One drive missing from Backup Wizard

My system is Windows 2000 Pro., SP4. I have 1024MB memory and my processor is an AMD 64 Athlon 3700+. I am running ATI 9.0 build 3567.

I have 4 fixed hard drives. Two are 120 GB each, one is 160 GB and the last is a 250 GB. The following is the drive layout shown by Windows Drive Manager.

WDC WD1200JB-00DUA3 [Hard drive] (120.03 GB) -- drive 0 (SATA)
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 34.52 GB 23.22 GB free
f: (NTFS on drive 0) 26.16 GB 19.93 GB free
g: (NTFS on drive 0) 1.41 GB 1.38 GB free
h: (NTFS on drive 0) 26.48 GB 25.76 GB free
i: (NTFS on drive 0) 31.46 GB 31.37 GB free

WDC WD1600JB-00GVA0 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 1 (IDE)
d: (NTFS on drive 1) 52.84 GB 46.02 GB free
j: (NTFS on drive 1) 53.39 GB 53.31 GB free
l: (NTFS on drive 1) 53.81 GB 53.33 GB free

WDC WD2500KS-00MJB0 [Hard drive] (250.06 GB) -- drive 2 (SATA)
q: (NTFS on drive 2) 250.06 GB 249.13 GB free

WDC WD1200JD-00GBB0 [Hard drive] (120.03 GB) -- drive 3 (IDE)
n: (NTFS on drive 3) 35.02 GB 33.16 GB free
o: (NTFS on drive 3) 45.01 GB 44.38 GB free
p: (NTFS on drive 3) 40.00 GB 37.58 GB free


When I run Acronis True Image and try to backup the drives, the 250 GB SATA drive (drive 2) is not seen by Acronis either inside Windows or in a boot CD start of the machine.

When run in Windows, the Acronis backup wizard shows disk 0 as disk 1 (partitions c:, f:, g:, h:,and I. Disk 1 is shown as disk 2 (partitions d:, j:, and L. Disk 3 is shown as disk 4 (partitions N:, o:, and P.

When run from the boot CD, Acronis backup wizard shows disk 0 (partitions c:, f:, g:, h:,and I as disk 3 with the correct partition numbers. Disk 1 (partitions d:, j:, and L is shown as disk 4 with (partitions D:, J, K. Disk 3 (partitions N:, o:, and P is shown as disk 2 with ( partitions E:, L:, M.

Even though the Q: drive doesn't show up as a drive to back up it does appear in Acronis' explorer view when I am prompted to choose a destination location for the backup.

Can anyone offer a suggestion as to why the program doesn't see the drive as an imageable partition?


TIA,
Cecil B.

 

Wouldn't surprise me if the TI software has a cutoff somewhere for the allowed drive letters. To check this, disconnect one fo the multi partiton drives and see if "q" drive now shows up. Of course it will no longer be "q".

To help determining which drive is which, I like to give the partitions specific names e.g. for your first Sata I would probably use something like this:

WD120SPt1
WD120SPt2
WD120SPt3
WD120SPt4
WD120SPt5

This way it doesn't matter if disk 0 becomes disk 1, you always know which is which.

 

Thanks for the reply Chutsman. I will give your suggestio a try.

Actually I do have a naming scheme for the drives in Windows Explorer and I acutally use personalized icons to identify the different physical drives. It is only when I use the low level tools like Drive Manager and Acronis that the identification becomes a bit of a problem.

By the way I love your little thing on "your" vs "you're". It amazes me how many people don't recognize that they are mis-using "your" when they mean something else. I guess they just dont' teach english grammar any more!

 

Hello Dopey Duke,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are very sorry for the delay with the response.

First of all, please be aware that Acronis Bootable Rescue Environment (Full version) is Linux based and can display drive letters different from those you see in Windows, because Linux has its own rules of drive naming. Such a situation usually may arise after using partitioning software. This is absolutely normal and there is no need to worry about the difference in drive letters assignment. Please also note that the drive enumeration in Acronis True Image always starts from disk1. In order to avoid possible confusion we recommend that you follow Chutsman's advice and give your partitions meaningful labels such as 'System', 'Data', 'Backup', etc.

As for your 250 GB SATA hard drive not being shown in the list of the drives available for imaging both when the latest build (3567) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home is running from under Windows and when your computer is booted from Bootable Rescue CD created using the latest build (3567) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home, please do the following:

I. From under Windows:

Firstly, check each partition of the 250 GB SATA hard drive having the issue by Windows utility: use Windows menu Start\Run, then enter the command "chkdsk [drive letter]: /r" for every partition of this hard drive.

Then download the latest version of Acronis drivers, install it with disabled logging, try to create an image once more and see if the problem still persists.

If the problem still persists after checking the hard drive and updating the drivers then please provide us with the following information:

- Create Acronis Report and Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post;

- Let us know if the 250 GB SATA hard drive having the issue can be used as a backup archive location;

- Does the problem appear both when you try to create a disk\partition image and a file-based backup?

- Make a screen shot of Windows Disk Management by following Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management;

- Make a screen shot of the list of hard drives available for imaging shown on the respective step of the Create Backup Wizard;

Please also make a screen shot of the Device Tree application in the way described below:

- Download and unpack the Device Tree application;

- Run the application;

- Completely unfold the \Driver\Disk and \Driver\FtDisk branches;

- Move the margin to the left in order to see all the items;

- Make a screen shot.

II. When your computer is booted from Bootable Rescue CD created with the latest build (3567) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home:

Firstly, try booting with "acpi=off noapic" parameter as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

If that does not help then please create Acronis Report and Linux System Information (sysinfo.txt) as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

Please note that sometimes the sysinfo.txt file is not readable from under Windows. In this case please try entering the file name using capital letters (SYSINFO.TXT) or follow the instructions provided in this previous post of mine.

If you do not have a floppy drive then please take a look at this previous post of mine explaining how to save the sysinfo.txt file to USB flash drive.

Please also provide us with the following information:

- Let us know if the 250 GB SATA hard drive having the issue can be used as a backup archive location;

- Does the problem appear both when you try to create a disk\partition image and a file-based backup?

Please submit a request for technical support. Provide the files and information collected in your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with the solution.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov