Looking for opinions on a simple and super-reliable system image program.

justenough,

Your System Partition was the 100 MB SRP. But I don't think you meant that partition.

What do you mean by "lost the system partition"?

Can you recall the error message?

 

Hugger,

That's how Sully and I prefer to see it. No SRP.

If you install Win7 into unallocated space you get a SRP.

If you install Win7 into an established partition you don't get a SRP.

For those with a SRP who aren't using BitLocker, consider removing it. The method is fairly easy.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=409

For what I want from an imaging app, I found the Win7 imaging app a very poor choice.

 

Absolutely!

That is a nice how-to you posted. Had not seen it done that way before. I prefer to format the drive. For some reason win7 install sequence thinks all users are incapable of decisions, so on a new "raw" drive you don't get the options you used to get during installation. I was using my XP cd to format the drives if they were raw, now however I have been using (if I recall correctly) boot wizard ? It replaces Partition Magic for me. I put the cd in, format the drive how I want it (partitions, etc), then install 7.

Sul.

 

The SRP is the system partition? That's confusing, since it's call a system image restore. So I guess what I was calling the system partition is really the OS partition.

On attempting the restore, I got a 'restore failed' window. From within the restore program, the C partition was no longer listed as a place to restore to. It was labled something like 'unavailable' or 'unformatted' and was greyed out. And then I couldn't boot the computer. When I did the Windows 7 install from disk to get my computer working again, the C partition showed as unformatted, and I had to format it to install the OS.

 

There could be complications, and will require a little effort to fix. Not too bad with win7 though. The advantage is, maybe more of a preference than actual advantage. Personally I like knowing that my active partition is my boot partition. I do some things that are needlessly complicated otherwise.

If your chosen imaging tool works with the hidden boot partition, then it won't hurt to leave it, especially if you don't know what it is or what to do with it.

But, learning about the boot process is never a bad thing IMO.

Sul.

 

Sully,

If you want to extract files from the Ghost image, you can use Ghost Explorer.

Ghost 11 has both DOS, Win32 and Win64 version, so you can put the win32 version into your bartpe easily.

 

The main advantage is you only have one partition to image and restore instead of two. So image/restores are easier to do. Win7 will always be the System, Active, Boot partition.

 

That is an interesting way to remove the 100 MB SRP. Another method that works as long as one has the Windows 7 install disk, is:

1. Boot off a partitioning boot cd such as the excellent Partition Wizard (free).
2. After it loads, select the 100mb SRP and choose to remove it.
3. Then expand the remaining O/S partition to fill the 100mb void.
4. Set this partition to "Active".
5. Remove the CD, insert the Windows 7 install disk and re-boot.
6. After it loads, choose "Repair your computer". It should see the O/S, then you finalize the repair.
7. Re-boot off harddrive. If still "No boot MGR" found, run the repair option a second time. This should work (always has for me).

Done!

 

wat0114,

Yes, that works too.

After removing the SRP you get "BOOTMGR is missing" then .....

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=411

 

Right, that's the startup error. I don't know why it doesn't always repair on first try, but it's never failed for me after a second run.

 

I've always had to run two repairs.

 

Oh, alright, I guess that's just the way it is, then Thanks!

 

Hey great, I can do this. Partition Wizard is the first thing I burned after getting my computer up and running again, in case my Win 7 partition ever disappeared again.

I'm not sure how Macrium does it, but Acronis gave you the choice of checking the MBR/0 Track restore box, along with the C partition. After removing the SRP, and having the O/S partition as the boot partition, how does one handle an image restore? Would I check the MBR/0 Track box along with the system image?

 

People get too hung up on the MBR. If you are restoring to the same HD, don't tick it because it (the MBR) is already there.

If you are restoring to a new HD then tick it because it may not be there.

But, if you forget to tick it there is not a problem because the restore app will create a MBR anyway. You only really need to tick it if you have a special MBR such as a third party boot manager. But again, if you don't tick it your OS will still boot, you just won't have your boot manager. Your boot manager can be reinstalled in a few minutes.

In addition, there is a Standard MBR and a Win7 MBR. Both work with Win7.

Summary.... Don't get over concerned about the MBR.

 

Sully,

You can do that with Window 7 installation disk: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1641582&postcount=2

Also this guide to remove the 100mb partition without the need for Window 7 installation disk: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1641583&postcount=3

 

Also kept in the SRP is the recovery.

