Restored Disk won't boot Windows

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by tuffshed, Apr 19, 2007.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. tuffshed

    tuffshed Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2007
    Posts:
    19
    I'm hoping I did something stupid, but what is it. Here is my story:

    I have Acronis True Image Home 10., I did a full "My Computer" backup of my Gateway computer to an external USB Drive. My mother board blew up a few days ago. I found out that Gateway motherboards are not that easy to replace and won't even fit in standard cases so I went with getting a new motherboard and case and had my components transfered. I got a fresh disk (250 Gb) and took my old 160 GB disk and put it in an external USB enclosure. Since my backup was a few weeks old I decided that I would take my old 160 GB disk and using the new computer and Acronis would make a full backup to a different USB external drive and then transfer that to my new 250 Gb. I didn't want to touch my old 160 Gb drive as I know the drive and system on it is good so I figured this would be the safest solution.

    The backup from the old 160 Gb to the new USB external went fine (took 1.5 hours) then after removing my old 160 Gb disk and rebooting (I'm paranoid, I did not want my old good disk accessable) I booted the Acronis Recovery disk and restored the entire disk from the new USB external to the 250 Gb C: drive. I had one question, during the backup it asked to select the .tib, well there were several that I recall under the folder that I created to make this backup. There was only one backup but multiple .tib, which one to select? I selected the first one and it appeared to be restoring the entire disc (took 2+ hours). After the restore, removed the boot CD, removed the external USB and rebooted hoping I would have my old system back. The new 250 Gb C: drive could not boot Windows XP. It tried but came to a screen that asked if I wanted to boot in Safe Mode, Safe Mode with prompt, Last Known good configuration.... Whatever I selected it would not boot and would eventually come back to the same screen. When I reboot with the Acronis restore CD I can browse and see the file system on my C: drive but it won't boot.

    What, if anything did I do wrong? Why was there more than one .tib per my one backup of my one and only partition? Should I have selected all the .tib (and how)? Could there be a problem with my new non Gateway motherboard and the bootable Windows part? I still have my older two week old Acronis full disc backup on a seperate USB drive, should I try that? Since it looks like the entire file system is on the new C: drive, do I just need to format the MBR somehow (I didn't check the MBR and Track 0, Acronis wouldn't let me select both the NTFS disc that I backed up AND the MBR/Track 0 checkbox)

    Help. I must be doing something basic wrong since I am having no other problems except it won't boot, the file system seems to be on the new disc, the USB external drives worked fine and were always visible, No problems with the mouse (USB) or keyboard, all graphics and boot CD work great....just no Boot (and that's important to me...you know I don't want to reinstall all this stuff, that's why I bought Acronis).

    Thanks,

    - Mike aka tuffshed
     
  2. thomasjk

    thomasjk Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2005
    Posts:
    1,482
    Location:
    Charlotte NC
    Your not booting problem is most likely caused by the new motherboard. Its not clear if the you ever booted with the new motherboard. The old image from your 160GB disk does not have the same hardware drivers that the new machine has. Try doing a repair install form the windows cd. Here are some instructions that may help http://www.short-media.com/articles/repair_windows_xp. You could also try the restore again and follow the instructions in this thread https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=157096.
    You have multiple TIB files because your external drives are formatted Fat32 which has a file size limitation of 4GB. Selecting any TIB file will work.
     
  3. StillNeedsWork

    StillNeedsWork Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    Posts:
    2
    Hi

    Its most likely the IDE chipset (could also be apic/pic, apm related also, or windows HAL related) between the toasted motherboard and your new one.

    The most likely way to get the machine up (maybe not 100%, but up), is to locate another motherboard which had a simmilar southbridge chipset (I believe the southbridge chipset is responsible for the onboard IDE controllers) which will allow you to boot the OS (perferably in safe mode)

    Basiclly check the specs on your original toasted board, and then try to locate a board with similare IDE controller

    Boot the image in safe mode on the similar hardware, and add a duplicate hardware configuration (as a backup), and then update the IDE controller with the Standard Microsoft IDE controller driver).

    If the new (not similar) motherboard supports the Standard Microsoft IDE controller driver, then the hard drive should then boot under your new hardware.

    Just make sure that you have backups to fall back onto, as it may take a few attempts to get it working.

    PS. True Image Workstation has a universal restore feature which will (some times) allow you to update IDE and other base device drivers so that you can boot the machine.. I mean sometimes, as I've had hit and miss luck with it working (I've seem people say that it aint ready for prime time. I'd agree with this, as I always try to make sure I have a backup plan when relying on the Universal restore)

    PS2. For future through, you may want to setup another hardware profile which references the standard Microsoft IDE controller (Have a working profile, and a Default-IDE profile), so that if you have to move hardware again, you'll be in better shape


    Good luck
     
  4. tuffshed

    tuffshed Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2007
    Posts:
    19
    More info....

    The question as to whether I had ever booted the 250 Gb disk in the new system is yes. When I bought the system, besides installing my old CPU, drives, etc. they also installed the new 250Gb disk with a copy of Windows XP. I was told this was OK because they used the license on the back of my old (blown up motherboard) Gateway.

