Dell E5510 laptop hard drive about to fail - True Image won't clone or backup/restore properly
I have a Dell E5510 laptop and I keep getting an error message in Windows 7 that my hard drive has problems and I should backup the hard drive before it fails. I have tried backing up and restoring the hard drive using Acronis True Image 2010 and now 2013. I have tried cloning and restoring from a backup on a new hard drive and the new hard drive will not boot and the laptop tries to repeatedly "fix" the Windows 7 problems. I have tried cloning with the original hard drive (which boots and runs OK except for the error message) as the "source" hard drive connected using USB and a new hard drive installed in the laptop exactly as described in the knowledge base #2931 article. I have tried restoring a backup from the original hard drive with the new hard drive connected using USB and no matter what I do I get the same problem in that the "new" hard drive will not boot after almost two hours of cloning or restoring. The Dell notebook has the three partitions: hidden diagnostic partition; hidden Dell PC restore partition; and the C: partition.
HELP!
Cloning: Was the old drive disconnected before booting from the new drive?
Imaging: Did you make a complete disk image? True Image will show your disk name in the top box and the partitions it contaisn in the bottom box, if all you see are the partitions listed then you made a partition image rather than a complete disk.
Some Dell laptops use a non standard disk layout, this might also be the cause of your problem, especially if the replacement drive is a different size.
I'll have to recall how that is fixed, but it can be done.
Yes I disconnected the old hard drive before I booted from the new drive.
When I made a backup image I mad a complete image of the entire hard drive and I can see the three partitions it contains.
Cloning: Was the old drive disconnected before booting from the new drive?
Imaging: Did you make a complete disk image? True Image will show your disk name in the top box and the partitions it contaisn in the bottom box, if all you see are the partitions listed then you made a partition image rather than a complete disk.
Some Dell laptops use a non standard disk layout, this might also be the cause of your problem, especially if the replacement drive is a different size.
I'll have to recall how that is fixed, but it can be done.
I am not sure where you are saying to look for the partitions when you say "True Image will show your disk name in the top box and the partitions it contains in the bottom box, if all you see are the partitions listed then you made a partition image rather than a complete disk."
I just started a new Full Disk Backup using the True Image 2013 boot disk. For the Source Disk I clicked on the Dell drive which then checked off all three partitions that were shown below it:
NTFS (OS) (C:) Pri 282.9GB capacity 195.3 GB used space NTFS
NTFS (Recovery) (D:) Pri, Act. 15.15 GB capacity 6.56 GB used space NTFS
FAT16 (unlabeled) (V:) Pri 39.19 MB 9.089 MB FS: FAT16 Partition: OxDE
I am backing up to a WD Passport USB external hard drive.I will check it in the morning when the backup is done to see what I have and try restoring to a new Seagate hard drive that I will install in the Dell laptop
Check out Grovers guides for 2013 in the links to the left of the forum, he has a picture of the difference between the partiton selection view and a disk view. TIh 2013 defaults (annoyingly) to partition imaging and you have to deliberately select complete disk.
The only difference between a complete disk image and an image that just contains (in your case) three partitions is that one contains the MBR and disk signature and active flag, the other one doesn't.
I tried exactly what GroverH recommended using recovering each partition individually and it doesn't work. There has to be something with using Acronis True Image 2013 with Dell laptop hard drives that Acronis can not deal with. I have spent three days trying to make this work and it doesn't! I have tried every recommendation that I can find and ATI 2013 and 2010 does not work! I want my money back for three licenses for ATI 2013! If they want my support they need to provide explicit instructions for making it work with Dell Laptop computers that have three partitions. When I tried to do each partition individually in the end there was no opportunity to even check "Recover Disk Signature" in the final step. The Acronis User Guide is terrible and the GroverH information is much clerer but still does not make it work on Dell laptops!
There has to be something with using Acronis True Image 2013 with Dell laptop hard drives that Acronis can not deal with. I have spent three days trying to make this work and it doesn't!
I have not found that to be the case. I have backed up and restored a few Dell laptops.
There has to be something with using Acronis True Image 2013 with Dell laptop hard drives that Acronis can not deal with. I have spent three days trying to make this work and it doesn't!I have not found that to be the case. I have backed up and restored a few Dell laptops.
GroverH and the Acronis manual recommend that you restore one partition at a time and in no case restore the MBR until the very last step. What steps did you use to restore ? I tried recovering the whole drive at once as you suggested and it did not work. The computer will not boot and Windows 7 keeps trying to repair itself. I also tried cloning using TIH2013 and that did not work either. The original hard drive boots with no problem but I get the "Windows has detected a hard disk problem" and that I should backup immediately.
I made the backups with the original hard drive installed in the Dell laptop connected to USB external hard drives. I have been doing the recovery with the new hard drive in the Dell laptop connected to the USB hard drives containing the backups.
