cloned hd - windows won't start...

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by TobyM, Jul 12, 2005.

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  1. TobyM

    TobyM Guest

    I'm upgrading my computer and used TI-8 to clone the hard drive. I took out my old hard drive, plugged it into my new computer, then ran "Clone Disk." Acronis reported that everything went successfully, then to hit any key to shut down the computer. I did that, unplugged the old hard drive, and booted up.

    At this point, Windows wouldn't load. I got the screen that gives you the option to start in safe mode, safe mode with cmd prompt, last known good config, or start normally. All these options cause the computer to simply restart and bring up the same screen.

    What could be the source of this problem? What should I try to fix it?
     
  2. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello TobyM,

    Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

    Could you please plug the old hard drive into your new computer and do the following:

    - Download the Acronis Report utility from http://www.acronis.com/files/support/AcronisReport.exe;
    - Run Acronis Report utility and select the "Create bootable floppy" option;
    - Insert a blank floppy disk in the floppy drive and proceed with creating the bootable diskette;
    - Boot the computer under consideration from this diskette and wait for report creation process to complete;
    - Send the 'report.txt' file from the floppy disk to support@acronis.com along with the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and help you with the solution..

    Thank you.
    --
    Irina Shirokova
     
  3. TobyM

    TobyM Registered Member

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    My new computer actually doesn't have a floppy drive...can I do this with a bootable cd?
     
  4. PlexShaw

    PlexShaw Registered Member

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    Is this a new computer with a new motherboard, graphics card, RAM etc?
     
  5. TobyM

    TobyM Registered Member

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    Yes, this is a complete new system. Motherboard, hd, cd-rw, dvd-rw, ram, graphic card. It worked fine out of the box but I want to put all the data/programs/setting from my old computer onto this one.

    I simply didn't get a floppy drive with this computer because I never use one. (Ironic now, I guess).
     
  6. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello TobyM,

    We are really sorry for the inconveniences. You can only create Acronis Report with the floppy drive. Could you please find the floppy drive to create Acronis Report?

    Can you boot from the old hard drive when the new hard drive is plugged in? If yes, please try to create Acronis Report (please see Acronis post for the detailed instructions) and send it to support@acronis.com.

    Thank you.
    --
    Irina Shirokova
     
  7. PlexShaw

    PlexShaw Registered Member

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    So, if I understand this correctly, you're trying to clone the entire OS (with all the programs, data etc) from your old PC to your new one?

    If that's the case (and assuming you're using Windows XP - is it OEM or Retail, by the way?), I'm pretty sure this is usually not possible because all the drivers for the motherboard will have changed. I believe the clone function of ATI is for users who wish to transfer their OS from one hard drive to another (usually larger) on the same PC - though I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
     
  8. TobyM

    TobyM Registered Member

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    PlexShaw - that's right, I was trying to copy the whole system over. I had some doubts if it would actually work because of drivers, like you mentioned, but thought True Image might work around that.

    What is the best way to transfer everything, then? Maybe True Image isn't the software I'm looking for.
     
  9. PlexShaw

    PlexShaw Registered Member

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    I don't wish to tread on the advice Irina is giving you, but you'll most probably have to start by reinstalling Windows on the new hard drive, and then install all the correct drivers (I assume you have the CDs etc for these?).

    After that, you'll then have to find a way to copy across all of your data (but not programs - they'll need to be reinstalled also). Others on this forum with more experience than I should be able to help with this.

    And once you have it all set up properly, ATI will provide you with an excellent way to keep your entire hard drive backed up.

    Hope this helps.

    EDIT: I would also seriously consider getting a floppy drive if you can. They're very cheap, easy to install and can be very useful at times like this.
     
  10. TobyM

    TobyM Registered Member

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    I've got quite a lot of programs...reinstalling them all is not a reasonable option for me.

    I might just reinstall Windows then copy everything over in a separate partition.

    OT: What advantages does MigrateEasy have? It seems kind of the same as TI.
     
  11. pvsurfer

    pvsurfer Registered Member

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    I also encountered that bug - affecting the source drive -when I last used the Clone option in build 889!

    If you don’t press any key immediately after the “Congratulations” message at the conclusion of the Cloning process, the system hangs, and does not actually complete the process by resetting the source drive partition (making it unbootable)! The way I 'repaired' the source drive was to clone the destination back to the source. Doing that restored the source drive.
    The “Congratulations” message upon completion of the Cloning process is premature, providing a false sense of security. In my particular case, I also noted that after the destination drive had been cloned and when I made it the primary boot drive, my original source drive (now the secondary drive) was not assigned a drive letter and thus was not accessible until I assigned it a drive letter using Windows Disk Management.

    Prior to this build I used 826 and never have had a problem with disk cloning. Build 889 changed the functionality of Disk Cloning and in the process, introduced a serious bug! :eek:
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2005
  12. DMorgan002

    DMorgan002 Registered Member

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    Hello Toby,

    Is it possible that you could restore from an image rather than disk cloning? This could fix the problem that you're encountering.

