive. Although the drive works perfectly as a storage device, apparently it does not accept the MBR/Track 0 restore properly. To verify this, I tried the procedure on another external USB hard drive . . . and it works perfectly. Thanks MudCrab, for the assistance and a very great suggestion to make these guys self-bootable.

One last question, since this procedure provides the capability to use the program on multiple computers, is it technically within the license limits to do so? Or asked another way, once installed on the external USB drive, does using it on multiple computer technically violate the one install/one computer typically covered in the EULA agreements? Just asking . . . I know no one would actually DO that.

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "There is an issue with the Western Digital Drive. Although the drive works perfectly as a storage device, apparently it does not accept the MBR/Track 0 restore properly. To verify this, I tried the procedure on another external USB hard drive . . . and it works perfectly." }-
Are you saying the WD drive doesn't let the MBR/Track 0 be written correctly? I thought you said it booted okay on six other computers. The MBR and boot sector would have to be written properly for it to boot on the other computers.

Now, you've tried another USB hard drive and it is booting okay on the E1705. Is that right?

Just out of curiosity... when you tried my "empty" images on the WD drive, did you try restoring them while booted to the Safe Mode version of TI? (This assumes the computer has BIOS support for the USB drive.) There are some cases where Windows will block writing to the MBR. If you check the drive with DD after you write the MBR, it will look okay, but if you remove and reconnect the drive the changes are gone and the MBR is back like it was before. However, I don't think this the problem in your case because the drive was booting on other computers.

-{ Quote: "One last question, since this procedure provides the capability to use the program on multiple computers, is it technically within the license limits to do so?" }-
A bootable Flashdrive or USB hard drive with the Acronis programs on it is no different than the bootable CD. You still need a licensed copy of the program for each computer on which you'll be using the program. If you'll be backing up five computers, then you'll need five licenses.

[sparkyguy]

Let me rephrase things. I appoligize if I've made the description more complicated than it is. I've tried lots of combinations and my description left a lot to be desired.

Background:
I have two external USB hard drives, lets call them A and B. Drive B is my new WD Passport drive. I made them both "self bootable" using the steps described in your application note. (Comment: Since I have a single software license, I have no intent on keeping the software on both drives. I'm only did this to analyze the source of the error described below.)

Problem
Both Drive A and Drive B boot and operate TI perfectly when I use them on my desktop computer (and many others). However, when used on my Dell Laptop, Drive A works fine (which eliminates the laptop being the source of the problem) , but Drive B (the WD Passport drive), flashes the error "No Boot Sector in the USB Drive" while booting . . then (within 1/2 second) continues to boot anyway followed by properly loading TI. Why the error on the Dell Laptop when loading?

The error doesn't seem to follow any logic.
If there was a problem with Drive B, it would do this on all computers, but it only gives the error with the Dell Laptop. Further, a different drive (Drive A), configured the same way, does not give the error when used on the same Dell Laptop.

Does this help clear up the situation, or have I made it more confusing?

[MudCrab]

I think it's just a problem between the BIOS in the Dell Laptop and the WD Passport USB drive. Aside from a BIOS update to fix the problem, there is probably nothing you can do about it. Since it works after the error, I wouldn't worry about it.

[joeveck]

Would the same instructions pertain to Acronis TI Ver. 11?

[MudCrab]

Yes, the same procedure can be used with TI 11.

[Eagle Creek]

Hi ticarson,

I moved your post about using OSS boot to a separate thread.
The thread you've replied to is about how to create an Acronis bootable USB Hard disk.

You can find your thread here (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=198770).

If you want to get e-mail notifications when someone replies to that thread, please click here (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/subscription.php?do=addsubscription&t=198770) and add a subscription.

[tr0910]

I don't even need to create the bootable USB drive. I'll be happy when I have a bootable Acronis USB thumbdrive. I've spent hours trying to get it to work but no luck.

I've tried 3 different thumbdrives (64 mb junker, 512 mb Memorex, 1 GB Kingston Data Traveler), and 3 different versions of Acronis and am having no luck. I get either a message about "Operating System not found", "Non-system disk", or an Acronis Boot Loader fatal error about a missing partition. This is after following instructions here very carefully, including the additional ones found at purviancecs.com/acronis.htm#booting

I can format the drive using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool found here (http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197). I can even load the Win 98 systems files from the same link onto the USB key and boot from this key on my Thinkpad X31 laptop.

But no way can I get it to boot once loaded with the Media Rescue builder files from Acronis (version 9.0, 9.1, and 11 Home)

I've changed everything but the X31 laptop as that is what I want to be able to boot from a USB key as it has no CD rom drive.

What should I try next?

Tim

[MudCrab]

Do you have access to a Disk Editor (like Disk Director) that can verify if the MBR and boot sector is written correctly?

I assume you already tried restoring the "empty" images from my link.
Did you do this in Windows or from TI's Safe Mode?
Did you try all of them or just some?

Have you tried booting a USB hard drive? The computer may detect it differently than a flashdrive. This would just be a troubleshooting step as it would help determine if Acronis's recovery setup will boot on the computer from a USB device.

Does TI boot successfully from the TI CD (both the Full and Safe mode versions)?

