Fix Vista so a Repair is not needed after a restore or clone

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by MudCrab, Sep 17, 2007.

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  1. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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  2. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Mark,

    I missed that. Do you mean the ptedit32 shot where the Service Partition is Type 27? I can't find any reference to Type 27 here

    http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partitions/partition_types-1.html

    or with a Google search. Do you have information? This may be another Acer error.
     
  3. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    Brian:

    Partition type 0x27 is listed as "unknown" in the places that I've looked.

    From Sandy's screen shot of TrueImage in post #74, TI is listing the service partition as Type "NTFS" but followed by 0x27 (unknown). This is only conjecture on my part, but TI is probably looking in two places to identify the file system type. The first would be in the partition boot record and the second would be in the partition table. Apparently the PBR is correct but the partition table is incorrect. Usually these two entries agree.

    Do you think that the service partition is actually NTFS? It probably contains a recovery image of Windows Vista, which would be NTFS, so this is a reasonable assumption. So perhaps Acer deliberately changed the type designator in the partition table so that Windows doesn't "see" the service partition.

    Given the error they made in the Vista partition type designator, I wonder what Acer intended the partition type to be for the service partition?
     
  4. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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  5. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    I think you just found it. The Microsoft TechNet article you referred to says that the Vista Recovery Environment (RE) is to be installed on an NTFS partition and that the type is optionally set to 0x27.
     
  6. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    I didn't understand the double entry in DD for that partition. But it's similar to my Dell partition. In DD my Dell partition is reported as

    FAT16 Partition : 0xDE (EISA configuration)

    It's finally making sense.
     
  7. The Sand

    The Sand Registered Member

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    Hi Brian and Mark! I do have that ptedit32 because I used that before to show you the screen shot. Unfortunately what you are discussing here is over my head. I'm reading the links you provided but again, this is over my head. Am I good to go - if not what can I do? If there is something you need to see to confirm anything please let me know what I can to do provide that...

    Thanks for taking the time to look and give feedback - I just wish I was in the place to "execute" what you think I should or should not do.

    Sandy
     
  8. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Sandy,

    Start pqedit32. In partition slot 2 you have 0E for type. Highlight this and type 07. So now it's 07 instead of 0E. Click Save Changes. Exit from pqedit32.

    Start pqedit32 again and make sure the type is still 07. It's fixed.
     
  9. The Sand

    The Sand Registered Member

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    Don't want to ask stupid questions - but what will that "do" changing that to "07." Then I will have an "07" in slot two and slot three? When I looked at other screen shots there weren't two "07's." If this messes something up I can use Acronis to restore it back no?

    Just want to make sure I know what is what...

    Thanks for your patience...

    Sandy
     
  10. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    That's OK Sandy, I do understand. I've been there too.

    07 just means a NTFS partition. Some computers can have 4.

    If changing to 07 does prevent the OS from booting (it won't) you would boot to ptedit in DOS and change the type back to 0E. Maybe you can make these changes in DD. Mark should know.

    My first quote was from the programmer of BING. He was concerned.


    PS in this page, Dan Goodell changes a few "types".

    http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/recover.htm#copyimage
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2007
  11. The Sand

    The Sand Registered Member

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    Thanks Brian... for "learning purposes" I wanted to know. After I change it to "07" then it should just be NTFS with no FAT16 involved. This is the error with Acer you found out about. I will go ahead and do that and then check to make sure it boots and that when I use Acronis I don't see that "FAT16" mentioned anymore (I guess I will also make another full image due to this change.)

    I think I will contact Acer as well and give them a link to this page so they can see this - and change whatever "error" they have passed on to us...

    Thanks for taking the time to "explain."

    I will let you know what happens... maybe a print screen if it looks real different from the first one...

    Good day!
    Sandy
     
  12. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Sandy,

    You can type in 07 directly or you can choose it from the Set Type button. You will get the same result.

    Beads of sweat on the brow? It will be OK!
     
  13. The Sand

    The Sand Registered Member

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    Hee hee... I totally was stressing. But it worked! See the print screen - it's gone! Woooooooo Hoooooooo - No more error! (I don't like knowing there are "errors" with my computer.) I don't understand why the "pqservice" says "unknown" at the end - but at least it is also NTFS.