    Even after a successful restoration my suggestion is to boot to the XP installation CD and tell it to do a repair. This will run through a full setup and return your OS to it's original form which means you will have to reinstall all Windows updates, service packs and what not but it should give you a running installation from which you can then install correct drivers. You may have to reinstall some programs but I have not had to myself in the past.

    Hope that helps

    Dan
     
  13. TobyM

    TobyM Registered Member

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    The destination disk (new one) is not currently bootable. I haven't had a chance to see if the source disk (old hd) is bootable - didn't even consider that it wouldn't be.
    EDIT - pvsurfer, so your NEW hard drive worked, but the OLD was unbootable? Or did I misunderstand your post?

    DMorgan--I tried to use an image first, but on CD#33 (18% left to burn), TI froze. I couldn't continue with that image because I didn't have the last volume (obviously, since it froze before being finished).

    Once I get home I will try plugging my old hd in to the new computer (which has dvd-rw) and try to burn the image on a dvd, then copy that to the new hard drive and update this thread with the latest.
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2005
  14. DMorgan002

    DMorgan002 Registered Member

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    If you try booting to the old hard drive in the new computer you run the risk of corrupting the drive and making it so it will not boot in either the new or the old computer. Just a word of caution on doing that as right now that old hard drive is gold and you do not want to do anything to risk the data on it...

    If the new drive will work in the old PC you might try booting into windows and using TI's disk clone there or perhaps download an older version of TI and try the disk clone again. Or, perhaps even better, download and create the bootable CD for build 829.
     
  15. PlexShaw

    PlexShaw Registered Member

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    It would still appear to me that the problem is with Windows XP throwing a hissy fit because the correct motherboard drivers are not present - my understanding is that this kind of problem didn't occur with 9x/ME.

    Is the new hard drive SATA or IDE? And what type was the old one?
     
  16. TobyM

    TobyM Registered Member

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    Thanks for the warning - losing that data truly would have been a disaster.

    What difference would the bootable CD for build 829 make? Should I use that in the new pc and try to clone the old drive to the new one like before, or would that risk corrupting it? The new drive will not work in the old pc, by the way, so trying the clone won't work there.


    new hard drive is SATA, old is IDE
     
  17. PlexShaw

    PlexShaw Registered Member

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    Usually, to get a SATA drive to be detected by Windows during the installation of the OS, you need third-party drivers provided by the motherboard manufacturer. For the most part you have to install these using a floppy disk. I'd say this another reason why what you want ATI to do is probably not going to work.

    Another thing to consider is the copy of Windows you are using - is it an OEM version or a full retail (boxed) copy? An already-in-use OEM version of XP will not take kindly to being installed on a brand new machine.
     
  18. TobyM

    TobyM Registered Member

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    The new system has OEM XP Home; I have retail XP Pro on my old system. Since I'm getting rid of the old system once the new one is up and running, I will be putting the retail XP Pro on the new system.

    I haven't tried that yet...will XP Pro fail because I don't have SATA drivers? I guess I can always just stick with the OEM XP Home if all else fails.
     
  19. PlexShaw

    PlexShaw Registered Member

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    That's fine then. I just thought it would be best to check this.
    Well, the disk you're cloning from (with XP Pro on it) won't have any SATA drivers installed (because the previous disk is IDE), so there's no reason it would work. I'm not really sure how you should proceed because it is unclear if anything short of a full reinstall of XP Pro on the new PC will work. But I would wish to be held to that. I suspect someone with more technical knowledge in this area will be able to help. But at least I think we are now heading in the right direction.

    Sorry I cannot be of anymore help.

    On a side note, I myself am planning to build a new PC towards the end of the year and even now am planning what I am going to do about the all the software I have installed on my current PC.
     
  20. pvsurfer

    pvsurfer Registered Member

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    Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, but I was on the road for a few hours.

    That's a negative on your understanding... My source (system) drive would not bootup because of the 889 cloning bug. However, the actual cloning of that drive to my destination (backup) drive was succesful (in spite of TI889 messing up the source drive), and so by making some boot-setting changes in my BIOS, I was able to bootup the cloned destination drive and then do a 'reverse clone' back to the source drive... I then reset my BIOS to its original boot-settings and then my source drive was restored and bootable... So that was how I restored my source drive after TI889 clobbered it (hopefully, that's now clear)!

    Btw, my source drive is a SATA and my destination drive is an IDE.
     
  21. TobyM

    TobyM Registered Member

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    Thanks for the reply pvsurfer.

    Okay here's the update - I just reinstalled Windows on the new hard drive and after a few driver tweaks I was 100% in business with all files, folders, programs, etc intact.

    So, either something in Windows was corrupted during the transfer and reinstalling fixed it; or, my old settings/drivers simply didn't work because it was from a different motherboard/hard driver setup and reinstalling Windows loaded the correct drivers.

    Thanks all for the help.
     
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