New user to TI9

Hi again folks... I finally got my copy of TI9 installed and running as expected. I've a couple of questions.

First, I was told in what I suppose is a canned response from Acronis to update my program (Build 2323) after I installed it. I checked the build available on the Acronis update site and it's currently Build 3633. According to this post, 3633 still has the Win98SE incompatibility problem (I'm running Win98SE). There was a recommendation on Tech Support Guy Forum to upgrade to build 2337, but I have been unable to find a way to do that on the Acronis site. Anyone have any recommendations in that regard.

Next question... Is there a way to clone a single or selected partitions rather than the entire HDD.

One final question.. Where can I find out when the next build will be available and is there any notification mechanism available.

BTW... I've ran a couple of backups and all seems to work as advertised. One of my C:\ drive on a 1GB JAZ cartridge and another of my E:\ drive which contains all my programs and files to a backup partition on my Primary Slave HDD.

Thanks...Raybro

 

“Next question... Is there a way to clone a single or selected partitions rather than the entire HDs.’
No, cloning is for entire HDs.

“One final question.. Where can I find out when the next build will be available and is there any notification mechanism available.”
Once you register, there is an e-mail notification option, but I don’t know how reliable it is.

 

Thanks for the response TheWeaz... Yeah, I was afraid of that. I've been using Ghost, which has the feature of being able to back up an individual partitions. That's a bit disappointing. Oh well...

I'll check out the e-mail notification you mentioned. I assume that's on the Acronis site?

Just discovered another aspect of Acronis I'm not particularly fond of. It seems that using the Recovery Boot Disk only allows one to recover IF one has activated the Acronis Secure Zone. Backups that I have created in various places (like my JAZ drive) are not accessable via this process.

Raybro

 

Not true. Acronis user created boot cd will allow to restore from any disk it sees. This includes other internal, other externals and Cd/DVD media. It should see these other external devices. It definitely sees my usb external drive. I can backup to and restore from this external drive.

 

You can certainly backup selected partitions – but you can’t clone them. Backup images and cloning are two different things.

“It seems that using the Recovery Boot Disk only allows one to recover IF one has activated the Acronis Secure Zone”
Not true at all.

 

Also note that you can effectively clone a single partition by first backing it up and then restoring it to a different partition. While that requires two steps and some extra temporary free space (to hold the backup file), the end result is the same as if it had been cloned.

As a bonus, since you can restore to a partition that is a different size than the original, I've used this process to resize several partitions without having to purchase separate repartitioning software.

 

On the contrary, the boot disk can restore backups just fine. I've done this a number of times but have never used the Acronis Secure Zone (which I think is completely unnecessary if you have a second hard disk, whether in the same machine or on your network).

Is your Jaz drive a SCSI device? I think they typically are (mine was). If so, your problem may be that the Acronis boot disk doesn't have drivers for the SCSI controller, so it can't see it. I recommend getting yourself a 1 or 2 GB USB flash drive. Those are cheaper than blank Jaz cartridges, faster, and more reliable. However, if you must use the Jaz drive, there may be a way to load the SCSI drivers during the boot of the Acronis Rescue Disk, although I don't know how. Search around the forums about that.

Soundman

 

In True Image terminology, cloning refers to creating a copy of one hard drive to another.
Yes, you can create a backup image file of a partition and then restore that to wherever you want. But that is not the same (again, in TI terms) as cloning.
It's semantics, yes, but you cannot “clone” a partition with TI.

 

Raybro, I recommended you go to B2337 over on the Tech Support Guy Forum. You'll have to request it from Acronis Support since its not available on the website.

 

WOW!... Thanks to all.

I'll absorb all this and play around a bit. 'preciate all the input. I'll post back later on each comment/response.

Raybro

 

Not exaxtly, you can find some old builds if you go to My account -> Products Updates and click on "Full history of changes" under Acronis True Image 9.0 Home (check attached screen shot).

However, I would go to Acronis Support if you would like to have direct DVD writting with ATI since 2337 does not have it. I guess Acronis should have some "middle" build what have direct DVD writting and also work with Win98.

Would like to add to post #6 by Soundman, if you would like copy(clone if you would like) a system partition to have a multy boot system you should use Sysprep first. This way you will be able to use two Windows systems on one PC.

Well, you should be able access any storage that ATI supports even when using Acronis Boot CD. Some times some USB drives are not visible, "quiet acpi=off noapic" might help look here for details. And of course if not succesful Acronis Support will help

EDIT: Just found this post about not launching ATI under Windows 98/ME. So Support do have build for you)

Kento

 

Kento, I just looked at MY Account and it only lists the 3567, 3625 and 3633 as available for direct download. I believe Raybro will need to follow your link above concerning WIN98/ME and formally request B2337 from support.

 

Hmm...now I have the same info in build history as you.

 

OK folks, here is what I get when I try to do any operation (like Backup, Recovery or Clone) after booting into Acronis from either floppy (long time to load) or from my external JAZ drive.

Immediately following "Analyzing Partition" (during which no drive letters appear as there is within Windows operations) an error window pops up with this message. "E000101F4. True Image has detected and upsupported hard drive disk, like" etc. Closing the window by clicking OK reverts back to the window with the "proceed" button in it. I've tried both the full and safe loads with identical results. The only operation that does not do this is "Check Archive". Then the hirerachy tree contains "My Computer" only. No .tib files show up at any time and I know they are there. If I run the same operations within Windows, all is as it should be.

BTW... I have 2 internal HDD's with a total of 8 partitions lettered C: through J:

One thing I might attribute this to is I have a Sandisk card reader connected which I use with my Digital Cam. it is NOT a USB connected device. I've tried it with and without a card inserted. Been a looong time since I hooked it up, but it appears to be patched into the printer port connector. Removing it will screw up the drive letter sequence, so I'm not fond of that option (besides not being able to use the reader). I suppose it could also be my JAZ drive, which is a SCSI connected external drive.

Another problem I've run into is after I burned a CD to use as a boot disk and try to boot from it, it gets as far as the black screen with "Acronis loader loading... please wait". Nothing happens after that and there is a continuous tone coming from the tower. I've tried numerous time to create another CD, but now all I get is "Error burning the bootable CD-R/CD-RW. I've tried an erased CD/RW and formatting one using Roxio's Easy CD Creator Format Utility. I'm using CD-RW's. Is it worth trying a CD-R? Don't have any on hand right now, though.

I realize this is a very wordy post, just trying to be thorough.

Raybro

 

Hello Raybro,

What build did you use to create bootable media 2337 or Acronis Support provides you with another build? I believe you tried "quiet acpi=off noapic" parametrs and the error still there. Or not? You can also try to unplug all devices that you do not need in rescue mode. Did you use Norton GoBack? According to FAQ you should disable it if booted from rescue media.

Here are some workarounds that might help to create the bootable CD.

Kento

 

DUHHHHH! Yeah, I have GoBack... and DUHHHHH.. it is ENABLED. Man, is that dumb or what... and I knew that too. Guess I lost sight of the forest because all those blasted trees were in the way. I'll fix that.

Next item. I am still using build 2323. I checked the history of updates on the Acronis site and the only build available prior to the build 3625 (Win98SE incompatablity problem) is 3567. Please verify my understanding that one is OK to use with Win98SE. Are there any known problems with that build which I should consider?

I started the download of build 3567 using Free Download Manager but stopped it because it's so large (76.4 MB) and I'm on dialup. I'll start it tonight before I go to bed and let it run for... would you believe >9 hours @ 2KB/sec. We have a really old telephone system here in the back country of Santa Barbara County.

Thanks for the CD workarounds. I'll get to those after I get the boot problem fixed.

Thanks Kento, 'preciate your response..

Raybro

 

You MUST get rid of 2323, it was very buggy.
UNinstall 2323 and get at at least 2337,
Do NOT install over 2323.

 

Hello raybro,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please note that we have released the build 3666 of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home that has fix for the issue with running under Windows 98. Please download the build (3666) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home. Aslo please create a new bootable CD using this latest build and check how it works.

If the issue persists, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
--
Aleksandr Isakov

 

Unless Acronis has updated the file purported to be 3666, you get an installation that says its 3633 which has no fix for Raybro's problem.

 

I would appreciate a response from Acronis Support representaive, Aleksandr Isakov, addressing the quoted statement by thomasjk (or anyone else with knowledge about it) before I do the download. As I said earlier in one of my posts, it takes considerable time to download such a large file on dialup.

BTW... I did check the Acronis update site and the latest download is, in fact, labled 3666.

Thanks.. Raybro

 

Raybro, I just downloaded for a second time, this morning, the B3666 install file and after all was said and done it is now reporting as B3666 in Help about.

See this link Post #21 https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=136248 from Acronis Support.

 

thomasjk.. Thanks for the link. It's a real eye opener.

The more I read about TI9 and build upgrade problems, coupled with the problems I've experienced, the closer I get to going back to Ghost. I am running an older system (P2 Dell XPS-R400) with Win98SE and never had any where near the difficulty with Ghost as is being reported with TI9 on this forum. Perhaps it's better with NT systems, but it doesn't look that way. I bought into all the hype about how much better TI9 was and wanted to give it a try. One day maybe I'll learn to not try fixing something that's not broken. Oh well... live and learn.

Raybro

 

I think it is very reliable: in over a year and a half I have not received a single email regarding new builds. Six Sigma notwithstanding, consistency alone is not all it's sometimes cracked up to be. ;-)