problem HP laptop backup

I just purchased Acronis True Image 11.
On my HP Pavilion laptop I was able to get a backup made but then it showed errors when I validated it.

Is these an issue with laptops that make them harder than desktops to use this software?

Does the size of the external drive make a difference? I defragged and used Check disk on both my laptop and my external. I reinstalled Acronis twice with no improvement.

Ideas welcome. I did send a file to the tech help. Not sure if it actually got through or not with the file attached.

 

IMO, laptops can be more problematic for various things than desktops but they certainly aren't as bad as they were a number of years ago.

The inability to validate images can be caused by a number of problems from the TI software to hardware. Interpret the image "corrupt message" to mean that "TI cannot read the archive and successfully recalculate the checksums".

TI does not compare the image contents with the disk contents in the validation process. When an archive is created TI writes a checksum value into the archive for every 256K of data. When the archive is validated the archive is read and the checksums re-calculated and compared with the stored checksums. If any one doesn't match the archive is declared corrupt - there are 4000 per gigabyte of data.

Anything that can interfere with this process is suspect. It can be a bad area on the drive, particularly the drive that receives the archive; bad RAM, bad disk cable (my problem once), bad USB chipset in either the computer or the external drive (some choke on very large files) even a bad processor.

You have run chkdsk so that should take care of the disk problem. The recommended command is chkdsk X /r which checks the integrity of the whole disk surface. Substitute the drive letter of the partition being tested for X.

You can check the RAM with Memtest86+ available free from www.memtest.org (note the .org). Let it run for several hours, preferably overnight.

Look in the Windows Event logs for anything unusual.

While creating an archive while Windows is running is not considered a normal problem area you can rule this out by running the TI rescue CD. In this case Windows is not running so the disk is static. Also, the rescue CD uses Linux so you have some different drivers than the Windows drivers thus providing a different environment. Admittedly, this usually causes more problems than it fixes but it is worth a try. In fact, to do a restore of the active partition, the Linux recovery environment must be able to successfully run.

 

seekforever,

Are you talking about the Boot CD that you made with the program and using that to make the backup?

How does this CD work. Do you have to boot your computer with it, and then run the backup program.

 

Yes, that is referred to by the following terms: TI boot CD, TI recovery CD, TI rescue CD, and probably others - not all suitable for a family environment.

Boot your PC with it and try to validate your archive.

 

Ok, I'll try that and let you know.

 

I decided to Boot from CD, erase the old file and start over backing up to a new file. Then I will validate. That might take several hours.

 

Thanks, I finally have a successful backup for my HP laptop.

I used the boot CD and ran the program from there.

 

Well I don't want to "spoil the party", but a successful validation does not mean you will have a successful restore. The only way to be sure of a successful restore is to do one. After you have done a few good restores you can take the chance that subsequent backups will also restore correctly.

I know ... with a laptop it means investing in a second laptop hard drive but they are not all that expensive now and for peace of mind it is worth it. Afterwards you can always put it in an enclosure and use it as an external drive.

If you do decide to buy one, it does not have to be the same size as the one in the laptop. For instance, if the used space now is, say 30 Gb, while your drive is 160 Gb, you can buy a 40 Gb size for the test.

 

I have an 80 Gig HD that I took out and had a 160 GB installed in my HP laptop. I could use this one for the test.

I don't know how to replace HD's in my HP Pavilion but would like to try. Would it be easier to buy an external case for HD's and use that. It should be an easy process since I built my last desktop (ASUS) last summer from components. But have never been inside this HP laptop.

 

You don't need an external case for the laptop drive to test the Backup Image - I believe you said that you already have an external drive, right? You need the laptop drive enclosure to be able to make use of the laptop drive after you've done the Recovery test.

You shouldn't have a problem if you've built a desktop. Look at the underside carefully and see if you see a symbol for the HD on one of the parts that looks like a small cover that you can remove by just taking off one or two screws. One cover will be for the memory compartment, and another should be the hd.

When you remove the correct one, there may be other screws to remove that will enable you to either lift or slide the drive out. Most likely you have to slide it to dis-engage it from its connector. The drive will probably be still connected to a caddy which you will have to transfer to the other drive in order to install this drive into the laptop. Some laptop drives also have an adapter connector which will also have to be transferred to the other drive. When you get the drive removed, compare it's connector to the 80 gig and if they're different, then there's an adapter on the 160 gig - the adapters simply pull off.

After the test, (hopefully a successful one) if you need a suggestion for where to buy the usb enclosure for the laptop drive and if you're in the USA, let me know.

