Backing Up and Recovering only 1 of 2 partitions on desktop

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by ap123, Nov 18, 2008.

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  1. ap123

    ap123 Registered Member

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    I used a legitimate Acronis True Image v10 (latest build) to create a full backup of one partition of my desktop (which contained 2 partitions: a C:for the OS and primary data and D: for HPrecovery; I had backed up C:partition.) After suffering a serious Windows startup problem, I was forced to use the HP System Recovery tool which basically formatted my primary partition in the desktop to a new PC state.

    I basically want to recover the C: partition that I had saved up as a full backup .tib file. Despite multiple attempts, the Acronis graphic window shows up but there was no succesful recovery (it hung up); when rebooting after these attempts, the desktop forces me back into the HP System Recovery mode (and reinstalls Windows all over again!) adding more pain.

    I would really appreciate any help. Thank you.
     
  2. como

    como Registered Member

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    In my experience you cannot have a partition which contains two partitions, I assume you mean you backed up the whole disk.

    Why if you had a full disk image did you use the HP recovery? If you only have an image of your C:\ partition you should still be able to recover that with TI.

    Did you make a rescue disk? Have tried to restore from it?

    What if any error messages do you see?

    What Operating System are you using, there are threads outlining problems restoring Vista with TI 10. Search this forum for Vista restore, this problem I understand was corrected in version 11 and above

    Try downloading version 12 trial, make a rescue disk and try restoring with that.
     
  3. ap123

    ap123 Registered Member

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    1. I meant that my desktop hard drive came with two drive letters C: (the main functioning part with the OS; which is the one I backedup) and D:which was partitioned for HP recovery which I did not backup.

    2. No I did not make a recovery disk!!(Regret) I just created a full backup .tib file of C: using the TI 10 user interface.

    3. My OS is Windows XP Professional/Mediacenter. Do I need to do Windows Update to SP3 before attempting to recover a .tib file?

    4. I still dont know why the HP reverts back to starting HP system recovery everytime I hang up in my attempts to recover from the .tib file.

    5. Will downloading a trial of the newer TI version allow me to recover an older .tib file created with another version?

    Thanks for your help.
     
  4. dwalby

    dwalby Registered Member

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    question 2: Using the recovery disk is the best way to restore your system partition. You can restore non-system partitions while the OS is running ATI, but you can't restore a new OS image over the one you're using to do the recovery. Since you have a legal copy of ATI, if you downloaded it, see what Acronis support can do about getting you a recovery disk and/or another working copy of ATI. If you bought the boxed version the installation disk is also a recovery disk, just put it in the drive when you boot.

    question 3: No, the recovery disk doesn't care what OS (if any) is on the drive, it just writes the image to whichever partition you choose.

    question 5: No, unless the trial version allows you to make a recovery disk, which I doubt, but I don't know for sure.

    There's one other option you might be able to get to work, if you can get the machine up and running again with a bare OS, and you can install a working copy of ATI. I've never tried this, but I think it should work. Use ATI from the OS to restore the system image to another partition on your hard drive (assuming you have one available and it's large enough to hold the image). I'm not sure how much the trial copy lets you do, so I don't know if you can do a full restore from it or not. When you do the restore select a primary destination partition, but don't select 'active' at that time. Then, go into a disk management tool and set the new partition (with the recovered system image) as the active partition, and unset the active flag from the previous partition (the one with the bare OS on it). Your system should then boot from the newly recovered partition, and you can delete the contents of the other partition and put data there.

    But, if you can get a working copy of ATI you should also be able to make a recovery disk, so this alternative probably doesn't make all that much sense now that I think about it. But if you can't make a recovery disk for some reason, this approach should work provided you know how to do the disk management part.
     
  5. ap123

    ap123 Registered Member

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    I misunderstood what you meant by "recovery disk"; If you meant the original CD for ATI v10. I do have it; (I bought a retail boxed version of ATI 10); I did try leaving it in the CD-ROM and reboot and it activated the ATI user interface;but did not proceed much further. My most recent attempt is to install a trial version of the latest ATI and attempt a recovery of my fullbackup. Unlike my previous tries, I checked the boxes for both the C: and MBR: in the Recovery Menu; It said a reboot was required and I am waiting to find out

    Are you saying that I cannot recover a partition containing an OS+data over an existing hard drive partition with OS?
     
  6. dwalby

    dwalby Registered Member

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    You can recover anything, but you can't recover your C: drive while running ATI in Windows, because you will be writing over the code that's running on the C: drive to do the restore. To restore the C: drive you must run ATI from memory, which is what the recovery disk does. That allows you to write to the C: drive while its not being used, so you won't corrupt anything.

    So boot from the disk, then select either ATI safe mode or full mode. It should prompt you from there as to the location of the image you want to restore (the .tib file), and so on, just like it does when you run it from windows. Not sure what you mean by "did not proceed much further". Did the tool stop working, or did you quit? Some of the selections you make have up to a couple minutes delay until the next step shows up on the screen, so be patient. And if you tried full mode, try safe mode instead, or vice versa.

    You should have everything you need to restore the image provided your .tib file isn't corrupted.
     
  7. como

    como Registered Member

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    One of the first things you must do when installing TI is to make a rescue disk and check that it can “see” all your drives, the disk is Linux based and may not have the correct drivers for your system, if you perform a restore from within Window the computer reboots into the same Linux OS. You should make a new rescue disk every time you download a new build as well.

    If you make a image of a disk containing programs and data, TI will restore that disk to the state it was in when the image was made.

    If you registered your bought copy on Acronis site you will be able to re download and install any new build of version 11 since the one in the box (if any). If you haven’t registered yet do it now.

    The trial version allows you to backup your system for the period of 15 days, the rescue disk, made with the trial version, will only allow you to restore, you cannot perform backups.

    I suggest you search this forum for any post by groverH and download and read his guides, contained in his signature.

    You obviously have access to a computer with internet access, try making a BartPE or VistaPE disk, search this forum for any posts by mustang and click on the link in his signature for instructions and plug in's. Also mudcrab has an illustrated guide link in his signature.
     
  8. dwalby

    dwalby Registered Member

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    good advice.

    I believe the Linux based version is the 'full version' on the rescue disk. If that version doesn't work there is also the 'safe version' that uses the BIOS and/or DOS (not sure about the details). I believe the safe version should work on most machines, although I can't stress enough how much I agree with como that you MUST verify the recovery environment BEFORE you actually need it. Its water under the bridge in your case, but for any new users that might be reading this, verify the recovery environment now, not later.
     
  9. ap123

    ap123 Registered Member

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    After all that, got a disappointing message Error 502 (0x101F6) that " Image Corrupted (0x70020) Tag=0x82DB9339B70C3AFC

    Sounds terminal:doubt:
     
  10. dwalby

    dwalby Registered Member

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    Not necessarily. If your backup .tib image is on an external USB HD, these have been known to act up occasionally and give a false corrupted image message. If you are able to copy the .tib from the external drive onto an internal drive, sometimes the corrupted image problem goes away. If you have enough of a working system to do the copy try one more time with the .tib on the internal drive.
     
  11. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello all,

    Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

    ap123, recommendation given to you by dwalby is absolutely correct, so first of all, please copy your image onto internal drive and validate it.

    Please make sure you use the latest build, which is available at our web site . To get access to updates you should first register Acronis software here.

    Please do not start a recovery without a validation, please make sure that your image is not corrupted. You may validate an archive if you follow to Operations -> Validate, then choose the archive.

    Please note that corrupted archives could be created because there are some bad sectors or unreadable data resides on your HDD.

    If the issue still persists, please let us investigate a situation and perform the following operations:

    -Check the 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. Please note, that
    checking the C: drive may require you to reboot the machine.

    -Change the type of backup (for example if you performed full backup try to make e-mail backup)

    If your program still creates corrupted images, please create Acronis Report and Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post. Then submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. To expedite the resolution we recommend you to use our Live Chat service after that. We will do our best to investigate the problem and provide you with a solution.

    Thank you.
    --
    Alexander Nikolsky
     
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