WARNING Snap Restore erased my hard drive... TI 9.0.0.2289

I spent the better part of the day installing Win XP and all of my apps on my work computer and had it configured just the way I wanted...

10 GB C:\WinXP
25 GB D:\My Documents
5 GB Secure zone

I rebooted my system and hit F11 to boot into TI 9.0.0.2289 to make an image of my C:\ drive in the secure zone. Well the image was made fine in around 25 minutes... It did take a long time, but it is an older computer. After creating the image, I ran Image Check and the image was fine.

So I next went to restore the image back to my C:\ drive and when I first selected restore I saw Snap Restore. I totally had no idea about this feature and was intrigued. So I selected it and hit next. Then I got to “choose a location to restore to” and all I saw as 35 GB unallocated and the secure zone. Befuddled, I canceled that and then went back and attempted to do a regular restore. Again all I saw was unallocated space and the secure zone.

I am not sure if trying to use the snap restore erased the original 2 partitions, or if it was done during the original image creation process. It really is not a big deal as long as I do still have the image in the secure zone and don't have to start all over again. I am running Disk Director to remake the 2 original partitions so I can restore to C:\ and not have my drive letters all screwed up.

Well I found out that is Snap Restore that is erasing the other partitions. I made the partitions and then rebooted hitting F11 to start TI and I saw my new partitions in the folder tree on the left... So that was fine. Then I selected restore and again opted to try the snap restore. Well it didn't work again... I then tried to do a regular restore, but my newly made partitions were gone yet once again.

Has anyone gotten snap restore to work? I am thankful that this was a new install on my work PC and not my personal PC. My personal PC has several partitions on the main drive for my document, music, digital picture, movies, and my various projects. If I had lost them, I would have flipped out. Most of my stuff is backed up, except stuff from the last month or so.

I was finally satisfied with build 2289 and thought the bugs were gone. Guess I was wrong. This was the first real application I have done with this build and it FAILED... SHOCKER!

So if you plan on using it on your system, A WORD OF CAUTION... Back up everything first or you will be sorry!

Well I'm going to try this again... I'll report back with my findings.

 

Re:WARNING Snap Restore erased my hard drive...

Well I selected regular restore this time and it is currently restoring partition C:\. It says 36 minutes to restore and the image is only 2 GB. That is way longer than it ever took on any of my other machines... I'll have to manually add the folders to the D:\My Documents since I didn't intend on imaging that partition because I wanted to be able to keep my files and settings seperate from the main image.

So I guess I'll have to go back to an older version TI 8. Its a good thing I didn't delete the old downloads when I upgraded.

Any comments by Acronis support

 

Post by trustedacronis has been removed, you have been warned before, continuous bashing of ANY Support Forum software will not be tolerated, it is a SUPPORT forum, not your personal vendetta playground to stomp your feat in.

Blackspear.

 

Well I am really bummed about this Snap Restore issue... I was reading the [URL="http://download.acronis.com/pdf/TrueImage9.0_ug.en.pdf/]TI 9.0 users guide[/URL] and in section 5.3.3 I saw a warning...

Well that about explains it all... I still am unsure why this feature would be included if it erases the target drive minus the Secure Zone. I personally separate my large hard drive into several partitions for storing various types of files. All of which are backed up pretty regularly to DVD manually. Most of the files are either music or pictures from my digital camera and there is no real need to image those partitions since the data is already backed up. If I were to make an image of my entire 250 GB hard drive, then the image file would be huge and it would take for ever to create and restore. So there is no real need to image the entire drive, just the partitions containing the operating system and the applications.

Acronis needs to change the way that the Snap Restore feature works or make a warning screen after selecting Snap Restore to alert the user that all data on the target hard drive will be lost if continuing with the Snap Restore. At least this would give the user a chance to go back and change their selection to do a regular restore instead, before the hard drive is cleared. As soon as you click next after selecting Snap Restore, it erases all partitions on the target drive. It would be an incredible feature if it were able to restore just one partition with out deleting the remaining partitions of the target drive.

Finally, despite Snap Restore erasing my target drive, it also failed saying the image was bad. Which I know the image is good since I can use it to do a regular restore with out a problem. So I am left once again unsure if TI 9.0.0.2289 has a bug or just a very poorly worded description of the new Snap Restore feature...

I really hope this thread is useful to some of you, since I spent almost all day testing this...

http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/4237/cap0000resize9kk.jpg

The above image shows the poorly worded option for Snap Restore and its description.

 

Thanks for the post. You saved my life just before my first try to use TI9 to restore a image. Is it possible that your image of C: not contains all disk/partitions to be reported as corrupt?

If snap restore may destroy some partition unexpectedly either by a try click or mistake click , is it possible to implement a disable button to let any users who choose NOT to use this dangerous feature can disable it. (Had better disable it by default)

 

quick fix for the next build...

An easy solution to the problem would be to...

http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/8999/cap26ek.jpg

or better yet...

http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/6843/cap37bn.jpg

even beter yet the next screen...

http://img486.imageshack.us/img486/5839/cap47qy.jpg

Dear Acronis,

Can you give me credit for this if used? Pretty please!

 

Yea, the image was just of drive C:\. So that may be why it was reported as corrupt. I am going to make a full image of all the partitions, C:\ and D:\ and see if that makes a difference when using Snap Restore.

I think a warning would do the job nicely, see my post above this...

 

Interesting bit of info.

But come on... why would you really need to even do a snap restore? You can't wait the extra time to do a traditional restore?

 

Realistically, I doubt I would use it. The 5 minutes saved by rushing into the system would more than likely cause some kind of underlining problem. That being said, it is a really cool feature not seen in any other imaging software I have tried or have read about. I didn't even know the feature was there until I used the software today. I have made a few images previously with the other builds of version 9.0 but always had problems so I never went further. Since the release of the latest build 2289, all of the problems I previously had were gone. So I finally got the chance today to test it out to its fullest...

 

My Results:

Well I deleted the Secure Zone (SZ) from within windows and then made a new SZ at 5 GB. I then rebooted and hit F11 to get into the recovery manager. I made a complete image of my hard drive which consisted of two partitions. One at 10GB for Windows XP and the second 25 GB which is linked to my documents folder and would normally contain, you guessed it, my documents.

After the imaging was done, I rebooted to be s safe and again hit F11 to get into the recovery manager. This time I went to recover and selected the Snap Restore option and continued and selected my image in the secure SZ. Wow, and it worked. It accepted the image and didn't report it as corrupt.

The progress indicator stated 19 minutes. Then it said Loading... With in 4 minutes I was back into Windows XP. WOW!, I thought to myself. There was a warning that XP found and installed new hardware and asked if I want to reboot. I of course said no since I was afraid that it would mess up TI.

I opened Word 2003 and it came right up and I was able to type a quick note and save it. So I closed Word and tried Excel. Same thing, I was able to make a quick spread sheet, save it, and close Excel. I tried a few more applications and they all seemed to run fine.

Now for the bad news... I opened "My Computer" and all I saw was C:\ which contains XP and E:\ which is my CD Drive. SO I waited and waited. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 40 minutes, remember the progress time said 19 minutes to restore. I refreshed "My Computer" and still no drive D:\ which is "My Documents". I waited another 10 minutes and still no sign of my missing partition nor a message from TI stating that the restore was completed. I even went to the XP Disk Management Console and only saw C:\ and SZ. Windows did report that c:\ was indeed 10 GB.

So I reboot, once again and allow XP to load. Still no sign of my D:\ drive. So I rebooted and hit F11 to get to the Recovery Manger. This time I selected restore disks or partitions and my C:\ was reported as 35 GB along with the 5 GB SZ. Hmmm? Where did D:\ go? At this point I just did a normal restore of the entire hard drive

PROS:

• Loads the OS fast
• Up and working within minutes
• Applications on the first partition load right away

CONS:

• Partitions beside the OS partition were not mounted
• Inaccessible data to work with
• No progress indicator from with in Windows
• No alert on job completion

Conclusion:

I do have to say the idea is awesome, but there is no real practical use for Snap Restore for the home user. Especially since only the XP partition was restored. Since this is an older PC with only a 40 GB hard drive there was no real need to have made multiple partitions. So on a single hard drive system with one partition Snap Restore would work flawlessly.

The huge draw back is for those of us that have our large drives spilt into smaller partitions each serving its own purpose. The files stored on those partitions are not restored. All of the space is given to the C:\ partition in TI. You'll have to manually go back to TI and install the missing partitions and decrease the size of the C:\ partition. Or just do a regular restore from the beginning and avoid the hassle. Even if Snap Restore did restore additional partitions, like it is supposed to, applications or flies would be inaccessible until that partition is mounted or restored. That in itself would make the system useless until the restoration was complete. Assuming that Snap Restore mounts or restores one partition at a time

The moral of the story:

Stick with the trust and true method of normal restoring. Hopefully Acronis will make some changes to this making it worth a second look. At the least, they need to put in a warning that Snap Restore will erase the hard drive prior to restoring when Snap Restore is selected.

 

dscrap, many thanks for your testing, it will be very useful for many with questions about this new feature.

Cheers

 

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Snap Restore goes on my list of "Fail Dangerous" options that should be avoided.

Unless there is a very specific warning at the time the option is chosen, someone is going to misunderstand and wipe out their most valuable data.

Personally, I put this in the same category as a gun that shoots twice each time you pull the trigger. Wouldn't that create a lot of injuries?

 

Hi John,

Or the default option when creating an Acronis Secure Zone that also activates the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager!!