If you have a BartPE or VistaPE flashdrive, does it boot correctly?

[tr0910]

Thanks so much for all the work you have put into this. Its really well documented. Just this one little wrinkle to iron out.

Yes I tried restoring the empty images from you, but I haven't tried verifying the MBR with Disk Dir. I'll try this. I tried both FAT versions of your TIB files and the first FAT32 version. The first FAT version scales up the partition on the flashdrive to the full size of the card. The second one, creates a 256 meg partition from your 125 meg image with Home ver 11. Not sure this matters...

All my attempts were from Acronis under Windows. I haven't tried this from the Safe boot mode of Acronis. I assume you mean booting up and pressing F11 to go into Acronis before Windows starts. There is 2 options for Acronis when I do this. One is full, and the other is safe without USB or SCSI support. Will this safe mode work if it has no USB support? I want to make sure I understand your definition of safe mode.

I don't believe I have ever tried booting a USB HD on this X31 lappy. I have booted from a USB CDROM if that helps, and I created a Win98 DOS boot on the same thumbdrive using the HP utility and it boots like a charm on the X31.

BartPE and VistaPE are on my list to explore, but I haven't tried them yet.

Note: Running Windows XP Professional SP2 on all computers. Most of my trials were with Home ver 11, as it will recognize the thumbdrive in Windows as a write to location without having to boot to the Linux ver of Acronis. After I wrote this last night, I dug up a version of 10 Home and tried with it, and the same result.

[MudCrab]

A lot of newer computers will support USB flashdrives and hard drives when booted to the Safe Mode version of TI. In order for this to work, the BIOS of the computer has to support it.

When I say boot to the Safe Mode version, I mean to boot to the TI CD and select the Safe Mode version from the Acronis menu.

Being able to boot from a USB CD-ROM drive and a Win98 flashdrive is good. In some cases a USB HDD is seen differently than these by the BIOS and a flashdrive may be seen as a flashdrive or as a hard drive depending on the BIOS.

If everything is being written correctly to the flashdrive and you get the Acronis error (meaning Acronis is trying to start, but can't), then your computer may need an alternate boot loader.

Does the flashdrive created with Media Builder boot on any of your computers?

If you restore the FAT32 empty image to the flashdrive and copy the Acronis files to it, does it boot on any of the computers or do they all give the same error?

[tr0910]

Aha, now I think we are onto something. I tried to boot this USB Flashdrive on another desktop and it worked fine. I tried 3 computers and it worked on all of them. One would only work in safe mode. It failed on two computers, both of which are Thinkpad laptops. Sadly, these two are the ones I need to get it to work on. These are a X31, and a T42p.

I had been creating the flashdrive on a desktop and trying to boot it up on the Thinkpad. Do I need to create the bootable flashdrive on the computer that will be using it? Will these USB flash drives or USB HD be machine specific? I want to create a universal flashdrive or HD that can be used on any computer.

I haven't tried your "copy the Acronis files" suggestion, but I feel we may be getting to the root of the problem.

Tim

[MudCrab]

The bootable rescue media (CD, USB flashdrive, etc.) is not computer dependent. It can be made on another computer and then used on a different computer (the end result is the same). It doesn't have to be made on the computer on which it will be used.

You said you got several different boot error messages: Operating System not found, Non-system disk or an Acronis Boot Loader fatal error about a missing partition.

The first two errors usually mean the computer isn't booting correctly from the device. If you get a specific Acronis error message, then the computer is booting the device, but Acronis can't start for some reason.

What error message(s) are you currently getting when you try to boot the flashdrive on the X31 and T42p?

[tr0910]

You said you got several different boot error messages: Operating System not found, Non-system disk or an Acronis Boot Loader fatal error about a missing partition. What error message(s) are you currently getting when you try to boot the flashdrive on the X31 and T42p?


All of these errors came from the X31, and come from various different ways to create the boot USB thumbdrive.

It is running Win XP Pro SP2, has an 80 gig HD split into 2 partitions, one boots the OS, and the other is for data. There is a Secure Zone partition that only holds the Acronis boot up files for the "Press F11 to start Acronis" at boot time. Acronis Version on the X31 was ver 9, but I've upgraded it to 11 Home and tried to create the USB disk from this machine, but without any luck. There goes the theory that just creating the USB boot files on that computer would help.

Summary,

Thinkpad X31 - fail to boot from Acronis Emergency boot USB thumbdrive.
Thinkpad T42p - fail to boot from Acronis Emergency boot USB thumbdrive.
Intel based Core2Duo - boots only in safe mode from USB thumbdrive
2 other AMD based systems boot fine from USB thumbdrive.

We're making progress....

[tr0910]

-{ Quote: "

If you have a BartPE or VistaPE flashdrive, does it boot correctly?" }-

I just created a BartPE flashdrive with only base Win XP on it, and it booted fine on both the problem children (Thinkpad X31 and T42p).

Could I create a Bart PE USB hard drive with Acronis on it and have all the functionality that your solution would have? Are there any disadvantages to the Bart PE method?

[K0LO]

tr0910:

I'll let MudCrab answer the BartPE question, but I do have one additional experiment to suggest.

