One click restore on USB

Peter,

This question comes up from time to time. TI doesn't support this feature directly. However, I was able to get it working with previous versions of TI (10, 11 and Echo). I have not tried my method with TI 2009. I did not release the method for several reasons, mainly that it only works under very strict conditions and it can be problematic.

• Can you boot to the TI CD (in Full Mode) and create a backup image, saving it directly to the flashdrive?
• Can TI Full Mode (from the CD) successfully validate the image on the flashdrive?
• Can you then start a restore in Windows, selecting the image on the flashdrive and have TI reboot and restore it successfully?
• Do you only need to restore the Windows partition (not the entire drive)?

If any of these questions are a No, then it won't work. Again, I haven't tried it with TI 2009, so it may not work at all. I may give it a test run and see what happens.

Hi MudCrab

Thank you for your fast response.

I haven't got the CD only trialling the download. I have installed TI on a UMPC machine then did a full backup of the disk image onto a USB key. In the instructions it says that if backing up to removable media it has the option to make it bootable and use the full version or the one-click version of the TI recovery. This it didn't seem to do when I did the backup. It only made the backup image. I then used the tools option "Create bootable resue media". This then successfully made the key bootable, but only with the full version. I can re-image the machine with the full version, but because the native screen height is 480 pixels, most of the windows you cannot see the buttons (Next, Cancel etc). If you manage to slide a window far enough up the screen you can just make the buttons out and can successfully do a restore.

I was hoping the one-click option would make the task easier as all I am trying to do is backup and restore a complete disk image.

Cheers

Peter

One-Click Restore will only work with CD/DVD media. Complete disk images are a one-shot thing when setup to auto-restore and, as such, are not very useful.

Does you UMPC have a screen "sliding" feature? Something that will let you scroll the screen around if the resolution is larger than what can be displayed?

Hi MudCrab

Thank you again for the info. I guessed that might be the case so will try it later tonight on a DVD.

Once other odd thing. When I do the restore from USB, the image size is 40GB, but the machine I'm reimaging has a 160GB drive, so instead of the restore using all the space it leaves 120GB as unallocated. Is there an option to make the restore use the whole disk? Apart from that the product looks really good.

Cheers

Peter

One-Click Restore will only restore the disk image as it was saved. If you want the partition sized changed, you'll need to do it before you create the One-Click Restore backup.

If you're running Vista, you can use Disk Management to enlarge the partition.

Otherwise, you can restore the image using TI and the resize option. When you do the restore, make sure to only check the Windows partition's checkbox. You will then get the option to resize it.

Are there known problems with One-click?  I have a ~10 GB hard drive that I need a quick way to restore in testing and I burn the image to a DVD using the one-click option.  When I attempt to restore it boots but does not recognize the restore image.  If i put both one-click and the full bootable restore along with the image file i can restore using the full bootable image but the one-click. 

My creation is straight forward.  I set the default to one-click and create the full disk restore image to a DVD.  It says the image was created successfully.  Windows explorer shows the file on the DVD.  Any pointers will be appreciated.

That seems odd that the Full Mode version can read the image correctly but the One-Click version can't. They should be the same.

Do you have another DVD drive you can try? Sometimes TI has problems reading from certain drives. You could also try a different brand of media.

When you created the One-Click-Restore DVD, was it from Windows or when booted to the TI CD? One way may work better than the other.

 Sorry for the delay as I was TDY.

I created the one-click-restore from windows.  I can try using the TI CD.  I have also installed on another computer that I have good results from in writing CD/DVD that can be read from other other computers.

My process is as follows based on the need to completely restore a small hard drive after running a small set of highly automated tests.

1. I attach a small hard drive from a laptop that I want to clone through a USB port on my workstation which appears as  Drive G:

2. I have the one-click-restore option set under multimedia.

3. I start Acronis select drive G: as the source and the DVD drive as the destination.

4. Acronis creates the file ~2.9 GB on the DVD.

5. I then attempt to restore the system on the laptop using the drive that was attached as G:

6. The one-click-restore boots up and flashes what appears to be an error message for maybe one or two seconds and then the full restore image appears.

7. I then get the message it does not recognize the image file.

8. How can I look at the message that goes away so quickly?

I have verified the image file.  The full restore image always works.  It is always restoring the exact same hardware.  The Acronis process is so simple and easy to understand and is the perfect solution for me.  Are there success stories of it working?  Obviously I am here because it does not work for me.

If the source drive is directly connected to the computer instead of via USB, does it have the same problem?

Is the Full Mode version you use the exact same one that the installed version of TI puts on the CD? It's not an updated ISO or build from Acronis that has different driver support?

If you have a digital camera, you can try to take picture of the error message. I've had to do that before and it generally works well, though it may take several times to get a good one.