Active@ Disk Image 5.6.2 Beta

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by treehouse786, Dec 9, 2013.

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  1. treehouse786

    treehouse786 Registered Member

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  2. treehouse786

    treehouse786 Registered Member

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    tested, working nice

    backed up C drive in 1 minute 43 seconds (17GB) which i think is slower than the current stable version but not by much

    restored fine too
     
  3. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    thanks for the update.
    when your did backup/restore, do you have Secure boot turned on all the time?
     
  4. HAN

    HAN Registered Member

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    Thanks for the info. Even though they published a UEFI Secure Boot workaround, it didn't work for me. I don't own any UEFI Secure Boot machine but I am making sure everything I use from this point forward does support it. To me, it's proof the maker gives a hoot about their customers. Even the Parted Magic one man operation supports it!! There should be no one left by the end of 2013 that doesn't! (IMO!)
     
  5. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    I installed the program in a BIOS Windows 7 x64 machine and created a boot ISO file. No problem, the process was very fast.

    Then I burned a boot CD using ImgBurn. The boot disk worked well in the same computer. I liked the boot disk interface and the available functions. Better than many other WinPE media. But I didn´t perform any real operation.

    I tried to boot a UEFI computer with Secure Boot enabled, using the same disk. The disk didn´t appear in the boot menu, so it wasn´t possible to boot from it. I repeated the process with secure Boot disabled, and the same happened.

    I think this means that the boot disk it is not UEFI-aware. It should be, although I didn´t create it in the UEFI machine. I have created several boot media in the Windows 7 x64 that booted well in the UEFI machine.

    I confirmed this by trying to create a boot USB key for a UEFI system with Rufus, using the ISO file. Rufus reported that the image was not compatible with UEFI.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2013
  6. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Thanks for the information.
    It's really a shame that Active still could not provide support for secure boot, even at the end of 2013. Either they don't care their customers (because I think many of us have bought new windows 8 computers which has secure boot on by default), or their programmers are incompetent.
    Even the free clonezilla now supports secure boot.


     
  7. HAN

    HAN Registered Member

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    I didn't do the detective work anywhere near as deep as Robin but I can confirm that 5.6.2 does not create a boot disk that runs under Win 8.1 with UEFI and Secure Boot.

    I have emailed lsoft and told them about this thread...
     
  8. treehouse786

    treehouse786 Registered Member

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    sorry i forgot to mention that i did not have secure boot enabled.

    my system is UEFI but i have never enabled secure boot on it
     
  9. treehouse786

    treehouse786 Registered Member

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    hi Robin, i think something must be wrong specifically with your install as the boot disk has always booted up on UEFI machines which have secureboot disabled.

    instead of using rufus, use the built in 'write to USB' function and see how that works
     
  10. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Tree,

    I'm confused. Which OS are you using and is it installed in UEFI or MBR mode?
     
  11. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    Yes, that might be the problem, since Rufus only supports certain ISOs. But I also burned a CD and it didn´t work either. Neither the USB key nor the CD appeared in the boot menu.

    Note that I didn´t check legacy mode. When I disabled Secure Boot, I didn´t enable legacy mode. The computer was working in UEFI mode, with Secure Boot disabled.

    Also, I didn´t build the ISO in the UEFI computer, but in a BIOS computer with Windows 7 x64, as explained in my post. Normally I work in this way, and the boot media work well in the UEFI machine. However, it may be different in this case.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2013
  12. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    For the boot disk to work in UEFI mode it should contain an EFI folder which contains a Boot folder. The Boot folder should contain one or more *.efi files.
     
  13. treehouse786

    treehouse786 Registered Member

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    hi Brian, Windows 8 64bit installed in MBR mode on a UEFI motherboard

    secure boot not enabled

    when you say installed in UEFI or MBR mode. can it not be both seeing as UEFI is the new BIOS? my motherboard uses the UEFI BIOS but i don't use any secure boot features

    http://www.asus.com/websites/global/products/lUiebGYgCR9OAc31/EFI-2_pic.jpg

    edit- if you have a motherboard GUI which looks anything like this then you have a UEFI motherboard. whether you install in MBR mode or GPT mode does not remove the fact that the motherboard uses a UEFI BIOS hence being able to use MBR mode and an UEFI motherboard
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2013
  14. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Tree, we are in the same boat. UEFI BIOS, Win8 64-bit installed in MBR mode.

