Can't Create A Secure Zone

[broonie]

Hi There,

I've got an XP SP2 machine. I've got 3 partitions on my single disk: 1 ACER restore partition, 1 system partition (C: Drive) and 1 data partition (D: Drive).

I attempt to create an Acronis secure zone by going through the wizard and choose to create a 5GB secure zone within the unused space of my C: drive and get the attached screen before I "proceed". Acronis then does some disk analysis and I reboot when Acronis asks me to. So far so good.

On startup I then get an Acronis message saying it is doing some partition stuff. Still so far so good. After that, for some reason, Windows then tells me I should do a disk check (which I do) and after that is complete Windows boots successfully. However when I attempt to use the Try and decide function I am told I have to create a secure zone therefore my attempt to create one has obviously failed. What am I doing wrong?

I have also attached a screen shot of disk management after the process. I've tried this 3 times now and failed.

[K0LO]

broonie:

Your hardware is probably not completely supported in the Acronis Recovery Environment, which is Linux-based. Drivers for Linux are released later than drivers for Windows. When your machine reboots to carry out the "create secure zone" function it is shutting down Windows and booting into Linux. If Linux can't "see" your disk then the operation will fail.

Have you created a recovery CD yet? If not, use the Bootable Media Builder application to do so. You should include both the "full" and "safe" mode versions of the program on the recovery CD. You can download the "safe media" version from the Acronis web site (log in to your account and it should be listed). Having both versions will allow you to troubleshoot further.

Next try booting your PC from the recovery CD and choosing the "full" version (Linux-based). Can you see your internal disk drive when booted to this version? If not, it confirms my suspicions. Next try "safe" mode, which will probably work. You can create the secure zone in this environment and it should succeed. Do not activate the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager if the "full" mode version did not work, at least not until you get it working.

From here you have a few options. You can contact Acronis support to see if they can make you a custom recovery ISO that will support your hardware, or you can continue to just use "safe" mode for recovery operations. Another option is to change your hard disk mode. A common reason for this problem is newer SATA disks running in AHCI mode, so you could also try looking in your BIOS menus to see if there is an "IDE Compatibility Mode" setting for the disk. If so, try that and then boot to the full recovery version and see if your disk is now recognized.

By the way, if you want a 5 GB secure zone it would be easier to take the space from your D partition if you can spare it. The wizard puts the Secure Zone at the end of the disk, so if you take 5 GB from the C partition then all of the files in the D partition will have to first be relocated to make a 5 GB space at the end of the drive, so this operation may take a while to complete.

[Acronis Support]

Hello broonie,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/).

We are sorry for delayed response.

Please make sure you use the latest build (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/support/updates/) of the respective version of Acronis True Image. To get access to updates you should first register (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/registration/) your software.

If the latest build doesn't solve the problem, please download the latest version of Acronis drivers (http://download.acronis.com/support/SnapAPI.337_s_e.msi) and install it with disabled logging.

Please also try creating Acronis Secure Zone using Acronis Bootable Rescue Media.

If the issue pesists, please collect some information to let us investigate it thoroughly:

Please create Acronis Report and Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post (http://wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=55317).

Then submit a request for technical support (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/my/support/). Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with a solution.

To k0lo and everyone interested: please be aware that the operation of creating Acronis Secure Zone initiated from Windows is performed not in Acronis Linux environment, but rather in Window Native environment.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

[K0LO]

-{ Quote: "To k0lo and everyone interested: please be aware that the operation of creating Acronis Secure Zone initiated from Windows is performed not in Acronis Linux environment, but rather in Window Native environment.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov" }-Thank you for the clarification, Marat.

[broonie]

many thanks for your help.

as Kolo suggested i booted using the recovery CD and I could see my HDD fine.

I never knew that the secure zone was created at the end of a disk so instead of attempting to create the secure zone in my C: drive partition i attempted it in my D: drive partition and it work fine. It must have been the step 2 where it attempts to move the partitions about that was failing previously.

i would have rathered my secure zone was created using the C: partition's spare space but such is life i suppose.

[DwnNdrty]

-{ Quote: "many thanks for your help.

as Kolo suggested i booted using the recovery CD and I could see my HDD fine.

I never knew that the secure zone was created at the end of a disk so instead of attempting to create the secure zone in my C: drive partition i attempted it in my D: drive partition and it work fine. It must have been the step 2 where it attempts to move the partitions about that was failing previously.

i would have rathered my secure zone was created using the C: partition's spare space but such is life i suppose." }-

Au contraire, mon ami. :) If you must use the SZ it is better on a drive other than your system drive. That way if the C drive goes to drive heaven you don't lose what is in the SZ.