Unable to manage Secure Zone in TI10-Vista

I'm posting here because I got no reply on contacting Acronis directly.
I am using the latest build of True Image 10 with Vista 32.
Because I want to change the way I update my system drive image I want to delete Secure Zone and make a fresh start to the image history.
When I attempted to run the delete secure zone task the first parts of it appeared to go okay and then it requested a reboot.
For the first attempt BIOS ran normally and then I got a screen saying that Acronis loader was starting -- please wait but nothing happened. I do not have Acronis loader installed since previously this made my system unbootable and anyway I have no need of it -- preferring to do a recovery using that the bootable CD. After a long wait with absolutely nothing happening I powered off and rebooted into Windows Vista -- nothing had happened to my Acronis secure zone.
My second attempt at the delete secure zone task BIOS ran normally and then I got a completely blank screen. Following a power off and reboot Acronis secure zone was still there.
It seems I can't manage my secure zone which is very worrying.
I daren't try again.
Any help appreciated.
Phil

 

Have you tried booting from the TI CD and starting TI to manage the SZ?

When TI is running in Windows and it has to reboot, it takes over the booting from Windows. That is why the "Acronis loading..." screen. TI has to boot into Linux to do the procedure.

You may have better success booting from the TI CD and using either the Full (Linux-based) or Safe (DOS-based) version.

 

TI does not affect the BIOS chip, it rewrites the Master Boot Record if you select to activate the acronis startup manager and this should allow you to press F11 during the startup AFTER any BIOS operations.
Am I wrong in this Mudcrab?
If the Acronis loader starts immediately on startup that might mean your BIOS setting is to boot from CD/DVD before the hard drive and finds an Acronis disc in there.
I don't know Vista at all so what i've said may well be irrelavent.

 

The BIOS and boot order is not changed by TI needing to reboot. However, TI has to "hook" into the booting process so that TI can start instead of Windows. (I've never actually checked it if modifies the MBR or the boot sector, but I assume as least the boot sector gets changed.) At this point, the Acronis loader takes over and TI runs. If something goes wrong, the loader may not be reset correctly back to Windows.

Personally, I prefer to do any procedures that require a reboot by booting directly to my TI CD/Flashdrive instead of starting in Windows.

On some DD operations that require a reboot, I think it hooks into the Windows boot process like chkdsk does. However, I don't think TI works like this.

 

Thanks for the posts -- I have tried using the bootable CD but get to the screen with the Acronis logo and "loading, please wait..." and then it hangs.
Seems the Acronis loader is missing or corrupt but I don't know how to fix that.
Any ideas? Thanks.
Phil

 

For the Full Mode version on the CD, have you tried the quiet acpi=off noapic option detailed in Section II of the PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST thread?

Have you tried the Safe Mode version of TI?

 

Hello Philip Duke,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please make sure you use the latest build (4942) of Acronis True Image 10.0 Home. To get access to updates you should first register your software. Don't forget to recreate Acronis Bootable Rescue Media after updating.

If updating doesn't solve the problem, please collect some information to let us investigate it thoroughly:

Please create Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

Then submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to 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 a solution.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

This is a reply to MudCrab -- sorry if I wasn't clear -- with the TI CD I don't get as far as any usable screen. After BIOS I get a screen Saying "Acronis Loading, please wait... That's it, as nothing happens after that. So I haven't been able to get as far as your suggestions.
I also realise I'm sitting on a bomb since I would be unable to run any recovery if needed.
I have sebt a report file to Acronis but don't have any response yet. The current ticket is #1286086.
And in reply to Acronis -- please see the original post -- I am using the latest build.
Any ideas?
Regards, Phil

 

You may need the Acronis ISO with the alternate loader. Support has provided it to others where the regular one won't boot. However, this won't fix the problem of doing procedures in Windows that require a reboot since it would still use the "old" loader.

Another option is to create either a BartPE or VistaPE boot CD/Flashdrive and use that instead of the Acronis CD.

 

Thanks - I got a link for the latest ISO from Acronis but get exactly the same hang on bootup.
I appreciate the suggestion for Vista PE but this looks way out of my comfort zone and above my pay grade. I think I could dig a deep hole with that.
I wonder if using the Vista DVD to do a bootfix would help. I could follow that with an uninstall/reinstall of TI10. Is that likely to fix it?
I'm also waiting on a response from Acronis on the info file I sent after using the "report" utility.
Regards, Phil