Ntldr file is missing - error message when booting into .tib file

Hi,

I have a problem when testing the backup image archive I created using the latest version of ATI - build 2337.

I did a backup archive of my C drive with O/S and other important applications by following the Wizard interface. I did this to a physically separate HD to the HD that I have the original O/S on. This HD with original O/S on has several partitions on it.
Upon re-configuring the bios boot options and attempting to boot into this backup image on the 2nd HD, I get an error message on the screen saying "Ntldr is a missing file, press Ctl+Alt+Del to start"
Now I have attempted to do a drive clone in an attempt to copy the MBR and its relevant files, however because of the size of my original HD with the O/S, this is not possible to my much smaller 2nd HD. My main physical disk as seen from the O/S is some 1.118Tb in size and the backup HD is a single 80Gb drive. All I want to do with regards to the backup with Acronis True image is just to copy the main primary active partition where the O/S and all its critical files are located.
I think this should be possible using the drive clone feature, however it is a case of All or nothing with regards to individual partitions.

Thank you for attention to this problem.

 

That error message is one of the most commonly reported errors. Sometimes it is due to the difference in drive sizes - Microsoft has an article on it in their Knowledge Base, sometimes it is because of how TI handles cloning. I know when it happened to me it was because of the different drive sizes. I was testing TI going from a 2 gig to a 30 gig. However none of the solutions in the Ms KB or those in this forum worked for me. Eventually I found another better cloning program.

And, yes, with Cloning the entire original drive is cloned. You cannot choose individual partitions.

But with Image Backup, you can choose individual partitions. However, if you do, you will run into MBR errors if you try to Restore that partition to a new drive, and try to boot from it. There are ways to fix this - sometimes it will work, sometimes not.