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How to create a bootable rescue CD

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I have Acronis 2019. I want to create a bootable rescue CD. But it is not clear as to which drive it is going to format. The process simply says "Acronis True Image needs to format your disk". At this point I am leary that it thinks I want to format my USB drive. How can I be sure it is talking about the CD drive?

So I experimented by bringing up the create menu which gives the warning. Then I removed my USB drive and told it to continue. Sure enough it wanted to format my USB drive!!! Then I inserted an SD card and started the process over ... but it did not reference the SD card.

So how do I create either an SD or CD/DVD based rescue system?

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That method almost works.

A problem I ran into here is: if you inadvertently insert a CD you properly get a message saying there is not enough space. But then if you remove the CD and insert a DVD it says "burning disc" but when the progress bar gets to the end it never finishes. Then if you cancel it, it says canceling but that never finishes. Then you can't close the window it won't close and ending the task does not work. And the only way to get rid of that process is to reboot.

That method almost works.

A problem I ran into here is: if you inadvertently insert a CD you properly get a message saying there is not enough space. But then if you insert a DVD it says "burning disc" but when the progress bar gets to the end it never finishes. Then if you cancel it, it says canceling but that never finishes. Then you can't close the window  and ending the task does not work. Finally the only way to get rid of that process is to reboot.

Then I wanted to make a thumb drive rescue media. That seemed to work smoothly but when I tried to boot to it I get "Invalid partition table". So I re-formatted the thumb drive and tried again and got the same message. Here is what is on the thumb drive:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17134.345]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\eddyq>dir g:
 Volume in drive G is RESCUE
 Volume Serial Number is B2E5-C033

 Directory of G:\

11/06/2018  04:10 PM    <DIR>          bg-BG
11/06/2018  04:10 PM    <DIR>          Boot
11/06/2018  04:04 PM           407,254 bootmgr
11/06/2018  04:04 PM         1,256,760 bootmgr.efi
11/06/2018  04:11 PM    <DIR>          cs-CZ
11/06/2018  04:11 PM    <DIR>          da-DK
11/06/2018  04:11 PM    <DIR>          de-DE
11/06/2018  04:11 PM    <DIR>          EFI
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          el-GR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          en-GB
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          en-US
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          es-ES
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          es-MX
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          et-EE
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          fi-FI
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          fr-CA
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          fr-FR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          hr-HR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          hu-HU
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          it-IT
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          ja-JP
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          ko-KR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          lt-LT
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          lv-LV
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          nb-NO
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          nl-NL
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          pl-PL
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          pt-BR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          pt-PT
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          ro-RO
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          ru-RU
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          sk-SK
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          sl-SI
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          sources
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          sv-SE
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          tr-TR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          uk-UA
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          zh-CN
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          zh-TW
               2 File(s)      1,664,014 bytes
              37 Dir(s)     271,335,424 bytes free

C:\Users\eddyq>

That method almost works. But using "Create Acronis Survival Kit" does not work.

Using your method; if you inadvertently insert a CD you properly get a message saying there is not enough space. But then if you insert a DVD it says "burning disc" but when the progress bar gets to the end it never finishes. Then if you cancel it, it says canceling but that never finishes. Then you can't close the window  and ending the task does not work. Finally the only way to get rid of that process is to reboot.

Then I wanted to make a thumb drive rescue media. That seemed to work smoothly but when I tried to boot to it I get "Invalid partition table". So I re-formatted the thumb drive and tried again and got the same message. Here is what is on the thumb drive:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17134.345]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\eddyq>dir g:
 Volume in drive G is RESCUE CD
 Volume Serial Number is B2E5-C033

 Directory of G:\

11/06/2018  04:10 PM    <DIR>          bg-BG
11/06/2018  04:10 PM    <DIR>          Boot
11/06/2018  04:04 PM           407,254 bootmgr
11/06/2018  04:04 PM         1,256,760 bootmgr.efi
11/06/2018  04:11 PM    <DIR>          cs-CZ
11/06/2018  04:11 PM    <DIR>          da-DK
11/06/2018  04:11 PM    <DIR>          de-DE
11/06/2018  04:11 PM    <DIR>          EFI
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          el-GR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          en-GB
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          en-US
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          es-ES
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          es-MX
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          et-EE
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          fi-FI
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          fr-CA
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          fr-FR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          hr-HR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          hu-HU
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          it-IT
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          ja-JP
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          ko-KR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          lt-LT
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          lv-LV
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          nb-NO
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          nl-NL
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          pl-PL
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          pt-BR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          pt-PT
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          ro-RO
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          ru-RU
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          sk-SK
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          sl-SI
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          sources
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          sv-SE
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          tr-TR
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          uk-UA
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          zh-CN
11/06/2018  04:13 PM    <DIR>          zh-TW
               2 File(s)      1,664,014 bytes
              37 Dir(s)     271,335,424 bytes free

C:\Users\eddyq>

Eddy, I would recommend using a USB stick for the Rescue Media as this is more flexible and easier to update as/if needed.

If there is a problem with booting the USB stick, then you should do a full format of the stick as FAT32, as some sticks may still have information from prior use which is not cleaned when just doing a Quick format.

I haven't needed to burn either a CD or DVD for a very long time and don't have any available to test with (as am away at present).

I quit using CD's with Acronis 2017, mostly because laptops nowadays do not have optical drives. But I gave this a try with my desktop, Acronis 20!9, and a CD (not DVD). Main menu /Tools/ Rescue media builder/Choose Creation Method. I selected Simple. A listing of all my drives pops up. Selected DVD drive E and a summary screen popped up listing the target as DVD drive E. Selected "Proceed" and screen shows progress for creation. Completed creation and booted from CD. If Acronis is wanting to format, I'm guessing it is not seeing your DVD drive or disk. Does your drive appear in the "Choose media destination" listing? 

 

I reformatted my USB stick with full format with FAT. Then re-installed the Acronis True Image restore image. But it won't boot. The BIOS says "Invalid Partition Table". I have a DELL e6440 with the latest BIOS and I'm running Windows 10. If you think that FAT32 would be better, I'll try that.

Eddy, what size is your USB stick here?  It should be formatted as FAT32 to be bootable and be less than 32GB in size - as low as 2GB is fine. 

I formatted it as FAT32 fully but that didn't help. But then I figured out the problem ... format (at least on W10) marks the partition as Primary but doesn't mark it as Active. After formatting you have to right click on the partition then click "Mark Partition as Active".

Eddy, is this a USB stick or is it a USB hard drive? Normally formatting a USB stick doesn't need extra actions to mark it as active.

hmm, I did some replies but I don't see them here so here it is again:

It is a USB stick. I did a full format for FAT32 but that didn't help. I found out why I could not boot to my Acronis Rescue thumb drive. It is because a format (at least on W10) does not mark the partition as Active. You have to right click on the partition then select Mark Partition as Active. I wonder if W7 formats it as both Active and Primary.

Eddy, you may find it easier to use the following diskpart commands from a command prompt when preparing the USB stick.

diskpart
list disk   (to identify USB drive, i.e. 1)
select disk 1
clean
create partition primary
active
format fs=fat32 quick
assign
exit

That goofs up. See the attachment. Note that the stick displayed ok originally. Then I tried it again and it says Access is denied. I think using Disk Manager is much easier.

 

Attachment Size
483250-161679.png 11.98 KB

Eddy, I don't think I have seen a USB stick as small as 122MB shown in your screen image for a very long time!

Yea, I got it from WinHEC back when I was writing BIOS at AMI. I just grabbed what I knew didn't have anything on it.