Starting Acronis Loader... Fronzen until...Solution Please

Hi

I had installed Acronis Disk Director Suite V10 on my desktop computer just to reformat and partition an external hard disk that belongs to my brother (120 GB).

I think during the trials to re-format the external drive, I made that drive the Active partition (although it is completely blank now). Now, everytime I start the computer, I get the "Starting Acronis Loader..." and then the computer freezes. I tried to boot with a floppy, but that get frozen. I tried to boot with the Windows installation CD, but that goes into nowhere as well as the screen just turns black with no prompt until I re-boot again.

I think I damaged the Master Boot Record, and now I cannot boot the computer. How can I fix the MBR if I cannot even get access to the DOS prompt using floppy disk for disk boot.

I did not make a bootable CD when I installed the software. I also installed previously, Acronis True Image and had made an image of the whole drives on a separate external Hard drive but also I did not make a bootable CD for that as well.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Khalid_1

 

What Windows is it (XP, Vista, etc.)?

Did you install Acronis OS Selector?

When you tried to boot from your Windows CD, did you make sure the CD/DVD drive was selected as the first boot device in the computer's BIOS?

Just creating a partition on an external drive, formatting it and making it active should not cause any of the problems you're experiencing.

 

Hi MudCrab

Thanks for your reply.
The OS system is Windows XP and I did install the OS Selector but I did not go through it or execute it as I choose the complete installation, which mean as you know, all the applications.

I unplugged the hard disk and gave it to our tech support in the company where I work to see if he can do anything. He installed the drive in a Dell Computer as the Primary device and guess what? The computer booted and gave an error that there is unvalid MBR (Master Boot Record). Furthermore, he inserted a windows XP installation CD and that started immediately with the Recovery Con but I was stopped when I received the message when I tried to use the command (Fix MBR) as it gave me a warning that the partition tables maybe damaged if I use the command, which is a scary thing.

I said to my self at least I will wait until I see if I get any pointers from the Acronis Support or someone who had been there and had the same error. I am sure the solution is simple. I came home and installed the hard disk again and tried the same CD the Tech Support had which he lent me for trials during this long weekend we are going to have and guess what? The system started with Starting Acronis Loader...>>>> nothing new and the CD does not boot, even once I go through the bios changes to make the CD is the first boot.

Any thoughts on how to overcome this problem of freezing? No Boot floppy disk nor bootable CD works in the computer anymore.

Regards,
Khalid

 

Doing a complete install of DD does not automatically install OSS. You have to run the OSS installation after DD is installed (or run it from the DD CD).

The booting problem on your computer does not sound OSS related. It sounds like there's something wrong with the computer. It should boot from the CD drive if that is first in the BIOS boot order.
Does the CD boot if you have the hard drive disconnected?
Does the CD boot if the hard drive is removed from the boot list?
Do you have a backup of the drive (a True Image backup, for example)?

Fixing the MBR with the XP recovery console shouldn't cause a problem, unless something happened to the partition table that resulted in it becoming corrupted. Normally, OSS does not bother with the partition table, only the MBR. I haven't used the fixmbr command before so I don't know if that's a "generic" warning or if it really thinks it will screw something up.

If you had made a DD CD that included OSS, you could probably uninstall OSS that way and restore your old MBR. Of course you'd have to be able to boot to a CD.

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In the PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST sticky in the TI forum, there's a link to download an ISO file to create a bootable CD to fix the MBR. If you can figure out how to get your computer to boot to a CD, you could try that and see if it will repair the MBR to a bootable state.

 

Hi

Thanks for your valuable insight.
When I boot with Windows XP Original CD, I can see the light on the CD drive coming on, then I get the messege saying "Press anykey to boot from CD..." and if I press any key then I get the message saying "Setup is inspecting your Computer's hardware configuations..." and then it becomes black and nothing happens and I have to re-boot.

Does the CD boot if you have the hard drive disconnected?
Yes once I uplug the power connector to the drive, the computer boots to the CD, but if the hard disk is connected, seems like there is a protection preventing the Boot CD from being executed.

Does the CD boot if the hard drive is removed from the boot list?
Yes, it does boot cause once I remove the power connector to the hard drive, the boot CD runs okay and Windows XP Pro Setup blue menu started. The problem is that I cannot use the Recovery Console (by pressing R) cause the drive is already disconnected.

Do you have a backup of the drive (a True Image backup, for example)?
I made a backup on an external hard drive using True Image Backup but I did not make the Boot CD for True Image, plus I have new information since I made the backup on the drive that is facing problems.

I am thinking of replacing this hard drive with another hard disk and then install windows on it (on the new one) and once I do that, I will install the problematic hard drive as a secondary drive and try to import all the information on it to the new drive. This is the case I could not find an easier solution in couple of days.

"If you had made a DD CD that included OSS, you could probably uninstall OSS that way and restore your old MBR. Of course you'd have to be able to boot to a CD. "

I did not make CD for Disk Director with OSS. I wish I did but I thought I may never need it (little that I knew then) as I never had that situation before (Murphy law is really showing off that what I did not do was not a smart thing after all).

Any thoughts?

Regards,
Khalid_1

 

This means that your computer IS booting from the CD drive correctly. The hangup is when Windows is trying to find hard drives.

If a Knoppix CD would boot, you could look at the drive at see if the partition is intact.

This is a good idea. Another option would be to put the drive in an external USB enclosure and connect it to another computer. However, having it connected directly may work better.

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I would try and get the data off the drive, if at all possible, before you try fixing anything. If you get the drive connected as a slave/secondary drive (or to another computer via USB), and Windows and TI will recognize it okay, then you might consider creating another backup image of the drive. Then make sure you can mount the new backup image and copy files out successfully. You would also be able to copy files directly off the drive. That way you would have two copies.

It's possible that the MBR/Partition table is messed up and they would have to be fixed before you'll be able to access anything. If the MBR fix makes the partition(s) becoming corrupted, you may be able to recover the partition using DD's Partition Recovery Wizard.

It's also possible that running the MBR fix will be all that's needed and the drive will work properly.

 

Hi

You would never guess what happen? (of course you won't else you would have a crystal ball). I disconnected the second hard disk and re-connected the problematic drive as secondary drive (no primary now). Of course the computer BIOS can see only hard drive (in this case, its the problamtic drive) and it boots normally and I get all the information. I immediately tried to learn from my lesson and I immediately fired up Acronis DD and made a bootable CD using the program. After that, I re-booted the computer with the Bootable CD from Acronis which I just made to have all the information (including DD and True Image info - safe and full versions) but I got the dreadfull " Starting Acronis Loader..." and nothing happens as the computer just hangs up and I have to re-boot.

I did that couple of times, and then on the 3rd time, I just removed the bootable CD (which is not booting at all) and then the computer again booted normally. This is of course in the absance of the second hard drive. I will try later to play with the drive. It seemed like something happened - or I did something - that made a conflict with the second drive.

Thanks alot for your comments.
You are great.

Regards,
Khalid

 

Two hard drives both set on "Master" or "Slave"?

 

Not really. One is set as Master and the other on slave (from the hardware plug in the back of the drives) and had been okay for more than a year now and the computer bios identifies them as such. It was not until I formatted my bro external hard disk through DD that the problem of Freezing started and if it was not for the discussion I had on the board with MudCrab I would not come to this solution that was just by accident actually.