Is this a trial product restriction?

I installed the trial version of True Image and am trying to verify it works well before purchase. I backed up the Windows XP partition on my c: drive to an external drive(messages indicated tis was succesful). Then I unplugged the C: drive and plugged in a different drive which became the new C: drive. I booted from the Bootable CD I created then did a restore operation, again the messages indicated this worked.

When I then tried to boot the restored drive - NO JOY! I got the Windows logo with the progress bar, then the screen went blank for a few seconds and another screen appeared with the windows logo just like the one with the icons for each user except there were no user icons and the boot process did not progress from here.

Is this the way the the evaluation version is supposed to work or should I be able to boot the restored drive??

Ed

 

It could be you had an old MBR on the disk that wasn't suitable.

Try it again but also select the MBR to restore if you didn't. If you had a different partition layout on the original than on the test HD it could be a problem.

The restore should work from the trial version on the CD. (The trial CD will not let you make an archive though)

 

That sounds like what might be wrong. Thank you. Can I just restore the mbr without doing the whole partition over?

Ed

 

You can just restore the MBR if you want. No harm in trying it first.

 

I did the MBR restore - same result. Next go round did the replace the DISK SIGNATURE, STILL SAME RESULT. In each case I got messages indicating succesful completion.

When I look at the backup files with explorer, it looks identical to the source drive.

This software came recomended from several trusted sources and it seems easy enough to use, and seems well designed, but I am very concerned that something I would be putting a lot of trust in doesnt seem to be functioning. I really would like to see this work. Any suggestions of where I go from here?

Ed

 

Make another backup Image and this time put the check mark on Disk 1, not just the C partition. Then restore this Image.

 

Note that the Acronis DISK SIGNATURE is not the same as the partition/disk signature 0xAA55 - they are talking about the disk ID that appears in registry.

 

I will try this. I really only want the first partition and not the second partition on this drive. It seems this would double the time and space it takes for a backup and when it comes time to restore will I be able to easily only erestore the one I want? On the restore should I also be restoring the mbr?

 

So, when I tick the box that says restore the disk ID - what happens?

Ed

 

FWIW, I never check that box about the disk signature and my restores are always okay.

 

OK THIS WORKED but with issues. I was able to restore, then successuly boot the system. I am trying out the SYSTEM MECHANIC software so the restored disk is a good place to try out new software. Well, it found thousands of duplicated files and I wonder if it is because I backed up the whole disk instead of just the partition which is my C: drive. The second partition hols a copy of a backup archive of files created by my previous backup software. So, the question is, IF I HAVE one set of files on the first partition and a duplicate on the second partition and backup the whole drive - will this duplicate all the files on the restore of the first partition

Ed

 

Whatever was on the drive at the time of a whole disk backup will be on the restored drive - nothing more, nothing less.

 

I only wanted to restore 1 partition. When I back up the whole drive with 2 partitions and I want to restore only 1 partition am I getting 1 partition or the blend of all the partitions on the original disk?

 

If you checkmark only drive C to be restored, only drive C will be restored.

If you checkmark the disk to be restored, all partitions on the disk will be restored.

The duplicate files issue sounds like a files restore and not a partition restore issue. There have been numerous reports of files being restored not to their original locations which would account for the doubles issue. You can search for the forum for threads on how that happened. If I remember correctly, these were user errors combined with a few TI problems. Again, I repeat, this type problem will NOT happen when you restore a partition or a disk. If you want to restore a limited number of files only, one easy way is to mount the archive and use drag & drop for specific files.

 

OK, that seems reasonable. Either my error or software flaw or both. I was just looking for some reasonable explanation and now I am satisfied. Thank you.

Ed