TI 2011 Plus Pack - "Recover operation failed"
After spending two weeks trying to get a proper backup, I now have another problem with the restore always quitting halfway through with a "Recover operation failed". No reason, no error code (not in the log file either), just "failed". I've tried several different ways to fix this, but am out of ideas.
I posted a ticket to support, but based on the week-long response time to my last ticket, I'll probably be waiting a while for this as well. And my 30 day return time frame is set to lapse in a few days, so I'm one step away from returning this for a refund.
I'll post the very detailed email I sent to support further below, but I first want to list all the various things I did to try to resolve this problem:
- Run a chkdsk on both partitions at boot time, no errors found
- Changed the SATA mode in the BIOS from ACHI to IDE compatible
- Loaded every kind of driver I could find for the new PC (unzipped) and set several different paths for the restore to find them.
- Tried backing up and restoring to a completely different drive (WD and Hitachi)
- Moved both the XP and Win7 partitions so they are side by side on the drive, removed all other partitions and data.
- Ran a backup with XP and Win7 as individual backups, AND both together in the same drive as a full drive backup. Restore still fails.
- Attempted "sector-by-sector" backup and restore
- Ran the backup with compression set to "None"
- Attempted to restore from external drive connected thru both eSATA and USB 3.0.
- Attempted to restore with a Win7 WinPE image and the Acronis plug in.
- Used the latest boot image supplied to me by Acronis support for the 6696 build.
None of the above resolved the problem. Now, below here is the detail I copied to the support ticket. If anyone has any ideas on what could be wrong, you could save me the hassle of a refund AND a ground up install of WinXP and Win7 on my new PC. And I would be ever grateful.
Here is the detail I sent to support:
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I still cannot recover a backup to my new PC using the Universal restore. I've done several backup and restore attempts using various methods, but it fails every time at the same point during the Recovery process.
PLEASE READ THE BELOW THOROUGHLY. I don't want to be asked to do something I've already tried, I've spent three weeks trying to get this to work already:
On the source PC, I have a single drive and the system is configured to dual-boot into WinXP SP3 and Win7-64bit:
- Three partitions
- WinXP
- Win7-64bit
- Data disk
This is the process I run to do the BACKUP.
On the OLD PC (Source):
1. Create an Acronis boot disk with the latest build for 6696. This was supplied by Acronis Support.
2. Attach an external drive with an eSATA cable to the PC. The drive is a Western Digital WD15EARS 1.5 TB. It has a single partition created with a size of 500GB.
3. Boot the PC using the boot CD into Acronis.
4. Select to backup the WinXP partition using the following parameters:
- Full backup
- No compression (have tried normal compression too)
- DO NOT select sector-by-sector backup (although I've tried that too)
- Select the eSATA attached drive as a destination, create a backup file name for it
- DO NOT select encryption
- Default backup speed
5. I run the backup, it completes.
6. Run a verify of the backup. THIS PASSES OK.
7. RUN THE ABOVE STEPS AGAIN FOR THE WIN7-64 PARTITION, creating a separate backup file.
On the NEW PC (Destination):
This is a new PC that was built by PUGET Systems. It has been thoroughly benchmarked and tested for errors and issues. As part of this, they also installed a fully functional version of Windows 7, no issues. The PC did not ship with the Windows 7 install, since I wanted to install myself.
The PC has an Asus P8P67 motherboard. For the primary drive, I'm attempting to restore the backups to an Intel SSD 510 250 GB drive.
Here is the process I follow for attempting the RECOVERY:
1. Attach the external WD drive containing the backups from the old PC using an eSATA cable.
2. Boot the PC using the same Acronis boot CD provided by Acronis support.
3. Add a new partition to the Intel SSD drive for restoring the WinXP backup to:
- Select "Add Disk"
- Select the Intel SSD drive, which shows "Unallocated"
- Select "Create new partition"
- Create the partition with a size of 101GB. The partition size on the old PC was 98.63 GB, but I had to create the partition here slighly larger since I would get an error when attempting a recovery saying there may not be enough space on the partition to boot.
- File system: NTFS
- Label: (have also tried entering in a label)
- Select the type of partition to be "Primary"
- Do not check the "Mark the partition as active" check box, but I HAVE ALSO TRIED CHECKING THIS BOX AND STILL HAD PROBLEMS>
- Drive is added and partition created successfully.
4. Select "Recovery" option
5. Browse for the WinXP backup on the eSATA attached WD drive, select it, go to next step.
6. In "Archive selection" step, make sure the WinXP .tib file is selected, click "Next"
7. In "Recovery method", select "Recover whole disks and partitions". Also select the "Use Acronis Universal Restore" option. Then click "Next"
8. In "Drivers manager" step, for the Search Path I point to both a directory on the WD eSATA attached drive where I've copied every driver I can find for the new PC, AND to another attached DVD drive containing the ASUS P8P67 setup disk that also contains all the MB drivers.
