Help with backup/restore (MBR corrupted?)

Hi All,

I have a few procedural questions.

My laptop may have been infected with a MBR virus. I've started a thread with TSG (Tech Support Guy) and all attepts to solve the problem have failed. My laptop only works properly in SAFE mode, which is not desirable.

I need to take the plunge and reformat/re-install XP Unfortunately, my XP install disc is at another location, and I won't be able to access it for weeks! I have, however, been using Acronis for some time.

My Acronis back-ups (on an external HD) read as follows:

MyBackup.tib_______40,936,098 KB______04/02/09
MyBackup2.tib________ 301,018 KB______04/02/09
MyBackup3.tib_______4,383,165 KB______11/02/09
MyBackup4.tib_______2,037,133 KB______18/02/09
MyBackup5.tib_________28,672 KB_______28/03/09

Now, assuming I want to use the 18/02/09 backup (which is probably not corrupt), will this restore everything up to that date, including all system files? In other words, is this the same as restoring a complete image of my C: drive and all system files?

I also created an Acronis boot disk in Feb 09, but I won't need this if the backup performs as I think above.

I can copy all my data created from Feb onwards to an external drive (most of it is there anyway) so I have no worries about losing data. I also have copies of all program installation files on that external disk, so I will be able to install all new programs from that date onwards if necessary (there aren't many.)

Please let me know whether my assumptions are correct.

Thank You.

 

Have you previously done a successful restore?

If you start the restore in Windows, TI will need to reboot to do the restore. This will be running the same version of TI that is on the TI CD. Have you booted to the TI CD and made sure it can see the drives correctly and that it can successfully validate your backup image?

You can select the image you want to restore and TI will restore it back to how it was at that time. If the Feb. 18th, 2009 image is infected, you can try the previous image and so on.

 

No, I'm a restore virgin (and, as such, understandably frightened!)

No. Should I just stick the CD in, reboot and see what happens? In fact, what should happen? (I'm guessing that this is not a destructive process until I actually perform the restore.)

Thanks for your reply and help - my life is pretty-much on my laptop and on-line, so this is a process I undertake with no small amount of trepidation!

 

When you boot the TI CD, you should get the Acronis Menu from which you can start TI. The Full Mode version is the one you normally want to use since it includes USB and network support.

As long as you don't press the final "Proceed" button on a Restore, you can follow the steps and see how the process goes without making any changes to your drive. The program is very similar to the Windows version.

 

Hi and thanks for your continued help.

When I boot from the CD, I get the options Windows or Acronis. Obviously I choose Acronis!

Select Manage & Restore tab

Select Backup -> Browse

Options are MyBackup.tib and MyBackup(2,3,4,5).tib

I want to backup up to 4, not as far as 5 (which may have virus)

I select MyBackup4.tib and then click OK

In My Backups (LH menu) I select All Backups tab

This gives:

- My Backups
..........MyBackup.tib
..........MyBackup2.tib
..........MyBackup3.tib

but MyBackup4.tib is no longer in this list. Is this correct?

(FYI I did NOT create an Acronis Secure Zone as the amount of data was too larget to fit on the C: drive, and I also wanted the added security of using an external drive.)

From tools I selected Validate, and this seemed to work, giving the location as "G:\MyBackup4.tib" I don't understand. How has version 4 re-appeared?

In the tools section, there is Acronis Drive Cleanser. As my MBR may have become infected, is it a good idea to run this?

There is an option to Consolidate. Is this a good idea? (all the backups 2,3,4 and 5 are Incremental) If so, how should I do this? The steps shown (LH menu) are Archive Selection, which is set at G:\MyBackup4.tib, then Backup Selection, giving 4 checkboxes against MyBackup 2,3 and 5.

Or will the program automatically consolidate, as the backups are incremental? In that case, how can I ensure that it does not include MyBackup5.tib?

I'm sure I must sound like a really over-cautious customer, but I hope you can understand that I have to be sure before hitting the Proceed button!

Thanks again

Thanks again

 

As long as you selected MyBackup4 and it validated, you are in good shape for the restore.

It's not necessary, just select the MBR if you see that as an additional option when you go through the Restore Wizard.

NO, NO , NO!!! You don't want to consolidate. That would lump all your incrementals into one file with the original full backup and you would lose the ability to restore older backups if necessary.

Not overly cautious, just smart.

Run through the Restore wizard and be sure that you can see your internal drive as the restore. If it has only one partitions, you can just select the drive as the target. If it has more than one partition, check the box next to C:.

Add a check for the MBR if it is listed. At that point, you should be all set to do the restore. Hit Proceed and let it run.

Let us know how it works out.

 

Will do, but I'm going to get some sleep now. I'll have a bash in the morning and keep you posted.

Thanks again John

(I keep saying that, don't I?)

miles

 

And you should thank MudCrab since he responded first.

Sleep tight. We'll see you in the morning.

(Didn't you know we have a web cam on all forum users? )

 

Hi,

Well, for some reason - everything's now working fine! Maybe it has something to do with the housekeeping I did before starting the restore: such as moving MyDocuments from C drive to D, deleting old files, uninstalling some never-used programs, etc as well as running two different Reg cleaners. Whatever the reason, everything is now hunky-dory (where do we get that phrase from?) and so there's no need to do the restore. However, I've saved this browser page (I use a Firefox plug-in called ScrapBook) and I will refer to it in case I need to restore in the future.

Thanks for all your help, and thanks as well to MudCrab!!

Regards,

miles_muso