Boot from SecureZone after uninstalling True Image from windows?

I realize, the other questionis; is it still possible to boot from the SecureZone? I dont remember what this function is called, but I remember you got eg F7 to boot from a rescue software located on the SecureZone. This way you wouldnt need to boot from a rescue CD.

I think you might be confusing 2 things:
- the secure zone is a hidden special partition on your disk that you can create with ATI to store backups. Only ATI can access this zone.
- the startup recovery manager is an option that allows you to launch ATI in a pre-windows Linux environment.

Remember that you still need a working recovery CD in any case. If your disk dies, neither the secure zone or the startup recovery manager might be working.

TI no longer uses the SZ for the ASRM. The ASRM is run from the Windows partition. You could try installing the ASRM from the TI CD and see if it will work without TI being installed. Personally, I liked the bootable SZ method. There was less chance of files getting moved and the partition could stand on its own.

If you want a bootable partition or drive with TI on it there are other methods you can use. One is to install Grub4DOS and configure it to boot to TI. For example, you might install Grub4DOS to a secondary drive and then use the BIOS Boot Menu key on startup to select that drive when you want to boot TI.

Haider,

I didn't know how that the ASRM was actually in the ASZ in older versions... You were definitely not confused, then!

Thank you Pat and MudCrab!

Thought I'll have to get back here and round this issue.

@Pat: "Remember that you still need a working recovery CD in any case"
You mean that in case things mess up, I will not be able to read the Secure Zone anyway and therefor should do the backup to an external place instead?

@MudCrab: "TI no longer uses the SZ for the ASRM".
I dont understand you. So is the Secure Zone thing not used anymore? Or do you mean that the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager expects the backup to be stored somewhere else?

"You could try installing the ASRM from the TI CD "
Does it mean the ASRM is what I asked about, the pre-linux enviroment that comes up during bootup? So that I press eg F7 or similar during bootup?
I even remember I could choose between activating it (I get a a message during boot like "Press F? ....") or deactivating it.

To make a long story short; I want this solution to be primary a way to restore the computer to a certain state rather than recover. In case the disk crashes, my important file will be stored somewhere else anyway and I can as well just reinstall everything (or I could have an extra external DVD with backup in case).

Thanks in advance! :)

Yes, if your disk dies, well, you won't have access to the secure zone. Probability? Low. But if you have irreplaceable content on the disk, what do you then?
If your system get compromised by a super virus, your ASZ might be spared, but who knows... Probability that ASZ is spared? Pretty high.

The ASRM is the "booting/TI" part and is separate from the SZ (ASRM = Acronis Startup Recovery Manager).

The older versions of TI put the ASRM files into the SZ (which was a FAT32 partition). The SZ was really a bootable partition containing TI and any backups saved there. The newer versions of TI boot to the ASRM files located on the Windows partition. This allows the ASRM to be used without requiring the SZ. There are pros and cons to both methods.

The ASRM boots to the Linux TI version (same as the TI CD). It's not a pre-Linux environment. It's important to still have a TI CD available to use in case the ASRM file "links" get broken or it otherwise doesn't work for some reason.

Thanks for quick, helpful and very useful replies.

@Pat; exactly, I understand the pros/cons of having/not having the secure zone. Since I am aware of the situation, I will do what is best for my case.

@MudCrab; Ok, now I understand the meaning of "need of secure zone". For me, it doesn't really matter. Also, what type of Linux. What I like is the built-in boot feature. And yes, I understand that the CD solution can always be there in case nothing else helps.
Often, your backup data isn't that large and computers have large disks. Disk space is cheap today. So having the ability to store a backup and hide it nicely on the hard disk is preferable.

You also said previously " I liked the bootable SZ method. There was less chance of files getting moved and the partition could stand on its own." and you mention Pros and Cons. I am curious why the newer method is less good than the bootable SZ. I ask of curiosity. Because all I see is a boot option. Where things are doesn't really matter. Btw, I am assuming that there is still a separate SZ where the backups are and therefore those files aren't liable to get moved. Or am I wrong? Is the SZ totally skipped now?

The final question is then; can I install/keep ASRM separately without connection to the TrueImage main program? Reason is what I mentioned in the first post, so the current user does't open the program, play with it and maybe break things. The purpose is only use TI (through CD or ASRM) when it is really needed.

:)

If you uninstall ATI it will uninstall the ASRM

Is there no way to keep it? (Beside through the option to install ATI from within the Admin account and this way make it somewhat hidden)

I never tried this, but maybe you can uninstall ATI, and then activate it from the CD?

Thanks Pat!

I will give that a try :)

Maybe there is a way to have a third party boot manager boot to the ATI ISO.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/70559-boot-iso-without-burning-dis…

You could put the ISO in a unamed partition on the system

Ah, thats a smart idea as well.
Booting from a partition that has content from an ISO seems not impossible, but I like the idea about a 3rd party boot-manager. It means that not only Microsoft of Acronis can make boot-options ("Press F11 to .. .."). Cool :)

However, that particular link will probably just put an entry to the boot-list and is a different method than "Press F? to ... whatever function .. ".
I'll need to dig deeper into this, maybe search for 3rd party boot-managers to see what's out there.

edit: Or maybe pressing Space during startup is enough, to bring up the Windows7 traditional boot menu. Instead of having a notification about a function key.

If you have mutliple drives in the computer you can configure the non-Windows drive to boot into TI (or Grub4DOS, etc.) and then use the BIOS Boot Menu key to select it. This doesn't require a boot manager to be installed/configured for the entire system.

For example, I have a secondary drive that has Grub4DOS installed on it. I can press F8 at boot-up and get the BIOS Boot Menu. I select the drive and get my Grub4DOS menu. Otherwise, the computer just boots normally into Windows.

On my main multi-boot computer, I have a dedicated partition for backing up the others since I don't have backup software installed in all of them. I use a boot manager and boot into the backup partition (running standard Windows) to do the backups/restores.

@MudCrab: Good idea as well. However, the main reason why I was digging into this was to find a solution to use on computer where users with lesser computer knowledge could recover/restore without alot of mess.

I tested the solution using EasyBCD and it was quite cool. I did remove it rather quick and didn't test more even though I should have. For example, I was wondering if I could keep the system boot as usual and only make the boot menu accessible when pressing Space. Otherwise the Boot Manager will show Windows 7 and ISO (thats what I named the other one). Maybe I could set the countdown timer to 0 or 1 or maybe there is even a setting that totally skips the timer.

With that said, I see a solution that mimics the Acronis Recovery CD by using the ISO much useful. In such a case, I will only refer to the CD when the user's computer crashes completely.
I imagine one could even have a Windows7 ISO for emergencies (or maybe if its an emergency, I should use MudCrabs method with a separate partition) and much more! Really cool.

With the introduction to altering the boot sequence, thanks Pat, I begin to wonder how Acronis' method can be done, prompting for a function-key press to enter the Recovery. I have seen that on notebooks as well. This particular question is only asked out of curiosity.

ps. I will study http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_boot_loaders to learn more.

The problem with taking over the MBR (like the ASRM does) is that any boot manager used must be aware of it so it can still work (most aren't and don't care). Either the boot manager or the ASRM startup code is in the MBR -- they can't both be there.

Most times, you lose any special "Press the [?] key for..." options when you use a boot manager. This leaves you with the BIOS Boot Menu key (always available if supported).

Using a timeout for the default boot item and/or hiding the boot menu are both options. I would recommend you play around with it and figure out what works best for the given scenario.