Here is what I have to recover on a WD 320GB hard drive from my Dell E5510 laptop according to Acronis True Image 2013:
MBR
1. FAT16 (unlabeled) (V:) Primary 39.19MB Capacity 9.089MB Used NTFS
2. NTFS (Recovery) (D:) Primary, Active 15.15GB Capacity 6.56GB Used NTFS
3. NTFS (OS) (C:) Primary 282.9GB Capacity 195.3GB Used NTFS
This is the same 1,2,3 order and characteristics as shown for the original hard drive in Windows 7 Computer Management - although Computer Management does not show drive letters for the FAT16 and Recovery partitions.
Using GroverH's "Restore a TIH2012 Backup to a larger or smaller disk" I used his precise steps to recovery to a new Seagate 500GB hard drive (mounted in the Dell laptop) which I ran the "New Drive " step on. I first recover the FAT 16 partition, then I recover the Recovery partition , then the C: partition and finally the MBR. The first time that I recovered the MBR I was able to check the "Recover Disk Signature". The next time from a different backup there was no option to check the "Recover Disk Signature" option when recovering the MBR.
I have several backups. The backup partitions shown shown above were made using the recovery DVD made using TIH2013 to a Western Digital Passport USB external drive and note that in TIH2013 it shows that the FAT16 and Recovery partitions had been assigned a drive letter. I have another backup made using TIH2010 from Windows 7 (not from a recovery DVD) and and the FAT16 and Recovery partitions were not assigned a drive letter.
Here are my questions:
1) is this the correct order for the partions?
2) why are drive letters assigned to FAT16 and Recovery partitions in one backup using the TIH2013 recovery disk and not in the backup made using TIH3013 run in Windows 7? Should there be drive letters assigned for the FAT16 and Recovery partitions? Could the assignment of drive letters to those two partitions be causing problems in the recovery steps?
3) how come I could not check the "Recover disk signature" when recovering from the backup made using TIH2010 in Windows 7?
4) Do the partitions have the correct Primary and Active types assigned to them? During the recovery of the FAT16 partition the "Active" was the default for a Primary partition and could not be changed. Why is the Recovery partition shown as Primary and Active while the C: partition is not? I admit that I don't quite understand the designations of Primary and Active.
Hopefully someone can help me fix my problem.
Did you always create full disk mode backups (switching to the mode that allows you to select the whole disk, rather than partitions)?
I clicked the source disk for the backup which puts checks next to all the partitions on the original harddrive. Is there another "full disk mode"? Right now I am attempting to restore from a Windows 7 image using the Windows 7 repair disk. I did notice that a restoration using ATIH2013 that I did last night showed a "restored" hard drive with the OS listed as the D: drive and not a C: drive. It would not boot either. As you can tell I am a novice at this.
Arthur,
I don't have time to fully comment on this thread, but the disk selection screen when booting to the True Image Rescue Media is the correct location to select the entire disk. It does show all the partitions on your disk. Just be sure to check the box next to the disk you wish to backup, and all the partitions should be selected for you.
The drive letters shown while booted to the True Image 2013 Linux based Rescue Media are not always the same as the Windows drive letter designations. You would need to be sure to select the correct disk/partitions based on the volume labels and disk/partition characteristics.
http://kb.acronis.com/content/1537
http://kb.acronis.com/content/1519
My guides are guides--not the one and only definitive way to have a successful restore. This works for most but may not work for all. If plan A does not work, then try a plan B, if necessary try a plan C, and if necessary try a plan D. The objective is find what will work for you and your computer.
a. As you have used your new disk several times, be sure that the "Add Disk" option is used every time there is existing data on the new disk--from a prior fail.
b. Another option you may have to try is to pre-format the new disk on a Windows 7 computer. This might be needed (not normally) if your new 500 disk is the new Advanced Format (AF) disk. If you do do this, all you need is a very small partition which can be done very quickly. Do NOT use the "add disk" option if your pre-create this single small partition.
c. As the procedure you have tried have not worked, most certainly you can try the "disk option" restore. We can correct partition sizes later if size corrections needed. A disk option restore offers the best chance of success but may require later size corrections.
d. If the "Recover disk Signature" does not appear as an option, you either missed the option or your backup was not a "disk option" backup. Backups can be created when booted from the CD but the old source disk needs to be installed inside the commputer when a backup is created. Suggest you look again for this setting. Reboot from the CD and simulate the same recovery steps again. You should find the "Recover Disk signature" opiton on the same screen where you select the 500 disk. It is practice until you reach the PROCEED or CANCEL option. The summary page shows what settings are being implementes. Click the Cancel option if practicing.
e. Partition settings:
1. FAT16 (unlabeled) (V:) Primary 39.19MB Capacity 9.089MB Used NTFS
2. NTFS (Recovery) (D:) Primary, Active 15.15GB Capacity 6.56GB Used NTFS
3. NTFS (OS) (C:) Primary 282.9GB Capacity 195.3GB Used NTFSThis is the same 1,2,3 order and characteristics as shown for the original hard drive in Windows 7 Computer Management -
As this is what is specific for your computer, these are the correct settings for yours. Is is up to user to make sure the these settings are implemented (user corrections if necessary) by the restore. At times the program settings can be wrong and user must override to get the correct settings. The correct settings will be supplied if a "disk option" restore is used. Versus, if user is restoring each partition singly, the user must make sure (in your situation) that partitions are restored in this sequence and that the Recovery partition is marked as ACTIVE,
1. FAT16 (unlabeled) Primary 39.19MB Capacity 9.089MB
2. NTFS (Recovery) Primary, Active 15.15GB Capacity 6.56GB NTFS
3. NTFS (OS) (Primary 282.9GB Capacity 195.3GB
Ignore drive letters and match by partition description and sizes.
