Cloned Windows 7 Disk Does Not Work

I also tried the Windows 7 Repair CD and it recognized the Windows 7 installation but it was on the Wrong drive it sees D: instead of C: and could do nothing with it. Of course the original drive will still boot when placed into the laptop...

The only way I was basically able to clone the disk was by creating a Windows 7 Backup Image of the old drive on a USB drive then restoring it to the new drive using the Windows 7 Repair Disc. This was fairly easy compared to what I went thru with the Acronis software. The only trouble that I might find now is to use Easus Partitioning Software to move and expand the C: partition to recovery the unallocated space on the 500GB drive since Windows did not give all the unallocated space to the C: partition. I am still very upset with Acronis with the promise of cloning the Window 7 drive and it not being able to do it no matter what I tried. This was the only reason I spent the $50.00 for this software, I do think I need to converse with someone at Acronis about a refund for this software does nothing of which I purchased it for today, well yesterday at this point.

Hi Ralph,
You seem to have tried many choices and should have been successful. If this were a Thinkpad (which it isn't), the
Thinkpad has a different head geometry and the target disk needs to be installed in its intended boot partition inside the laptop. This head geometry may also apply to other Lenova's but I do not know. I am not aware of the HP having any special disk characteristics.

I believe the HP has partition placement identical to the Compaq. You may have an interest in looking at my two guides specifically related to Compaq as to the suggested methods for cloning or for using the Partition Restore with Resize. These guides are not the only way to achieve the goal but show the methods I used to create a duplicate disk. Click on my signature link below and item 3-CC covers cloning a Compaq to larger disk; and item 3-BB covers using the Restore method to duplicate a Compaq.

With your experience you could write guides for us all. Mine are intended to show what has the best chance of success but not intended as the only possible method that works. I prefer the manual options as it allows the user to confirm the settings and/or override the default settings where necessary. The initial default settings are not always the best choice.

Good luck.
Grover

Hmmm, this is just what I expected from Acronis... They let all the people who don't work for them answer the questions directed to them. What a way to show that they do not know how their own product works and take no responsibility for it. I guess that is why this is a forum not a support site...

I want to know why this product does not work? I have spend the $50.00 on this product and all the while Acronis knew it did not work but took the money anyway. Funny, I did not need to get information from people who did not work for Acronis when it ws time to pay for it!

Acronis, where is your integrity... Where is my answer????

No offense GroverH, Thanks for answering you have integrity.

I would think that at least I could get an answer from the company who took my money! Unless of course this is just a scam...

If you want an answer from Acronis, this is not the best place to look; it's mainly volunteers here. You should contact Cutomer Service re refunds.

Yeah, I tried that and with all of my knowledge I got someone who evidently has maybe 2 years (if lucky) and gave be a bunch of BS that was knee deep. Did not answer one question only referred me to links on how to clone a drive. I have been using this software before Acronis acquired it from EZ-Gig and this person does not even attempt to understand the simple things.

have been using this software before Acronis acquired it from EZ-Gig

It's other way round.

Hmmm, I was under the assumption that Apricorn owned it

EZ-GIG is licensed and owned by Apricorn й 1997-2003

Acronis wasn't founded till 2000

So, you are saying that the software that Apricorn owned (EZ-GIG) in 1997 was aquired from Acronis which wasn't founded yet?

Just a few passing comments on the subject of cloning hard drives. I would never use cloning as a method of reproducing a hard drive.
It is faster, easier and 100% safe to restore a full drive image to the replacement hard drive with the donor drive removed from the subject computer. I note that this method was a partial sucess using Windows7 backup and restore, however if True image had been used in this role re-sizing is an option in the restore process there being no need to use a seperate re-sizing tool.

I agree that where a facility is offered by software it should of course work as advertised but just because it is there one is not obliged to use it. Especially when there are better ways to solve the problem.

I am some-what confused by your statements. Restoring the drive from an image is the first option on my list... That did not work either...
I have been doing this long enough to know how each and every option is supposed to work and NONE of the options work with True Image (Bad Name for this operation) I have used it's predecessor EZ-GIG II and WD Tru Image for years with no problems using cloning or restoring from an image until Windows 7. Neither worked on Windows 7 so I checked for the latest version of which Acronis advertises that it will work on Windows 7 and it DEFINITELY DOES NOT!!! So there was no reason to upgrade to a product that doesn't do what it claims to do...