 

Are your sure about this? I was messing with grub4dos/bcd ram loading some images, and I had to use the win7 cd to recover or boot into bartpe from disc to fix it. I could not boot to the OS, actually I think there was an error that displayed too.

Is there something I don't know about with this?

Sul.

 

Sul, it probably was a glib statement. I use BING almost exclusively and I have used XOSL at times. I haven't used the boot manager you mentioned.

Edit.... If people have a boot manager they are usually aware they should restore the MBR to a new HD. If there is no boot manager it doesn't matter if you restore the MBR or not. I did a lot of tests with different apps.

Edit... In case people don't know, the MBR is not part of any partition. It is quite separate. The first sector on the HD is the MBR, LBA-0. It has 3 components. Boot code, Disk Signature and Partition Table. When you tick Restore MBR, only the Boot code is restored. Some imaging apps restore the First Track when you tick Restore MBR (Ghost for example) but again, only the boot code part of LBA-0 is restored. The First Track is LBA-0 to LBA-62. BING for example uses sectors in the First Track to manage booting and partitions.

When you create the first partition on a new HD, a MBR is created with the 3 components.

 

Well, that was kind of terrifying. I used Partition Wizard to remove the SRP, and when expanding the C partition the computer hung. Rebooted, and the letters were gone from all my partitions, including the ones on the back-up drive. I had a few minutes to contemplate what was on them that was irreplaceable.

So from there I was winging it. I tried the Windows 7 disk to repair, with no luck. So the O/S was gone too. I reformatted the C partition with PW, figured out how to make it an active partition, and used Macrium to do a previously un-tested restore from the first image I'd made a couple of days ago. Of course it hung during restore. Thankfully it worked on the second try. I also rebuilt the MBR from Macrium just in case.

I am glad that it was mentioned that it takes two runs of Windows 7 repair from the disk, because I would have needed something strong after the first one didn't do the job. The file integrity was checked on boot, and here I am, without an SRP, and happy about the Macrium program.

 

Something is not right somewhere, maybe your hardware, for it to hang on a PW re-size of a partition. I remember a previous thread of yours where you mention 3 different imaging programs being unsuccessful for you, including Win 7's built-in, thus the spawning of this thread, and I felt something was not right. You mentioned error messages, so something seems odd. Anyway, I'm glad you were able to recover a recent image.

 

Yes, a hang that time with PW and with Macrium. I have wondered if others have these problems with 7 x64. I get frequent hangs when installing software or playing video. The odd thing is that X-Plane never hangs, and it is about the most demanding program I run.

I don't know anyone using this O/S, so have nothing to compare my experiences with. I think I've just accepted the hangs as part of the price of using Windows, since I used Mac for 20 years before I decided to switch over last year. But along with taking on a new operating system, I also took on building a computer for the first time, and with the timings I just used recommended settings. Now I am thinking that I should re-visit that step, and learn how to do a thorough test of all the settings, and learn how to clock this machine.

AMD Phenom II x3 720 3200MHz
Mushkin 4GB 1600MHz RAM
Radeon 4850 1GB memory
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P

 

I'm using that O/S x64 and no hangs here at all trying various imaging programs/disks, and Partition Wizard free boot disk (burned the iso) has been absolutely fantastic. The only time I've had hangs or similar was when I tried some overclocking settings and pushed things a bit far on RAM clocking, so I backed off a bit to get a stable system. My specs are older than yours, circa 2006.

 

If you are getting no hangs, then I'm going to have to track this down somehow. I have my RAM pushed all the way using Mushkin's advised numbers, and I've run the Windows memory check and another program, and both showed no problems. I can't imagine what's going on when X-Plane will run okay for a couple of hours, but other tasks like video or software install will hang. A puzzle that's now moved outside the original post. Thanks for all the help, I really like Macrium, it's just what I was hoping to find. And the SRP always bugged me for some reason, sitting there with my other partitions, I am glad to be rid of it.

 

You should start a thread in the hardware support forum. We have some pretty sharp people here, thats for sure. I have seen a lot and generally know many of the tricks of the trade. But I will tell you, I am always picking up another little tidbit here and there about hardware. You just cant beat a few thousand geeks in one place for answers

Sul.