    When I got the new system, it booted fine. I could see all devices, including two different USB external drives that I hooked up, the first drive was my old 160 Gb drive with my good system on it, the second USB drive was a 500 Gb drive I use for backups. I then installed TI 10.0 on the system and used it to do a full backup of the internal 250 Gb disk to the 500 Gb external, just in case I needed to get back (which I may have to). I then did the full backup from my 160 Gb old good disk (in USB enclosure) to the 500 Gb external. So now I have the fresh 250 Gb image, and a 160 Gb old good disc image on my 500 Gb external. I then used the boot CD to transfer the 160 Gb image of my old good disc from the 500 Gb external to the 250 Gb internal drive. All went well except it doesn't boot.

    Should I / Could I restore the original image to my 250 Gb internal (I should hope so) and then do some other procedure? Can I somehow restore my old Windows XP settings and installed programs from the new fresh 250 Gb Windows and Acronis and my old good image of Windows?
     
  5. thomasjk

    thomasjk Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2005
    Posts:
    1,482
    Location:
    Charlotte NC
    Re: More info....

    The problem is caused by trying to restore the old image to the new machine. You will have to do a repair install to get back to where you were or start reinstalling applications on the 250GB drive and then copy your data files from the 160GB image file.
     
  6. tuffshed

    tuffshed Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2007
    Posts:
    19
    Re: More info....

    Repair Install ? OK, I'm game. I got from Gateway...nothing, no Windows XP disc....nothing... just a serial number sticker attached to the back of the PC. Should I download this repair/initial installation CD from somewhere? When/If I get a hold of this CD do I just need to apply it to the non booting system I already have on my 250 Gb (i.e. the repair CD will fix up whatever new drivers I need but the basic OS, registry, installed programs, etc. are intact and OK)? Can I reinstall the fresh 250Gb image and create this repair CD and use it to repair my old good system when I move it back to the 250 Gb? Should I just mount my old good 160 Gb drive as the primary and only drive and repair it with the repair CD ( I'm hesitant to touch this 160 GB old good system unless I absolutely have to, it was running great with everything set up the way I liked it before the dead motherboard....that's the whole reason I bought TI in the first place)?
     
  7. thomasjk

    thomasjk Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2005
    Posts:
    1,482
    Location:
    Charlotte NC
    Re: More info....

    Well you can't download a WINXP CD. You night be able to build your own XPCD from the new machine. Take a look at Mustang's Begginer's Guide to Creating a BartPE CD included in the guide are instructions for making a WINXP CD from your installation. It may or may not work for you. It depends on the installation you have. You probably should restore your 250GB image to give you a working machine from which to build an installation CD. Then either restore from the 160GB and do a repair install or just reinstall your applications on the 250GB drive. Here is another link to performing a repair install http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm. I followed Mustang's Guide and built an installation CD which worked and I was able to reinstall windows on my Compaq Laptop which only came with a recovery CD. You don't need BartPE to build the XP CD but you may want it later.
     
  8. tuffshed

    tuffshed Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2007
    Posts:
    19
    Re: More info....

    Arrrrgg....this sticks.... I can't believe that a simple IDE driver is causing me all this greif. Is there no standards? I used Ghost back in the 90's for my job and moved dozens of different flavors of Windows back and forth between several different PC hardwares and never had problems. Are the motherboards of today so much different that you can't even get a stinking IDE disk to be recognized? Argggg....I really did think that all buses of the same type and the BIOS and embedded SW were standard for all PCs (Isn't that what makes them a PC?) Am I delusional, or did things change that much since I last had to monkey with stuff like this on an intimate basis?

    Why is Gateway and others allowed to do this? If I only knew... What makes me the maddest is that TI doesn't tell me all this stuff up front so that I can prepare my system to be backed up. It seems this utility is only good for replacing blown disks on the same hardware, not for moving disks from one system to the next. If I only knew to install certain drivers before I backed up the system I would. Is this utility only for certified and trained IT professionals and corporations? Why isn't there a "Things to do before backup" in the Wizard?

    OK, I'll calm down and try to see what I can do about this. I really appreciate all the help, I'd really be sunk without it. I haven't heard a reply from an Acronis rep though, what's up with that?
     
  9. DwnNdrty

    DwnNdrty Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2007
    Posts:
    3,335
    Location:
    Florida - USA
    Since you are trying to Recover a Backup Image to different hardware, you have to use True Image Workstation with Universal Restore. During the restore process with UR, you also have to have available the drivers that the new hardware uses so UR can insert these drivers instead of using drivers from the old system.
     
  10. tuffshed

    tuffshed Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2007
    Posts:
    19
    I own and made backups using True Image Home 10.0. Can I upgrade to True Image Workstation 9.1 from True Image Home 10.0 and also purchase Universal Restore? Will a backup from True Image Home 10.0 work with TI Workstation 9.1 and Univeral Restore?
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.