TI 8.0 w/IBM Thinkpad - Image missing recovery console, new HD missing space

Folks,

I would appreciate any comments you might have on the following. I am running a 2.2ghz IBM Thinkpad R40e laptop with a 40gb HD and an external HD, which I used to image the Thinkpad (off of Windows XP Pro).

After imaging my laptop to the external HD, I replaced my internal 40gb HD with a new 100gb HD. I then used my boot CD to restore my old configuration, reading off my external HD. So good so far...

Upon booting up with the new 100gb HD, I noticed two things: 1) If I press the "Access IBM" button, I am now only given an option to modify the BIOS settings, whereas previously IBM displayed additional options, including a recovery console. 2) If I boot into Windows (which works fine), my new 100gb HD is NOT 100gb, but instead the same size as my old HD. So, it looks like when I restored the old image, it actually partitioned the new HD to be the exact same size as my old one.

So, the questions: 1) Can I image my old drive over again in such a way that I can continue to take advantage of IBM's recovery app? 2) How can I get access to the 65gb's or so that are currently unavailable in my new setup?

Thank you!!

- Mark

 

Hello Mark,

Thank you for choosing Acronis True Image (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/).

Could you please create one Acronis Report in the way described at https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=55317 plugging your new hard disk and another Acronis Report with the old disk plugged. Please send these reports along with the link to this thread to support@acronis.com. Also please make sure that your new drive is fully compatible with "Access IBM" option.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

I do not own a floppy drive on which to save a report. Is there any other way I can save the reports? (I have a CD-R/RW drive, as well as an external USB HD.)

Thanks, again.

- Mark

 

Hi Mark-

I've got a Thinkpad T42p, and while I've never tried to image the complete HD including the recovery partition, I've read some threads about needing to run an IBM utility to restore access to the recovery partition after cloning opperations. Check out the Thinkpads forum at forum.thinkpads.com and do some searching there. I did a quick check and came up with this thread which may be relevant.

True Image can expand the partitions automatically during restore, but this might not be a good solution since the restore partition is kind of flakey.

I'm a big fan of having separate system / data partitions. You might consider simply adding a new partition rather than enlarging your current one.

Good luck.

Marc

 

Thank you! That sounds like it is exactly what I need. I will try this tomorrow evening and let you know if it works .. I just wonder if Acronis included the the files in the image that this will try to reference.

Anyway, you also mentioned adding a new partition as opposed to enlarging my current partition, which is fine with me. But, how can I do this? I was a bit of a computer geek back when fdisk was still popular, but Windows XP Pro doesn't seem to recognize that anymore.

Am I stuck buying some sort of partitioning software? Any free options ... ?

Thanks again!!

- Mark

 

Hi Mark-

First, let me assume that when you cloned your old 40 GB drive, that physical hard drive consisted of a ~32 MB C: active partition and a ~5 MB IBM_Service partition, making 37 MB, the "real" size of the drive.

Then, I'll assume that when this was restored to your new 100 GB drive, these same partitions and sizes were created, leaving somewhere on the order of 60 GB of unallocated space.

Adding a new partition is simple in this circumstance. Use the Administrative Tools (found in the Start Menu and / or Control Panels), choose Computer Management... Storage... Disk Management. It should give you a graphical picture of your partitions on the disk with a big "Unallocated" section. Right click in there and create and format a new partition or partitions of sizes that you like.

It's a convenient idea to have a partition used just for storing images of the system partition. This way, you can use Nero or whatever DVD/CD burning software you like to make archival copies. I also travel with a recent image of my C: partition on the HD, for quick restoration if I screw something up and the operating system needs restoration.

Marc