Upoon completion of the total restore. Shutdown and reboot with only the 500 attached.
f. If all else still fails, another option to try would be to restore the computer via the Dell Recovery Disk or Partition so the 500 disk is set to factory specs. Then you could restore only Drive C via a current backup to get yourself current again.
g. Another possible option would be to use the Clone method but use the Manual method plus use the "as is" option to make the 500 exactly like the old disk. Afterwards, the Drive C OS partition could be expanded to the correct size.
h. Your objective is to find something that works that gets you a bootable 500. If partition size adjustments are needed, these can be done afterwards.
I. MVP Tuttle has successfully restore several DELL computers so he can be of immense help. I have no access to a Dell computer.
j. One a restore has been completed and if it fails, the Windows Installation Recovery Disk can be used to perform a Windows Repair and this repair may be necessary to be repeated a couple times as the repair only does one fix per repair.
I don't have time to fully comment on this thread, but the disk selection screen when booting to the True Image Rescue Media is the correct location to select the entire disk. It does show all the partitions on your disk. Just be sure to check the box next to the disk you wish to backup, and all the partitions should be selected for you.
The drive letters shown while booted to the True Image 2013 Linux based Rescue Media are not always the same as the Windows drive letter designations. You would need to be sure to select the correct disk/partitions based on the volume labels and disk/partition characteristics.
http://kb.acronis.com/content/1537
http://kb.acronis.com/content/1519
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James,
I have done exactly what should be done regarding disk selection and chose the partitions for recovery and sequence based on labels and characteristics. I have tried almost everything that I can think of including a Windows 7 repair from a Windows 7 image. No luck with any of my attempts.
Right now I am doing a Recovery to the new hard drive from the Dell Backup and Recovery Manager. If this works I think that the computer will be back to where it was when I bought it in January of 2011 and I will need to reload all my applications and recovery Outlook pst file and documents.
I am doing a Recovery to the new hard drive from the Dell Backup and Recovery Manager. If this works I think that the computer will be back to where it was when I bought it in January of 2011 and I will need to reload all my applications and recovery Outlook pst file and documents.
Yes, that's correct. Dell Recovery restores the computer to factory state, so exactly as you received it from Dell.
Arthur,
Make a backup of your system right away using the Acronis Rescue Media directly after doing the Dell restore.
You could then test the Acronis restore, and if all goes well with that, you could keep the backup copy for later use if you ever need to revert back to the factory installation again. (It would be much quicker to restore the Acroinis image then to use the Dell recovery utilities.)
When reloading a system from factory recovery partitions or recovery disks, I make several full disk backups as I go. One right after the recovery, another after applying all the Windows Updates, and then one after installing all of the apps and utilities I plan to use. After that one, I then add my data and create yet another one. This give me several different recovery scenarios to choose from if I need to start over again.
Arthur,
You DO NOT indicate whether the factory fresh restore was to the old disk or new disk? Hopefully, it was to the new 500 disk.
I agree with James & Tuttle about the need for having a backup of your factory fresh setup and this is something you should keep.
HOWEVER, the re-installation of all the programs again should (may) not be necessary.
You can now try using your prior current backup and restore only the Drive C OS partition which would bring your system back as it was at time of recent current backup. A pdf showing how to restore C only is at the link below as item #3.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/29618
The Dell factory fresh restore was to the new 500GB hard drive and not to the old hard drive. The Dell Windows 7 recovery worked and I am now reinstalling the applications and moving my documents onto the new hard drive. I will save the old hard drive as is. I decided to throw in the towel on using ATIH2013 to restore the original hard drive including the C: OS partition. I am afraid that there might be something wrong with the C: partition on the old hard drive (even though it does boot and work but with the Windows hard drive warning during the boot cycle) and whatever is wrong is causing problems with the restoration. I had noticed that the old hard drive was not updating correctly when Windows Updates were available.
I plan to do backups as I progress with the installation of the apps.
Just some food for thought:
Dell Recovery partition is useful only to restore the PC to its original factory state. Once you begin installing software and using the computer, such a restore is much less useful and much less appealing.
I removed my Dell Recovery partition and thus freed up almost 20 GB of disk space. But, first I used Dell's backup utility to create the Dell Recovery image to a USB flash drive (you could also choose three DVD-R disks), which could be used restore to Dell factory state if I ever sold the PC. I also moved boot files from Recovery partition to the OS partition.
But, with ATI, the Dell Recovery disks aren't even necessary if you use ATI to create a pre-boot backup image. I also did that (belt and suspenders).