Can't Backup from WinXP but can from Boot Disk

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by msavage123, Nov 18, 2007.

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  1. msavage123

    msavage123 Registered Member

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    I'm running TI v10 in Windows XP and have never been able to backup my entire drive but have been able to backup specific folders with no problem. For months I've been doing daily scheduled differential backups to my WD 500gb MyBook with no problems. The last few days my scheduled tasks started failing with an Error (0x40003) in module 4 with a vague "Error writing file" message. The backup of the entire drive always gave me a bad media error (I've tested my hard drive using seatools and the Gibson utility and have corrected all bad sectors. I've tested the MyBook drive too). So today all my scheduled backup tasks failed with the same error. I then booted off the TI boot disk and was able to successfully complete a full drive backup for the first time and also complete a backup (this time a full backup) of one of the failed tasks. Why am I able to backup from the boot disk but not Windows XP? And why did the scheduled tasks start failing in Windows? Thanks for any help.
     
  2. tnickasn

    tnickasn Registered Member

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    Hi MSAVAGE,

    I'm sorry to say I've had(having) the exact same issue. I also have an external WD 500g drive. When I first bought ATI, it worked no problem with the drive. About 2 month later I got the 'Error writing file (0x40003....The request could not be performed because of an I/O error".

    After going back/forth with tech support (which are almost useless), I found that if I changed the backup performance to medium or low that it would work again.

    I too checked that the drive was working fine and have not had problems with other applications accessing.

    Having said all this....the problem has reoccured and even changing the performance to low, still does not fix it I'm afraid.

    The only thing that works is booting from the rescue CD.

    My only change to teh system this time was that I added a second USD drive. That's it?

    if you find out anything, please post

    Thanks
     
  3. msavage123

    msavage123 Registered Member

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    I have had no changes to my system configuration between the time I was able to backup specific folders and when all backup tasks started failing.
     
  4. msavage123

    msavage123 Registered Member

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    BTW I'm running ATI Home v10 build 4942, which I understand to be the latest build of v10.
     
  5. Xpilot

    Xpilot Registered Member

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    It sounds as if there is an I/O speed problem which has come back after you installed the second USB drive.
    Try making a backup with only one connected and see if that solves the problem. Also make the connection direct to one of the rear ports. Connecting USB drives through an external hub is a no no as far as TI is concerned.

    Not all USB controllers are equal, some are capable of providing the full amount to all of its ports, while some others apparently do not. The worst case usually appears when the front ports are used for high speed operations. Quite often a pair of these ports are fed from a single one on the controller board. This has the effect of cutting the available bandwidth in half.

    Xpilot
     
  6. msavage123

    msavage123 Registered Member

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    I actually have not added any new hardware or changed my hw configuration between the time the daily scheduled backups worked and when they started failing.
     
  7. Xpilot

    Xpilot Registered Member

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    As I am very averse to taking unnecessary risks I would not keep a hard drive in my computer that has started to show bad sectors whether they had been repaired or not.

    Xpilot
     
  8. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    I would give it 1 repair fix and if any bad sectors appeared again the drive would be in the trash.
     
  9. msavage123

    msavage123 Registered Member

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    Thanks for all the replies but I guess I'm still waiting for a reply from the Acronis people. Why can I backup from the boot disk and not Windows XP?
     
  10. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    The boot disk is a Linux implementation unless you are using the so-called Safe version which is a DOS variant environment. So you aren't using the same drivers, same memory allocation, etc that running in Windows does. Also, when you run the bootcd version the HD is not changing, when you backup with Windows the contents of the HD are changing and sophisticated technology has to take this into consideration. Note that if you are just backing up data files and folders this is less of a consideration especially if you are not imaging.

    Yes, I'll say it again, if you have something start to fail that used to work and can't put your finger on any hardware or software changes that might be responsible, check your memory. A faulty location can give all sorts of strange effects depending on where it is located. It is easy to do, free, and it provides a great tool to have on CD at your disposal at any time and if it doesn't show the problem it virtually eliminates memory as the cause so you can look elsewhere.

    Let it run for a few hours at least unless errors are quickly detected.

    Memtest86+ V1.7 can be downloaded for free from www.memtest.org .
     
  11. msavage123

    msavage123 Registered Member

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    Thanks for the detailed reply. I'll give the memory test a try to see if that uncovers any problems.
     
  12. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello msavage123,

    Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

    If memtest doesn't show any errors, please download the latest version of Acronis drivers and install it with disabled logging.

    If the issue persists, please collect some information to let us investigate it thoroughly:

    Please create Acronis Report and Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post. Please keep both drives in question connected and powered on during the creation process.

    Please make a screen shot of the Device Tree application the way described in this previous 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. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with a solution.

    Thank you.
    --
    Marat Setdikov
     
  13. msavage123

    msavage123 Registered Member

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    Memtest ran for about 9 hours last night and all tests were successful. So now I've verified the source and destination drives are OK and the memory is fine. Any other suggestions?
     
  14. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    Did you install any backup software that might have come with the Mybook drive? I would uninstall it, if so.

    Since the hardware appears OK, I'd proceed with Acronis' suggestions.
     
  15. Bruce Mahnke

    Bruce Mahnke Registered Member

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    When you are imaging in Windows there are other applications and services that are running creating extra load on the system. Conceivably these could interfere. As a test you could rule this out by going into the System Configuration Utility (Start > Run and type in msconfig). Press OK. In the Startup group disable any items that you know of that don’t need to be running for a test. Re-boot.

    As an alternative you can shut these down by going into Task Manager (Start > Run and type in taskmgr). You will not have to re-boot and they will be re-enabled when you next boot up.

    Create a new image in Windows. If successful, you will need to isolate the problem to the offending application.

    Others (Xpilot and seekforever) gave some excellent advice about bad sectors. When this occurs the bad sectors are not repaired but merely marked as unusable. As was expressed if you continue to see bad sectors indicated, the drive should be replaced.

    Another useful approach is to run the built in check disk utility. To do this From the Start button select Run. Enter the expression cmd and press OK. Complete the path by adding chkdsk c: /r after the prompt (>). In this example c: denotes the “c” drive and if necessary change this to indicate the drive to be checked. There is a space before c: and before the switch /r. Press Enter. For the system drive the last paragraph will appear indicating that the files are in use. Enter [y] at the flashing prompt which is after <Y/N> and then press the Enter key. Exit and reboot the computer.

    Q: How can I view chkdsk results when the computer is restarted?
    A: In XP, open the Control Panel, double click on "Adminstrative Tools", double click on the "Event Viewer" icon, then click on "Application". In the "Source" column, look for the "Winlogon" item. Double click it and you should see the results of your Chkdsk run.


    Another useful addition is to modify Windows XP Device Manager to show ghosted devices

    Reference:
    The operating system applied is Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and configured for the Classic view. It is understood that any key strokes referenced in the following may be somewhat different or may not apply when using other operating systems or configurations.

    The Problem:
    Previous software and hardware installations with subsequent uninstallations or removal can cause conflicts to develop in that although it might appear that the results were successful the operating system might believe that they still exist and as such can cause conflicts. These are frequently referred to as 'ghosted devices' (a generic term).

    Of interest here is the addition of two new entries in the 'System variables' section. Go to Start > Run and type in the file name sysdm.cpl and press OK. Select the Advanced tab > Environment Variables button. Look for the System variables box in the lower half of the screen. These are added by selecting the New button and adding the data shown. These must be entered exactly as shown and are:
    1. DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS, set the Value = 1
    2. devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices, set the Value = 1

    Results:
    The show details entry indicated above adds a Details tab on a piece of hardware in Device Manager that displays some info about the device. This is not particularily useful in that the same info is available in System Information. Nevertheless it doesn’t hurt to have it here. Of greater significance is the second entry to show nonpresent devices. With this in place opening Device Manager and selecting Show Hidden Devices in the View pulldown at the top, 'ghosted' devices of previously installed hardware and later removed may be displayed. To open Device Manager go to Start > Run and enter the file name devmgmt.msc. Press OK. Select the View button at the top. Pull down and check 'Show hidden devices'. All detected devices will now be displayed. Some will display as a solid and some will be grayed out. The grayed out devices are thought to exist but are not presently active. Click the (+) box to the left of a category to expand the item. In previous systems ghosted devices had to be viewed in Safe mode.

    A word of caution or perhaps a disclaimer:
    Identify any red or yellow error symbols that might exist. These potentially need to be corrected. Grayed out devices can be disabled or uninstalled if you are certain that the device doesn't exist. Making an error here can create system problems that can be difficult to correct. Do not modify any entry that you don't fully understand. Better to ask questions at this point. Think of this as a window for identifying potential issues.
     
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2007
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