Can't Boot From Rescue CD

Hello Sand,

Awhile back I made a 'full' TI-10 bld.4942 boot disc, tested it & it worked, or allowed the screen 'safe, full, or windows' screen to appear. Fast forward to 2/4/08 when I needed it, it did not work, just black screen. Next repair XP, I then went to TI made a new boot disc & it worked, I restored my machine perfectly.

Have you tried making a new boot disc?

Take Care
Rico

 

Hi Rico,

I did trying making several CD burns - I have also done several ISO burns (all version 11.) Everything I burned was able to boot and load the other computers I have but not the Dell Inspiron.

You mentioned you are having success with the last build of version 10. I do own a version 10... I may try installing that and see if works. That is if what Chris metioned to try doesn't work... hopefully it will - it is one of the more "simple" answers that doesn't require major tech knowledge.

I am still waiting on Mustang's BartPE plug in manual. That may resolve this problem as well, but it looks like it requires more tech savy than I have. I paid for it (only a $1.99)and have emailed several times... but nothing.


Thanks for sharing your experience here!

Sandy

 

I just got the link for Mustang's guide.

I will post here what works - and what doesn't to help others in the future.

Sandy

 

Unfortunately this didn't work for me so I will pursue the BartPE Plug in option or installing 10.

In the mean time does anybody know if not being able to load Acronis from the CD have any relevance as to whether I will have a successful restore when needed using Acronis from Windows. Since I am having problems in one area - I am wondering if this means I will have a problem in the more relevant area of "Restore"...??...

Thanks,
Sandy

 

I failed at creating the VistaPE (dont' know what went wrong) so I have now have dropped this. I received another email from Acronis that was staggering in its tech speak. So I wrote them the following...

I do not want to pursue this so I would like my money back for Premium Support. I signed up for Premium Support so I could get help over the telephone. I didn't like the man on the phone and don't want to call back again. He gave me some random ISO file to pacify me... so he could hang up. I am just a basic user with basic skills when it comes to my computer... I do not want to have to go into what you have and currently are suggesting I do. You offer this product - a "backup" product - so "backup" your product. It should not be me having to figure out why you can't run. This is a new computer that has given me no trouble whatsoever. I guess you need to contact Dell or Microsoft so you can figure out why you can't get Acrnois to boot and load. It's is not for me to do your homework.

Sandy

 

Success!

I received a lot of great help on this forum regarding this problem. I tried making a VistaPE (which was very difficult even with good instuctions.) It also required a very large download. I really thought I had done everything right but ended up with error messages.

I have been going back and forth with DwnNdrty and he gave me instuctions for a BartPE which was far easier to execute and the download for it wasn't near as large. A BartPE needed Version 10, so I uninstalled 11 and installed 10 and guess what... problem solved! I was able to boot from the BartPE - but also from my bootable rescue cd for version 10! The stumbling block was verion 11.

Now, as I understand it... if you are using Version 10 on Vista you will need a Vista repair if you do single partition restores. You can do the repair if you have a "windows installation" disc (which I don't have.) I have heard from Kolo you can use a "Windows Vista Anytime Upgrade" disc (which I do have.) I have not done this repair yet and don't know if I will (as I don't know how difficult it is)... so for now if I need to restore I will do a "full disk" restore. Hopefully everything will go well. Version 10 has worked very well for me on my other computer.

As for Acronis - their instructions were far to over my head to follow so Priority Support didn't work for me. I asked for a refund and they said no but they did let me select something off their website instead... which was nice. I now own Migrate 7.0 (the only home product left that I don't own by them.) You have to be very skilled to talk to them and get help..... but, not so much on the forum!

Thanks to all of you for the help and a special shout out to DwnNdry for truly going the extra mile! (See attachment!)

Sandy

 

Hi The Sand glad you got TI working but, sorry to hear you had to revert back to TI 10. Like you, I found VistaPe much harder to make then BartPe although most users here seem to think VistaPe was easier. I have Dial-up and that could have been part of my problem. ( huge files to download, even though I made the smaller version of VistPe) I received a lot of help in the following post try reading it and maybe you will feel like trying again ( maybe not) it may help, if not I don't blame you.
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=195998

It seems like a waste not to be able to use TI 11 after you paid for it.

 

It is a crying shame that The Sand paid for one-on-one support and not only was the support un-helpful but the person was rude as well. Then instead of a refund, they offered another piece of software which she would probably never need.

 

Thanks for the link dbknox... I will check it out becaue it would be nice to have a VistaPE for my Dell that is successfully running version 11.

I was kind of bummed about installing 10 on that computer as I did pay for 11, but it is more important that I am able to boot/load from a CD... I don't care what Acronis "version" makes that possible.

As for tech help... they need to look into it. You can't asnwer the phone that way. It reflects badly on the entire company. Now nobody was rude to me via email... but I sill was not able to execute their instructions. I guess I would tell them to really make sure their products are good to go - not throw them to the masses with things like "yellow banners" in your face and having to do some "vista repair" if you want to do single partition restores. These things should be taken care of BEFORE the product is released. The reason this is so relevant with Acronis is the tech help to solve the problem is going to be more difficult than if your "iTunes" isn't running properly. Tech help for "iTunes" ain't that hard! The tech help for Acronis, now that's hard.

These things being said... so far, Acronis has NEVER failed me on a restore - or when I repartitioned my drives. I like this company and hope they will just do more "testing" before they release their next build or version.

Sandy

 

You probably get polite people with email because you will have a record of then being rude, but on the phone no way to prove it unless you record it. Next time make sure to write down the persons name and report this rudness to Acronis. I doubt very much if they would stand for their support people being rude. I have read other posts were people have said the same thing and I have to admit it shocks me.
I wish you luck with the VistaPe. If you do have trouble and are lucky enough to get "Mustang" involved then you are pretty much assured of success.
Make sure that you mention VistaPe in your subject. Usually Mustang will check it out.
As DwnNdrty says

Give the Vistape another try once you have it you won't be sorry.

 

Hello all,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup software

To The Sand
Sandy, please accept my apologies for the inconvenience. Could you please send a private message to me with the additional details (please include support person name, date and time of this call etc) about the phone call in question. I would investigate this case and take some actions.

I've asked to take care about your support case and you should receive a message very soon.

Thank you.
--
Michael Levchenko

 

Hi Michael,

Thanks for following up here. I'll have to look into the date and time of the call. I know I don't know the man's name. But Acronis has been following up with me via email on this. I have not been able to successfully install Acronis Migrate (on my computer, which can boot/load TI 11. It is not the computer I have been troublehsooting the Acronis "load" problem on.) They have now offered me a different program that may fix some of my "issues" here with Acronis.

I will follow up with you on the info you asked for though...

Sandy

 

Hey Sandy. I did not read fully through all the posts here. However its sounds like an issue I had on me primary desktop. Acronis 11 rescue cd would not fully load or if I changed the BIOS setting to a 'non pnp aware os' I would get an Acronis error message. The actual Problem came as a result of a Bios upgrade I had done on this system I built. Solution was for me to downgrade my Bios until my Motherboard manufacturer came up with a newer Bios update that appeared to fixed that issue (among a few others). Clearly this was a no fault for Acronis in this case.
Check your PC's manufacturer site for an updated Bios...

God is on my side also...PTL

PS: I am still waiting for Acronis To fix the Issue with the 40 s added boot time to OS with Acronis 11 installed and the mounting of backup images on Windows XP 64 systems. This case is a fault for Acronis however.

 

Hi fishmaster, Thanks for sharing this (especially the print screen, those are always fun!) I will check into my BIOS to make sure it is the most current.

Glad you noticed the signature... I have had people say, "Then why do you use Acronis if God can take care of it." But I am talking about "me." God is "my" backup so I don't get "corrupted" in this life and can be "restored" in the next!

Take care...PTL!
Sandy

 

I wanted to follow up on what happened here... Acrnonis has now said they will give me a refund.

So, everything worked out okay...

Sandy

 

I am supporting two Inspiron 1526 laptops which I strongly suspect have the identical problem as your 1525. The Acronis recovery CD would boot, but not fully load the program. I received many replies from Acronis, but none of their suggestions had any positive effect. I then created a BartPE which worked fine, but did not allow me to remove the boot CD to swap in a image on DVD ie, it was not memory resident. I then built a VistaPE using instructions and script purchased from mustang. That worked fine and was fully memory resident. It took a long time to fully resolve the issue and I'm still amazed that Acronis is putting out a product that doesn't work on these very popular Dell laptops?!?

By the way, the Vista DVD received from Dell served my purpose fine in creating the VistaPE.

 

Sorry you had such trouble... but clearly you know enough to get done what needed to be done here. I didn't. In the end I put Acronis TI 10 on that computer (Dell Inspiron 1525) and it was able to boot and load from the CD (it couldn't boot/load TI 11.) My Dell XPS 1530 can boot and load TI 11. The other day I had to reinstall my OS on the Dell XPS 1530 - I did that by accessing the recovery using F8 (I think it was F8.) Anyway... I noticed in the recovery option that there are seletions to "repair windows." The kind of selections that are available on the Windows Installation CD's. So, maybe with Dell you have the ability to "repair Windows" like utilizing a Windows Installation CD from the F8 recovery. Just thought I'd pass that along..

Happy Restoring (and by the way I had to use Acronis TI 11 on the XPS the other to restore entire disk image (from the Acronis CD) and it went flawlessly...)

Sandy

 

Clearly the XPS is giving me some trouble (to put it mildly)...interesting as it is the most expensive computer I have.

The Acer (for $1300 LESS!) is sitting here rolling and getting it done with rock steady consistancy...

Just thought I'd pass that along as well.

Sandy

 

I am glad you were successful in the VistaPE - I also bought that guide and tried to create one but was unsuccessful. I did not use the Vista DVD that came with my computer to make the VistaPE because I didn't know if it would work or not (I was afraid of reinstalling my operating system by accident) so I downloaded that WAIK thing... but as I said no luck. With the help of DwnNDrty I was able to create a BartPE which has worked fine on that computer... The BartPE was far easier to make. (Just in case somebody is also having trouble creating the VistaPE - maybe the BartPE would be a good alternative.)

Sandy

 

Glad to hear you're making some progress. I started with the BartPE which did boot and loaded without problems. Unfortunately, the Acronis software on the BartPE is not memory resident so I did not have the ability to swap the boot CD for an image on DVD. This is a requirement since important backups I burn to DVD with Nero. By the way, according to mustang you get the most options by using both your Vista DVD and WAIK together so that's what I eventually did. Apparently WAIK is required if you want to add drivers and the Vista DVD is required for other functions. I trust that your Dell Vista DVD will work fine if you ever have the motivation to try creating a Vista DVD again. As my next project, I hope to add Firefox to my VistaPE; not sure why but it sounds like fun!

 

I'm glad to know the Dell Vista DVD will work if I need to use it. I may try and make the VistaPE again in the future because it is a good thing to have. I was very frustrated at the time because nothing I tried (from Acronis or here on this forum) was going well. Really, the Acronis rescue cd should just, I don't know... "work" - then creating a BartPE or VistaPE can be an added bonus. Acronis knows this is a problem and that regular users like myself (not real tech savvy) will have a hard time creating VistaPE's so hopefully their next build will have this ongoing problem fixed.

Have a nice weekend...

Sandy

 

Just purchased an Inspiron 1526 for my wife. I have been using ATI 9, generally only using the ATI recovery CD without problems on my older desktop system with only PATA drives. I do have an upgrade copy of ATI 11 but had not installed it, instead waiting for a higher quality version (based on forum feedback). Decided to install version 11 on my desktop in order to make a recovery CD to test with the Inspiron (the version 9 boot CD did load on the Inspiron but did not detect the internal SATA HD). My wife won't install many programs and doesn't create many data files (mostly email and surfing), so an imaging program isn't a dire need for this laptop.

In my testing, I originally had the same issue booting into the ATI Linux environment as described in this thread with the other Inspirons. While troubleshooting and looking for Linux messages after removing the quiet option (quiet acpi=off noapic did not work), I discovered that if I moved my finger on the touchpad for a bit of time after the screen showed the ATI logo and "loading" message in the top left of the screen (which itself takes two minutes to appear after the splash screen disappears), the ATI GUI kicked in. I've reproduced this behavior consistently.

All is still not OK, though. Although ATI is able to detect all the drives, both internal SATA and my external USB, when listing source drives for imaging, it is taking at least a few minutes to detect the same drives when listing the possible target drives for the image. The most recent attempt took 10 minutes. The one time that I started the imaging process to the USB drive, the program froze in process, probably beyond the 50% mark (had written 8GB to the tib file). Still not finished testing. [Maybe I should keep moving my finger on the touchpad ]

Maybe a BartPE disk would be an alternative. Always wanted to do one for my desktop PC but never got around to it.

Question for paroots:

You apparently got the BartPE disk to work on the Inspiron 1526. Did you include any special drivers in that build specifically for the Inspiron? If so, which ones and from where? I'd be making the BartPE from my ATI copy on my desktop and thus the desktop's XP Pro Installation disk. Ordinarily, I'd be concerned only for my desktop hardware, but I'd be willing to add any necessary drivers for the Inspiron for testing purposes.

Thanks.

Doug

 

I use a VistaPE boot CD with the Bart TI11 plugin that I incorporated into the Vista Boot CD. I like using the VistaPE boot CD because it backs up and restores very fast because it's using the Vista drivers instead of the Linux drivers, which are slower.

Create a VistaPE boot CD and try that. It will work.

And have you created a separate hidden partition that Acronis TI11 allows you to create if you want to? Have you instaledl the F11 key combo option to boot Acronis during boot? I use this a lot too when I am too lazy to put in my Boot CD.

During POST, I just pres F11 and Acronis TI loads from the Hard Drive. And you can backup and restore easily.

Have you tried that?

 

Update on ATI 11 v8053 Rescue CD testing with Dell Inspiron 1526:

I have found two methods of successfully using the rescue CD to perform a disk backup with the 1526 that appear to be both reliable and quick, i.e., ATI boots up without problems, all drives are detected and without undue waiting both for the source and target lists, and backups along with succeeding validations appear to work without complications.

Method 1: I installed the safe version on the rescue disk, and it appears to work without complications.

Method 2: Via the F11 key and the full version, using the additional options 1) acpi=off and 2) nofw. The nofw option means no firewire, as the 1526 does have a firewire port. I wasn't paying a lot of attention, but this method may have been faster in performing a full disk backup than with the safe version.

The two problem behaviors that were fixed with these methods are 1) the CD was not being accessed all the time when needed, thus stalling the program either temporarily or permanently, and 2) the external usb drive was not reliably being listed as either a source or target, or the time to read it as an existing source or target was very long. Don't know if the root causes of these two problems were related.

I have validated that for the restore operation, the rescue disk can detect the external usb drive, find the image file, and go through the remaining steps to restore except for the final step that actually proceeds with the restore. I will need to get myself a spare disk for the laptop to confirm restore functionality before I commit to using ATI 11 with the laptop (which will require purchase of another license).

If others with an Inspiron 1526 (or similar, e.g, 1525) can reproduce these results, that would be useful info.

Doug

 

Thanks Doug_B and truthseeker for sharing what worked for you here... I'm sure it will help people find a solution who stumbe onto the same problem.


Sandy