Clone Disk invalidates Win7 license?
Hi !!!
I am new here. Did a "clone disk" from a 500GBdrive to a 750GB drive.
Clone process seemed to work well. After swapping the disks to put the 750GB to work, I noticed the "Windows Update" screen showed a RED cross and got a message saying "Windows Update" was not started as a service. Did "services.msc" Windows Update was in fact started.
It seems like cloning the disk caused problems with my licensed copy of Win7 Ultimate 64bits.
I had to swap the disks back to continue operating normally.
Any idea about what could have caused this?
Thanks, Ed
Hi guys,
Cloning is a more finicky/risky process.
An easier way is to backup your entire disk to an external drive, swap your internal disks and then restore your disk from the backup:
- first restore the MBR, track 0, disk signature and any special partition (system reserved for example) so that they stay the same as on you other disk,
- then restore the partition(s) that you want to expand and use the resizing feature of Acronis to expand since you new disk is bigger than the older one.
This way you will NOT compromise your older disk, and you can go back easily if things don't work out exactly as you want. It will also be faster!
Encounter the same problem as all of you when I upgraded(cloned) my harddisk from 500G to 750G on Win 7 64-bit on I7. The upgraded disk can boot and work except for Windows Update (fail to connect) and Windows Defender (which will stop upon starting the service). I upgraded to the latest version (build 6696) but it did not work. I have tried suggestions from the web such as reregistering components where I discovered some components are no longer properly registered (but I do not know how to rectify it - something about DLLserver not "on" for the component and about needing to create some kind of package for the registration). Will appreciate if someone knows how to rectify it with minimum efforts as I have already spent more than 24 hours trying to resolve it! Thanking in advance for anyone who have a breakthrough to share!
Indexing service is also not working!
Tried some web tools that reregister 100+ components but it still did not work.
Kiak,
Did you do a cloning operation or a backup+restore operation?
Better to do the second one with an all-partition backup and then restore everything (all partitions, MBR+track0, disk signature) on a cleaned disk.
Restoring the disk signature will help with the windows activation.
You're issues with unregistered components are unusual and suggest some critical files have not been restored/copied properly. You should run a chkdsk /r on the original disk prior to the backup+restore.
If you have the installation DVD, you will be better off doing a repair install of Win 7...
Did the default clone with new out of the box laptop drive in machine, old drive in external usb.
Used 2011 disk as boot disk. Version 6696.
Took default clone option. Operation completed "OK" according to Acronis. System booted and looked okay.
However:
The "original" is on a hidden partition (I Hope - disk replaced at Microcenter).
Windows Update locked out (RED X). System asked for permission each time I ran a windows executable. Note that the owner was described as unknown. System properties shows windows as activated. Windows Update is a automatic delayed services. Sounds like activation issues to me.
Noticed that the win7 100 mb preload partition reported 97mb when looking at. I will try the backup to external, remove new drive partitions and start to restore - do not know if I can "see" the boot member. 100 mb sys partion is clearly there.
Any suggestions?
Found the solution to my problem. It has to do with using harddisk 500 GB or greater which needs a newer driver from Microsoft. Do note that it is not available from Windows Update but downloadable after accepting that the patch applies to my situation only from an email link that Microsoft sends to my email.
Gary,
If possible do a regular backup of your old disk and restore it to the new disk.
Check out this post to make sure your process is right:
3-B
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/3426
Gary,
Index item #3-BB and 3-CC and 3-DD relate more to Windows 7 inside the reference provided by Pat L.
Also, in post #5, performing the procedure when booted from the TI Rescue CD is easier and usually produces better results (less failures).
The cloning procedure is supposed to include the "Disk Signature" as part of what is being cloned. Maybe(?) this is not happening. Some of you may want to restore the disk signature if you have an available full disk backup from the old original disk. However, this is just a "shot in the dark" possibility.
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For those who have written that they had a successful restore to a new disk but some programs do not work, the below may explain why and may provide a solution for some.
When restoring a backup to a new disk, one feature often overlooked and not restored is the "Recover Disk Signature" option located on the same screen where the Target disk is selected.Some software companies such as Acronis, Adobe, and others use this signature an identification. One possible scenario is to prove that the original program install is installed to the same computer as its original license. If the signature do not match (not recovered), some programs will cease to run under the belief that the their program is fraudulently installed.
If the signature is not recovered, TI will write a new signature and it will not be the same as the original disk.
Therefore, as a general rule, if creating a new system disk, then the "disk signature" should be recovered. (Note: this recovery is usually not necessary when duplicating a data disk or a restore to the same disk.)
TrueImage will backup the disk signature whenever the backup is a disk option backup--all partitions included in the backup.