1. Create a TrueImage backup of your working BartPE flash drive. Do it while booted from the safe mode version of TI on your X31. This is your safety net to restore the drive in case this experiment doesn't work out.
2. Using Windows Explorer, delete all of the files on the flash drive including the hidden files.
3. Use Acronis Bootable Media Builder once again to create a bootable USB flash drive.
4. Plug the flash drive into your X31 and see if it will now work.

In my experience when the Acronis flash drive failed to boot it was because the Bootable Media Builder app failed to set the boot flag on the flash drive. Now that you have a properly booting BartPE flash drive, try it again. If it doesn't work out, restore the BartPE image and you're back to square one.

[tr0910]

-{ Quote: "
2. Using Windows Explorer, delete all of the files on the flash drive including the hidden files.
3. Use Acronis Bootable Media Builder once again to create a bootable USB flash drive.
4. Plug the flash drive into your X31 and see if it will now work." }-

This sounds a lot like what I did here

-{ Quote: "I can format the drive using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool found here (http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197). I can even load the Win 98 systems files from the same link onto the USB key and boot from this key on my Thinkpad X31 laptop.
" }-

Once I knew I had a good boot disk, I deleted the Win98 files as you suggest and tried installing the Emergency Boot files on top of it. Works fine on 3 computers, but not on the X31 or T42p.

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "I just created a BartPE flashdrive with only base Win XP on it, and it booted fine on both the problem children (Thinkpad X31 and T42p).

Could I create a Bart PE USB hard drive with Acronis on it and have all the functionality that your solution would have? Are there any disadvantages to the Bart PE method?" }-
You can put the BartPE USB flashdrive setup on a USB hard drive in the same way as the Acronis flashdrive. The instructions are in the guide (page 51). Basically, just image the flashdrive and restore it to the USB hard drive, resizing as necessary. If the USB hard drive contains files you want to keep, copy the files off, restore the image and copy the files back. If you can't do this, then you'd need a partitioning program (like Disk Director) to make the changes so you don't lose any files during the restore.

You can also restore one of my empty images (the FAT32 PEtoUSB image, for example), to the USB hard drive and then copy your BartPE files from the flashdrive to the hard drive. This eliminates needing to image the BartPE flashdrive.

There aren't really any disadvatanges to using BartPE. Mostly, you have faster performance and better driver support because it uses the Windows drivers and you can add your own.

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "Once I knew I had a good boot disk, I deleted the Win98 files as you suggest and tried installing the Emergency Boot files on top of it. Works fine on 3 computers, but not on the X31 or T42p." }-
I think the HP utility creates a different MBR (and possibly different partition table layout) than the PEtoUSB utility. I never had any success with the HP utility.

[K0LO]

tr0910:

It's ironic that you are having so much trouble with your X31. Of all of the PCs here, my X41 is the most cooperative with bootable devices. Virtually every bootable flash drive program that I've tried works on the X41 even when they don't work on other PCs. I've tried DOS, BartPE, Acronis Bootable Media, Live Linux USB, and VistaPE with complete success. Even the HP format utility works.

You really have me scratching my head trying to figure out why the X31 is giving you so many problems. Do you have the latest BIOS update (3.02)?

[tr0910]

-{ Quote: "tr0910:

It's ironic that you are having so much trouble with your X31. Of all of the PCs here, my X41 is the most cooperative with bootable devices. Virtually every bootable flash drive program that I've tried works on the X41 even when they don't work on other PCs. I've tried DOS, BartPE, Acronis Bootable Media, Live Linux USB, and VistaPE with complete success. Even the HP format utility works.

You really have me scratching my head trying to figure out why the X31 is giving you so many problems. Do you have the latest BIOS update (3.02)?" }-

I've got 3.02 bios on the X31, and 3.06f on the T42p.

It was so easy using the HP tool to get it booting Win98 from a USB Key, and the Bart PE tool really got it booting WinXP easily. I'm scratching my head too. Both these laptops have been very reliable and both can boot up Acronis 9 from a secure zone without difficulty.


Tim

[tr0910]

-{ Quote: "You can put the BartPE USB flashdrive setup on a USB hard drive in the same way as the Acronis flashdrive. The instructions are in the guide (page 51). Basically, just image the flashdrive and restore it to the USB hard drive, resizing as necessary. If the USB hard drive contains files you want to keep, copy the files off, restore the image and copy the files back. If you can't do this, then you'd need a partitioning program (like Disk Director) to make the changes so you don't lose any files during the restore.

You can also restore one of my empty images (the FAT32 PEtoUSB image, for example), to the USB hard drive and then copy your BartPE files from the flashdrive to the hard drive. This eliminates needing to image the BartPE flashdrive.

There aren't really any disadvatanges to using BartPE. Mostly, you have faster performance and better driver support because it uses the Windows drivers and you can add your own." }-

I'll try and set it up with Bart. I'm confused about which version of Mustang's plugins to download from here (http://www.mechrest.com/plugins/index.html). He has both a regular version for ATI 11 Home and a 64 bit version that he says works with 32 bit systems, and must be loaded onto 32 bit WinXP. The laptops are 32 bit, but most of my other stuff will be Athlon 64 or Core 2 Duo running WinXP 64 bit edition.

