Computer just crashed - need HELP!!!!!

Using True Image 9 I just attempted to Clone my hard drive to a USB HD of the same size. It completed with a message that the operation was completed with an on screen message to "Press any key ....." There was no responce to any key press. I turned it off and tried to reboot and got the message "Unable to load operating system". I tried to boot from the USB drive (after chageing the boot sequence) but that didn't work. What do I do now? Please, I need some serious help.

 

With the USB drive disconnected, have you checked the BIOS boot order to make sure the correct drive is set as the booting drive?

Also, you won't be able to boot Windows (if that was the OS) from the USB drive after a clone or image restore to it. Windows (without a lot of tweaking) won't boot and run from USB devices.

 

IF you have the OS recovery CD boot from that and try a repair.

 

Thanks for the reply MudCrab. All right forget the USB device. It is now diconnected. All I did was clone the internal HD to the USB drive. Now with it disconnected when I attempt to boot the computer I immediatly get the message "Error loading operating system" and the computer stops. I'm at a lose as nothing should have been done to the on board HD except read it. Yes it's Windows XP Pro on a Dell 9100. I guess what my question is now is how did my HD get corrupted by having TI do a clone? I have tried usiing my TI Boot Disk but when I try to Recover using a recent backup it just attempts to read the backup but just sits there reading with no further action. Any suggestions?

 

What build of TI 9 are you using?

You're correct that nothing should have been changed on the source drive. However, there have been several posts where that did happen (I think those were with later versions than 9, though).

As suggested by djohn, do you have an XP installation CD available to try and do a boot repair?

 

Yes, I do. Forgot all about them. I'm running a diagnosis of the system right now and will let you guys know what happens.

 

Doing the diagnosis that's on a Dell utility disk and it's taking forever. If it doesn't work I'll try the XP recover disk. BTW the build is #2337. I bought it back in '06 and have been doing regular full backups thinking that I was protected. The one time I needed to recover a few months ago it failed me. And now this. You can understand why I'm a bit upset with all this. Get back to you in a bit. (I'm only 60% thru the diag.)

 

The build you have is quite old. The latest build for version 9 is build 3854. I have never used that one. Prior to that I had build 3677 which worked very well.

 

Well the diagnosis routine didn't indicate any problems so I booted the CD that Dell calls a XP "Reinstallation CD". It proceed to install a bunch of drives and misc. files. Then it showed that my HD was just one total unallocated space. The only option available is to partition the drive and in stall XP. I don't know what to do now. Unless someone has a remedy I'm stuck. This is beyond my ability.

 

Do you have backup images or have you just been cloning to the USB drive for a backup?

I would also recommend you update to at least build 3,677 of TI 9.

Are all of your files, etc. on the USB drive? You could try cloning it back to your internal drive. However, since you had problems doing it the other way, I would strongly recommend you create a backup image of the source drive (the USB drive) prior to attempting the clone.

Do you have Disk Director or another program that can search for and recover deleted partitions? Perhaps something just got messed up in the MBR and/or the Partition Table.

 

Hello MudCrab,

Something here is troubling me. Harveytex states that he ran the Dell Reinstallation CD. That it reported total unallocated space. I would expect the Dell CD would do the necessary partitioning and formatting of the drive before installing the operating system. Therefore, resulting in no unallocated space.

As I recall there were issues with earlier versions of TI-9 but that of course is unrelated to his Dell issue.

 

mudcrab,

I have two external drives. One has a backup image that I created yesterday. The second one is the one on which I used for the clone of my HD. I just connected it to this (my wife's) computer and it contains what looks like a clone of my HD. So, whatever happens, I have all my files thank g-d. What I need now is software that will clone my external drive back on my HD. There's no way that I'll use this version of TI! Funny thing is that I checked on Acronis's site for any updates for my Build 2337 and it told me there wasn't any. Can you suggest a program, other than TI, that will clone my external drive to my internal HD? I have given thought to possibly intalling the drive (it's an IDE) in the computer to replace the SATA drive in the Dell. Your views would be appreciated.

 

harveytex,

I just checked the Acronis site for updates and this is what I see for version 9. I was able to download the 85.9 MB file for build 3854. Are you registered?

 

Yes I'm registered. I guess I wasn't looking in the right place. Anyway, my idea idea of installing the IDE drive that contains the clone of my drive will not work. I don't see any connector for it in my Dell Dimension 9100. So, for sure, now I need to be able to restore my HD from the image I have. Since my TI will not do it I guess I'll have to try to update it and see if that will work. I need to create a new System Boot Disk so I will have to install the update on another computer to do so. Will this work?

 

I don't think he ran the "reinstallation" to the point that it actually changed the drive. If he did, I agree... there should be a partition and files in it.

From what I've read, there were a lot of problems with the early builds of TI 9. I only have experience with build 3,677 and later.

 

Have you tried the quiet acpi=off noapic option detailed in Section II of the PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST thread?

Creating the CD on another computer should work as the CD is computer independent.

 

OK I give up. I've been on the Acronis site, going round and round, and can't find where the updates are. Can someone point me in the right direction? I guess the frustrations of the day has taken more than I realized out of me. It's probabley right there but I can't find it. Help!

 

Try this. Since you are registered you will simply need to enter an e-mail address and a password to get in:

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/support/updates/

 

After you log into My Account, look under the Registered Products section. Expand the TI 9 section and you should get access to the update.

 

Thanks for the info. However it doesn't list any programs. I just get:

Home > My Account Home >
Registered products

Register new product(s)

There are no updates available.

If I try to register (again) I get a msg informing me that it is already registered.

But, HERE'S THE GOOD PART: I GOT MY HD RESTORED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At this point I don't know exactly how I did it it's up and working. So my thanks to all for the help. I tried so many things that I am not sure what worked, but it did. Although I wasted a whole day of my life (and at age 70 that's significant) I feel good and will sleep well tonight. Bye Bye.

Harvey in Texas

 

I'm glad you got your drive working. When you get around to it, you might contact Acronis via Live Chat and see if they can get your account fixed so you can get the update.