    As far as I know, Secure Boot doesn't apply to any Windows OS preceding Win 8. To use Secure Boot, Win8 must be installed in UEFI mode. Secure Boot doesn't apply to Win8 installed in MBR mode. You can have Win7 installed in UEFI mode but it can't have Secure Boot. Recent Linux OS can have Secure Boot if installed in UEFI mode.

    In my UEFI BIOS I have two Boot Settings. UEFI and Other OS. I'm using Other OS (Legacy setting). When I try to boot a CD or UFD which does support UEFI boot, I'm only offered a Legacy boot with my current settings.
     
  15. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    Yes. That happens in this ISO. It contains an EFI folder. But it seems that this is not enough to boot in UEFI (non legacy) mode. It may be required, however, to boot in UEFI in legacy mode.

    I may check legacy mode later.

    This is not clear. To clarify: Rufus supports WinPE ISOs, of course. And the ISO that I created was a WinPE 3.0 ISO. So, Rufus shouldn´t be the problem.
     
  16. treehouse786

    treehouse786 Registered Member

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    i agree with your statements, i think we understand each other now :thumb:
     
  17. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    I enabled legacy mode (requires Secure Boot to be disabled) and tried to boot with the same CD that I had previously used. It booted without problem.

    So, in my experience, the WinPE boot medium works in UEFI, but with legacy mode enabled. Usable, but not the best solution.

    Edit: I used a Dell laptop that can be booted in tree different modes: UEFI with Secure Boot enabled, UEFI with Secure Boot disabled, and UEFI in legacy mode, which requires that Secure Boot be disabled.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2013
  18. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Unless you create the UEFI boot disk in a Win8 OS it won't boot with Secure Boot enabled in the UEFI BIOS.

    That's Legacy mode. MBR mode. UEFI is not involved. It's what Tree and I are using.
     
  19. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    All the WinPE and Linux boot media that I am currently using in UEFI with Secure Boot enabled have been created in a Windows 7 x 64 machine.

    This works because the ISO created in Windows 7 x64 is a 64-bit boot ISO compatible with UEFI. Also, because I create the USB keys using Rufus with the option “GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer". In the case of CDs, I just burn them with ImgBurn.

    Normally I create the ISO using WADK for Windows 8 or 8.1, but it also works if I use WAIK or even WinRE for Windows 7, which was the case with the Active@Disk boot CD (which booted in legacy mode).

    Two different things. I am using UEFI boot with the option of booting in legacy mode. UEFI is involved in this legacy boot mode option. That´s why a UEFI-aware boot medium is needed.
     
  20. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
    In order for a boot CD/ISO/UFD to have the ability to boot successfully on a UEFI with secure boot on, the boot media has to be based on 64 bit Windows PE 4.0 or 5.0 (Windows 8 ADK and 8.1 ADK, respectively). Some Linux boot media also works under UEFI and secure boot on, such as the latest Ubutnu and Fedora.


     
  21. Gaddster

    Gaddster Registered Member

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    I tried Active Disk Image ages ago and now this beta. Which it still has the issue of not restoring 100% identical like the original it was imaged off.....Hence Windows detects new hardware (even when restored to the same disk it was imaged off), software not activated any more and USB flash disks (with SysLinux) ended up un-bootable when restored.

    I currently use CloneZilla as my main tool as it images everything and successfully restores what it images.
     
  22. HAN

    HAN Registered Member

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    Interesting. I've never had that problem with Active@. But I have with a different company's product.

    Absolutely agree about Clonezilla. Awesome software. And it's free!
     
  23. Gaddster

    Gaddster Registered Member

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    Clonezilla won me over when it successfully imaged and restored a couple of Ipods. Whilst the most popular software either failed on the restore or required (a ridiculous time consuming) sector by sector copy.

    Same above I did with my Garmin satnav (restoring with Active Disk Image made the Garmin say there is no maps on the satnav).
     
  24. andylau

    andylau Registered Member

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    Release Note: v.5.6.2 (Dec 30, 2013)

    Final version of 5.6.2 released
     
  25. HAN

    HAN Registered Member

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    Sweet!

    I'll download and test soon!
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2013
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