TIH 2011 Bootable Recovery Disk cannot detect TIH 2011 Disk Image

I don't understand why you created a backup called WIN7-C-FullBackup.tib, but ATI 2011 asked you about a file called "(file name) WIN7-on-C-FullBackup-NoCompression".

I suggest the following: if you want to keep any existing TIB file from 2010, move these files using Windows Explorer on the same disk they are, but in another folder. Once done, delete (not remove) all your backups from your backup list. ATI will complain it cannot delete certain files, but insist. ATI will crash and you can restart it. This will clean up your list of backups. Alternatively, you can uninstall ATI, reboot and reinstall.

Once you're done, recreate a fresh backup. Decide ahead of time what kind of backup you want (full, Incremental, OR differential). Regardless of what your choose, you will get a full backup first.

With 2011, avoid editing the backup tasks (file name, destination, backup scheme). It is better to create a new tasks.

You DO NOT need to select the sector by sector option. You won't save much time by choosing no compression, but you will save space.

To change your disk:
1. Create a full, all-partition disk and partition backup of your current SSD to a USB disk using your recovery CD. Validate it.
2. Remove your current SSD, put your new SSD at the same place.
3. Boot on the recovery CD, click add new drive, select your new drive. That will erase any existing partition information.
4. Restore one partition at at time from your backup. First, if you have one, the system reserved partition. Do not change the offset of 1MB before the partition. Do no change its size. Then, without rebooting, restore the C:\ and adjust the size to maximize occupation of the disk. Then, restore the MBR+track0 and the disk signature.
5. That's it. You do NOT need to use the sector by sector option. Compression is optional. You do NOT need universal restore (this is needed only if you have a different disk controller, for example a new motherboard or a new computer.)

A. Please confirm that your current SSD 60 is properly aligned before doing anything else. Most likely it is aligned but you cannot assume. My Asus laptop cam with a Windows 7 and had a starting sector of 63--which I had to correct. This information is available from
Start/Programs/Accessories/system tools/systen info--
See attachment #3. Be careful to choose the correct disk for review.

B. It could be helpful if you were to post a screen capture of your SSD 60 as viewed in Windows disk Management graphical view. Right click on "My Computer"; choose "Manage" and choose "Disk Management". Your picture should be similar to some of the ones listed in a similar attachment #2. More info about Windows Disk Management graphical view in attachment #3. If you do not post an attachment, at least review how your partitions are presented and advise us of which partition is first and which partition is marked as "Act" for active.

C. As your orignal backup was of "C" only and did not include the probably boot partition, its value was much less than the full backup of everything--all partitions. Having a backup of C only is mostly good when you want to overlay your existing C--not for creating a new disk. Note that Pat L has suggested that you backup all partitions--which is the type backup with the most restore options. This is the type backup you want when moving to a new disk.

Greetings,

Thank you Pat L and GoverH. I appreciate your getting back to me so fast about my post.

I am new to trying to move the system contents from one SSD to a new SSD. I have printed out your posts so that I can study each of your suggestions line-by-line and give you god, solid response. It may take me a day or so, but I will answer all of your points because I can see they are all very important and I want to do this job right the first time.

Once again, thank you.

Peace,

Phroneo

Greetings Pat L & GoverH,

Once again, thanks for your previous responses. They were helpful for me to address your questions.

Pat L:

Quote:

I don't understand why you created a backup called WIN7-C-FullBackup.tib, but ATI 2011 asked you about a file called "(file name) WIN7-on-C-FullBackup-NoCompression".

This was a typo on my part – they are one and the same files. I forgot to type the –NoCompression in one of them.

Quote:

...if you want to keep any existing TIB file from 2010…

I have no desire to nor will I keep any of my TIH 2010 files. I have always made new Full Backups of my disks and delete the old.

To paraphrase what I understand you are saying…

I should use my TIH 2011 Bootable Recovery CD to create a full, all-partition disk and a partition backup of my current SSD (Not using sector-by-sector) to another disk, shut down my system, remove the old SSD, install the new SSD, boot the TIH 2011 Recovery CD, select the new SSD, and restore the backup SSD on ‘partition at a time’ starting with the system reserve partition. As I stated, this is what I understand you to say as I paraphrase your post.

