2012 Boot CD
Has anything changed from 2011 to 2012 for the Boot CD Backup/Restore method of imaging?
Can you still download a Boot CD iso from Acronis after purchasing?
Thank you for the quick response.
For a person that only uses the Boot CD for backup - are there any new features or fixes in the 2012 version that justify upgrading from 2011?
No new feature. Has updated drivers. Maybe recognizes SSD disk for proper starting partition offset but 2011 may have had this as well.
Thanks!
Warning, thread drift coming up.
Over the year of using 2011 (only the boot cd) I had 2 or 3 instances where the restored image wasn't bootable. I never figured out what caused it. Is there a best method of getting 100% bootable images using the boot CD?
A lot depend upon procedures used. Assuming that you were overlaying your existing disk with a prior backup, perform a disk restore (disk checked) will usually work if a single restore of C does not work. If just updating to a few days before and no system troubles, restoring only C will usually suffice. If having boot trouble, or Windows troubles, then I would perform the disk restore option plus also checkmark the Recover Disk Signature option located on the same screen where you select the target disk. All using the TI boot CD.
If restoring to a new disk, then, again, use the disk option restore and checkmark the Recover Disk Signature. Target disk installed inside the computer and source disk elsewhere. First boot afterwards with only the target disk attache.
All backups to be disk option backups to include ALL partitions so entire disk contents included within backup. Validation option to be user checked so included as part of the backup creation.
A lot depend upon procedures used. Assuming that you were overlaying your existing disk with a prior backup, perform a disk restore (disk checked) will usually work if a single restore of C does not work.
I don't understand these instructions. What is difference between disk restore and single restore?
A disk restore restores all partitions on the disk that is included in the backup.
A single partition restores only the single specified partitions.
If your disk contains only one partition, then they both will be equal.
If your disk contains multiple partitions (like most Win 7 and many Vista), then there is major differences between the two.
Some XP installations also include vendor or recovery partitions and other installations have only the one partitions.
A disk option restore will restore the entire disk contents. A single partition restore may or may not. It all depends on how many partitions are displayed when viewed via Windows Disk Management console graphical view.
Now I understand.
We only backup the C (boot) partition of a 3 partition drive. So using full disk restore is not an option to correct a failed non bootable C restore.
Is there a known reason why an image of a bootable Win 7 partition would not be bootable after a restore?
If you have a disk which contains 3 partitions, then the best type of a backup to have is one that includes all 3 partitions. This type backup can be done from within Windows or when booted from the TI bootable Recovery CD. Having a backup which contains all partition is especially important if the active partition is NOT the C system partition. One way of determining which partition is the active partition is to open the Windows Disk Management console and use the graphical view to display how your partitions are arranged and which is the active partition.
There is no standard for the number of partitions being included on a computer system disk. If one of those 3 partitions happened to be a "System Reserved" or a "Recovery" partition, then there is an extremely probable chance one of those is the active partition.
A restore of the C only could changed to active partition indicator from what it was and made C as the active partition--thus non-bootable. If this is the situation, you can either make correct partition as the active partition; or you can use the Windows Recovery CD and use the repair option. If you perform the repair options, run it at least three times as the repair only fixes one thing on each pass.
For our purposes all we care about imaging is the OS partition (the boot drive is 2TB so imaging the full drive is out of the question). My understanding is that TI makes a perfect image of a partition. If this is the case then a restore should always work, yet we have had multiple instances of an drive being non bootable after the image is restored. Its quite perplexing because most of the time it works fine.
TallTree,
I understand your position and agree you that you should have 100% success. However, as you write, this is happening more than once or twice so the cause needs to be found. If you are within your 30 day support window, why not try using the official support option via the support option along the left margin under Useful Links.
In order to find the cause before we can offer a fix. we really need to get more information. While you may only want to backup the drive C partition, you may need to know more about the other partitions in order to make an informed decision or to be able to troubleshoot your issues. We need to know if either of the other two partitions is named "System Reserved" or "Recovery" or "OEM"? Do you have several computers of the same type? What brand?
Can you look at another similar computer with the same OS and use the Windows Disk Management console to gain more information about their names and which partition is listed as the active partition? After your investigation, should you find that that the some of the partitions are as described in the preceding paragraph, then we can decide the next step.
By the way, Are you familiar with the use of Diskpart if that should be needed?
Are there any known issues that may cause a bootable partition to be unbootable after restoring the image?
We would need to see a screenshot of what Disk Management shows for the drive to have a better idea of the problems you might have when restoring. In Windows, a partition tagged as (Boot) isn't always the booting partition (it's usually the (System, Active) partition).
What error message did you get when the system wouldn't boot after the restore?
What steps were taken to fix the problem?
Also, answering Grover's questions would be helpful. Otherwise, we're just guessing -- there are many things that can render a system unbootable after a restore.
Here are 3 examples of what can make a 3 partition Windows 7 setup not to boot when only the Drive C is restored.
1. If the error message is "cannot find operating system", then the computer is trying to boot from the wrong device. Selecting the correct device in the BIOS setup at beginning of bootup is a fix.
2. During the restore, if the target selection is based on drive letter, the restore could be to the wrong partition. A partition labeled C in Windows would have a different drive letter assigned in the Linux boot CD. Used space or volume name can help to prevent such a user error. Restoring a Windows C partition to a CD Recovery partition labelled C would be cause for a botched restore.
3. During the restore, if the system partition was the non-active partition but restored as the active partition,"partition type" then the system will not boot. The prevention is to know which partition is the active partition and make sure the same partition retains the same active/non-active status during the restore. If changed, then re-assigning the correct partition as the active partition would enable the computer to boot.
Does not appear to be one of those 3 things. Are there any others I should be aware of?
When I say the boot partition I mean the partition that boots the computer. In our case this is the same as the system volume in Disk Management.
Fairly straight forward partition map.
1 - boot volume (contains OS)
2 - data
3 - data
If you're using vista or w7, then one of those other partirtions is probalby a system partiton that contains the boot manager andit is marked Active. IF so, I'd back it up too -- if it beomces corrupted in any way, you probably won't be able to boot. on that harddisk.
Now I understand.
We only backup the C (boot) partition of a 3 partition drive. So using full disk restore is not an option to correct a failed non bootable C restore.
Is there a known reason why an image of a bootable Win 7 partition would not be bootable after a restore?
We would need to see a screenshot of what Disk Management shows for the drive to have a better idea of the problems you might have when restoring. In Windows, a partition tagged as (Boot) isn't always the booting partition (it's usually the (System, Active) partition).What error message did you get when the system wouldn't boot after the restore?
What steps were taken to fix the problem?
TallTree, it still could be helpful if you were to post a screen shot of that computers hard drive or at least a picture of another identical computer. Thank you for the delayed indicating that partitions 2 and 3 are Data partitions but remember the old saying. A picture is worth a 1000 words. Knowing the error message or how far the computer did boot before it failed could help to pinpoint the cause. Was the backup ever validated when created or before used? When a backup is created via the CD, the validation is normally not active. The user needs to activate the validation option if the backup is to be validated for data consistency.