It Works!

I used TI to create a new boot drive for my XP machine and it worked! I am very excited becuause I have been having massive problems for the past 2 days using the LifeGruard software that came with the new Western Digital drive.

After all the problems I was having with the Western Digital software and feedback from Microsoft that cloning is not supported I was very skeptical that anything would work and that I needed to start from scratch with my new C: drive. I am so happy I found out about you folks.

Now for a question. My new C: drive has a single partition (not counting the boot partition). What can I do (now) to reconfigure it so I can have 2 partitions? It does not seem that TI has the feature. What product of yours can I use?

As an alternative to buying another product, can I use TI again to (re-) create an new C: drive with muliple partitions?

Thanks

Jerry

 

Hello Jerry,

Clearly, Acronis' Disk Director Suite would be more than capable of doing what you want. However you could try the following:

- Use TI's Manage Acronis Secure Zone Wizard to create a temporary Secure Zone (SZ) the size of the additional partition you require. When presented with the option to "Activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager" ensure you change the selection to "Do not activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager".
- Delete the SZ via Windows' Disk Management (right click "My Computer" then select "Storage" > "Manage" > "Disk Management"). This will leave an amount of unallocated space the size of the deleted SZ.
- Use Windows' Disk Management again to create a new partition in the unallocated space. You can also change the drive letter of the new partition via Disk Management by right clicking on it and selecting "Change Drive Letter and Paths".

Regards

 

Menorcaman,

Thanks. I have not done what you suggested but went through the menu items and I understand (I think).

Question -- if I do as you say and "not activate it", can I use TI later to resize this partition, assuming I'm willing to delete anything that is in this partition. It would be better if I could resise it without deleting its content, but I could live with that restriction as I'm using it for daily backups I create using Dantz Retrospect and don't need the data at then end of the week when I do a full backup.

Thanks again,

Jerry

 

Hello again Jeremy,

Activating the Startup Recovery Manager (SRM) whilst creating the temp SZ will modify the Master Boot Record of your system disk. When you then delete the SZ via Windows' Disk Management (rather than through the Manage Acronis Secure Zone Wizard) it will leave the modified MBR, which can cause problems. Hence reason I caution against activating the SRM when creating the temp SZ.

Nothing that I have proposed should result in loss of your data. When you create the temp SZ, TI will non-destructively resize the partition that you are taking the space from. However, like anything to do with computers, things can sometimes (and often do!!) go wrong. Therefore, as a precaution, I recommend that you create a "whole disk" image to a second hard drive (internal or external) or removable media before you implement my proposed workaround (well - that's my backside covered ).

Regards

 

Jerry,

You obviously use Dantz Retrospect and TI on the same computer at the same time. Does that cause any problems? I also use DR and am considering buying TI. Once I am sure that TI is what I want, I will delete DR and it's backup.

Are you using the WIN XP Home with SP2? I read that a lot of people that use DR 6.5.350 cannot create a disaster recovery disk because with SP2, there is not enough room on a CD to contain all the data. That's why I am considering TI.

Thanks for any help you are able to give.

Ken

 

Ken,

I just saw your post regarding Danz and TI. No, I have not problem using both. I started with Dantz for backups and got TI for the sole reason to replace my C-drive. I will probably continue to use Dantz for backups and us TI to restore my C-drive should it become necessary.

Best

 

Thanks for your help Jerry

Ken