Fixing corrupted image

So, for the first time in a year of using Acronis True Image 8, I actually need a full image restore, instead of just picking up one file or the other.

But the image I want to restore is corrupted. Oh joy.

Since I use incremental backups, is there a way to see what part of the image is corrupted?

-Mathieu

 

Yes, there is, but it takes some work.

When you select a file from a full+incrementals set to validate, the whole set is being validated. If one of the image files in the set is corrupted, the validate fails without telling which file is bad.

To locate the corrupted file in the set, move the last half of the incrementals to another folder and validate the remaining first half of the set. If it passes, move half of the removed files back to the set and validate again. If the first half didn't pass, move away half more (ie. the second quarter of the set) and validate the remaining first quarter of the set. Proceed with moving progressively smaller groups of files until you locate the file that makes the set fail once added to it.

You may then delete the offending file and its successors. What's left is usable.

Good luck.

 

A poster once reported being able to monitor which file was being read by TI when the failure message in Validate popped up. I tried now with Sysinternals' File Monitor (ver. 6.12) but couldn't see the file being read by the Validate tool.

You may try and investigate this approach further if your image is a large one.