Restore whole disk image to a smaller disk

Hi,

We test True Image Corporate Workstation before we deploy this procedure and we try to understand a problem.
True Image has a strange behavior if we restore image of a whole disk to a smaller disk: he resize partition and he doesn't restore MBR.

Our test configuration :
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- True Image Corporate Workstation 8.0, Build 1158, Trial Version
- 2 HDD, one 37.27 Gb HDD, one 38.35 Gb HDD
- Windows 2000 Pro


Problem description :
---------------------

On the HDD n°1 (38,35 GB), we have a very simple Linux Distribution with two partitions :
Part A = 9 GB (1.5 GB used) = "/" partition
Part B = 517 MB = swap
and so about 29 GB unallocated

1) We backup this whole disk in an a single image "hdd1.tib".

2) When we restore the "hdd1.tib" image on the hdd1, all is perfect and the system boot correctly.

3) Now, we want to restore this same image on the HDD n°2. This HDD is smaller than HDD n°1 (37.27GB so about 1GB less) but we only need space for one partition of 9GB and one partition of 517 Mo.

4) The acronis restore wizard works fine ( we restore the whole disk and we delete all the partitions) but at the final screen, we notice that:
- the first operation (1 of 3) is "clearing disk" ----> is it useless ?
- the second operation (2 of 3) resize the "/" partition from 9GB (1.5 GB used) to 36.77 GB ---> why ?
- the third operation (3 of 3) resize the swap partition from 517 Mo to 509 Mo ----> why ?
- a fourth operation is missing (i think so..), the "restore partition structure"

So, when we boot on this second HDD, the system can't boot because of the MBR is missing. If we fix the MBR manually, we can see that the "/" partition and the swap partition were correctly here. The size of the partition have changed as the final screen of True Image preview said ("/" partiton is 37 Gb and swap partition is 500 Mb).
This problem occurs even if the HDD n°2 is empty, contains a linux system or contains a windows system.

Do True Image be able to restore a whole disk to a smaller disk because he seems to resize partitions with non-sense and he doesn't restore the MBR.

Thanks a lot, Yo.

 

Hello Yoo,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Remote Workstation Disk Backup Software.

First of all, please make sure that you have created an image of the entire hard drive, but not the assortment of partitions, since only the image of the whole hard drive includes MBR.

In order to create an image of the entire hard drive you should check the box near the hard drive's name (e.g. Disk 1) as it is shown on the screen shot provided in the section 5.1 of Acronis True Image Corporate Workstation 8.0 User's Guide.

If that's not the case then please create Acronis Report in the way described below for the both states of your system:

1. When your first hard drive is installed and you are going to create an image of it;

2. When the destination hard drive is installed and the image has been already restored, but PC still does not boot (do not fix MBR before creating Acrois Report).

Please do the following in order to create Acronis Report:

- Download Acronis Report Utility;
- Run it and select the "Create Bootable Floppy" option;
- Insert a blank floppy disk in the A: drive and proceed
with creation of the bootable floppy;
- Boot the computer from this diskette and wait for
report creation process to finish;
- Compress the report file from the floppy disk with ZIP;

This will provide us with the information about the
hard drive partitions structure.

Please rename the first report to report_before.txt and second report to report_after.txt.

Send these reports along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken during the image restoration process (following the Restore Image wizard) to support@acronis.com. Please also provide the link to this thread in your letter.

We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with the solution.

Could you please also clarify the reason why you think that the first operation of the restoration scenario named "clearing disk" is usless?

The fourth operation is not missing, as it is just never shows in any way.

If you want Acronis to change the behavior of the software in any way then please feel free to post your suggestions in Acronis True Image WISH-LIST thread.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov