Chkdsk wants to run during Restore

Setup :

Disk_1 : Partition 1 XP Pro System drive C:
Disk_1 : Partition 2 - TI9 System & Data Images

Disk_2 : Partition 1 - Primary partition currently empty
Disk_2 : Partition 2 - Data

I am trying to Restore the system image to Disk_2 Partition 1. The restore is scheduled to take about 20 minutes. Just before the restore completes a dialog box pops up with the message:

C000B03F4: Check disk utility requires user's intervention.
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process...etc
Yes No Cancel

If I choose Cancel, TI9 reports that the process completed successfully but with errors.

The Image validates without any problems.

The destination partition comes up without errors if I run chkdsk manually.

Any thoughts as to the cause?

 

We (Me, Myself, and I) contend in our oft stated, perhaps ad nauseum, speech # 23, partititions should be formatted, etc. independently of backup programs.

 

I am interested in the way you have allocated your disks and backups over you two drives. If drive 1 fails you will loose your OS,programs and backups. If drive 2 fails you would be able to restore your data from you backup images on drive 1. Would it not make better sense to have your OS in partition 1 and data on partition 2 of disk 1. This would leave disk 2 for storage of all you backup images. In this way any failure on disk one can be recovered from your backups on disk 2. Should disk 2 fail that is not really a problem as you would still have all your OS and data intact on disk 1 and you could replace disk 2 and carry on with a fresh set of backups.

Xpilot

 

I agree.

Don't know what is triggering chkdsk but if you restore from the rescue CD it shouldn't be a problem since that environment doesn't know what a chkdsk is.

 

it makes no sense to save backups on an internal drive.
large external drives are not expensive, and are free, compred with the cost of losing backups on a failed internal drive.

not to mention, one MUST have more than one set of backups, each on a separate drive, be they infernal or external.

 

I don't agree with your first sentence in a strict context but I totally agree they shouldn't be the only backup.

I backup to second internal drive all the time. Yes, the whole system can fail but there is a far higher probability that only a single drive will fail. I like the internal drive because it is probably the fastest and certainly most convenient way of doing backups and restores.

However, I do also use a home network for secondary backup copies, USB drive, and DVDs for third and fourth level security. I don't burn that many DVDs anymore since they are IMO too small and too slow. However, they do have the advantage of being small and you can keep them without having to ever erase them.

 

Internal drives are the ones most prone to damage from power problems or mechanical failure.

 

Of course it makes sense to save backups to a drive that is secondary to a drive containing the OS and data. What I suggested is many times more secure than the arrangement the OP has at the moment. It is also do-able on a short time scale with no extra expense.
Once one has a separate backup there is a high degree of cover against many types of disaster. A second line of backups on totally separate media that can be stored elsewhere reduces risk to an almost vanishingly small degree.
FWIW my own scheme is 100% backups to slave drive, 100% backups (not copies) to an external HDD and as I do test restores to a spare HDD this gives an extra bootable drive that is as up to date as my last test. There are also many different ways of killing a cat!!

Xpilot

 

I find this unqualified statement surprising. Upon what do you base this. External drives also require a power supply and I would imagine that external drives which are transported and moved around are *much* more likely to suffer mechanical failure than internal ones.

F

 

Gentlemen, tks for all the valuable feedback and your discussion certainly proves the old proverb about doing something rather nasty to a cat!!

( My system is in a state of "transition". In its final state it will (I think ) be an interesting way of setting up a virtually fail-safe environment in a very cost-effective way. If you are interested I will provide full details when complete..... just let me know )

In the interim I believe that I have found the cause of the C000B03F4: message box. If you start up TI9 and go to .....

Tools > Options > Default restoration options > Additional settings > There are 3 tick-boxes. The last of these is "Check file system after restoration"

If I tick this box chkdsk wants to run at the end of the restore, if I don't tick this box then chkdsk does not ask to be run. The problem is that for chkdsk to run the disk needs to be locked, but chkdsk cannot lock the disk because the TI9 process has not released the disk (TI9 may have completed the actual restore function but is in terms of Windows still running a process that uses the disk).

For me the solution has been to untick this box and then run chkdsk manually, a process which I much prefer because I can set the chkdsk switches myself and in this way monitor exactly what is being checked.

 

Good info. I guess in your stituation TI never required the reboot into the Linux environment? I have that box checked but since I am restoring within Linux after the reboot it doesn't cause a problem. In fact I am not even sure it actually causes chkdsk to run, not only that, I didn't know that it spawned chkdsk to do the task; I thought it was a TI check.

I can quit for the day now, I have already learned something.

 

See, it's not a problem it's a feature.

The only concern I have is that it looks like you want to restore the image of your boot drive's boot partition to the second drive in Windows. If Windows sees both these identical drives, I don't believe it will be happy.

This problem is often seen when people clone an old boot drive to a new boot drive and then reboot into Windows without removing one of the two drives. Windows makes the "clone" not work properly as a boot drive in this case. You may find the same problem.

If this is indeed what you are planning, you may want to check further on the problem of identical disks existing under Windows.

 

Hello Catamaran,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are very sorry for the delay with the response.

Could you please provide us with the more detailed information on the problem?

- What exact version and build number of Acronis True Image do you use?

You can find the full version name and build number by going to Help -> About... menu in the main program window.

- What operating system is installed on your computer?

- Did Acronis True Image ask for a reboot upon the backup archive restoration completion?

- Did Windows perform the disk check upon it's next boot?

- Describe actions taken before the problem appears step-by-step.

As soon as I'll receive this information I'll forward this issue to our Testing Team and they will proceed with the investigation.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov