Am I SCREWED?!

Hi,
I purchased Acronis True Image 10 last fall and did some full system backups on my Windows XP box.

A few days ago I lost my hard drive and have not been able to get those backups to restore.

One backup sees nothing on the last DVD.

Another backup locks up my computer when I try to restore... but first it makes me wait for 1:45 before locking everything up (requires a power off to reset).

So am I Totally Screwed or is there something I can do to retreive my data?

THANKS!
-Brian

 

How many DVDs were in the backup set?

Can you copy them to an external USB drive or copy them to another internal drive? If so, can you validate the image?

 

When you own a PC it is a big responsibility to insure if anything goes wrong you are prepared to alleviate the situation. Did you make a practice restore to make sure you could restore when needed?

 

Are you using the latest build of version 10?

 

If you only have DVD backups, it could be bad media.
The only thing that might work is isobuster or another similar program.
I've used isobuster to recover DVD's that where very hard to read.
You need to extract all the data from the dvd to the hard drive, then reburn it using quality dvd media (use verbatim 16X+"plus" these are the best quality you can buy off the shelf)

You can check if this is your problem by doing a quality check of your dvd media using nero /extras/test drive/extra/disc quality test. You want to have at least a 90 percent quality rating.

Anytime it takes along time to recover using dvd media, it's definitely a bad media problem. As long as the bottom of the dvd doesn't have round spots (dye discoloration) or deep scratches, isobuster should be able to read it.

 

kinda off topic, but how did that even happened? (am trying to learn from your mistake)

 

MudCrab,
Thanks for your message.

The one set, where the last DVD appears empty had 4 disks.
the other set, which locks up my computer after running 1.5 hours has 7 disks.

i'm copying the files over to an external USB. So i'll have on my external drive,
MyBackup1.tib
MyBackup2.tib
...
MyBackupN.tib

i'll try to validate them from the external drive... thanks!

-Brian

 

I bet OP didn't do a test restore.
So was just a hopin' and a wishin'.

Good luck OP.

 

You're right but I had done a data verify... still, I'll freely admit I could have run better backups.

Question, with an Acronis full backup can you do a full test restore without blowing away C: ? Or do you need a 2nd test box?

 

not really off topic. i've become complacent as I've always had good backups but didn't need them for 15+ years.... so the ones I have recent are not correct for "some" reason and now I'm scrambling to restore everything.

"Kids, Don't try this at home"

I have most of my data back but it's a hobbled mess from numerous backups and using a "Recover My Files" software.

 

I put removable HDD racks (2) in my 5 1/4" tower slots.

So I can test, destroy & restore within 30 mins or so.

 

The conservative approach is don't use DVDs as your first level backup; use a second internal HD or an external HD.

DVDs are an OK second level archive method but don't use TI to write to them directly, create the properly split archive on your HD, validate it and then use Nero, Roxio, or whatever to copy the archives to DVD. Use the burning program's "verify after burning" feature always. Of course, use only good media and never use RW media; their life-cycles are grossly overstated.

To be even more careful with the DVDs, write at half the rated speed of the DVD or drive whichever is less. You can't get this control in TI's built-in burning feature.

 

Many thanks to all of you who offered some intelligent advice on working with Acronis and backups in general. Very helpful, thank you!

After a number of DVD read errors I did finally managed to get my 8 DVD full backup onto an exernal drive and am restoring it to a PC. The process has been running about an hour and says there are 11 hours remaining to finish. I did ask for a verification prior to install but should I expect a 12 restore timespan? Granted, the drives are not the newest/fastest but 12 hours?!

 

You ARE screwed !

I'm in the same boat, tried to restore an image today, got nothing except "Backup image is corrupted" ... nothing at all restored, everything GONE !
First my money, now my OS !

.... Tried to backup some directory 6 times, it always complete without some warning. Doing a validation afterward, always the same "Backup image is corrupted".

I tried restoring it to another disc, it complete without any warning, want to see with explorer ..... THERE WAS SIMPLY NO RESTORATION DONE, NOTHING AT ALL !

 

I personally favored the use of MD5 checksum to verify the burnt DVD.

You can burn faster, and then verify and even re-verify regularly with ease.

My 2c.
Vince

 

That's not entirely unreasonable. The external drive may be running at USB about 1.1 speed if the drivers aren't very good, and you have doubled the length of the job since it has to read the file once to verify and then again to restore.

Be patient. I think you are almost unscrewed.

Be sure to let us know the outcome.

 

If you want help, please start your own thread.

If you want to pursue this, tell us in the new thread what version of TrueImage you are using, where are the images are stored, what kind of computer you have (brand, model or motherboard), and what kind of backup did you make (Files and Folders, Full hard drive, incrementals or differentials).

Have you booted your system from a TI Recovery CD made with the latest build of TI that you have and not an older build that you installed previously?

We may be able to help you restore your system, but we need more information.

In the meantime, try a massage or stiff drink and a good night's sleep before you do anything else. Making decisions while in turmoil due to the fear of losing all your data is not wise.

For example, have you booted from the Recovery CD and tried to make a NEW image of your hard drive? Even though it may not boot, if the drive is still functional, you may be able to recover all your data from an image of the corrupted drive. That's not something most people think of, but it can be a lifesaver.

 

That seems like a neat idea. I like the re-verify ability. Of course, you can do that with TI but with less flexibility and probably a lot more time.

 

I can attest to this as a distinct possibility having done the same successfully for two different laptops. Even got them to boot after a restore to new drives. Of course some data was corrupt but at least the OS booted.

 

Yep, I appear to be

Seems my DVD reader was bailing on restoring from DVD (sometimes with a failure message, sometimes by locking up my PC) but I could copy the backup files to an external (USB) drive then was able to restore from there.
Happy-happy-joy-joy!

Many thanks to those who gave good advice on this list!!

 

Congratulations! I'm glad to hear that TrueImage did it's job for you.

A bad DVD reader is not uncommon since these drives take a lot of abuse with disks being inserted and removed regularly. Even the most careful user may insert a dirty disk once in a while. Sometimes a lens cleaner can restore a drive to full functionality, so it's a worthwhile $10 investment.

 

One of the signs that you have a dirty lens is a degredation in writing speed - at least it was on two CD drives I had. Also, one of the two drives wouldn't even complete a burning operation.

The lens looked clean but when I examined it with a 10X magnifier small specks of dust were covering it. Cleaning restored proper operation.

 

This is getting off-topic, but if you're serious about checking the quality of your disc burns, doing filesystem-level checks won't be sufficient, since the OS and drive itself will hide low-level media errors. Use something like Nero CD-DVD Speed (free download at http://www.cdspeed2000.com/) and run a Disc Quality check at 8X speed for a DVD. The Quality Score should be in the 90's for a decent burn.

Unlike CD's, I've found that good DVD media burns best at its rated speed. Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim DataLifePlus 16X media are both excellent.