ATI 11 - "Initialize" problems and Drive designations

When there is an external HDD attached (WD 500GB, WD 1TB, Maxtor 1TB) ATI 11 sometimes (intermitent error) fails to initialize (have to use Windows task controller to shut down program) OR ATI 11 takes a VERY long time to initialize.

The problem is more frequent when more than one external HDD attached.

Note there is also a secondary internal WD 500GB HDD (see signature for specifications - and note I am using special ISO supplied by Acronis to work with ICH9 chipset)).

Not sure if the problem lies with ATI 11 or some conflict with WD HDD management software - but problem also occasionally occurs with the Maxtor external HDD (which I just bought thinking the problem might be some confusion of HDD controller between all the WD HDDrives). In fact, sometimes windows will not boot up with an external HDD attached and have to boot up with no externals and attach them later.

Problem stemmed from time did an ATI 11 backup - though not sure the backup was the cause. Vista windows would no longer boot promptly - or at all - so did an ATI restore off recovery disk. (probably should have tried a Vista widows restore first) - and had all sorts of problems.

Error messages about not being able to read Disk 2 (which I would have thought was the secondary internal HDD, where backup was saved), but in process system disk was wiped so computer went into computer shop. Had secondary HDD replaced (under warranty) - though do not understand why corruption in secondary HDD should affect bootup of system - and I restored off new secondary HDD (which had ATI 11 recovery images moved onto them from defective removed secondary HDD).

System now working except for some continuing intermittent problems of ATI 11 initializing (see above)

AND despite secondary HDD being installed on correct cable (or so says the shop as set as slave), the drives seem to be recognised in a different order. Any listing of drives by ATI 11 lists new internal secondary disk first (as drive 0 or 1) and the preexisting system drive C:/ as disk 2, and second in the list - and then whatever external disk drives that are attached get listed.

Also, ATI 11 backups are now about 52GB instead of around 80GB and system drive "used" space is about 30G less than before (but from another thread I see this may just be that all the Vista Windows restore points have been wiped when I restored using ATI 11).

I know this is all a bit of a mishmash - but MAY be all related.

QUESTIONS: (any advice or thoughts would be most appreciated):

anyone else have initialize problems when external HDD attached?

Is it relevant or really a problem that internal HDD are now listed in order of secondary drive first?

Do I need to redo the emergency recovery disk (using the ISO from Acronis for the ICH 9 chipset) now that I have added another external HDD (the Maxtor 1TB) on which I will also store some ATI 11 recovery points.

Does all this indicate some basic computer fault that I should throw back onto computer shop while my 1 year warranty still in effect (for another 3 months)? The shop indicates it is an Acronis software problem for which they have no knowledge or responsibility.

Many thanks for any assistance.

 

Hello itobor,

Thank you for using Acronis True Image

Code:

Do I need to redo the emergency recovery disk (using the ISO from Acronis for the ICH 9 chipset) now that I have added another external HDD (the Maxtor 1TB) on which I will also store some ATI 11 recovery points.

You don't need to re-create Acronis Booting Rescue Media if the current one works flawless.

The issues you are experiencing are rather strange. What is the build number of the program?

Do you experience the issue under Windows or under Acronis Booting Rescue Media?

Thank you.

--

Oleg Lee

 

Acronis Support- Oleg Lee: Many thanks for posting in reply. I probably should have come directly to support. Rather than go back and forth on the forum, maybe you should supply me with a direct email address while we try and resolve these issues.

In response to your questions: Original ATI 11 as purchased is Build number 8053. That did not work to create a workable rescue disk so contacted Acronis Support (#1513097) and got access to updated ISO to use with my ICH 9 chipset. The ISO for use with rescue disk is Build 8054 (used ONLY on Rescue Bootable Disk I created). I hesitate to move up to ATI 2009 (not just because of $) as I see on the forum some issues with it, and not sure if I would need another special ISO for my chipset.

When all my internal and external HDDs are attached, ATI 11, whether off the program in windows OR off the bootable rescue disk using the updated ISO, successfully finds all the HDD and all the Acronis recovery files (*.tib files). Therefore I assume my booting rescue Media does NOT need to be updated just because I have added an additional external HDD on which some of my backups are placed. I have not actually tried to do a recovery off the new external HDD (do not want to take the risk when most things seem to be working OK).

Some background on the problems. Unfortunately I did not take contemporaneous notes and cannot reliably recall exactly the sequence of events. To the best of my recollection:

While doing a backup with Acronis starting getting error messages such as "cannot read Drive 2", and finally my computer hung up - and then would not re-boot properly (either not at all or it took a VERY long time). Then the computer seemed to work OK for a while so I did an Acronis Backup (for later reference, this is designated: Backup 110109) on to my secondary internal HDD. The Acronis log does not show any errors on that backup but, strangely, stops at "Locking Partition C:". Yet a backup file was created of about the right size. Soon after that, the computer again was unreliable in booting up so I tried an Acronis restore using that latest backup (110109), off my secondary internal drive, but the restore failed and seemed to wipe my C: drive. I took the computer back to the shop under warranty and they replaced the secondary internal drive - saving all the data - including Acronis backups - from the old malfunctioning internal secondary to new internal secondary. Why corruption in the secondary internal should stop bootup is a mystery.

I then successfully restored using that Acronis Backup 110109, and the computer seems to be working fine, except for 3 quirks which trouble me:

1) Acronis Build 8053, under Windows Vista Home Premium, initialises and lists my HDD in a different order than it used to. Since the replacement of the secondary internal HDD, it lists that drive/partition first (as I:, partition 1), and then the C: drive as partition 2). When using Build 8054, booting on the rescue disk, it lists the replaced secondary internal first (as C: partition) and my system drive next, as D: partition. Outside of Acronis ATI the listing of the drives under Vista is in the normal order, system drive first as C:. Not sure this really makes any difference, but I am uneasy that it indicates some fault that may come back to bite me later.

The Vista Windows system information has the C: internal drive, AND the replaced I: secondary internal drive, AND one of the external drives all listed as "active" (the other two externals are not so listed), but it boots up from the C: drive (at least I think it does) so I assume this is no problem.

HOWEVER, Acronis ATI-11 disk clone utility has replaced I: drive (the supposed secondary internal) listed first, and listed as "Disk 1...IDE(0) Primary Slave", while it has the system C: drive listed second, and listed as "Disk 1....IDE(1) Secondary Slave". THIS CANNOT BE CORRECT, but not sure it causes any problem.

2) Also, (and I have seen this issue in a thread of postings on the Acronis Forum), after restoring using Acronis backup 110109, Vista got confused and in the "restore" accessory program window it listed my C: drive as "(missing)", and it had a new C: drive on the list which was not selected for restore points under Vista. AT THE SAME TIME ALL MY VISTA RESTORE POINTS HAD DISAPPEARED. Un-sellecting the missing C: drive and selecting the new C: drive in the Vista list fixed up the confusion in Vista Restore. The next time Vista Restore utility program was brought up the entry for "C: (missing) "was gone.

Related to this: since restoring using Acronis ATI 11 my system HDD seems a lot less full (immediately after ATI 11 restore using 110109*.tib it showed 409 GB free out of 500GB), though over the last few weeks it has filled up so only 386GB is now free. At the same time the Acronis ATI 11 backups I have done after restoring using Backup 110109 (Which was 73GB in size) are much smaller than the backup (*tib) filles used to be. Pre-problem, the *tib files were about 75-85GB. The latest *tib files are just under 60GB. COULD THE MISSING GB BE THE WIPED VISTA RESTORE FILES? All my software and data appears to be present, and except for the quirks noted here, the computer seems to be working fine.

3) In trying to sort out these issues, through Acronis ATI 11 I deleted the Acronis Secure Zone from the I: (Secondary Internal) HDD, leaving 39.79GB "unallocated". If I reestablish the secure zone on the HDD will it automatically use that unallocated space, or do I somehow have to figure out how to merge that unallocated space back into the main partition of I: ? In working through the ATI 11 clone disk utility wizard it indicates that only 39.79GB is available to make the secure zone (and asks how much of that I want to use), so it seems to be doing what I want to do (before I cancel out), but I find it strange that it does not even consider (or recognise) the rest of the unused space on HDD I:

If these quirks indicate some underlying problem I need to act fairly promptly. If it indicates some hardware problem I must act before my shop warranty expires (the computer shop blames all this on ATI 11 and will not delve any further into it). If there is a problem with Backup 110109, I need to go back to a *.tib file from 18 September, 2008, which I greatly hesitate to do as there will be much lost in the way of data and programs.

I know this is all a bit of a mish-mash but would greatly appreciate your thought and advice.

 

Hello itobor,

Thank you for your interesting in Acronis True Image

Make sure that you are using the latest build of the program http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/support/updates/

Disable the Distributed Link Tracking Client service (Vista):

1. Click on the START button and type "services".
2. Click on "services" from the menu.
3. Click "Continue" when the UAC prompt appears .
4. In the list of services shown, find "Distributed Link Tracking Client" and double-click on it.
5. Click the "STOP" button to stop the service.
6. From the drop-down list choose "Disabled".
7. Click "OK" and close the list of Services.

Windows XP:

Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative tools -> Services -> , find "Distributed Link Tracking Client" and double-click on it
Click the "STOP" button to stop the service
Then right-click it choose properties and set startup type to Disabled.

Check disks for errors:

- Go to the Command Prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd)
- Enter the command: "chkdsk DISK: /r" (where DISK is the partition letter you need to check) for every partition that is visible in My Computer. Please note, that checking the C: drive may require you to reboot the machine.

In some cases Acronis drivers may interfere with drivers of other software installed on your computer. E.g. Antivirus programs can seriously influence Acronis software from proper functionality. To overcome this issue you should download and install the latest builds of Antivirus software or temporarily disable it.

If nothing helps contact Acronis support and ask them provide you the latest SnapAPI drivers for Acronis True image program you have. The SnapAPI module is in charge of all I/O operations on the hard disk of Acronis software working in Windows.

You can contact Acronis support via Live Chat http://www.acronis.com/company/contacts/request/index.html?t=1

Or using the following form http://www.acronis.com/company/contacts/request/index.html?t=2

Best regards,
--
Dmitry Nikolaev