If the "disk signature" was not included as part of the recent restore to a new system disk, it is still possible to add this signature to the new disk. What is needed is a backup which included all partitions--even if the backup happens to be not the most current. (Assuming that no new partitions have added or deleted since the backup was created.)
1. Perform a new backup of your new disk if you do not have a current backup. This is just a safety precaution in case something should accidentally go wrong.
2. Boot from the Rescue CD and using a disk option backup from the past, select the backup to be restored but checkmark only the MBR/Track0 option to be restored and proceed to the next screen which contains the "Recover Disk Signature" option.
On this "Select Target disk" screen, checkmark the option plus select the target disk to receive the signature and mbr restore. The target disk is the new disk which is not working properly.
An example is included in the attachments posted inside this thread.
The rookie says Thanks for the responses.
One suggestion that I have read is that one should create backup images at the partition level. Is this inherently better than to do a full disk sector copy?
Regardless of which method is "better" it would seem to be less risky to create an image of the original disk, then restore those partitions or disk image to the target (replacement) disk in the desktop/laptop.
I have read that cloning disk-to-disk is more susceptible to failure or risky as one person put it.
I am also learning to use the shortest USB connection and use the original motherboard USB slots when possible.
Thanks
One suggestion that I have read is that one should create backup images at the partition level. Is this inherently better than to do a full disk sector copy?
If storage space permits, I believe the disk backup (all partitions) is better to have. A disk backup includes the "disk signature" and having all partitions inside the backup just makes it easy not matter what you want to do. You can perform a disk restore or a single restore. Also having a disk option backup opens the door to do a Disk option restore. You can get basically the same results via a partition restore but it takes longer with fewer restore options. Often times, you can get a successful restore from a disk option backup and a restore from a partition backup may not produce a bootable disk--in the same situation. With XP, single partition backups worked ok as the system partition was often also the boot partition. Now with Windows 7 and it separate but dependent boot partition, there is more reasons to have a disk option backup. My personal preference is the disk option backups--if space will permit.
As for the risk, most definitely the cloning method is the cause of more problems. If the truth were known, probably the biggest cause of cloning mishaps is user mistakes such as the wrong drives being selected--due to drive letter differences. Never use drive letters as reference points. Also, there can be power issues or hardware issues when cloning. If the power goes, so goes the source drive. Whereas, using the Restore procedure, the source disk is not attached and not at risk. Unfortunately, many are not aware of the cloning risk and make no effort to have a safety backup.
Yes, using the shortest quality cable direct to the motherboard and avoiding a usb-hub can be beneficial when performing either a clone or a restore.
As everybody else I had the same problem with Windows Update being broken when I upgraded to a new Seagate hard disk with the new fangled AF configuration. From what I have found out it is not a cloning problem, it is not an intel driver problem, it is not an Acronis problem. It is a Microsoft problem.
Here's what they have to say: This issue occurs because the physical sector size that is reported by the storage device changes. Although ESENT was designed with support for 512-byte and 4-KB physical sector sizes during the initial database creation, ESENT expects that the reported physical sector size remains consistent between sessions. When the ESENT database re-initializes, it makes sure that the physical sector size that the database was created for and the current reported physical sector size are the same. When the sector sizes are different, ESENT reports an error.
The link is here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2470478
Some other people have found success installing the new Intel Storage Drivers. It didn't work for me. Neither did the hot fix that Microsoft posted in the FAQ above. One suggestion was to uncheck how Windows Update checked from always to never and then back again. That didn't work either. Sadly none of the solutions that were posted worked for me.
Since my old disk is a non AF disk and since Microsoft says that it checks the byte sector configuration, there seems little that can be done should the posted solutions not work, as was my situation.
I did however discover a kludge that worked for me, but might not work for everybody. So YMMV. Here's what I did.
First: Stop the Windows Update Service using Task Manager. The service to stop is called wuauserv. Right click on it and stop the service.
Second: Go to the C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution directory and rename it to SoftwareDistribution.old.
Third: With Task Manager, start up the windows update service, wuauserv, and then close Task Manager. A new C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution directory will be created after you start up the Windows Update Service.
Then go to the start menu and run Windows Update. It will rummage around for quite a long while and then it will give you a choice to update however many updates it found for your setup. Examine the list carefully and only choose what you need. I didn't really want to upgrade to IE9, if you know what I mean.
You might expect that there will be many updates. For me it wasn't the case. There were only a few. Seems Windows is smart enough to search out what has been updated, in spite of the update database being empty. Mine went from 138 megabytes to 2 after it was all said and done.
So far things are working fine, no problems. This solution was the only one that worked for me. It might work for you if all of the other ones have failed. Good luck.