Can't boot after making a clone

I am using Acronis True Image 10. I wanted to make a "shadow/mirror" copy of the hard disk on my IBM Thinkpad T60 to a removable hard drive, in case of primary hard disk failures/problems.
I used the "CLONE DISK" feature of the software. I selected the "Auto Mode" feture and proceeded to let the program do "its thing." When I tried to retart my computer I get a "Error Loading Operating system" message upon start up and cannot turn the computer on. I have to hit the F12 kek to get into the Boot Menu. I then have to select "#7: ATA HDD1 HTS721010G9SA00-(S1)" of the three choice showing on the screen. When I exit the computer then proceeds to boot normally. When I am able to start the computer normally, I went went back to the "Clone Disk" feature. I then noticed that the following info appears in the description of the process " ... Note that you have to remove the old hard drive when datat moving is completed."
This makes me wonder if by some error by using the "Clone Disk" feature (rather than the "Back-up and Recovery" one)I copied the built-in hard disk contents to the removable one and erased the contents of the built-in disk, since it appears that I can only boot the computer from the removable disk? Is this so? If so, how do I undo this mess I created trying to use your program to simply make a "mirror back-up" of my primary hard drive?
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to anyone who can help with this!

 

Zima,

Please see if the FAQ page on the topic of Cloned drive can help you.

Vince

 

All messed up

I am using Acronis True Image 10. I wanted to make a "shadow/mirror" copy of the hard disk on

my IBM Thinkpad T60 to a removable hard drive, in case of primary hard disk failures/problems.
I used the "CLONE DISK" feature of the software. I selected the "Auto Mode" feture and

proceeded to let the program do "its thing." When I tried to retart my computer I get a "Error

Loading Operating system" message upon start up and cannot turn the computer on. I have to

hit the F12 key to get into the Boot Menu. I then have to select "#7: ATA HDD1

HTS721010G9SA00-(S1)" of the three choices showing on the screen. When I exit, the computer

then proceeds to boot normally. When I am able to start the computer normally, I went back to

the "Clone Disk" feature. I then noticed that the following info appears in the description of the

process: " ... Note that you have to remove the old hard drive when datat moving is completed."
This makes me wonder if by some error by using the "Clone Disk" feature (rather than the

"Back-up and Recovery" one) I copied the built-in hard disk contents to the removable one and

erased the contents of the built-in disk, since it appears that I can only boot the computer from

the removable disk? Is this so? If so, how do I undo this mess I created trying to use the

program to simply make a "mirror back-up" of my primary hard drive?
Any help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks - I chekced, but nothing seems to address my problem.

 

Re: All messed up

Did you disconnect the external drive first before rebooting? Windows gets confused if you don't. See this thread Multi-Booting with Windows in an Extended Partition. Please don't start multiple thread for the same topic.

 

I have not used cloning, but I remember reading a similar thread where the solution was to reclone the exteral back onto the internal. Be sure and remove the external before booting. Also check the cloning options so that the external is not cleared of its data--so if this does not work, you still have the external.

 

Zima,

Have you removed the removable drive? What happens now?

 

Brian:

thanks for your reply. I did not remove any drives. Problem is the external drive is where my CD drive should be.

 

Can you disconnect the external drive data cable and let us know what happens on bootup?

Perhaps it would help if you posted an printscreeen image attachment showing how your drive appears when viewed in XP Disk Management sample here. Uploading an attachment is very easy on this forum.

 

Are you trying to clone windows xp? I know with windows xp, if you allow the original hard drive and clone drive to boot up at the same time, drive letters might get changed.
I would use the demo of "paragon justboot corrector" to bootup your computer, and check your system registry and see where your drive letters are. Also look at your boot.ini file, maybe the other hard drive is listed there as the primary drive.
It could be just a simple drive letter change, thats a quick fix.

 

Grover: The drive is where my CD drive normally is - I just swap the two. The IBM Thinkpad permits you to swap drives like that. Problem is that now I can't remove the HD because it's using it as the primary drive - so I have no CD drive now.

Thanks for all your input so far - I will have to try them all - and also read all the leads you sent.

 

jonyjoe

Yes it's XP. I will have to try the Pragon you suggested after I try the other suggestions.

Thanks

 

I have had two 100% successful clonings of my T60's HDD using the Ultrabay. Cloning is good with Vista provided you do not use TI from within.

The T60 boots from USB flash media. So, the best recipe I have found is to install TI10, then create a bootable rescue disk on a flash USB device.

For cloning, replace the DVD drive with the target HDD mounted in your Ultrabay adapter. Put the flash memory rescue device in a USB slot. P{ower up. It will boot and load TI-10. Select "Full." Then select Clone. These are the best parameters:

1. Manual
2. Delete partitions on target drive
3. Keep data on Source drive
4. Transfer data As Is if the drives are identical, otherwise, Proportional.
5. Proceed

It cloned my 160 GB drive to the backup 160 GB drive in 10 minutes.

Be aware that TI sees the internal drive as SCSI and the Ultrabay drive as the Master. At first this was disconcerting.

I have also cloned the T60 successfully using an external USB drive, swapping internal drives and then reverse cloning from external to intenal viu a PCMCIA eSATA adapter.

I have had boot failures in the past where the clone process corrupted both the target and source drives - not bootable. The fix was easy. Boot with the Vista DVD that came with the T60, and do a repair install. It fixes the problem quickly ("Partition=Not Found")

The main point to remember is never try to clone using the installed TI and Windows OS. It is frought with peril. Always use prepared Rescue Media. Also, never use AUTO mode. Only I know which way I want the cloning operation to go.

I am getting a new 200 GB/7200 RPM drive today, and will be cloning the T60's 160 GB drive to the newer, faster one. I expect no problems.

 

Hello Zima,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please notice that as Brian K mentioned, it's strongly recommended to remove one of the drives before first booting after cloning. Please see this article for detailed information. The article also contains solutions for wrong partition letter problems mentioned by jonyjoe81.

You can find the detailed instructions on how to use Acronis True Image 10.0 Home in the respective User's Guide.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

P.S. I've merged the other thread you made into this one as they address the same issue. Please try to avoid posting duplicate requests in the future as it makes us as well as other forum members do a double work sometimes.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov