Cloning HD problem under XP

Have installed demo version of ATIH sucessfully. Running XPPro SP3 on Intel Quadcore with WD 500GB SATA drive. Purchased another identical WD HD wanting to make exact clone of existing HD partitions to new disk.

Run the clone disk fct under HD utils, either auto or manual shows original HD and new HD are correctly identified etc, as per instructions and get to the reboot screen. After reboot Acronis screen comes up running thru Analyse Parts...Sync with OP Sys, ending with machine shut down and change drives over. I would observe that at no stage during the preceeding processes is there any Acronis operation that corresponds time wise to anything resembling the time needed to copy 500GB of data between two drives.

If I change the drives over the boot will hang indefinately with no boot completion. Booting under original HD configuration displays Acronis completion screen and then exploring shows new HD partitions have nil data on them.

Am I doing something wrong? Is ATIH compatible with SATA drives?

 

If the original drive is still booting into Windows, from your installed True Image software, make the bootable Rescue cd. Then do the Backup/Recovery route rather than the Clone way as follows:

From within Windows make a Backup and store it on the other (new) drive. If the original drive has enough empty space to fit the backup Image, move it over otherwise you will have to find something like an external drive to hold the Image.

If the backup is on an external, you can remove the original and put the new one in its place. If the backup is on the original drive, put the new drive in its place and connect the original as a slave or on the secondary channel.

Next boot with the Rescue cd and use the Recovery feature to restore the backup to the new drive.

 

You might try the procedures listed in My guide to Manual Cloning using the TI Rescue CD. This is work in progress but it should help.

Or, if you want to go the backup and restore route, check line 3 of my signature below.

 

Thanks for your prompt replies.

I am disappointed that the Acronis software does not seem to be able to do what is stated on the wrapping.

Looks like it's back to the old skool approach.

 

I cannot see from your posts which version of TI you have installed and whether or not it is a trial build.

There are some restrictions with a trial build. For example you can create a TI rescue CD and can do most things but will not allow an image to be created.
I am not sure if cloning is possible from a trial build of the version that you are using.
A little more info from you the version and build number would help elicit answers from thoes who have used it and maybe even Acronis support may have a solution.

Xpilot

 

Does that answer your question? It is the first line of my original posting...

The version is whatever is the current version on the Acronis website here http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/link/?TrueImage11_d_en.exe

 

OK that makes things clearer.
You have a demo build of I think Version 11 installed. I did not follow through with your link because that took me to the actual download not the web site.

With a download of the demo you should create a TI rescue CD. The next step would be to boot from this CD and do your clone from that environment.

It is possible that this particular demo download will not recognise both your drives and this would explain the failure. Howevr the best way to do a clone is from the rescue CD and not from within Windows.
As I have never bothered with TI demos I don't think I can help any further.

Xpilot

 

From what I have read, the version 11 trial version does not provide for cloning when booted from the trial Rescue CD.
I have not used version 11.

 

Thanks guys but I can't be arsed to waste anymore time on this product.

In the time I spent so far I could have reinstalled windows and all my applications.

Going to do this the old fashioned way....

 

Sometimes you have to invest some "upfront" time in order to have major time savings in the future. I have been a TrueImage user for several years and it has save me time and time again.

Most imaging backup programs have a learning curve.

 

I am having similar issues with TI 10. I am "tech support" for a friend who owns the registered copy. I told them to buy TI 10 a bit over a year ago so we could create an image drive for rescue. They replaced their computer with a new system because the old motherboard smoked after eight years. We wanted to clone the new drives before the computer got viruses or junk.

TI 10 goes through the motions of creating the image and gets to a screen where it says "your computer will shut down". At that point, the computer just hangs and does not shut down. On manual reset, the computer will alert "sync". The image drive is empty.

I read the archives and found the suggestion to image the drive from a boot CD. I burned the CD and tried that way. The CD boots and produces the menu choice of "safe mode true image" , "true image" or "boot xp". As soon as I move the mouse to make a selection, the computer freezes.

My friends had their system built with drive drawers and had two system drives configured with fresh copies of XP. We have this issues when we try to make a clone of either of these system drives.

The drives are both mounted in drawers and the clone drives are mounted in drawers for quick swap-out. They are each plugged into the mobo with their own SATA cable. Both can be read under XP. I have gone through the windows XP steps to prepare a new drives to partition and format the drivea we want the clone image to land on. These drives are identical size to the source drives. We are having the same trouble with two size drives as well. One system is on a 160 G Western Digital SATA drive. The drive we hope to clone to is identical. The other system drive is a 250 G Western Digital Sata drive. The drive we hope to image to there is also indentical to the source drive.

Hardware manager shows there are no conflicts. All the programs installed on these two drives works flawlessly. They system is a new Intel system board with a 3.2 Ghz duo core processor.

We had no trouble cloning drives (PATA drives) in their other system before it died. We were successful in creating a full backup using TI 10 but we have not been successful in creating a bootable image. We need a bootable clone so that when they have a problem, they can slip the clone into the system.

I recommended TI 10 to them. The shop who built there system told them they need Norton Ghost. I'm kind of on the hook now for my recommendation.

Can anyone offer suggestions?

 

Please check the build number of version 10 that you are using. If it is earlier than 4942 you can upgrade to that build from the Acronis website and then create a new rescue CD. That could solve your problems right off.

I also use drawers for swappable drives, XP SP3 and V10 B4942. However I use the imaging process so that I can have several generations of backups on a single backup drive. "Clones" are then made as required by swapping over main drives and restoring the latest image.
Been working like this for over two years with only a very rare failed image. I eventually took the time to trace the error to a hardware fault. All is now AOK.

Xpilot

 

I also tried the registered version of the software and the exact same problem surfaced as with the demo version.

Looks like SATA may be the common problem, which is really inexcusable as SATA has been around for more than enough time(years) for these kinds of issues to have been long addressed and sorted.

Apropos Ghost, I refuse to touch any bloatware that has Symantec's name in the equation. You end up defenestrating Symantec's shrapnell from your computer in equal time to your original problem solving, if not longer...

 

Yes, I should have mentioned, they have version 4942. Checking for the latest version was one of the first things I did. Then I did a google search for problems and that is what brought me here. I sent a message to Acronis tech support last week, but so far I have no reply.

I have a hunch that TI 10 is having trouble finding the destination drive. Perhaps it has something to do with weather the destination drive is D or as in this instance, the destination drive is F because the DVD writers were installed first.

I am really mystified why the CD brings up the start screen and then locks the system.

 

Hello all,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Backup software.

Gator8 could you please tell me the number of your case? I'll check how the issue is investigated and try to escalate it. Mentioned case number can be found in autoreply messgae you have received.

MarkST did you try to perform cloning under the Bootable Redcue Media? What is the result of it?

Thank you
--
Nikita Sakharov

 

I'm having the exact same problem with a retail purchased version of True Image 11 Home. Kinda glad I'm not the only one with the problem, but somewhat disconcerting nonetheless.

When the clone wizard reboots the system the first time it displays the Windows XP (XP Pro) loading screen then shows:
Analyzing Partition: 100%
Locked Partition: 100%
Checking Partition: 0%
It will then say there is an error, the partition has changed and prompt me to reboot.
I then let the system fully boot up into Windows and start the clone wizard again. This time it shows the Analyzing Parition, Locked Partition, Checking Partition status things again, but then promptly goes into a cloning operation completed successfully message. I'm talking about 30 seconds here.

Obviously if I remove the original drive and try to boot off the new drive, nothing was cloned and I'm back at square one again.

My next step is to follow the advice in this thread and create the boot CD, but I'm wondering if maybe there was a step I should have taken to prep the new drive? Or maybe I don't have something configured correctly? The in program help documentation is awfully sparse... I swear I saw a tumbleweed blow across my screen. : )

 

The trouble ticket number is Acronis #1562668, 6/26/08.

My recollection of last time I cloned a fresh drive for my friend before their computer burned down, is I prepared the new drive with windows command "compmgmt.msc", followed by partition and formatting. The process is described here.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000

I'm not sure it was necessary. I also tried deleting the partition and running TI 10 again, also without luck.

 

efylsetaf

When cloning or restoring, no drive preparation is needed. Both functions seem to work much better if the drive is unallocated. You can use a new drive "as is". Or, if the new drive has been used, I would suggest that you "prep" the drive by making it "like new" again. Remove any existing partitions and make all the space unallocated again. This link tells you how

How To Delete Disk Partitions Using TrueImage Home
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=213446

Did you see my guide in post #3.

An overview of the cloning guide is;
1. Remove the old drive
2. Install the new drive in place of the old.
3. Install the old drive in an another internal slot or external enclosure.
4. Boot from the Rescue CD
5. Perform the clone. Resize the partitions as shown in my cloning guide.

Note if step #3 is not possible, then I suggest you not use the clone function but use the "Partition Restore with Resizing" as discussed in my guide listed on line #3 of my signature below.

For the Partition Restore with Resizing procedure, a quick summary of you would need to have
a. A full "disk" backup which includes a backup of all partitions (including hidden or diagnostic) on the system drive.
b. The backup archive stored in another internal or external drive.
c. New blank drive installed in same place as original.
d. Original drive not used or attached.
e. Boot from the Rescue CD
f. Perform individual restore of each partition as discussed in my resizing guide.
g. Reboot with only the new drive attached.
h. Note dual boot systems not considered.

 

Grover, I did read your guide (many thank you's!), and am in the process of mentally steeling myself to give it a go.

Since I have the retail version of TI11, I don't need to create a bootable disc, right? I just use the retail disc and there'll be prompts to restore from with that?


(Oh, and yes, I can definitely vouch for deleting partitions. I've had the painful experience of having to recover some of my writing that was on a HDD that was wiped then had Windows reinstalled over it. Was suprised how much was still accessible from the prior install....)

 

Yes, the retail disk is bootable. Check the build number to make sure you are using the latest build. Sometimes the retail version is not the most current version.

The prompts are what you see in my guides.

As my guide illustrates, you can simulate (practice test runs) your operation as many times as needed.
To practice, perform all the operations until you get to the summary screen where you are instructed to "proceed or cancel". Click the cancel option when practicing. Click the proceed button when you are ready to actually perform the real operation.

 

Well sir, it worked flawlessly! Thank you for your guide and help!

The restore screens in Acronis frankly could be worded a bit more helpful for first time users who may not know what comes after the next screen, but I can't argue with the results. 1TB is much more breathing room than 74GB and everything works as it should.

 

For hard drive cloning I always use Casper.

http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/

I have been using it for years and it never let me down. It's extremely easy to use and fast - especially incremental clones.

I FUBAR'ed a hard drive this week on a brand new computer. I swapped with the clone in the external enclosure and was back up and running in 15 minutes. When Dell replaces the broken hard drive I'll put it back in the enclosure and clone the clone.

 

Hello gator8,

Many thanks for your response.

I've contacted appropriate person and you'll get an answer in the nearest time. Please accept our sincere apologies for such a delay.

Thank you
--
Nikita Sakharov

 

If you haven't yet checked, make sure that Windows is seeing close to 1TB and not 74Gb.

 

What a refreshingly simple piece of software that does exactly what it says on the box.

It has been a pleasure to give them money for their product.

Thanks for the pointer rwinegar, your a star

Goodbye Acronis!