True Image "locked" my WD drive

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by LSmith4285, Jul 20, 2007.

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  1. LSmith4285

    LSmith4285 Registered Member

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    I have been trialling True Image and I tried restoring an image from my old HD onto my new 160GB WD disk.

    Since then the disk has freaked out, Windows can't see it, the BIOs does see it but I have tried some tools on the Ultimate boot CD couldn't see it.

    I managed to run the WD diagnostic tools by moving the HD to my PC and I got error 0220 this is what the WD site says:

    Any one got any ideas how I can fix this? I don't care about the data on the disk I just want to get it working again.

    Thanks
     
  2. jmk94903

    jmk94903 Registered Member

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    What brand/model of computer di you have this on when you restored the image?

    Was the image from the same computer?

    My guess would be that the old drive was locked (but the BIOS accepted this) and this was transferred with the image to the new drive. Since it is different, the BIOS didn't accept it.

    This reference has some explanation of what appears to have happened.
    http://www.pwcrack.com/harddisk.shtml

    They say that reformatting won't help, but I'd try a wipe utility such as Boot and Nuke just to see:
    http://dban.sourceforge.net/

    Here's a note from a forum about the lock being a BIOS setting. Have you checked your BIOS to see if there is such a setting for a Hard Drive password:

    "If it's giving you a HDD locked error, it's possible this feature was enabled in the BIOS. It applies a password to the HDD itself so that if it's removed, it can't be plugged into another system and have the data accessible. Setting the Administrator password in the BIOS may automatically apply it to the HDD.

    Another possibility is that the HDD is from another system that had the HDD Password lock enabled. If this is the case, the onyl way to remove the password lock is to enter the correct password, which you would get from the owner of the HDD."

    Let us know more.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2007
  3. LSmith4285

    LSmith4285 Registered Member

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    Its a PC I built myself. The image was restored to the idenctial PC it was taken from, the only thing that changed was the HD. As True Image offered to resize the partition to the new size of disk I didn't think there would be a problem.

    No mentions of the HDD password.

    I tried dban, it didn't work and I got the attached error message.

    This was a brand new disk when I tried to load the image onto it so it can't be locked to another PC.

    Thanks
     

    Attached Files:

  4. jmk94903

    jmk94903 Registered Member

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    From what I read, I ddn't have much hope that DBAN would work, and it didn't.

    OK, but what do you find in your motherboard's BIOS setup? Is there an option to set a hard disk password? It's probably on the same screen as the BIOS access password.

    If so, the new drive was locked just by being booted on this machine based on what I read. It should unlock with the same password used to lock the original drive.

    If you use a BIOS password, the hard drive password is probably the same. At least, that's a place to start.

    The problem with password protected things is you have to know the password, and often you don't need it for a long time, so it's easy to forget.
     
  5. LSmith4285

    LSmith4285 Registered Member

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    Neither of the HDs in my main rig have a password on them and the BIOS has no password either.

    The PC it was in is setup in the same way with no passwords :s

    The Pc it was in can't see the HD, my main rig can see it but still can't seem to do anything with it.
     
  6. jmk94903

    jmk94903 Registered Member

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    Is there an option in your motherboard's BIOS to set a password for the hard drive?
     
  7. LSmith4285

    LSmith4285 Registered Member

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    Yes, I went into there and selected disable password, it asked for my password and i just hit return and it said "Password Disabled"
     
  8. jmk94903

    jmk94903 Registered Member

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    And.....

    Can you now access the new 160GB WD hard drive?

    I hope everything is now well.
     
  9. LSmith4285

    LSmith4285 Registered Member

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    Nope afraid not :(
     
  10. DwnNdrty

    DwnNdrty Registered Member

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    If there is data on the drive that you want to retrieve, boot with a BartPE and see if you can see the drive's contents.

    If there's nothing on it you need, use a dos boot floppy to fdisk and format the drive.
     
  11. LSmith4285

    LSmith4285 Registered Member

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    I don't care about the data but when I try a dos floppy it can't see the HD.
     
  12. stephenrc

    stephenrc Registered Member

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    Ask WD, they're the only one who can remove the password. The password removal may not be covered by the warranty.
     
  13. DwnNdrty

    DwnNdrty Registered Member

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    At what point are you determining that the boot floppy does not see the drive?
    When you boot with the floppy, at the A prompt you have to type fdisk. From the menu choose the one that lets you delete partitions or logical drives. If fdisk thinks there are no hard drives present it will say so. But you have to at least type fdisk.

    If that doesn't work, download the WD utility that lets you make a boot floppy that will let you write zeros to a WD hard drive.
     
  14. LSmith4285

    LSmith4285 Registered Member

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    The disk never had a password until I restored the image from a drive which again had no password.

    Any DOS disk I have tried says there is no HD.

    Which WD tool is that? I have tried two and one told me the error code and the other couldn't see the disk.

    If I speak to WD they will tell me this is something True Image has done to the disk (as it did work perfectly before) hence why I came on here looking for some advice.
     
  15. DwnNdrty

    DwnNdrty Registered Member

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    I believe that WD calls theirs WD Diagnostic.
     
  16. LSmith4285

    LSmith4285 Registered Member

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    Yes I have tried this, its on the Ultimate boot CD, it reports that the disk is locked and tells you to press ctrl + alt + del to reboot with no other options.
     
  17. DwnNdrty

    DwnNdrty Registered Member

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    It may not be the latest version. I would get the latest from the WD website - it's free.
     
  18. Tana

    Tana Registered Member

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    Hi,

    here is what you can do to get your HD back (though not your data):

    Go to www.hdat2.com, download their free utility, download their MANUAL, read the section on Locked Hard Drives (Section M8 ) and it will explain how to get the drive back with the free software (truly no charge). The author is a very kind man who works in the IT Deptmt of one of the biggest Czech companies as a hardware administrator.

    Regards,

    Tana
     
  19. Stronghold

    Stronghold Registered Member

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    I am wondering if I have encountered something similar to you. I just purchased a WD 160GB sata drive to upgrade a 60GB drive in my Laptop, and Inspiron e1705. I used TI 9 Home build 3854 to create an image of my old drive and plugged in the new WD drive. The laptop BIOS reported the size as 160GB. After restoring the image, I tried to reboot and Windows was unable to boot. I tried to run the restore process again and this time TI reported the new WD drive was exactly same size as my old drive, 60GB.

    I have tried everything I can think of to get the drive to be seen at its full 160GB capacity including running the WD Lifeguard diag utility to write zero's to the drive with no luck. I have plugged it into another computer that has a 250GB drive so its bios can see larger hdd's and that other machine also sees it as a 60GB drive. It almost seems that TI has locked the drive somehow and nothing can change it. Is this possible? How can I get this drive back to its full capacity? Anyone with ideas?
     
  20. DwnNdrty

    DwnNdrty Registered Member

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    See if this will work for you:
    ===============================
    If you have already cloned your drive and just want to regain the missing space procede as follows:
    1. Make the bootable True Image Rescue cd, if you have not already done so.
    2. Boot with it and from its main menu choose Manage Acronis Secure Zone.
    3. Create an SZ of any size less than the missing unallocated space. Do not accept the default to activate the Startup Recovery Manager.
    4. OK back to the main menu.
    5. Go right back into the Manage ASZ.
    6. Choose to Delete the SZ.
    7. When asked what to do with the space, accept the default to append it to the existing partition.
    8. Back out to the Main Menu, Exit the process, quickly remove the CD and reboot the system (if it doesn't self reboot).
    ====================================
     
  21. GroverH

    GroverH Registered Member

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  22. LSmith4285

    LSmith4285 Registered Member

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    I just tried this and I am getting the same result.

    I have been trying this but the manual seams to be frying my simple brain. I don't know any passwords (I don't believe there are any setup) however I still cannot unlock the device. From what I have read HDAT2 requires the master or user password.

    TI throws up an error says this disk can only be read in Windows and won't allow me to create the SZ.

    I tried this but when I load the program it is showing as the correct size.

    This is really begining to wind me up, I have no idea what to do, thanks for all the responces ladies and gents.
     
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