64 bit plugin or standard plugin????

[MudCrab]

You need a 32bit XP for the source. I think the plugin difference is if the installed OS in which you are using the plugin is 64bit or not. For example, you're using PeBuilder and TI installed on in XP 64bit.

If you use PeBuilder in a 32bit OS then use the 32bit plugin. The final BartPE build will be 32bit in either case.

If you want to email mustang and ask, he's usually quick to respond. Also, if you do end up with the wrong one, I don't think there would be any problem getting it swapped.

I have XP and Vista (both 32bit) and have only used the 32bit plugin.

You also have the option to use the Acronis BartPE plugin. It lacks features like being able to mount images, though.

[darktortise]

Hi, I am trying to follow your very thorough instructions and have run into one snag, I get this error; "Can not find a partition with the path \local\hd_sign(3BEAD7EA)." when I try to create the back up on the flash drive.

Let me step back, I get an error that says to check the log and this is the first error it shows. The other is: No source is selected for the operation. Terminated.

Any suggestions?

[MudCrab]

What version and build of TI are you using?

Are you trying to make the image of the flashdrive while in Windows? If so, what version of Windows?

If your computer supports the flashdrive in the BIOS (most new computers do), you may be able to image the flashdrive booted to the Safe Mode version of TI.

If you can't image the flashdrive, you can use one of my "empty" images ("problems" link in my signature) to setup the hard drive. Instructions are included on the page.

[darktortise]

-{ Quote: "What version and build of TI are you using?

Are you trying to make the image of the flashdrive while in Windows? If so, what version of Windows?

If your computer supports the flashdrive in the BIOS (most new computers do), you may be able to image the flashdrive booted to the Safe Mode version of TI.

If you can't image the flashdrive, you can use one of my "empty" images ("problems" link in my signature) to setup the hard drive. Instructions are included on the page." }-

I am usin TI 10 build 4942. Using Vista. I was in step 4 of your instructions. If I use one of your empty images do I skip the flashdrive step?

[darktortise]

Don't know what I did but I got it to work. I will continue on with the rest of your directions. Thanks a million for your time in writing this guide!!!:o :o :o

[jeremyotten]

Ok now a challenge! Can You create A bootable HD or Bootable Flash drive which contains the Acronis Single Click Restore Util + the Image?

Let's take this challenge... Anybody?

[tuttle]

For those having trouble with some USB ports on your PC, try the other ports. Some may have a more direct connection to the USB card. Also, USB ports on periperhals are often insufficient. I can routinely image from my Dad's PC to an external USB hard drive if it's connected to the rear of his PC. If connected to a USB port on his jeyboard or monitor, the backup process begins but fails.

What size does the USB Flash Drive have to be to contain the bootable ATI rescue disk stuff? Preumably less than 700 MB, since a Rescue CD does not use the full CD-R capacity.

[MudCrab]

The TI files range from around 30MB to 55MB or more depending on the version and what you include (Full, Safe, DD, Cleanser, etc.). I think everthing should fit fine on a 128MB or larger flashdrive.

[tuttle]

That's quite efficient. That can leave plenty of space (on a larger flash drive or hard drive) to also contain some backup images.

Thanks.

[Rogman]

-{ Quote: "That's excellent guys - well done!! Hopefully this will become a full feature of TI 10 as a future update, as it rightly should be." }-

Exactly what I needed - great stuff
(WinXP SP3, Maxtor Basics 500gb external)

[laserfan]

At the risk of appearing to be an idiot, can I suggest an addition somewhere to Post #1 or the How-To itself. I've used computers for a long time but never knew until now...that "USB as a boot option" does not appear in the BIOS unless a usb drive is actually plugged-in at POST!!! :-[

I checked on two of my computers thus far, and whereas I'd looked for "USB boot options" in the past, never finding any "USB boot" setting(s), this was apparently always done without a USB drive actually attached! Two checked--two w/USB boot option! Yeah I'm embarrassed (my defense: I'm retired five years now & no more PC-savvy cohorts to rub elbows with) but in any case thanks GroverH this gives me some more toys to play with!

Oh, and of course thanks MudCrab for the inspiration!

-{ Quote: "turnjac,In order to boot from a bootable flash drive or bootable USB hard drive, temporary changes are often required in the BIOS.

Different brand BIOS have different options but my Phoenix Award BIOS has these options listed under the Advanced BIOS Features menu:
1. Option where you choose the Floppy/Cd/Hard drive as the first/second/third boot devices.
2. Option listed as "USB Flash Disk type" where you select "HDD" from a choice of HDD or floppy.
3. Option menu listed as "Hard Disk Boot Priority" . This option lists ALL the drives on your system (1-5 etc). My flashdrive is listed as "USB-HD0" and listed last. The drive listed as "1." is the boot drive used during bootup. To change the boot drive from the current drive to a different (USB) drive: Use the arrow keys to select/highlight a different boot drive; then use the pageup/pagedown keys (or + - keys) to move the selected drive (USB-HD0) upwards so that it becomes "1." in the listing.
4. Save your BIOS changes--usually by pressing the F10 key or as otherwise listed on the BIOS menu instructions.
5. After you are finished booting from the USB device, then the changes made in #3 will need to be reversed." }-

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "At the risk of appearing to be an idiot, can I suggest an addition somewhere to Post #1 or the How-To itself." }-
I've made a note and will try and get that information in the guide. I'm kind of swamped right now so it may be a bit before a get to it.

