Problem with duplicating the Original OS install.

Hi there... seems as though I may have proceded with my adventure a little too prematurely!!

Objective: Create a second XP Pro install with none of the bloatware so I can enjoy gaming at better frame rates and with only the basic drivers installed.

Problem: Acer Ferrari laptop with XP Pro, 100Gig drive partitioned into four, c: 48 gig, d: orig 50 now 35 gig, a new partition of about 14 gig for my new OS and a original Acer system restore hidden of about 2gig.
(Excuse me if the math is not exact)

Now I have the lastest True image and Disk Director(as of today) and used them to create the new partition and then I performed a backup of the c: drive only.

I then used OS selector to make the new partition active and installed the True Image rescue disk in the dvd drive and rebooted to it.

I then replaced the dvd disk with the one containing the two part back up. I selected the first file to restore but when I went to pick the destination true image would only let me restore it to the original partition and not to the new partition.

So I opted to restore "files and folders" and now it allowed me to put it where I wanted. After pressing proceed the machine started to work but within about 10 seconds...... reboot!!!!!!! without any warning!!!!

Anyhow it was obvious that I had done something wrong!! So after making the original c: drive active again my computer was working as before.

So I tried to install XP Pro off of my oem disk that came with my desktop...... no problems!!! but that does not help me with all the drivers that are missing nor does it make it very easy to refresh my os when it gets plugged up.

Any suggestions?

 

Is my problem too obvious or have I not described it well?

 

Hello noremac,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software and Acronis Partition and Disk Managing Software.

Please be aware that the basic scheme of accomplishing the objective you have described is as follows:

- Create an image of the system partition;

- Restore this image to the new partition (there is no need to set it's type to Active);

- Make the appropriate changes to the boot.ini file;

- Configure Acronis OS Selector.

You can find more information on how to perform these actions in Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0 User's Guide.

Please also note that the most probable reason for the problem you have encountered is that there is not enough space on the third partition to hold the data from the image you are trying to restore.

If that's the case then please increase the size of the third partition and try to restore an image one more.

If that's not the case or the above suggestion does not help then please create Acronis Report as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

Please also clarify what exactly do you mean when saying that "true image would only let me restore it to the original partition and not to the new partition".

Use a digital camera to make a shot of the appropriate screen of the Recovery Wizard which does not allow you to select the new partition as a target partition for the image restoration.

Where do you store your image?

Please submit a request for technical support. Attach the collected report.txt file and information to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with the solution.

As for the problem with computer rebooting during the indvividual files and folders restoration, please create Acronis Report and Linux system information (sysinfo.txt) as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

If you are not able to create sysinfo.txt file for some reason then please boot from Bootable Rescue CD created using the latest build (2323) of Acronis True Image 9.0 once more and press F11 key when the selection screen appears. After you get the "Linux Kernel Settings" prompt, please remove the "quiet" word, click on the OK button. As the startup messages stop scrolling please write down the last few lines of the output, or use a digital camera to make shots of the output screens.

Please also provide us with the following information:

- When exactly your computer reboots?

- Where do you store your images?

- Describe actions taken before the problem appears step-by-step.

Please submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with the solution.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

I have been testing the file/folder backup and recovery over the last few days using the bootable CD version of TI9 build 2323. I created a clone of my live disk and have been creating .tib files for all folders in the cloned copy of my live NTFS partition. All tests have been done with restore to a new location, not to the original location.

I have been having the following problems:

backup - reboots itself whilst creating a file/folder .tib - this can occur if there are files of size 0 bytes and invalid file names. Note that some backups of 0 byte files appear to be successful.

backup - hangs whilst creating a file/folder .tib - however cursor can be moved and can click on CANCEL button, an 'Are you sure' question is asked however clicking on any of the options did nothing. CTRL/ALT/DEL did nothing and power off was the only solution. I have identified several files which cause the backup to hang.

recovery - reboots itself during restore of file/folder .tib - this can occur if files being restored are of size 0 bytes. It will also occur in the rare case when the partition to which the files/folders are being restored runs out of free space (a graceful termination would be more appropriate).

recovery - gives error "E0004000D: Failed to restore file or folder" and displays the file name it could not restore. In the two separate case where this occured the files in question were both exactly 1048576 bytes (1024KB exactly).

There are several other points worth noting:

Before doing any backup/recovery of files/folders it is extremely important that Chkdsk /f is executing (possibly several times) until Chkdsk reports "no problems". Several runs of Chkdsk may be needed to fix all the errors. Failure to do so may mean that TI9 does not create/restore correctly.

TI9 often leaves the NTFS file structure with minor (and sometimes not so minor) errors after backup/recovery. This is particularly true if TI9 does not complete its operation successfully. One such error gives the following message when Chkdsk is run: "Deleting corrupt file record segment nnnnnn" where nnnnnn is some number.

Chkdsk does not report or fix all errors, particularly files which have invalid file names. I have found several files which have been corrupted (not by TI) which can not be accessed or deleted using the normal windows features. TI 9 may reboot when trying to create a backup of such files. I have found the free utility Killbox a useful tool (using the reboot delete option) to get rid of such files.

I have been using the file/folder Properties option to verify that the original files/folders and the restored files/folders have exactly the same number of bytes and files and folders. I would suggest that immediately after a backup .tib is created that it be restored to a new location and the total bytes compared.

Conclusion: Acronis needs to spend a couple of days doing the same test using a clone of their development disk. I'd expect they will experience most, if not all, of the problems I have found. The 'Program files' and 'WINNT' folders in particular are useful ones to try first.

I will be lodging a support request when I have done a few more tests.

 

Nice work tachyon42. I've steered clear of TI 9's Files and Folders feature due to other known problems so it'll be interesting to hear the outcome of your findings.

Regards

 

Thanks for the response....... I am now in the process of deciding how to attack this problem...... although I am not sure as to whether or not the problems I am encountering are with something I did or if it is a program bug.

I have noticed a common "tone" to all of peoples requests for help......... Most people would probably benefit from some sort of guide to common proceedures. Yes you can read the manual, but unless you know exactly what steps you need to perform... the manual does not help.

My example is I wanted to create a second bootable partition with a clean install of XPPro on my laptop. Then I would make a backup of this partition and for evermore be able to have fresh install to this partition with hopefully just a few steps.

So now I know this is possible with TI and DD, but what I did not expect is to read ( after my first couple of attempts ) is things like ..... hiding the OS from itself.....problems with laptops and their built in hidden recovery partition ( like my Acer Ferrari ) and similar errors that could possibly have me not succeed.

Now I have used Partition Magic in the past ( 5years ago ) and installed Linux to second partition and to a third partition installed DOS6.2....... no problems. I am aware now that maybe some of my issues are with a second version of XP on the same Physical drive and with me wanting to have the second OS a exact duplicate of the laptops original install ( New out of the box laptop )

Ok I have rambled enough for today..... time to think of what to do next....... Maybe I will just start over and reinstall the whole laptop from scratch and make images as I add utilities, patches and upgrades at various times.

Any comments?

Thanks ..... cheers!!

 

Does anyone know the "BEST" way to install the original verion of an XPPro install that is on a laptop (ACER Ferrari).
Keeping in mind that Acer does not ship a conventional OS install disk.. only a restore disk that I believe accesses a hidden partition.
Does the original OS need to be "hidden"?

Thanks......