HDD is not recognized by bootable DDS

Hello,
I have a big big problem that came by using the DDS to partition my hard drive (Western Digital Cavier 750gb).

I bought DDS because i wanted to split my hard drive in order to install a second OS on the new partition. So far so good. I installed DDS and created a new partition following the instructions in the user´s manual. No Problems so far.

After that i followed the instructions in the users manual to install a second os on the new partition. it all went well until the point of re-activating os-selector after having installed the second os.
I inserted the bootable program disk, as described in the manual and wanted to boot the program from there... I booted, but all i got to see was the error message:

"E000101F4: Acronis Disk Director Suite hat keine Festplattenlaufwerke gefunden"

which means: ADDS didnt find any hard drives

After clicking "ok", the computer starts rebooting

...

So this is my huge problem... i cant boot my old OS (Vista 64bit) anymore, because i can´t re activate the os-selector...

Can anybody help me out? Is my old OS and the whole partition lost forever?
on this partition there were important files such as my tax declaration and other stuff... Yes i made a mistake, because I didnt save them... but there must be a way to get them back! please help me =)

Zielbauer

PS: Here are some specifications of the hardware, if necessary:

Intel 2 core Quad 4 * 2,66 ghz, Asus P5Q-E motherboard

PS: Wer sich wohler fühlt, Deutsch zu schreiben kann auch ruhig in Deutsch antworten =)

 

Are you using the latest build of DD/OSS (2,160)?

Does the Safe Mode version of DD correctly see your hard drive?

It sounds like you're saying that when you try to reactivate OSS, you're getting an error message from DD. Is that correct? If so, how are you trying to reactivate OSS? Did you boot to the DD CD and start DD or did you select to the option to install OSS (directly from the Acronis Boot Menu)?

 

Thanks for the answer,

I use the version that came in the box, info says: 2.161

I did boot to the dds cd... but i don´t even get to the point where i can reactivate oss, because the error message occurs in the very beginning, before the dd user surface is displayed...

I thougt i could solve that problem by installing dds and oss on the partition i created which is running xp, but my problem is now: when i switch on the pc, the oss surface is shown, but i only can select the windows xp and boot from disk, there is no indicator that there is also a partition running windows vista (my "old" partition) which is kind of comprehensible, because i had to hide the partition while following the instructions given bei the users manual to install a second os.

The question now is: How can I get the oss to recognize my "old" partition running windows vista and offer it as a booting possibility?

Thanks in advance for your answers =)

PS: if there are any comprehension difficulties for you that result from my bad English, please let me know, i´ll try to describe it with other words =)

 

It sounds like you don't have the OSS programs on your DD CD. When you boot to the DD CD and get to the Acronis menu, do you have the Acronis OS Selector Activator and Acronis OS Selector Setup options?


Also, you have now installed DD and OSS in your XP system and OSS is working, but it won't find the Vista installation. Is that correct? If so, can you take a look at the Separation Instructions and let me know if Vista is booting from its own partition or if it's booting from the XP partition? If you had the partitions hidden from each other, it sounds like you probably did it correctly.

If OSS is now installed to the XP partition and Vista is booting from its own partition, Vista can be manually added to the BOOTWIZ.OSS file. Instructions for locating that file so you can attach it to a post can be found here: How to Find and Create a Copy of the BOOTWIZ.OSS File

A screenshot of either DD (in Manual Mode) or Windows Disk Management showing your disk layout might also help.

 

thanks...

I can´t say if i have these options, because i dont even get to the menu, the error message that no hard disc was find, occurs in the very beginning, even before i get to see the menu

that is correct

Yes they should be booting from different partitions...
When I am back from work I´m gonna take a closer look at the hyperlinks you posted =) Have to go now

 

i took a look at the links and i found out that they are not helpful in my specific situation....

another question:

what if i integrated my hard drive into another computer system as a secondary (slave) drive... would i be able to get to all my data that is hidden on the vista partition at the moment?

 

I guess I should have made what I meant a little more clear. I didn't mean that you would need to follow the instructions. I just meant for you to take a look at the screenshots and see the difference between a system that has a "tangled" XP/Vista booting setup and one that is setup for them to boot separately.

This may not be necessary (see below), but it could work if the partition is unhidden.

