The Acronis OS Selector (OSS) Installation (beginner)

Discussion in 'Acronis Disk Director Suite' started by admsupport, Jan 28, 2009.

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  1. admsupport

    admsupport Registered Member

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    Question:
    One one single drive with a primary partition C:\ and a logical partition D:\, I have installed AOSS on the D:\ drive (since the manual states installing AOSS on a different partition than the system partition can be helpful if the system partition gets corrupted)

    I wonder now if I did not make a mistake and if I am not making a confusion between primary partitions with OS (can boot) and logical partitions with documents only (cannot boot)? I am not yet confident.

    In the case I made a mistake and AOSS can only be on the C:\ (the only bootable partition in my case) how can I change its location to C:\. Now, in the case D:\ is a suitable solution, and if C:\ gets corrupted, how can I still use the OS Selector? Is the Bootable CD created with Acronis Media Builder will find the boot folder on D:\ or AM I DOING A COMPLET CONFUSION BETWEEN 2 DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS?
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2009
  2. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    Having OSS installed on a non-OS partition is a good idea. I don't think there's a problem if you use a Logical partition instead of a Primary partition. If OSS is booting successfully, then it's okay.
     
  3. admsupport

    admsupport Registered Member

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    Reading the forum I begin to have a picture (the official is quite light in the matter but only to explain the functions)

    OSS is booting successfully

    In the case of a system crash, will the machine boot from OSS automatically? Or do I need the Recovery CD? I am still unclear about it.

    Regarding another post you have replied:

    Wouldn't that be better for me to keep C:\ system and change D:\ logical to primary in the case I wanted to try to install Vista and use OSS?

    Is there a link or guide for beginners to explain some setup cases. In the even I start to "try" 2 OS "XP" and "Vista" is it better to create 3 partitions: 2 primary and one logical to keep the documents safe, or can the second partition be PRIMARY and contained and the second OS and the documents.

    Lastly if a create a special partition for OSS, what size should it be and what's is the benefit doing so vs. having it on a system or logical partition?

    Sorry that's many questions
     
  4. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    As long as the "crash" isn't a hard drive failure or other corruption to the booting drive, OSS will still boot.

    You can do that if you want. You can have either four Primary partitions or three Primary partitions and any number of Logical partitions. It's generally best (and easiest) to have Windows on Primary partitions.

    There are quite a few threads about this type of setup. If you're going to be accessing/sharing the same data files, it makes sense to have a data partition dedicated to that purpose.

    If you're only going to install OSS, the partition can be small. I would say even 100MB may be large enough. The files on mine are less and 10MB, but I wouldn't go that small.

    What I consider to be the biggest advantage of having OSS on a non-OS partition is that you can restore the OS partitions without bothering the OSS files.
     
  5. admsupport

    admsupport Registered Member

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    That makes perfect sens! Thank you.

    Can I extend my question since I have never done this before? In the event I create 2 primary partitions one for XP and one for Vista (or can I have both XP and Vista on one single partition?) and a 3rd partition with "my documents":

    info: the current configuration is (P) C:\windows and (L) D:\redirection of the "my documents" folders for each users profiles.

    I guess I cannot use the same configuration of ""redirecting "my documents" folders" to a logical partition"" if I install several OS? Or I will end up having a few "My documents" folders for each XP user's profiles, & a few "Documents" folders for each Vista user's profiles, on the same volume. Isn't it going to be a bit confusing?
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2009
  6. admsupport

    admsupport Registered Member

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    I forgot to ask: How do I move the OSS location from D:\ to a newly created partition?
     
  7. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    I don't "move" My Documents, but I would think you could have them sharing a partition as long as the actual folders are different (XP's Documents, Vista's Documents, etc.). I prefer to leave My Documants on the OS partition and place my data how I want on the data partition.

    You'll need to uninstall and then reinstall OSS to move it to another partition.
     
  8. admsupport

    admsupport Registered Member

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    I will do so, it seems effectively a solution easier to manage

    You have explained me OSS was not in the XP remove program. And from the OS console I can only disable it. What is the way to remove it from the system and then re-install it on a separte partition? Running the installer again?
     
  9. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    To uninstall OSS, you can boot to the DD CD and select the OSS menu option (not the Activation entry). One of the choices will be to uninstall OSS.
     
  10. admsupport

    admsupport Registered Member

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    I did boot from the DD CD, OSS menu option has only the choice to Deactivate OSS (the wizard) not to delete it (unless I do something wrong).

    I checked all the menus, no option to "delete it".
    I read the help file (again...) no option to "delete it".

    What confuses me is the following: During a XP session, after launching the OSS: the recovery CD shows up as a system. I click on its icon and the Acronis tells me it will reboot to launch the recovery OS, then it proceeds. However there is not such "Safe mode" option or "full option" to select. The default OSS windows launches with only the mouse pointer of a gold color, and the option to run DD on an extra menu. It that correct? How do you access the different options "full mode", "safe mode", etc.?

    + Any other way to remove it from the partition it is, and to re-install it on a separate new partition?
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2009
  11. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    To uninstall OSS from the DD CD, do the following:

    When you boot to the DD CD (which contains the OSS programs), you should get the following options in the menu:
    oss_uninstall_1.jpg
    You want to select the Acronis OS Selector Setup menu option.

    Next, select the Uninstall Acronis OS Selector option and proceed with the wizard:
    oss_uninstall_2.jpg

    You can select the OS to use as the default or you can let OSS choose. I would recommend you choose so you know the correct one is selected.

    A bootable CD/DVD will show up in the OSS menu as a boot option.

    Don't start the DD CD this way. Boot the computer normally to the CD.

    When you install OSS from Windows, OSS will add DD to the Tools menu. As far as I know, only the Safe Mode version of DD is available. If you want to use the Full Mode version, you need to boot from the DD CD and select it.
     
  12. admsupport

    admsupport Registered Member

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    Good morning MudCrab,

    Thank you for the answer and the print screens.
    It is all clear now.
    I booted from the DD CD on different computer with an empty HD.
    I could see all the options as they figure on your print screen this time.

    I ran the full/safe mode, etc. When I opened the OSS (on install) it asked me for my serial number. The disk is not formatted (new HD) and I have canceled the installation. Any idea of the output if I had entered my serial and carried on with the OSS installation on an unformatted HD?

    BTW: I couldn't get it right yesterday because my laptop does not boot from its external USB CD-Rom, no more (read only). I will look into it.
     
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