-{ Quote: "I've used computers for a long time but never knew until now...that "USB as a boot option" does not appear in the BIOS unless a usb drive is actually plugged-in at POST!!!" }-
Different computer do this differently. Most newer computers will only show USB devices if they are connected when the computer boots. When USB booting first came out, most of the BIOS options existed to select the type of USB device (USB-CD, USB-ZIP, USB-HDD, etc.) and you could select them just like you select a CD/DVD or floppy drive. Now, most treat USB devices like internal hard drives; if they're not connected, they don't show up.

[Piranha Pete]

I am using an external (USB2 - Linksys Router) NDAS network drive. Booting from ATI bootable rescue CD, Acronis TI 10 caters for restoration from NDAS device ( New Connection ) requests Licence ID# and Key. I have previously been able to enter the info to register the device, but ATI will not always register the device. I have not restored from the network drive as yet. Having flicked through "Create an Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk" I think it would be a good additional/alternative method for accessing the USB network drive. Consider failure of ATI to register new device; network/router fails; ATI bootable rescue CD does not boot. What do you guys think? Could this method be applied to spare internal HDD?

[Piranha Pete]

I am using an external (USB2 - Linksys Router) NDAS network drive. Booting from ATI bootable rescue CD, Acronis TI 10 caters for restoration from NDAS device ( New Connection ) requests Licence ID# and Key. I have previously been able to enter the info to register the device, but ATI will not always register the device. I have not restored from the network drive as yet. Having flicked through "Create an Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk" I think it would be a good additional/alternative method for accessing the USB network drive. Consider failure of ATI to register new device; network/router fails; ATI bootable rescue CD does not boot. What do you guys think? Could this method be applied to spare internal HDD?

Good work Mudcrab

[MudCrab]

If the USB drive is connected to a router and you can't access it using TI, couldn't you connect it directly to the computer in an emergency?

The method in the guide (as well as other methods) works just as well on an internal drive as an external. I have mine on internal and external drives.

[Piranha Pete]

Yes, connecting directly to the computer in an emergency is my intention. I only have average experience, I don't quite understand how I would then access the archive. Would the USB disk be recognized if my C: Drive failed or Windows XP would not boot. Would the USB drive be bootable? Even if the ATI bootable rescue CD failed? Or would I boot the USB Disk through the BIOS? Should the network drive be made into an Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk?
When I get the time, I will read your document more carefully to try to understand the implications.

I have had many minor problems with ATI10 and would like to make sure that my emergency recovery plan will work.
Currently, both of my computers have a spare/empty D: Drive. I am backing each computer up to folders designated as Acronis backup locations on the NDAS network drive. If the C:Drive on either of my computers fails I intend recovering to the D: Drive. Is it that simple?

Cheers

PS Mudcrab how did you become so knowledgable?

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "Yes, connecting directly to the computer in an emergency is my intention. I only have average experience, I don't quite understand how I would then access the archive." }-
Normally, the computer would be booted to the TI CD (or USB flashdrive or USB hard drive), TI would be started, you would browse to the backup image and then restore it to the internal drive.

-{ Quote: "Would the USB disk be recognized if my C: Drive failed or Windows XP would not boot." }-
If TI properly supports your hardware it should find the USB drive.

-{ Quote: "Would the USB drive be bootable? Even if the ATI bootable rescue CD failed?" }-
If you make the USB drive bootable, and the computer supports booting from USB devices, it should boot from it. The USB drive is independent of the TI CD. However, the same programs are on both. If TI doesn't work from a CD, it most likely won't work from a USB hard drive.

-{ Quote: "Or would I boot the USB Disk through the BIOS?" }-
Depending on the computer, you may have to enter the BIOS to select the USB drive as the boot drive or there may be a key to press when you start the computer (F12, for example) to bring up a Boot Menu from which you can select the device you want to boot.

-{ Quote: "Should the network drive be made into an Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk?" }-
I assume this is the same USB drive being referred to above... You should be able to make the drive bootable. However, don't expect it to boot from the network. It would need to be plugged into the computer to boot it.

-{ Quote: "Currently, both of my computers have a spare/empty D: Drive. I am backing each computer up to folders designated as Acronis backup locations on the NDAS network drive. If the C: Drive on either of my computers fails I intend recovering to the D: Drive. Is it that simple? " }-
That should work. You would most likely want to remove the failed drive and make the D: drive the new boot drive.

-{ Quote: "PS Mudcrab how did you become so knowledgable?" }-
A lot of reading, learning, testing and work.

[Piranha Pete]

Thanks for your input I am beginning to see the light.

[Piranha Pete]

In response to your last bit of advice "You would most likely want to remove the failed drive and make the D: drive the new boot drive." Understood.

Can I do a test recovery of the healthy C: Drive to the D: Drive just to check that the recovery works. I assume that I would have to make the D: Drive the new boot drive to be absolutely sure that recovery to a new drive will work??
Currently the empty D: Drive is a slave and the healthy C: Drive is a master. Would I have to physically change the positions of the drives and jumpers? Drive letters? Or just change the boot drive order in the BIOS?

How else would I check recovery of C: Drive to a new drive? Would recovery be easier if the D: Drive was unallocated space?
Perhaps you can direct me to an appropriate thread?

Cheers

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "Can I do a test recovery of the healthy C: Drive to the D: Drive just to check that the recovery works. I assume that I would have to make the D: Drive the new boot drive to be absolutely sure that recovery to a new drive will work?" }-
It's usually best to do the restore when booted to the TI CD. Then shutdown the computer and disconnect the C: drive. Set the D: drive as the master (you may have to change a jumper setting) and set the BIOS to boot it. By testing this way, you are duplicating an actual disaster. Note that if the computer uses the Cable Select method of detecting the master and slave drives, you'll just need to connect the master plug to the D: drive and leave the slave plug unconnected.

-{ Quote: "Would recovery be easier if the D: Drive was unallocated space?" }-
TI will delete any partitions on the drive before it restores (assuming an Entire Disk Image restore) so there is no need to unallocate the space. If you have any files that you want to save that are on the D: drive, make sure to copy them off before you do your test restore.

[Piranha Pete]

OK, that makes good sense. It sure helps to have an expert confirm my thought process.
Firstly: I will follow your instructions to confirm full restoration to spare D: Drive works.
Secondly:
I intend returning my computer to it's current configuration, but disconnect the power supply to the D:Drive ? This would prevent natural ware and tare and safeguard it from electrical faults. Would I also have to disconnect it from the data cable, make any changes to the BIOS?

Alternatively remove the spare drive from the computer?

Thanks with your help, it is most appreciated

[MudCrab]

I would disconnect both the power and data cables from the spare drive. Then, just make sure the main drive is the master and the BIOS has it set to boot.

[JamesAL]

I've seen this activity before where the BSOD appears during the flash drive boot. Try to have other USB devices powered off or unplugged during the intial progress bar. When "Please Wait" appears, or at the very end of the progress bar, power them on or plug them in. Works for me every time.

[stephen2046]

Hi,why can't I download USB-HDD image files from http://www.purviancecs.com/acronis.htm ?

[MudCrab]

They are downloading okay for me. Are you getting an error message? Have you tried both just clicking on the links and right-clicking and selecting to save the target file?

[stephen2046]

I have tried both methods, end with downloaded a file in 7kb size.
Do you have another link that I can download the file? Thanks.

[JamesAL]

Try to disable AV protection temporarily. The actual file sizes are correct, ~4 KB and ~7 KB respectively. Make sure to rename the extensions to TIB as directed. You should be able to right-click the renamed file if Acronis is installed on your PC and select "Mount" to examine it.

[stephen2046]

Have created the bootable flash drive on my kingston 1GB drive successfully.
Thank you guys!

[ModelT]

Great Illustrated Step-by-Step instructions. Thanks MudCrab. This is my first post and since I'm going to use this for Backup/Restore of 2 small SSD (4&8Ghz), I was wondering if I could use a USB Flash Drive VICE a USB HDD & modify the flash drive to flip the "Removable Media Bit" (RMB) on the USB drive?. This would allow the Flash drive to be recognized in windows as a disk drive and have the ability to create multiple partitions. BootIT.exe supposedly can do this task.

(http://www.lancelhoff.com/2008/05/01/multi-partition-a-usb-flash-drive-in-windows/

The above link shows a step-by-step procedure to perform this mod. Then, maybe all I have to do is restore my Acronis .TIB file to a 3 partitioned Flash Drive. Does anyone think this will work?

Ron

[nicnicman]

Will this allow me to boot into Windows that is already installed on the drive?

My laptop died and I would like to boot into the Windows on it's hard drive.

I have a usb adapter but this does not help me to boot to the drive.

Thanks for any responses.

By the way your tutorial looks great.

Nick

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "This is my first post and since I'm going to use this for Backup/Restore of 2 small SSD (4&8Ghz), I was wondering if I could use a USB Flash Drive VICE a USB HDD & modify the flash drive to flip the "Removable Media Bit" (RMB) on the USB drive?. This would allow the Flash drive to be recognized in windows as a disk drive and have the ability to create multiple partitions. BootIT.exe supposedly can do this task." }-
I haven't tried the utility so I can't say anything in that regard.
-{ Quote: "Then, maybe all I have to do is restore my Acronis .TIB file to a 3 partitioned Flash Drive. Does anyone think this will work?" }-
Are you talking about restoring the Acronis bootable flashdrive image or restoring an SSD image? If the flashdrive shows up as a USB hard drive after the change is made, you should be able to use one of the partitions for the Acronis programs.

If you're just using the flashdrive to save the image files, it really doesn't need to be partitioned.

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "Will this allow me to boot into Windows that is already installed on the drive?

My laptop died and I would like to boot into the Windows on it's hard drive.

I have a usb adapter but this does not help me to boot to the drive." }-
No. This will not allow you to boot your Windows drive. You'd need to do a boot repair with the Windows CD/DVD or use BartPE/VistaPE or Live Linux to access any files if you can't get it booting.

[oldaussiedog]

MudCrab,

Great guide, had no problems following it. This thread should be made into a sticky, or the guide given a direct link in the FAQs so it doesn't get lost in the forum archives.

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "MudCrab,

Great guide, had no problems following it. This thread should be made into a sticky, or the guide given a direct link in the FAQs so it doesn't get lost in the forum archives." }-
It is already in the FAQ sticky as one of the links.

[quinndexter]

Hello all,

I've been trying to follow the method, but I had problems making my usb flash drive bootable.
I tried the "empty image" method by MudCrab, tried the four different images provided, and failed to boot.

I get the following message :
BOOT DRIVE PARTITION NOT FOUND

Anyway, this is not the primary purpose of my post. Now, my usb flash drive contains only one 245 MB partition, the rest is unallocated space. And I can't find a way to get my flash drive back to its true size (8 GB) :-\

Please, what can I do ?

[bodgy]

Excuse the question, but is this a cheap 8 GB drive? Some of the ones selling for less than $50.00 weren't actually 8 GB, they just pretended to be.

Anyhow, you should be able to reformat the drive from within Windows, using FAT 32.

If Windows refuses, then I suggest either trying from Windows Console or DOS boot disk mode.

Colin

[quinndexter]

It's a Lexar usb drive, I've been using it for a few months, it did have 8GB.
I found a solution, I downloaded a format software from HP and it worked.

Thanks.

Now I will start working back on the initial problem :)

[K0LO]

-{ Quote: "...Anyway, this is not the primary purpose of my post. Now, my usb flash drive contains only one 245 MB partition, the rest is unallocated space. And I can't find a way to get my flash drive back to its true size (8 GB) :-\

Please, what can I do ?" }-*Edit - I see that you beat me to it and had already figured this out*
If you have Linux then plug in the drive and use dd to zero the entire drive. Then go back to Windows and format the drive again. If you don't have access to Linux then you could try using the HP USB Disk Formatter tool (http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197) to return your drive to a condition that Windows can deal with. Ignore the parts of the article about making the drive bootable; just use the utility to format the drive.

As for the other problem, some PCs have trouble booting from larger flash drives; yours may be one of them. If you have access to a 2 GB or smaller drive then try making the Acronis bootable USB flash drive again.

[laserfan]

There is probably discussion somewhere in this thread but I just have to ask: for my Kingston 8Gb flash drive Windows XP gives me only one option, FAT32, under the Format command. The HP utility adds FAT and NTFS.

Is there a reason Windows would limit its Format flexibility in this way? I.e. why doesn't WinXP allow for NTFS formatting of the USB drive?

[K0LO]

Laserfan:

Microsoft chose to limit options so that you can yank the drive out without losing data. If you want to format a flash drive to NTFS with XP then you can follow this guide (http://www.ntfs.com/quest22.htm), but you'll have to remember to use "safely remove hardware" when removing the drive to prevent data loss.

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "I've been trying to follow the method, but I had problems making my usb flash drive bootable.

I get the following message :
BOOT DRIVE PARTITION NOT FOUND" }-
If you're getting this message, the MBR is okay and the flashdrive is booting. This error happens later, after the MBR has already turned control over to the boot sector. This error message most likely caused by a non-standard (or partially corrupt) partition table on the flashdrive.

I have received this error message on my 8GB flashdrive. After fixing the partition information, it boots fine so the size shouldn't be causing the problem. However, the MBR code in the "empty" images on my website may have problems with flashdrives larger than 2GB.

[quinndexter]

Thank you MudCrab.

I don't really know how I could fix this.
If I can find a <2gb stick, that problem could still occur ?

[MudCrab]

It's possible you could have a problem with a 2GB or smaller flashdrive, but I think the chances are less. TI seems to be more fussy with larger flashdrives, especially on some systems.

When you boot the flashdrive, if you use a BIOS boot menu, try entering the BIOS and actually changing the BIOS boot order so the flashdrive is first. On some computers, this seems to make a difference.

After you got your 8GB flashdrive repaired with the HP utility, did you rerun Media Builder on it and try it again? I don't know if the HP utility has any MBR problems on larger flashdrives. If it does, you may get a different error message.

I assume you are using TI 2009. Is that correct? I haven't seen this particular error with previous versions. Also, make sure you're using the latest available build (currently 9,615 for the English version).

Lately, I've mainly been booting TI using Grub4DOS on my flashdrive. This allows for a lot of flexiblity (such has booting the ISO file and having multiple versions/builds on the same flashdrive).

Are you using XP or Vista? The diskpart program in Vista allows for working with flashdrives. You could clean the flashdrive, recreate the partition, etc. using it, if necessary. If I need to really wipe a flashdrive, I usually use the dd command in Linux (from a Live Ubuntu CD, for example).

[MudCrab]

I haven't played much with using Vista's diskpart on flashdrives so I just ran a few tests. One flashdrive had no MBR code (wiped) and the two others had a non-Vista standard MBR. In both cases, diskpart wrote its own MBR code. Media Builder had no problems with the flashdrives and TI 2009 had no problems booting from them. I assume that would hold true for previous versions as well. I tested this using two different 2GB flashdrives and one 8GB flashdrive.

The basic procedure is as follows:

Boot into your Vista system.
Plug in the flashdrive.
If you have any important files on the flashdrive you want to save, copy them to another location (all files will be deleted during this procedure).
Start a Command Prompt in Administrator Mode (http://www.themudcrab.com/vistaadmincp.php).
Run the diskpart program and issue the necessary commands (detailed below).
Use the Acronis Media Builder program on the flashdrive.

This is an easy way to get a flashdrive bootable and seems to work well. This procedure is posted in several places on different websites, but I thought I'd put it here in case it can help someone looking here for a solution to this problem.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: In the instructions below, <ENTER> means to press the ENTER key.

At the command prompt, enter the following commands:
diskpart <ENTER>
list disk <ENTER>
This will list the disks in the computer. The flashdrive will be included in this list. You should be able to find it from its size. It is very important to select the correct disk as the following commands will delete everything on it.

In this example, I'll use Disk 3 as the flashdrive.
select disk 3 <ENTER>
clean <ENTER>
create partition primary <ENTER>
select partition 1 <ENTER>
active <ENTER>
format fs=fat32 quick <ENTER>
exit <ENTER>
Note: During this procedure, if an AutoPlay window pops up asking what you want to do with the new drive, just close it.

Here is a screenshot of the procedure showing the diskpart commands and the results:
203519

If you get this error...
203520
...when you try to create the new partition, do the following:

Exit diskpart (type in exit and press ENTER).
Safely remove the flashdrive from the USB port.
Wait a few seconds and plug it back in.
Begin the procedure over again.

In each case I got this error, this worked for me. If anyone gets different results, feel free to post them.

[mmo]

The guide reads indeed nice and easy understandable, but - alas - the described procedure in my case stalls already in the step 2 - where one should create an image of the just created bootable USB flash drive.
For some unknown reason, that drive is NOT listed as one of the selectable source partitions to create a backup from. The drive IS, however, listed as drive E and accessible without any problem in Windows' Explorer (under Vista Business).

Any idea WHY this drive doesn't show up as backup source?

I am trying this using Acronis True Image Home 11.0 (build 8'101).

Michael ???

[MudCrab]

On some systems (and with some versions of TI), the flashdrive will not show up correctly as a backup source while in Windows or from the Full Mode version.

You could try booting from the TI CD and using the Safe Mode version of TI (make sure the flashdrive is plugged in before you boot the CD). If the flashdrive is detected by the BIOS, it should show up in the Safe Mode.

I assume you have checked that the flashdrive boots to TI okay?

[laserfan]

-{ Quote: "Microsoft chose to limit options so that you can yank the drive out without losing data. If you want to format a flash drive to NTFS with XP then you can follow this guide (http://www.ntfs.com/quest22.htm), but you'll have to remember to use "safely remove hardware" when removing the drive to prevent data loss." }-
Thanks very much for your answer & link. And for spelling "losing" correctly!!! ;)

[quinndexter]

Hello, I'm back behind my computer.

MudCrab, I'm using the last TI 2009 build. I have set up the boot sequence with the usb-hdd as first. And I am using windows XP pro.
I still get the BOOT DRIVE (PARTITION) NOT FOUND error. What makes me sad is that I now have a 1GB flash drive. I tried again the 4 empty images, and it's just the same result I used to get with my 8GB drive.

I'm not sure what to try next. I'm interested in the GRUB4DOS manipulation. I will try to make something work by myself, but any advice will be welcome.

Thank you.

[MudCrab]

Here is the guide for using Grub4DOS. Please let us know how it goes.

Create a Bootable Flashdrive using Grub4DOS (http://www.themudcrab.com/acronis_grub4dos.php)

[K0LO]

Paul:

Nice work on the grub4dos guide! I too prefer to directly boot the Acronis iso file and have switched to using that method on all of my flash drives.

[jehosophat]

Thanks Mud Crab. I have followed your excellent guide and successfully created a Bootable USB Hard Drive using ATI 2009.

[jehosophat]

Hi. ATI2009 on its third build 9646 already is there a quick way of just updating the Acronis Bootable USB Hard Disk? I successfully created a bootdisk with build 9615 now I am using 9646.

**

Just seen page 3 of the manual how to do this. So I should be okay now.

[jimfromarizona]

I have followed MudCrab's instructions here for creating a bootable external hard drive and on his website for using Grub4DOS with an ISO image to do the same thing. Both methods are successful - the drive boots and True Image 9 build 3854 runs.

On the external drive (an eSATA hard drive), I used one 128mb partition for True Image and partitioned the remainder of the drive NTFS for backup storage.

Here is the problem: True Image does not see the external drive so it is not available to store backups. I have the same problem when I create Rescue Media directly to a flash drive and boot with it. Strangely, when I create Rescue Media to a CD and boot with it everything works fine - it can see the eSATA drive and I can store a backup to the NTFS partition!

Any ideas?

[jimfromarizona]

I figured it out. The CD that I used successfully was an older build - 2323. The flash drive and iso file I was using were a newer build - 3854.

So I downgraded my bootable hard drive to build 2323 and everything works fine now.

It's odd that a newer build won't support eSATA drives when an older build works, but at least I found a solution.