 

I forgot to mention that if there's anything at all on the 80 gig that you want to save, do so before testing with True Image as the process will wipe the drive. Also the HP forum has very good support, if you want detailed help on removing the hd.

 

I was able to get an HP service manual with complete directions. I followed them and was able to take out my 160 gig and put in my 80 gig HD. My 80 gig HD's WinOS was corrupted and couldn't be used without reformatting anyway, so it will make a good test.

I was amazed at how easy the hard drive was to take out. I have reformatted it and now I'm in the middle of a reinstall. The process using Acronis True Image has been very smooth.

I'll let you know when I turn it on the first time.

 

I reinstalled and it seemed liked everything was back. However, on the next reboot it wouldn't start. So it might be that my (spare) hard drive just won't hold anything and is internally corrupted.

I'm making another reinstall after a second reformatting. True Image is doing what it is designed to do in an excellent fashion. My hard drive is most likely faulty. I didn't do anything to my original 160 Gig HD that I took out for this experment.

 

I'm pretty sure that if something was wrong with the 80Gb drive, True Image would cough up an error in no uncertain terms. It tends to produce errors at the slightest sign of something wrong with a hard drive, even with memory.

Did you get the "Restore Successful" message at the end?

OH, there's no need to format the drive.

 

Yes, I did get a message showing a successful restore.
Do you think then that my 80 HD isn't faulty if there are no error messages in the restore process.

What did you mean about "no formatting" needed. Can I just do another restore over the first unsuccessful one?

I'm repeating the restore process this morning.
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Any ideas for repairing registry errors that pop up (Windows saying it recovered from a registry error--but then on reboot doesn't start)
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This morning's True Image Restore finally has my laptop starting and rebooting successfully. (on my spare 80 HD)

The only change I made to the process was using a Linux Ubuntu boot disk to install its program. It somehow got Windows out of its cycle of problems, so on my install this morning, I got a clean restore. That same thing happened with my installation process on my 160 GB HD using Ubuntu first and then Windows. Even with reformatting the hard drive there must be something left of Windows to cause interference. So thanks to Ubuntu I have a working system!!

Now on to my next question--Should I defrag my External Seagate with the copy of TrueImage's HP restore file?

 

Well, you obviously know your way around the computing jungle. I've made several attempts to use a Linux OS and thought that Ubuntu Feisty Fox (?) was the answer, but it still required some arcane commands to do certain things. And with XP running so well .... I just didn't want to spend the time with Ubuntu. Anyway, glad to hear it's up and running.

I'm wondering why you needed that Ubuntu assist to get both drives running initially though. Did you have a dual boot feature on them at one time or another?

As for defrag, my personal experience is that I've never found defrag to give any noticeable performance improvement on any of my system drives (laptop or several desktops). And I think there would be even less of an improvement on an external drive. But there's no harm in doing it. I would copy off the True Image Backup file first though .... if you have room on the 160 gb drive. Then after the defrag move the Backup Image back to it.

No preformatting is needed when using True Image .... you can restore an Image to a "bare metal" drive and even on a drive with a previous OS, since the restore process will ask to erase what's on the drive before letting the restore begin.

 

Struggling now after it failed to reboot after the 6th previously successful attempt. I'm now trying to stabilize with registry errors on startup. Trying a variety of things including Restore points.

 

Have you put it through an updated antivirus check? How about houscleaning software like CCleaner or a registry cleaner like RegSeeker (not for Vista) or the free AML Registry Cleaner (for Vista)?

Any particular point that it fails in the boot process?

 

I left out an important check - for spyware. The free Ad-Aware does a good job.

 

I failed to get my spare HD going with the True Image backup so I decided to do a complete reinstall with WinPro and HP applications CD's.

I'm going to then make a backup of a stable system using True Image and try the restore again.

This way, I won't have the risk of trying it on my 160GB Hard Drive. I won't bother loading everything on this spare HD, just enough for the test run of True Image.

 

I wouldn't load anything other than XPPro then, with the bootable TI cd, make your Backup and again with the bootable cd do the Restore. Have you done a chkdsk /r on the 80 gig?

 

I decided to try using my True Image backup from my ASUS desktop on my laptop. And guess what

It restored my HP Pavilion laptop's spare 80gig HD and with a few minor changes it is working beautifully. I'm going to spend several weeks rebooting and trying to check it's stability over time.

Then I will replace my 160gig HD into my HP laptop and have a spare HD for future crashes.