1997? Not sure about version that old... but regadring EZ Gig II
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/7666#comment-17151
And the only screenshot of it (later version, apparently) http://media.bestofmicro.com/0/D/234589/original/EZ%20Gig%20II%20Config… I found looks like trueimage. Probably their first version was some other OEM-customized disk imaging software.

It doesn't just look like it it is what True Image is base upon. I have been using it before there was a True Image. It is exactly the same software just somewhat changed (mainly the GUI). My old EZ_GIG disk images are read without fail or conversion with True Image.

Ralph James wrote:

I am some-what confused by your statements. Restoring the drive from an image is the first option on my list... That did not work either...
I have been doing this long enough to know how each and every option is supposed to work and NONE of the options work with True Image (Bad Name for this operation) I have used it's predecessor EZ-GIG II and WD Tru Image for years with no problems using cloning or restoring from an image until Windows 7. Neither worked on Windows 7 so I checked for the latest version of which Acronis advertises that it will work on Windows 7 and it DEFINITELY DOES NOT!!! So there was no reason to upgrade to a product that doesn't do what it claims to do...

Well I was confused by point No.1 in your list. I now must understand that you saved the backup image on an XP computer whereas I would have thought that the use of an external drive would have been the norm.
If you did the restore using a whole hard drive image and booted from the Acronis rescue disk there must be something going wrong for it to have failed.
I have been doing restores to swapped over hard drives ever since Version 8 up to and including the latest version of TI 2011, which I installed on a new computer running Windows 7. For me it works each and every time without fail.

I doubt if this will be of any help but I will describe the process that I use ie the one that works for me.
Every day TI automatically creates a full backup image to a seperate internal HDD. Once a week I pull the current hard drive and replace it with one from the previous week, this is done immediately after the latest backup image has completed. I then run a full drive restore via the rescue CD. Although in some circumstances it may not be necessary to restore the MBR as it is still called by Acronis I always include it. The only part I do not bother with is Disk signatures.

Yes the image was stored on an XP computer and used an external drive to restore the image. Each time using True Image 2011 the area that I am used to seeing was in question when using this software. The area in question was the MBR or make bootable which was always grayed out and could not be selected. I was somewhat confused by this area since previous versions of True Image did this automatically and there was no way to select to make bootable. Since this was the case why did True Image decide that the drive should not be bootable? I went thru this process over and over with the same results... I can create HP signature since I used to do authorized HP repairs and have their tools to create the signatures (or as HP called them DMI) so that is not a problem. As mentioned all other disks (which are bootable) I can create with the software except Windows 7...

Acronis seems not to be willing to respond to my customer service requests with an answer to why this happens.

Wanted to give an update. I am starting to get some assistance from Acronis. A strange thing happened which of course does not make sense. They gave me a link to the Acronis Utility to get data for them to examine from my machine so I downloaded and ran it on both my laptop and my desktop. Now here is where the strangeness happens; on the laptop running Windows 7 Pro I now get the 'Make this media bootable' check box available so that I can create a bootable backup, but on the XP pro machine it is still greyed out and I cannot create a bootable backup of any drive. I have no idea of why this just happened but hopefully Acronis can figure it out. Prior to the utility both machines display the same issue 'Make this media bootable' was greyed out... and not available. I have included the pictures of both machines as they are now.

On the second screenshot F: , according to the icon, is detected as CD(DVD) drive and it can be made bootable. On the first one F: is hitachi-something that is listed also as a source -- so it's the internal disk and can't be made bootable.

Ralph:

Have been "reading the mail" and noticed the confusion over the "Make Bootable" option. This option does not do what you would think. It isn't to make the target disk bootable - that's supposed to "just happen". The option is there for users who store the image file on a DVD and it is to make the DVD bootable - in other words, if you check the option you will make a DVD that contains the image file plus the Acronis True Image recovery environment all on the same disk(s). So you can boot this DVD, which will load the TI recovery environment and then you can restore the image file that resides on the same DVD.

I don't have an answer for why your image restoration resulted in an unbootable hard disk - it should have but obviously didn't.

"On the second screenshot F: , according to the icon, is detected as CD(DVD) drive and it can be made bootable. On the first one F: is hitachi-something that is listed also as a source -- so it's the internal disk and can't be made bootable."