Thank you. That makes some sense to me. However, after reading GroverH’s post, I feel as if I’ve some problems with my C: drive SSD that needs to be addressed prior to my attempted move to a new SSD.

GroverH.

I have made and attached the screen shots you requested. I’ll reference them in order as I go along.

There are some details I forgot to mention.

1. I assembled this system. I wanted to make a computer with components I selected and not be stuck having to purchase a Dell, Gateway, HP, etc. At the time I made this system, I wanted a fast, powerful, and quiet system.

2. The basic system is as follows: Antec Sonata II case, Asus P6P58x Premium Mobo, Intel i7-930 CPU, 12GB DDR3 RAM,C:\ drive = Kingston SSD NowV+64GB, storage drive = 1TB WD Caviar Black, EVGA GeForce 250 w/1GB DDR3, Corsair 750 watt PSU, and Zalman silent cooling for all plus a few more things. I wanted Adobe Design Premium CS5 to load and refresh in milliseconds – not in minutes. This system is a little over a year old, so it’s somewhat out-dated.

3. Based on the information you gave me (and screen shots A: & B: below), I do not think the C: drive SSD is aligned correctly.

4. The 64GB Kingston SSD C:\ drive contains my Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit operating system along with several programs that I felt were important to include on the SSD. Just to give you an idea as to what I have on this disk: Acronis TIH 2011, IE9, IIS, Visual Studio 2010 Professional, SQL Server, Microsoft ASP.NET, Microsoft .NET, Symantec (Norton 360), Microsoft Expression Suite 4 (Expression Web 4, Blend 4, Design 4, Encoder, Super Preview, Photosynth), Microsoft Silverlight, Silverlight SDK, Microsoft Office 2010 Pro, Microsoft Live!, and Adobe Design Premium CS5. I put these programs on the C:\ because they are closely tied into the WIN 7 OS and because they take a long time to launch on a traditional disk. I do not want to uninstall and rebuild al of the programs I have on this disk. That would be a nightmare.

5. Pat L. suggested that I backup all partitions. Here is what I selected when I made my backups:

6. TIH 2011 Go to Main Screen -> Disk and Partition Backup -> Local Disk C: -> Exclusions (none) -> Destination (Cannot select ‘Make this media bootable’) -> Schedule (Turned off) -> Backup Scheme = Custom -> Backup Name = WIN7-onC-FullBackup-01 -> (C: Image attachment below.)

7. To Disk Backup Options -> Backup Scheme -> Custom Scheme -> Backup Method = Full -> Automatic Cleanup = off -> (D: Image attachment below)

8. Advanced Options -> Image Creation Mode = NO Sector-by-Sector -> Backup Protection and Pre-Post Commands = Not selected -> Validation = Validate backup when it is created -> Backup Reserve Copy, Removable Media Settings, Screenshot Settings, Error Handling, & Computer Shutdown = all not selected -> (No Image needed)

9. Performance Settings -> Compression Level = None -> Operation Priority -> Normal -> Network Connection Speed -> n/a -> (E: Image attachment below)

10. Notifications = none.

Here are some more questions I have.

1. I am going to use an Intel 320 Series 120 GB SATA SSD drive that is close to twice the size of my original C: drive. Do I have to format this drive prior to restoring my old SSD operating system and program files to it? If so, do I use my copy of Acronis Disk Director or the Windows 7 Disk Management? How do I do this?

2. If I use Acronis Disk Director, do I format the new SSD from the Acronis Bootable disk or use the Acronis Windows 7 program?

3. It appears as if my current SSD is not aligned correctly based on the information GroverH gave to me. Is it possible for me to correctly align my new SSD drive and then transfer the data? If so, please explain how.

4. If the method of backing up my C: drive – OS and Programs – is wrong and will not work for transferring the all the data to the new SSD, please explain what and how I should get this data transferred.

5. Because I will have to use the TIH2011 Bootable disk to transfer the data from my old SSD to my new SSD, is it best for me to boot into the TIH2011 Bootable disk and backup my old SSD data rather than using the Windows 7 version of the program to backup the data?

Once again, thank you for your suggestions.  I hope that I have addressed the points you've both raised to help give you the best information possible to address my concerns.  If you need more information, please ask - I'm only too happy to give you whatever it is you need to help.

Peace,

Phroneo

TIH2011 and WIN7 System Images

Your SSD is not aligned. You can fix this when you restore on the new drive.
Do not let your backup name end with a numeral suffix. WIN7-onC-FullBackup-01 is not good because ATI adds it own suffix. Call it WIN7-onC-FullBackup-01_ or WIN7-onC-FullBackup.
Do your backup as you have it set up. Doesn't matter from Windows or from the CD.
Exchange your SSD.
Boot the CD
In Tools, select add new disk, select your new SSD. CLick OK for the warning that everything will be erased.
Click on restore, navigate to your backup.
Select the C:\ partition, not MBR+Track0. Choose your new SSD as the new location. ATI will show you a dialog box where you can adjust the space before and after. Before should be 1MB exactly; increase the size to minimize the space left after the partition.
Mark the restored partition as primary, active.
Complete the restore. Then restore the MBR+Track0 and the disk signature.
That's it.

Wow, Pat L., speak about a fast response!! I just posted this!

Thank you for your suggestions. I'm going to study them in a little more detail and if I have questions I'll get back to you. If not, after I get the new disk in, I'll let you know the end result.

Thanks again - very much.

Peace,

Phroneo

Greetings,

My new 120GB SSD just arrive and before I try to restore the backup of my 64GB C: drive SSD to it I have a couple of questions.

1. The majority of my programs, some of which load into memory on startup, are on a rotating HDD designated E:. On the very first startup after restoring my OS to the new SSD, can I have all of my drives - HDD and SSD - connected to the computer or should I start with just the SSD and then restart with the SSD and HDD?

2. The TIH 2011 Bootable disk shows the MBR second and the primary active OS partition first.  Does this make any difference in my restoring to a new SSD?

Peace,

Phroneo

As was revealed in another section of this thread, my MBR is wrong in WIN7 on my SSD.  I was searching the KB here and came across this article: How to fix a MBR in Vista and Win7.  It leads to aa Microsoft KB articl about the same topic. My question is, rather than ajust for the MBR in 'Add Disk'/'Restore Disk', shouldn't I use the Win7 disk and recover the MBR, make a new backup and then 'Add disk'/'Recover Disk"?

Peace,

Phroneo

Hi there,

To your post #7
1. Leave the HDD connected. Just be aware that the Acronis recovery CD will show your drive letters that are different from Windows. Look at disk labels and sizes.

2. The order doesn't matter.

To your post #8
Why are you saying that your MBR is wrong? I think your alignment is wrong, this means that your first partition is not starting with the right offset. This has nothing to do with the MBR. Don't bother trying to realign your disk on your current SSD. Just restore the partition with the right offset as described above. This will also be the opportunity to reduce the unassigned space after your restored partition.

Use the procedures suggested by Pat L. The comments below are meant to make you feel more comfortable in what you have to do and what you can expect to see.

One of the nice things about TrueImage is that you can simulate your procedure all the way until you get to the point where are faced with the decision to Proceed or Cancel. Choose the Cancel option and only click the proceed if you really want the process to begin.

Click on the yellow link inside my signature below and read the Compaq pdf found listed in item #3-BB. The Gateway is not applicable to this situation.
This pdf is similar but different from what you are doing in that the pdf shows 4 partitions whereas you have only the one.

You can follow the pdf all the way until you get to figure 17 and 18.Replacement 17 & 18 are pictured below. Skip figure 19 to 42 as not applicable. Resume on figure 43.

Remember, don't press the Proceed button unless you feel comfortable in your selections. Practice until you feel comfortable.

1. put the target disk inside the computer in it normal use position.
2 Boot from the Rescue CD and perform the restore (actual or simulated)
3. Shutdown and reboot with only the new disk connected.

The ability to practice or simulate your procedures helps to make the process much easier and you can practice as many time as you wish until you get it the way you want. Performing the process is practice as long as choose the CANCEL button and do NOT click the Proceed button.

Attached are two examples specific to your situation.
The attached figure 17 and 18 would replace the figures 17 & figure 18 you see in the guides.

When you have completed the partitions resizing as shown in attached figure 18, if you do not have the 1 MB "free space before showing, then you need to retrace you steps and attempt to correct as you need 1 MB (or 2 MM) for your SSD to be properly aligned.

figure 17

figure 18

Hello Grover,

Thank you for going to all of the trouble to research and write a guide to help me. I very much appreciate the time, effort and knowledge you put into this. And thanks for the suggestion that I can practice until I feel comforatable in making this change. I will take your advice on that front, as well, and practice until I feel as if everything is correct.

I will read all of the information you have posted here and the link in your yellow highlight. I'll post next with results of success - I hope.

Peace,

Phroneo

Ok Grover, I've run into problems.

First, I've read everything you suggested I read - twice - including this entire thread so I feel as if I've a fairly good understanding of what to do. My probelm came in your image #17 above, 'Specifiy Recovery Settings of Partition C'.

The screen starts out like this:

Partition Size: 59.62 GB
Free Space Before: 031 KB
Free Space After 52.17 GB

When I changed the Partition Size to 111.79GB the 3 options looked like this

Partition Size: 111.8GB
Free Space Before: 0.03MB
Free Space After 7.844MB

Work with the settings as I might, as close as I could get to what you suggested as the free space before, the screen looked like this:

Partition Size: 111.79GB (which changed to 111.8GB)
Free Space Before: 7.844MB
Free Space After 0MB

This was the best I could do. However, this leads me to a few questions.

1. This is out in left field - On the 'Choose Recovery Method' screen, checked off is the 'Recover whole Disks and Partitions'. Under that is an option to check 'Using Acronis Universal Restore', which I checked off. Should this be selected or not?

1. Is it at all possible for me to use Acronis Disk Director How 2011 to set the 1MB MBR area on my existing SSD, make a copy of it, and go through the recovery process.

2. This is an Intel 320 Series 120GB SSD to whcih I'm transferring my 64GB SSD. Intel uses an Intel/Acronis propietary disk migration program (basically a clone disk) that would permit me to clone the old SSD disk to the new SSD. If I take this option, is there a way for me to set the MBR after the fact?

3. I also have a question about the size of the MBR. I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OS on this system. Should the MBR be 2MB rather than 1MB?

4. In the sense that ignorance is bliss, I'm blissfully unaware of probelms I'm having because my SSD isn't aligned properly. Maybe I'm taking a hit on my Windows Performance Score, but I've long ago stopped worrying about that figure. If I cannot get this to size as you're suggesting will things still work well?

BTW- thanks for the suggestion to practice. It's teaching me a lot

Peace,
Phroneo

1. Universal Restore is not involved. It should be unchecked--but is setting is probably irrelevant.
1. DD11 should be able to do this but others will have to guide you in the use of DD11. The easiest program to use would be to use Windows 7 and create a single small partitions (like 1 GB or less). Windows will create the partition with a correct starting offeset of 1,048,576 bytes. (1 mb).
2. You do not want to clone a disk which has the wrong starting offset. MBR is not involved.
3. MBR and starting offset are two different items. The starting offset is most
often 1 mb or 2 mb would also suffice and retain the alignment. This is the "free space before" setting on the first partition.
4. As you are aware, your system will still function with the wrong starting offset (have have an 63 starting sector offset right now), but with a little more time, you can get what you want.

5. It appears that TI will not enable you to get the 1 mb starting offset so you will need to do this outside of TI. The easiest way is to attach the new 120 to any Windows 7 or Vista system and create a small partition on the disk. Either OS will correctly create a proper starting offset without any special settings by the user.

Another method is to use the Windows suppled DiskPart program from the command prompt. Again, either the Win7 or Vista Disk Part will work (do not use XP DiskPart as it will give you the wrong starting offset of 63).

Acronis Disk Director is another possibility but none as easy to use as creating a partition using Windows 7 Disk management console.

Summary:
A. Use Windows 7 and create a new small partiton on the new 120 disk. It does not need to be formatted nor have a drive letter.
B. Boot from the TI Rescue CD and repeat the same procedures as before. This time, TI should allow you to set the starting offset of 1 mb. The easiest way I find to do this is to
1. Use Mouse pointer and grab hold of the right edge of the partition and drag the pointer all the way to the right to consume all "unallocated or free space after" on right.
2. Use mouse pointer and grab hold of left edge of partition and drag the pointer all the way to the left to consume all "free space before".
3. In the open window of "free space before" be sure the MB window is visible. If "1" is not listed inside the window, then type 1 into the open window .
Your figure 17 should match the example above.
4. Click accept and the new figure 18 should match the example. It is "ok" if the "free space after" has a nominal value of a few megabytes (not gigabytes)
5. It is still practice until you get what you want. Just don't press the proceed button.
6. Once you have created the new disk, don't exit the CD but then do the MBR and Recover disk signature as illustrated by the Compaq guide starting with figure 44 on page 27.

Greetings Grover and Pat,

Success!!

It's nice to be able to report back with that word.

I was able to align the first 1MB on the SSD, expand the partition to the entire disk, recover my WIN 7 Ultimate 64-bit backup and MBR. The system worked on first boot after recovery.

Thanks to both of you. And thanks to Grover for putting together step-by-step instructions for my backup recovery to a new SSD. It's nice to know that there are folks like you out there who are willing to share your experience and knowledge.

Peace,

Phroneo

A successful conclusion is our desired goal. You do not mention doing the "Recover disk signature". This is something I do recommend when going to a new disk. If it was omitted, you can repeat the MBR restore and the Recover disk signature as illustrated starting with figure 44 in the guide. The "Recover Disk Signature" option is on the same screen where you select the 120 disk as the target.

Thanks Grover, I did do the recover disk signature. In fact, I got to the check box and had forgotten what to do so I went to another system , logged into this forum, pulled your PDF article, and got the answer - select recover disk signature.

I've read everything within this thread and all the associated material 4 times prior to making the recovery. I've now got a pretty good feel for the process. (Once again, thanks to your time and suggestions.) In fact, my system even seems to be booting faster. It was taking 1 minute 15 seconds to complete stable boot. I'm now down to 35 seconds - that's a 40-second time savings!

Thanks again.

Peace,
Phroneo

Just curious. Were you able to get your 1 mb offset without doing the special Windows7 partition?

Hi Grover,

"Were you able to get your 1 mb offset without doing the special Windows7 partition?"

No, but when I got back to the point at which one makes those adjustments, I think I figured out why it didn't work the first six times for me. When I manually inserted figures into any of the three areas - Partition Size, Free Space Before, and Free Space After - the numbers changed, it seemed, based on the size of the backup. The same happened when I dragged the size bar at the top. The Partition size bar moved to the right (staying the same), the free space before bar moved to the right (getting bigger), and the free space after bar moved to the left (getting smaller). However, and because I had made the 1gb partiton before hand, I put 1mb into the free space before area, put 0mb in the free space after, and then inserted 111gb (out of 111.8) into the partition size. I then used the increase arrow to the right of the 111gb partition size and was able to increase that figure by three decimal places until I had 111.8GB, 1MB, and 0MB. That's the point at which I accepted 'Proceed'.

The other thing I noticed is that the ATIH2011 Bootable Recovery Disk uses the same (looking) interface as the ATIH2010 Windows program. In fact, it reads and validates my ATIH2010 Bootable Disk Backups while the ATIH2011 Windows program does not validate them. Someone on the Acronis side may say this isn't a problem and part of the Linux boot OS, but I found it irritating that after having spent my money for an upgrade I got what appears to be the same Boot Disk Program as I already had. In fact, from a programming perspective, NOT to change the appearance (I don't know about the underlying structure) of the boot disk program to match the Windows ATIH 2011 program is shear laziness - either that or not being willing to spend the money to make the change in order to increase profits. It also creates confusion in the mind of the user.

If it weren't for folks such as yourself who are willing to donate their personal time and knowledge to helping others, I, and as I have read throughout these forums a great many others, wouldn't be able to properly use this software. The management of this company should recognize that they'ed make a lot more money by having an easier product to use and understand.

I feel as if I have a very good understanding of computer hardware, software, and some programming languages. For me to have to get the level of help you so kindly shared is quite unusual. If this program was more intuitive, fewer dollars would have to go into forum support (if they spend much at all), the product would get better ease of use reviews, and the company would make more money. The only problem with that is Acronis would then lose revenue from paid customer support - and that could be the reason they've made this program so difficult to use.

Once again, Grover, thank you for your help. I very much appreciate it.

Peace,

Phroneo