Regards

 

Re: Image Restore Taking Forever (18 hours so far)

Glad to see there has been a response to this thread by Acronis, its been a week. Any?

 

Has anyone used snap retore in version 9.0.0.2302? Did Acronis add a warning prior to using snap restore?

 

Hello dscrap,

We do apologize for the problem with Acronis Snap Restore being not fixed in the latest build. I have contacted Acronis Development Team and can tell you that it will be fixed in the next build.

Thank you.
--
Irina Shirokova

 

I have upgraded to True Image 9.0.2323 and there is still no warning when using snap restore that the entire drive will be erased. I was told above that this would be fixed in the following builds… Well this is the 2nd update since and there has been no warning or safety check added to the snap restore option.

This poses a huge danger to anyone that is not experienced with the True Image product line. If someone unknowingly uses the snap restore feature and does not have all partitions backed up on the drive, they are going to loose all the remaining data on all non-restore target partitions of the hard drive. This should not be overlooked.

I can understand fixing bugs may take some time to test... This is a simple addition to the code to add a warning or possibly on the next screen a verification to use snap restore stating that the hard drive will be totally erased during the process.

I can not believe that this is being ignored by Acronis... You are opening yourselves up to a lot of unhappy customers. If I were to loose all partitions on my hard drive when attempting to just restore just the operating system partition, I would go nuts. Acronis would have one irate customer on the phone immediately.

FIX IT PLEASE. There is no reason why this hasn’t or can not be easily done.

 

Hello dscrap,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

The requested enhancement will be implemented in the future builds of Acronis True Image 9.0 as soon as possible.

Please accept our apologies for the current inconvenience.

If you want us to change the behaviour of Acronis True Image in any way or add some new features to this product, please feel free to post any of your suggestions in Acronis True Image WISH-LIST thread.

Thank you.
--
Tatyana Tsyngaeva

 

In some of my other posts, Acronis commented that things would be implemented in the next build. Well it never is...

PEOPLE ARE GOING TO ERASE ENTIRE DRIVES ACCIDENTALY IF A WARNING IS NOT IMPLEMENTED WHEN A USER SELECTS SNAP RESTORE.

It still has not been fixed in 9.0.2337. In other posts, Acronis said that a new build would be release shortly... Well that was weeks ago and I doubt that they added a warning, but we'll see if it ever comes out.

 

Hello dscrap,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Actually, the warning message has been implemented in the latest build (2337) of Acronis True Image 9.0 (see the screen shot below). It appears after you press the Proceed button and allows you to cancel the Snap Restore operation without any data loss.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

Re: Image Restore Taking Forever (18 hours so far)

Thats great, but don't you think the warrning should come before the proceed button. It makes no sense to have it afterwards. I didn't hit proceed because I didn't want to erase my hard drive...

 

Re: Image Restore Taking Forever (18 hours so far)

Hello dscrap and everyone interested,

I've forwarded this information to our Development Team. The respective warning message might probably be changed to come up before pressing the Proceed button in the future versions of a particular product as you requested.

Please also note that if you want us to change the behaviour of Acronis True Image in any way or add some new features to this product, please feel free to post any of your suggestions in Acronis True Image WISH-LIST thread.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

Still no warning in TI Home 9.0.3567

There still is no warning in TI Home 9.0.3567 prior to clicking proceed when using Snap Restore that the entire hard disk will be overwritten... Many people are going to loose data on added partitions if they use snap restore. Really, is this such a hard item to add??

 

Are you saying that there is no warning at all?
From reading the reply by Acronis Support I understood there was a warning after you click Proceed.
Is it just that you believe the warning is more appropriate before clicking Proceed?

 

I am not sure if there is a warning after clicking proceed. There was in the last release, but I tested it on a new install of XP with no other partitions present on the drive so I didn't care if it wiped it. If I click proceed and there is no warning, I will wipe my drive. This is what I do not want to do since I currently have multiple partitions on my drive. Thus the need for the warning prior to clicking proceed.

If the warning is after the proceed button, then that is plain old stupid. It should be placed prior to clicking proceed as I noted in the images in previous posts. Many people that are unfamiliar with TI and Snap Restore may think it is a great feature. Having the ability to start using the system while it restores...

Some manufactures add multiple partitions to their systems, Dell and Gateway come to mind. If someone unknowingly ran snap restore, they would loose the other partitions. In the case of Gateway, they install the OS on the first partition and "My Documents" on the second partition which is a very good way to set up a system especially if one is to use an imaging suite. That way the OS can be restored independently of the documents and nothing is lost. Documents are easily backed up with CD or DVD's and there is no real need to image a document folder...

Thanks for posting and I hope others read this and see that there is a MAJOR Danger of loosing important data when using Snap Restore. (DO YOU HEAR ME ACRONIS??)