Take a closer look at the image... There are two Hatachi 500gb drives not one. The Hatachi drives have different serial numbers, etc... In the other image the SAME Hitachi drive is used and on both they are USB connections.

Aloha Mark,

You have said the first thing that has made sense. I was being told that I have to tell Acronis True Image 2011 to make the image bootable which made no sense at all since all versions of the software before this it did that automatically. So I see why this option is not available on the desktop. the desktop has no R/W CD/DVD only a DVD ROM. Ok, that is solved. Now to move on to why the clone did not work. Perhaps This is why Acronis makes a separate version for Netbooks?

On the second image the ....B9A300 Hitachi "New Volume" is G: , however F: in still CD-burner ( a rainbow circle in the 'Destinaiton' box left to "F" letter). Netbook version has no clone at all.

The Netbook version will not let you clone a hard drive? This seems strange being that some use regular hard drives and not the state of the art drives. But if it does not clone it does not clone...

I am having some difficulty in following this thread because the term "clone" is frequently used and the term " Hard drive image" is also used as if they are both the same thing. In Acronis TIH they are entirely distinct operations though used properly they can both result in a duplicate bootable hard drive.

After many years using backup imaging programs I would always choose the image/restore process rather than the Acronis Clone method. There are many reasons why this is preferable. I won't list them all apart from saying it is the process that could be forced on a user following a HDD failure so why not practice it while the going is good?

The best way to upgrade or otherwise replace an existing or broken hard drive is to physically install the replacement in the target computer and then run a restore when booted in the recovery environment with all the boxes checked. This is especially important in the case of Laptops because of OEM hidden partitions and booting specifics.

Restoring to an external USB drive and expecting it to be bootable is not an option because it just plain will not work.

Sorry, Restoring a backup image file (.tlb) to an external USB device and expecting to be bootable does work and has worked for many years since the EZ-GIG days... BTW, as I have mentioned all the available combination's were attempted on the laptop with no joy. I prefer the image and restore technique but thos thread was about something that did not work regardless of the technique. The first post was given in detail to hopefully avoid confusion. Oh well so much for the best intentions...

Well if you are saying that a Windows OS in an image on a USB drive can be booted from you have discovered something that Microsoft have been doing thier best to stop happening since the year dot.

Geez... Why must you attempt to confuse everything???? It was very clear and precise what I stated. Re-Read the first line of the previous post, then re-read it again. It says NOTHING close to what you are stating.

Well at this point I will leave you to wrestle with your failed "clones" on your own because I am unable to understand what you are on about. All I am certain about is that I am able to image and restore whole hard drives either to an existing HDD or a replacement HDD without fail. This is currently when using TI 2011 and the computer is running Windows 7. This sucess also dates back through many versions of TI and prior imaging programs.
My point being that YOUR difficulties and confusion are yours alone. I will continue with my seamless backus and restores quietly on my own because I am plainly unable to help you if you are not prepared to answer what I thought was a simple question.

Great!!! When you assume one doesn't know what they are talking about then proceed to give your own examples which have nothing to do with the Topic, it amounts to no help and just more confusion. Have a good day!

Ralph James wrote:

Great!!! When you assume one doesn't know what they are talking about then proceed to give your own examples which have nothing to do with the Topic, it amounts to no help and just more confusion. Have a good day!

Boy! You need to chill out. This is a user forum and turning off those trying to help you is not the best way to proceed.

Bad answers are worse than NO Answers... Sometimes "I don't know" works very well... It doesn't waste peoples time.

One of the problems a responder has is that they have no idea of the skill level with the backup software for the person asking the questions. My answers do not always provide a solution but may provide a workaround and hopefully sometimes it gets the person to thinking or motivated to do more searching. So, anytime I make a response there is the chance that I am wasting time for us both; or just maybe the information that I have suggested can be beneficial--even if the people benefiting are those that read the post and maybe not helpful to the person having the problem.

I can assure you that the motive of XPilot was an attempt to help--not a deliberate attempt to antagonize.

Like this response, this might be a waste of your time but it is not meant to be.
Cheers.

Thanks GroveH, You have explained that very well and as stated before your answer was helpful.

People here that offer aid do so on their own time and without any pay and often without any thanks. They have no reason to do it but to try to help. There are pricier alternatives but these forums are often a good place to seek help. Despite the inevitable frustrations, a considerate atmosphere is better than a testy one.

regards,
sh