How to create bootable rescue DVD(s):

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by wdormann, Sep 16, 2004.

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  1. wdormann

    wdormann Registered Member

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    Wouldn't ticking the Nero checkbox to verify after burn accomplish just about the same thing?
     
  2. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hi wdormann,

    I'm not sure whether the methodology behind the Nero verify function is the same as Easy MD5 Creator. Even so, I believe the advantage of my proposal is that the content of the DVD can be reverified against its own checksum just prior to carrying out a restore. That way TI doesn't get to wipe the destination partition only to find the image, for what ever reason, is corrupt and can't complete the restore.

    Regards
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2005
  3. pkintheroad

    pkintheroad Registered Member

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    Comments from a successful DVD image burn and restore

    Success!!! I was finally able, using the indirect method, to put my Acronis backup image on a DVD set, and make a restore from that set, following the instructions of wdormann as modified by Menorcaman on https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=48186&page=2 (#26) in the ‘How to create bootable rescue DVD(s):’ thread. For anyone interested, here are a few comments that might ease the learning curve for anyone trying to do the same. (Sorry, I can't figure out how to show the link except as a URL - would someone please explain the procedure.)

    I have tried the direct burn method numerous times and could not get a successful restore.
    I also tried the directions of wdormann at the beginning of the thread but was unsuccessful – probably because I could not download from his link to CD Shell and BCDW and tried combining other downloads of these two programs.

    My Hardware/Software
    · Dell Inspiron 7500 laptop. 700mhz Pentium3, 512mb memory, 60gb primary HD, 40gb backup HD.
    · Windows XP Pro, Security Pack 2
    · TDK 880N external DVD burner.
    · TDK DVD+RW discs. Each disc was quick erased with InCD just before burning. Do not UDF format for the indirect method.
    · Acronis True Image 8.0, build 786
    · Nero 6 Ultra Edition 6.6.0.3 and InCD 4.3.0.5. As I write this I see that updates are available to both these. Note: You must have Nero Burning ROM, not just Nero Express.

    Preparations:
    · I had to format and reinstall everything to get rid of Roxio Easy CD and DVD Creator 7, which were preventing a clean install of Nero 6 Ultra Edition.
    · Used Nero Clean Tools http://www.nero.com/en/Clean_Tools.html to clean the registry from a buggy Nero installation, then reinstalled Nero.
    · Ran the latest editions of Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware and SpywareBlaster.
    · Eliminated unnecessary background programs by running and following the recommendations of The Ultimate Troubleshooter http://www.answersthatwork.com/TUT_pages/TUT_information.htm (well worth $20), and ran the TUT Housekeeping tool.
    · Disconnected from the Internet and shut down my antivirus and firewall programs.
    · Then made a backup image of my system with True Image, specifying a 635 MB image size. Note: Create this image on a partition or second HD. Then, if your test restore from DVD fails, you still have the image on your computer - and you must test your DVD to be sure you can get a successful restore.

    Comments on Menorcaman post #26
    5. “Open that image file --- save the boot information ---“. It does not matter where it is saved. You will end up with a file named ati.wbt of about 8,620KB. It is this file you move into the Acronis folder in step 11.
    7. “Delete --- except bedwboot.bin and bootcat.ini”. These show as bedwboot (no .bin) and bootcat (no .ini). Do delete bootcat2 and bootcat3.
    8. “Edit bootcat --- and delete everything except ---“. Just double-click the file, it will open in notepad. Yes, he means delete everything except that line.
    9. “Open the BCDW --- “ Again, no .bin or .ini.
    13. “On the boot tab ---“ To see bcdwvoot.bin you have to dropdown and select ‘All Files’ in the lower file type window.
    14. “Use the ‘no emulation’ ---“. Before you click on ‘New’:
    · Click ‘Multisession’ and select ‘No Multisession’. I tried selecting multisession for the final DVD in my set, thinking it would allow updating w/ new images. The reinstall failed on this DVD even though both Nero and MD5 checks were OK.
    · Click ‘ISO’ and set it by post #36 for the boot DVD. (file name length – level 2, check ‘do not add---‘) If you will have more than one DVD the rest are DVD-ROM(IS0), not (Boot), and you will set the ‘ISO’ tab by Post #17 on this Clarification on Burning Image-- https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=54257&highlight=guarantees serviceable image thread. (file name length – level 1, no check in ‘do not add---‘)
    · Click ‘Label’ and name your compilation.
    · Don’t set the burn speed now. It is not saved and has to be reset (to 2.4) on each disc burned.
    15. “Click on ‘New’---”. Follow the directions exactly.

