Acronis Startup recovery boot manager and EISA hidden partition

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by naeco, Jun 14, 2009.

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  1. naeco

    naeco Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2009
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    Hello,
    I'm checking out the Acronis TI Trial with my laptop Sony Vaio. So far, a lot of Acronis features correspond well to my need. However, I need to make sure of one thing before purchasing the product. This happens to be the key feature for me if it works.

    In my laptop, I have a hidden parition for manufacturer recovery purpose, and of couse, with it I have Vaio Recovery Center to send the pc to its original state by pressing F10 at POST. However, there are loads of bloatware delivered with the pc and I have to do the samething over and over each time I reinstalled it: Removing all unneeded programs. I was looking for a software which can do the same thing my pc brand does, creating a recovery partition. Acronis Startup Recovery combining with Acronis Secure Zone give me that solution (creating a hidden partition with SZ, backup the system to SZ, activating Startup Recovery Boot manager to recover when needed by pressing F11).

    However, when I read the documentation of Acronis TI, I understand that Startup Recovery will overwrite MBR which will possibly render my manufacturer hidden partition useless. But the documentation also states that I can reinstall the old MBR if needed to. So what I'm actually looking for is some confirmation (from experience, knowledge,...) whether I can have two hidden partitions and I can choose to boot either of them (by pressing either F10 or F11 at start). And if it's doable, how to do that please. I have an external HDD which I would like to use as the Secure Zone, so this two hidden partitions would not be on the same drive.

    Some might suggest deleting the current hidden partition but I would not. It will void my warranty and besides that partition actually contains manufacturer software I might need in the future when my use for this laptop changes.

    Thanks a lot in advance and for taking time reading this !
     
  2. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2004
    Posts:
    25,885
    Hello naeco,

    Thank you for your interest in Acronis True Image

    I see two things that you should avoid using the system you described and Acronis True Image:

    1) Creating Acronis Secure Zone on an external hard drive is not recommended as activating Acronis Startup Recovery Manager changes the Master Boot Record of the hard disk drive. After disconnecting this detachable drive the machine boots with a long delay or does not boot at all. You need to either reconnect the drive with Acronis Secure Zone or fix the MBR manually.

    2) Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and the tool that provides you with the access to the manufacturer hidden partition use the same principle, and activating Acronis Startup Recovery Manager can lead to the malfunction of the built-in recovery tool.

    The solution is to create Acronis Booting Rescue Media. Acronis Booting Rescue Media is a standalone version of Acronis True Image Home 2009, burned onto a CD and based on a Linux operating system.

    You can find out on how to create Acronis Booting Rescue Media on our web site at User Guide for Acronis True Image Home 2009 available here (chapter 10).

    You will be able to get the access to the archive under Acronis Booting Rescue Media and recover it in the case of need.

    I may recommend you to install a trial version in order to make sure that the program runs flawless for you.

    Don' t forget the create Acronis Booting Rescue Media to check its functionality.

    Thank you.

    --
    Oleg Lee
     
  3. naeco

    naeco Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2009
    Posts:
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    Hi Oleg,

    It's just as I thought. It's not possible to have two hidden recovery partitions in a system. Guess I will have to create a recovery boot disc and back-up the 'clean' system to the external drive. If it goes well, and I figure out a way to extract the software from my manufacturer's hidden partition, I'll delete it and create a Acronis SZ on my laptop HDD.

    Thanks a lot for your reply !

    Best regards,
    naeco
     
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