Cant backup the active partition

I am trying to clone a drive from a Dell computer (80gb) But there is a basic partition on the drive already, 31mb ( EISA configuration) so says WinXP and Acronis. When I set up to clone, it clones that partition and not my active C: partition. I cant delete it in XP's disk management and it has no drive letter. How can I get Acronis to ignore it or copy the active C: partition instead?? weird.......

Help!

Rick

 

Don't delete the hidden partition as it is an integral part of your system.

Suggest that you use the ATI partition image functionality to create the image and not the clone functionality.

The clone function should really only be used when you want to migrate a system from a "small" disk to a "big" disk and you don't have the knowledge, experience or partitioning utility to do this task manually.

 

Why isn't ATI cloning the entire disk? It scans the partition as though it were ok. Before the final step, It shows the drives before and after and they look the same. Oh yeah it's FAT 16 too. What the heck is a 31mb hidden partition for on a desktop Dell?

If I image the drive, will it be bootable after I'm done as in cloning?
This is a business drive I want to replace before it fails. (4-5 yr old maxtor).

I have about a 1-2 hour window to do it because the computer is acting as a server. (we are backing up our data, but Dont want to re-install or configure anything)

I have cloned many times before without an incident. This is very strange.

Rick

 

Hi Rick

Most laptops are delivered to the end user with a "hidden" partition. This partition contains essential proprietary drivers for that specific model of laptop. Laptops also often have proprietary firmware built into the BIOS. When your laptop boots the BIOS runs a small boot program, which in the case of a laptop looks in the "hidden" partition for the next phase of the boot process. This boot program expects to find these instructions at a specific location on the disk, that is why these partitions are "hidden" because the user is not supposed to access or move them.

ATI does sometimes have issues with cloning these hidden partitions. This is not so much the fault of ATI but rather is determined by how well the "hidden" partition has been protected. In my experience Acronis Support have developed work-arounds to overcome most of these issues - remember that each of these issues is specific to a model. I suggest that your best course of action would be to raise a support call with Acronis Support providing them with your system details and requesting a work-around to enable you to clone the disk.

 

This is a desktop. I know that Dell puts this hidden partition on the drives. It is not needed. I have replaced Dell drives and used the Dell disks to re-install no problem. Weird that ATI wants to clone just that partition, un-letterd, and not the c: partition. Even thought the graphic display before rebooting shows it is copying both. Thanks for your thoughts.

Rick

 

Hi Rick

Apologies, thought you were referring to a laptop. You are correct the "hidden" partition on a desktop is not needed and performs a completely different function to the "hidden" partition on a laptop. On a desktop the "hidden" partition contains an image of your system when it left Dell. This makes it easier for a Dell repair shop to recover a corrupted system.

As a thought could you try the other ATI option - namely creating an image of the partition (as opposed to a clone).

Your feedback as to whether this was successful would be helpful.