---

Since you can boot into XP and you have DD and OSS installed in XP, you should be able to use DD to unhide the Vista partition so you have access to it. You should also be able to change the OSS settings so that the Vista partition isn't hidden when you boot XP if you want that to be the default.

The screenshot of the Acronis Menu shown in Post #4 is of the very first menu that should come up when you boot your TI/DD/OSS CD. If this menu isn't displaying, you either have DD Full as the only version on the CD or it's set to automatically boot into DD Full. Even if DD Full is the only version on the CD, you should still get the menu and an option to either turn off the computer or boot Windows. The error message you're getting that there are no drives found usually happens after DD is started (after it's selected from the Acronis menu). If you're getting the error message as soon as the DD CD boots, I haven't heard of that before.

Is the error message in a standard "XP looking" window box or is it a text message on a DOS-type screen?

Can you start DD (select the Manual Mode) in XP and post a screenshot of what it shows for your drives? It might help to see it. Hopefully, your Vista partition is just hidden and didn't actually disappear.

 

How?


I took my photo camera and recorded the booting process for you so u have a better image of the whole problem... =)

I uploaded the video along with the demanded screenshot right here:
http://uploaded.to/?id=3z1mof

I hope this is helpful =)

 

Well, that helps to explain the situation, but it also shows it doesn't look good.

You're using a retail DD CD. I've always used the ones created with the Media Builder program because I purchased the download version of DD. Apparently, the retail version boots directly into the Full Mode version of DD. To get the Safe Mode version and the OSS programs on a CD, you need to use the Media Builder program to create a new DD CD. During the process, you can select the programs you want to included. You should then see the Acronis Menu when you boot the CD and be able to select what you want to boot. Most likely, the Safe Mode version will see your hard drive.

What size is your hard drive? Is it really 128GB (or approximately that)? If so, your XP partition is using the entire drive and the Vista partition is gone. You may be able to get it back by deleting the XP partition and then using the DD Partition Recovery Wizard to search for lost partitions. However, make sure to create a backup of your existing drive (if possible) before you begin or you may have to reinstall XP (at the very least).

Also, was the original Vista partition located at the beginning of the drive? If so, then at least 5GB of it have been overwritten by XP and will be lost.

You may also want to consider using some data recovery programs (most have free trial versions) to see if you can recover any of your files.

 

well the good news is that my hd is about 750 gb.... the partition i created for xp is about 150gb, so that is it.

 

The screenshot shows the drive as 128GB. This means it's a different drive or the drive's reported capacity has changed.

Exactly what steps did you do when you "split" the 750GB drive to prepare for XP?

Does the Safe Mode version of DD show the drive as 750GB?

Do any other bootable tools (Live Linux, Ubuntu Live CD, for example) show the drive as 750GB?

What does Windows Disk Management show for the drive's size and partition layout?

 

I did follow the users manual exactly when partioning and installing the second os.

Under certain circumstances I managed to start disk director after booting from the rescue disk i created... there the hard drive was shown as 750 gb... 128 gb were partition 1 and 5xx gb were shown as unassigned space...

What does that mean for my data?

 

Does Windows Disk Management show the drive as 750GB? Can you post a screenshot?

Does the Safe Mode version of DD show the drive as 750GB?

I'm just going by your previous screenshot. That one only showed 128GB for the entire drive.

Do you remember if the Vista partition started at the beginning of the drive? If so, then XP has probably overwritten the first 5GB of it (assume the XP partition actually begins at the start of the drive) and any data in that portion of the drive is lost. If not, then the data may still be on the drive.

Recovery software can scan the drive and look for files. However, they may not work correctly if the drive size is not reported correctly. In other words, if Windows says the drive is only 128GB, then any recovery software is most likely only going to scan the 128GB of the drive where that partition exists and not even check the remaining space.

 

disk management shows the volume as 128 gb...
safe mode of dd shows it as partition one 128gb and unassingend space 500 something gb... i added some pictures to make it clearer

http://uploaded.to/?id=1c2v3b

I dont know wheter the vista partition was at the beginning of the drive, is that the standard, when you install an os ? if so it might have been at the beginning of the drive.

Can you give me some names of good recovery software with trialversions?

I´m still hoping that this will not be necessary and the drive is just hidden...