    Thanks for the input here - and I will indeed contact Acer and provide this link - I mean why didn't they do this before I bought it?

    Your help was great! Take care...
    Sandy
     

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  14. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    Sandy:

    Your screen shot looks completely correct now. The PQSERVICE partition should be listed as type 0x27. Microsoft is apparently recommending this value for Windows Vista Recovery Environment partitions. Since the type 27 has not been widely used in the past, most partitioning tools will list it as "Unknown".
     
  15. The Sand

    The Sand Registered Member

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    You got to love it when things look "Completely correct" don't ya! It took a little while to get this (my Acer running Vista) to a good place where I can run Acronis feeling safe about it. I also had to change the boot order in my BIOS so I could boot off my Acronis rescue CD and practially had a breakdown over that too - these things can be frightening if you aren't used to seeing and doing them. Without you guys I would not have done anything - which clearly is not a good idea.

    Again... you are all the best!

    Sandy
     
  16. davidlhickman

    davidlhickman Registered Member

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    The more I read the more unnerved I get. There seems to be a large number of ways for things to go wrong. Can someone explain why I got lucky?

    I have an HP desktop with Vista Premium Home pre-installed. I used TI11, before build 8053, and backed up my partitions. The original disk was a Seagate 320 g and I added a 500 g Seagate. I unhooked the original drive and with the rescue media, which worked fine, restored the two partitions and MBR on the new drive. This thread says it shouldn't work; a repair should be required. But the new disk booted and ran without problem. Is it possible that Acronis addressed this issue in TI 11?
     
  17. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    TI 11 does handle the Vista BCD "repair" for you. Build 8,053 seems to do a better job (in my opinion), but the first release also should work.

    TI 10 and earlier versions don't update the Vista BCD file to point to the correct place and so the "repair" is needed.
     
  18. ploquit

    ploquit Registered Member

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    I did the stated repair and this is my result. (i hope the screenshot attaches)

    should I do anything about "Windows Legacy OS Loader" which still reads as "partition=c:"?
     

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  19. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    ploquit,

    Before you made any changes, were all the entries partition=C: ?

    If so, then I think you should be okay changing the {ntldr} entry to "boot" also.
    Code:
    bcdedit /set {ntldr} device boot <ENTER>
    As long as you can boot okay into Vista, you can easily change the Legacy OS entry later (if you need to for some reason).
     
  20. ploquit

    ploquit Registered Member

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    I just want to understand and confirm. Vista doesn't really need the Legacy entry to be c: in order to boot property as it is used for booting the earlier version of window XP which i no longer use?

    *****

    BTW::: This has been VERY helpful. Thanks for the help and information.
     
  21. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    If the Vista partition is the Active (booting) partition and you don't use the Legacy OS entry, then don't worry about it. You can either change it to "boot" or delete the Legacy OS entry.

    To delete:
    Code:
    bcdedit /delete {ntldr} /f <ENTER>
     
  22. Da_maniaC

    Da_maniaC Registered Member

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    Hey guys,

    I just found this thread after having some questions about similar issues here.

    I still have one question though...

    How sure are you that TI11 will not require a repair?
    Are there specific cases where this problem rises?

    If so, i'd rather be safe then sorry and do what you put in the first post on a clean vista install. :)
     
  23. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    In the normal Vista installations I've tested with TI 11 (standard MS OEM Vista DVD), the system booted up properly without any manual BCD file changes needed.

    However, if you have a non-standard system or a dual/multi-boot system using Vista's boot manager, you will most likely have to do a repair. TI 11 doesn't seem to handle those properly. Usually one OS will boot, but the other(s) may not. In these cases, the boot manager may or may not be on the Vista partition so the instructions in this thread may or may not work. These instructions assume that Vista is installed into the Primary/Active partition (the boot partition) of the hard drive.
     
  24. wickedt

    wickedt Registered Member

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    Ok i treid this with the latest version, and had absolutely no issues after cloning to a RAID 0 drive from a normal stand alone drive.
    Thanks so much for this info and workaround, performed beautifully.:D

    PS I was using Vista OEM for this.
     
  25. ploquit

    ploquit Registered Member

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    Thanks for this simple fix!
     
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