Acronis and external hard drive problem.

[hagman777]

Hi this is my first posting i downloaded the trial version of Acronis True Image 10 and i created a partion on my external hard drive how evr i now wish to use a new external hard drive which i have bought on use my old one on my laptop.When i tried removing it i used the acronis secure zone i still could not recover the orginal disk space also when i booted my computer back up i got a black screen and had to manually boot the computer because it said the recovery manager was missing im sorrry this is not making any sense i would just like to get back the full space on my external drive and how can i avoid going through this all over again plus how do i get rid of the black screen boot up message anyones help could anyone help a complete idiot.Regards

[MudCrab]

You shouldn't install the SZ on an external drive. You'll probably need to reconnect the old USB drive to the computer so it will boot. Then boot to Windows and use TI to remove the SZ. The SZ should only be used on an internal hard drive. If the drive is not present when the computer is booting, you'll have problems.

Otherwise, you'll probably need to do a Windows Boot Repair to get your system to boot.

What version of Windows are you using?

[hagman777]

Hi thanks for that windows xp.

[MudCrab]

Have you been able to reconnect the external drive and boot the computer?

Have you then been able to remove the SZ?

[hagman777]

Hi i have removed the partition and my hard disk is showing its original capacity however im getting on rebooting my pc the following:-Acronis loader fatal error boot drive partition not found press enter to try to boot your os which when i do reboots back into windows does that help.

[jmk94903]

Originally Posted by hagman777

Hi i have removed the partition and my hard disk is showing its original capacity however im getting on rebooting my pc the following:-Acronis loader fatal error boot drive partition not found press enter to try to boot your os which when i do reboots back into windows does that help.

Did you remove the Acronis Recovery Manager before removing the SecureZone?

The Recovery Manager is the feature that puts the Press F11 message on the screen at boot up and changes the MBR. It's the source of the problem when you put the SecureZone on an external drive and then disconnect that drive.

[MudCrab]

It looks like you need to run the Windows Recovery Console and run at least the fixmbr and fixboot commands.

Take a look at this post first, though.

Here are two links that deal with the subject:

You can boot from your XP cd or install the Recovery Console onto you computer and run it from there following these instructions.
How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP

I don't think you need to do all the steps outlined in this link, but it shows the general procedure and pictures of the steps.
Repairing Windows XP in Eight Commands

[hagman777]

Hi that sounds about right however having read through the forum regarding this error would using mbrauautowrite_en.iso work ?

[MudCrab]

It sounds like it might do the trick. Give it a try. The other options are always still available.

[Brian K]

Originally Posted by hagman777

Hi that sounds about right however having read through the forum regarding this error would using mbrauautowrite_en.iso work ?

I've used it. Functionally it's the same as fdisk /mbr from a Win98 floppy. It generates new boot code and zeroes the DiskID.

[hagman777]

Hi tried the mbautowrite didnt work help.

[hagman777]

Hi still having major probs tried to install windows recovery console now getting the following:- m5289.sys file missing im getting to the point of giving up i didnt mention this but i have a second internal hard drive if i reinstall TI will i be able to put a partition using secure zone to stop getting this error message and disconnect the external hard drive which i really need to use elsewere i thought this would be a good program wish i had been more through and checked that external drives were not suitable for this i thank all of you good souls for your help for your patience with a computer idiot.

[Acronis Support]

Hello hagman777,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are sorry for the delayed response.

Please note that MudCrab is right, we do not recommend creating Acronis Secure Zone on a detachable drive. This FAQ article explains the reason why.

Since you were not able to use the utility provided in PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST to repair Master Boot Record (MBR), we may recommend that you follow MudCrab advice and boot from Windows Installation Disc (CD) into Recovery Console and run "fixmbr" command.

Thank you.
--
Aleksandr Isakov

[hagman777]

Hi i am now having a major problem my pc wont boot into windows from a dvd-rom changed this in the bios i was able to reclam the partition on my external hard drive created in the Acronis Secure zone when the drive was connected to my pc i was getting this message as i may have said in previous postings :-Acronis loader fatal error boot drive partition not found press enter to try to boot your os which i did and it booted up i still have the missing sys file when entering windows recovery console so still can
t use that.Now i cant get my new external usb hard drive to be seen by my computer all i wanted to do was to create a good backup it was my bad luck that i wanted to change to a bigger external drive that this all started i dont think i can go any further with this do you have any other ideas i like the program but its given me a major headache i am concerned that i cant use an external drive as backup putting it onto dvds is very time consuming it may come to me reinstalling windows which i may have to do but would like to avoid.