    Comments on Menorcaman Post #50 (Easy MD5 Creator) at the end of the ‘How to create bootable rescue DVD(s):’ thread .
    Using Easy MD5 Creator to verify my burned files worked great, once I figured it out. But, like Nero and Acronis file verification, it only checks that you got a perfect burn of the desired files, not that it will do a restore.

    Using my saved Nero Compilation for the “base Folder” did result in a .MD5 file, but there was no information in the file. I had to create a temp folder, with copies of exactly what was on the Nero compilation. For the example in Post #26 it would include all the files in window 2 of ‘Screenshot 2’. When I used this temp folder for the “Base Folder” in MD5 it worked like a charm.

    A million thanks to wdormann and Menorcaman for their efforts in working this all this out, and for their willingness to share their expertise on this forum. As wdormann said in Post #43 “Follow the directions exactly and it will work.” However, the devil is in the details for us computer challenged folks. I have spent countless hours trying to get a restorable Acronis image on DVD. I hope my comments may shorten the process for someone else trying to do the same.
    Ken
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2005
  4. wdormann

    wdormann Registered Member

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    Re: Comments from a successful DVD image burn and restore

    Glad things are working for you. When describing things step-by-step, sometimes things can seem overly complicated. In addition, being a somewhat technical person, I sometimes take certain knowledge and skills for granted. :)

    The nice thing about the process, however, is it's a one-time deal. After you've created one working bootable DVD, just save the Nero project. That way you just open that and drag on the new TIB files when you want a new DVD of your image.

    as for making hyperlinks, try syntax like this:
    Google [ /url]
    (spaces added)
     
  5. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Re: Comments from a successful DVD image burn and restore

    Hello Ken,

    Glad you finally managed to create a self contained bootable rescue DVD. I'm sure others will benefit from your experience.

    A few comments on your observations if I may:

    I guess wdormann and I assumed everyone will have unticked the "Hide extentions for known file types" in Windows Explorer>Tools>Folder Options>View.

    When restoring in boot rescue mode TI probably only "sees" the first session of a multisession disk. Hence the newer .tib files on your other (non bootable) DVDs wouldn't have been detected.

    I think you must have misinterpreted my instructions. The "Base folder" in this case is the folder on your hard drive that contains the Acronis and bcdw subfolders, bcdwboot.bin, bootcat.ini and all the 635MB .tib files i.e. the one I call [TIbootDVD] in Post #26 of the main procedure. Therefore I'm unsure why you needed to duplicate it all in a temp folder.

    EDIT: In clarification I need to add that, for the boot DVD, Screenshot 1 in Post #50 should also show the bcdwboot.bin file in the list of excluded file types (separated by a comma from the *.md5 expression). As advised by beenthereb4, this is used for the boot sector info only and doesn't actually need to be included with what's being burnt to the boot DVD.

    I agree. I also feel our dialogue here would be somewhat more useful to others if it were tacked onto the end of the original thread. Therefore, I hope you don't mind but I've PM'd LowWaterMark and requested that content of this thread be moved across.

    Kind regards
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2005
  6. wdormann

    wdormann Registered Member

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    Re: Comments from a successful DVD image burn and restore

    Nice catch! That's a setting I change on any PC of mine, and never look back! :)
     
  7. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Re: Comments from a successful DVD image burn and restore

    I agree, that seems like a good idea. This way if anyone comes upon this thread (it's now merged together) they won't miss your new comments, as well. Thanks!
     
  8. olegeiser

    olegeiser Registered Member

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    OK, went by the instructions, rebooted, booted to Acronis page and had to manually select the files on the DVD to restore. Is this the way it should work? I was under the assumption it would automatically load the image to restore and all I had to do was select the proceed button.
     
  9. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hello olegeiser,

    I'm afraid that's the way it works. To achieve what you hoped it would do is even more difficult than impossible!!

    Regards
     
  10. Ftee

    Ftee Guest



    How can I put the program ghost 8 into my ghost image disc?
     
  11. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    This is the Acronis support forum. All discussion of other imaging products may be done at this link but not here in the Acronis support forum.
     
  12. stefi

    stefi Registered Member

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    Hello wdormann,

    I've got a problem at the step 5: "Save boot information to file..."

    I don't know exactly what means "boot information".

    Is it:
    bootmenu.exe
    bootwiz.sys
    or all files from "Recovery Manager" folder ?
     
  13. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hi stefi,

    Welcome to the Acronis True Image support forum.

    Going by the step number you've quoted, I've assumed that you're using my modified version of wdormann's original procedure. By "boot information" I mean the bootable data extracted from the ISO file created in step 4.

    If you have any further problems then please post back and I will try to help.

