Restore changes drive letter; won't boot.

I have a backup created from True Image 7.0.638 running under Windows XP Pro.

I am attempting to restore this backup to a new drive using a recovery disk created by True Image Home 9.0.3677. (I don't have a recovery disk for 7.0.638 because the computer in question does not have a CDRW drive. I don't have a recovery disk for the latest 9.0.x because the installer fails on the computer with the TIH 9 license.)

The original system configuration I am attempting to restore is as follows:
Partition 1: extended (with Linux logical partitions that are beyond the scope of this issue)
Partition 2: (unused)
Partition 3: Windows XP Pro (boots from boot.ini file in partition 4)
Partition 4: Windows 2000 Pro (active partition containing NTLDR)

Both Windows 2000 Pro and Windows XP Pro have partition 4 as drive C:, and partition 3 as drive D:.

I have been able to restore the Windows 2000 Pro partition as drive C: (although I had to create dummy partitions 2 and 3 in order to force Acronis to restore to partition 4). This partition boots.

My problem is with the Windows XP Pro partition. True Image insists on renaming this partition to C:, no matter what I try. When I restore in this manner, the OS boot attempts hang, even in Safe Mode.

Am I SOL? Is there no way to configure True Image to restore the Windows XP Pro partition maintaining the original D: drive letter? (I find it unnerving that I have been backing up these partitions using True Image for all of these years, only to learn that recovery is impossible.)

 

get a "boot corrector" (it's a free software inside the rescue kit 9.0 express bootcd) and just change the "partition ID" that should do the trick. That's how I fix "partition ID" drive letter problems.

Windows xp has to keep the "mounted devices" drive letter you see C: , it's best not to change that. You will be changing the underlying "partition ID" drive letter so that they both match.

The "boot corrector" can fix you up.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=237785

 

jonyjoe81:

I tried "boot corrector". It hangs examining the disk. (Perhaps it is confused by the Linux RAID mirror sets containing RiserFS filesystems in the extended partition.)

Windows XP Pro was originally installed as drive letter D:. It's best not to change that.

 

When you're restoring your XP partition, are you selecting Primary as the partition type or Active?

The Windows 2000 partition should remain the Active partition since it holds the booting files.

When you boot to the TI CD and do a restore, the drive letters don't mean anything. TI running in Linux can't/won't change the Windows assignments. It just uses letters because that's what people are used to seeing. Many times those letters don't match what Windows sees because Linux doesn't use drive letters and the assignments are not performed using the same rules.

Can you mount the XP Registry when booted into Windows 2000? If so, you could probably clear the MountedDevices key and force XP to reassign drive letters when it's booted. This post has an example. In your case, you'd just be editing the registry on another partition (boot into Windows 2000 and start at Step 3).

When XP boots, it should assign C: to the Active partition and D: should go to the next partition (the XP partition).

 

RandyC,

This could be of interest too as you want WinXP to be D: drive.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=174958#20

 

Problem solved

Brian K,

Thanks for the information; this was exactly what I needed.

Following those instructions, I found that drives C: and D: were reversed in Registry. Fixing this resolved the issue.

MudCrab,

Your comments regarding Primary vs. Active partitions are correct.

This appears to be incorrect. The restore process had changed the serial numbers of the drive letter assignments, which is necessary. Consistent with the Operation Summary of the Restore Wizard, the partition that was D: in the backup set was renamed to C: on disk. Unfortunately TI 9 assigned the drive letters incorrectly, and did not give the user the option of correcting it. (I have no way of knowing whether this is fixed in the current version.)

Also, Windows 2000 Pro SP 4 will not load a Windows XP hive. (I tried.)

 

Re: Problem solved

I don't feel the information is incorrect, but I could have explained it in more detail. When you boot to TI and it shows drive letters and you're selecting to restore to a certain drive letter, TI is not making any drive letter changes. As I said, they mean nothing to Linux.

When I said TI running in Linux can't/won't change the Windows assignments., I meant that what it shows and the selection you use mean nothing to the final Windows restore -- nothing in the restored Windows partition is changed because of restoring a D: Windows partition to a Linux C: partition. What I should have said is that TI running in Linux doesn't directly change the Windows drive letter assignments. It can certainly cause Windows to reassign letters, but that is a function of Windows. If your original Windows partition had been G: and you restored it to the Linux C: assigned partition, Windows (when booted) would still have done the reassignments just as it did with the D: to C: restore.

Problems like these are one of the main reasons I don't like using any letter other than C: for the Windows partition.

I wondered if that would be the case.