    Regards
    menorcaman
     
  14. bigg1

    bigg1 Registered Member

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    Hi,

    first thanks to all who contributed to this thread.
    I just successfully created a bootable DVD following the wdormann's instructions in the very first post of this thread. And BTW I burned the DVD with Roxio's EasyCD 6 using the same settings as for Nero. Then I booted from the DVD and verified the image, it was OK.
    Great !!! (I had lots of problems with corrupt images lately)

    As there seems to be a lot of uncertainty about how to do this and that, I think I could upload somewhere a folder with all the needed subfolders and files inside so that the people don't have to wonder what to do and use third party apps. All that needs to be done then is to put your image .tib's inside that folder and then burn, following 3 lines of straightforward instructions.
    The whole thing is just 12 MB in size, however I'm not sure if this would be legal - please advice.
     
  15. wdormann

    wdormann Registered Member

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    bigg1:
    Congratulations on your success! Good to know that Easy CD Creator also works.

    Unfortunately, what you describe would not be legal. The main problem is that the Acronis Rescue CD itself is commercial software. So when the "boot information" is extracted from the rescue CD using WinISO, that data right there is protected. You can extract it from your boot CD, since you have a license for the software. But to provide it to other people would not be legal.
     
  16. bigg1

    bigg1 Registered Member

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    wdormann, thanks for clarifying this. I expected it wouldn't be legal, but had to ask anyway. Maybe Acronis should provide something like this to the registered users, until they add a feature for directly creating a bootable DVD when the image is saved to a DVD. It will be also nice the app to be capable of creating bootable .iso files which just need to be burned.

    I started dreaming, but for the current situation - does it matter what file system you select when burning - ISO9660 or Joliet?
    I selected Joliet as otherwise EasyCD requires 8.3 filenames. As I said I successfully booted from my DVD and verified the image, but haven't actually restored this image and don't want to do it just for the experiment.
    Could this potentially be a problem when restoring the image, or just doesn't matter?
     
  17. John Steven

    John Steven Registered Member

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    Thanks for helping with my bootable DVD

    My thanks go out to all those that helped me create my bootable DVD with my .tib images, especially wdormann and Menorcaman.

    I have created a multi-boot DVD with several different OS's and utilities on it, but this thing about getting Acronis to boot was driving me crazy. I wish the folks on the MSFN site (where I learned about the MB-DVD) would explain as clearly as was here. Thanks for helping me figure it out.

    If Acronis would incorporate bootable DVD's into their product I would upgrade from version 7 to 8. Until they do, I will not upgrade.
     
  18. wdormann

    wdormann Registered Member

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    bigg1:
    Joliet should be just fine. That's what I use, if I recall correctly.
     
  19. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hi there wdormann,

    Yep. On Nero's ISO tab I set the file system to ISO 9660 + Joliet. Also, the "Do not add ';1' ISO file version extention" needs to be selected otherwise I believe the DVD may not boot.

    Regards
     
  20. Voodoo22

    Voodoo22 Registered Member

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    I too was having trouble using images I would:

    1) configure a system and sysprep it
    2) boot using the ATI bootable cd
    3) make an image of the sysprepped computer
    4) verify the image
    5) reboot the PC and burn the image files to an external USB DVD-RW

    I tried every variation possilbe including different OS's, PC's, media and burn speeds. Nothing worked. I always ended up with CRC errors on the DVD's. After reading this thread I tried burning normal data DVD which includes most of the various patches etc we require in every day administration. The burn worked perfectly. I scanned through the files and found that the largest file I burned was WindowsXP SP2, stepping in at 270+ Meg. So I decided to try my above procedure by I would now split the image into 250 meg files. It worked.

    My problem seems to be that my external USB 2.0 DVD-RW isn't capable of maintaining the consistent data stream required to burn large files.

    Thanks for the help of this thread!
     
  21. jeremyotten

    jeremyotten Registered Member

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  22. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hello Jeremy,

    Your thread deals with multiboot CDs whilst this one is about combining Acronis image files with the True Image boot rescue software on DVD. I agree the two processes are fairly similar in their basic methodology. However, we have a saying in the aerospace industry - "Similar is never the same".

    This thread may appear more complicated but only because wdormann and I chose to provide fairly detailed, step-by-step, instructions. It never hurts to remind ourselves that some visitors to this forum are still new to the game.

    Regards
     
  23. jeremyotten

    jeremyotten Registered Member

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    You are write but with easy boot you can make a multiboot cd/dvd also with your images on it ;-)

    Peace out!
     
  24. jschreck

    jschreck Guest

    Hi everybody,
    great description of creating a bootable rescue-DVD with TI-Image file on it. It worked with the first try!!
    Regards,
    Juergen Schreck
     
  25. Menorcaman

    Menorcaman Retired Moderator

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    Hi Juergen,

    Congratulations on your success! I'm pleased that you found this thread useful.

    Regards
     
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