9. In "What to recover" step, select the NTFS WinXP partition AND the "MBR and Track 0". Click "Next"
10. In "Settings of Partition C", select "New location" and select the partition I created in Step #3 above. The "Partition type" states "Primary, Mark the partition as active". Click "Next"
11. In "MBR of Disk 3", I select the WD drive containing the backup, ALTHOUGH I'VE TRIED OTHER TARGETS FOR THIS, including another drive installed in the PC, and the Intel SSD drive that I'm restoring to.
12. This is the Summary I see:
Operations
Number of operations: 4
1. Recovering MGR
Hard disk: 1
2. Deleting partition
Hard disk: 3
Drive letter: F:
File system: NTFS
Volume label:
Size: 101.3GB
3. Recovering partition
Hard disk: 3
Drive letter: C: -> F:
File system: NTFS
Volume label: LOCAL DISK
Size: 98.63 -> 101.3 GB
4. Acronis Universal Restore
Use operating system drivers: Yes
13. I proceed with the Recovery. It runs for about an hour. Then, with the progress bar only halfway through, it jumps to the next phase where it loads the system drivers, and then it aborts with "Recover operation Failed".
I've attached the log file here. I've also run the Acronis Report tool on my old PC (source) and attached here as well.
When I attempt to restore the Win7 partition first, I don't see the "Universal Restore" option. Possibly because the WinXP partition is first on the drive and the Win7 second?
I was able to restore the Win7 partition without the "Universal Restore", but natrually when I boot this up on the new PC I get "NTLDR is missing". The only reason I bought the software was so that I could migrate my OS as is to a new PC using Universal Restore. Don't really have a need for it otherwise, as I have other backup/restore options already.
Sorry I cannot help you. I think you will need Acronis Support help for this recovery.
Thanks anyway Pat, appreciate the effort. Acronis is apparently working on the problem, no word yet on a solution. Once I hear back, I'll post here. I'm hoping that my ultimate solution won't be a refund, since I'm almost at the 30 day return limit. I've exhausted my limits of patience trying to get this entire process to work for three weeks now on a brand new PC still sitting unused and in pieces on my floor.
Well, it seems I wasted my time and effort writing up a very explicit and detailed report for Acronis, even asking them at the very top:
"PLEASE READ THE BELOW THOROUGHLY. I don't want to be asked to do something I've already tried, I've spent three weeks trying to get this to work already"
I finally get a response back and this is what it is: "... I request you to validate the master backup archive ...", which clearly was step #6 in my backup process I sent to them. I can't speak.
I've tried to be patient with this and have been desperately trying to get this to work for three weeks now, much longer than most people would spend. But their response has pushed me over, I'm immediately putting through process for a refund. Acronis won't fix this before my 30 days are up, so I'm not going to waste my time, I'm already way behind schedule.
I will also be adding a negative review to CNET to join the dozens of others for the 2011 version. The Acronis quality control and design process seems to have failed badly with this version, which is very unfortunate since the previous versions are highly spoken of and very recommeneded. It's a real shame.
Thanks everyone for your help.
Hello Sydor01 and Pat,
Thank you for your comments, and thanks a lot for help, Pat.
Sydor01, thank you for your comments and for the detailed information. I'm really sorry for the situation you have faced with support, and I completely share your frustration. I have forwarded your comments and the case information to the Directors of Support. Rest assured they will investigate the situation.
Back to the issue itself:
You're doing everything right (thank you for the detailed description). I have checked the log you've kindly attached, and can see that the software find several drivers in different folders for one device:
...'D:\Drivers\Raid\JMB\362\Install\Driver\x32\jraid_i.inf' for installation 'PCI\VEN_197B...
... 'D:\Drivers\Raid\JMB\362\Install\Floppy32\jraid_f.inf' for installation 'PCI\VEN_197B...
This can be the cause of the problem. We would highly recommend you to choose one type of drivers from one vendor and restore the image once again. This should fix the issue.
Should the problem remain, please gather the Recovery log once again and send it to us. Don't hesitate to share your questions with us, we will be glad to help you.
Thank you for understanding and feedback. We will be looking forward for news from you.
Thanks Yana.
I have actually already begun a new build of XP on the PC, since as I said I could not wait any longer and am very behind schedule.
However, I will take the new XP install I have built so far, do a full backup, and attempt another UR restore. You suggestion sounds plausible, and definitely more helpful than the response I've received from support so far.
I am still somewhat hopeful a last minute solution will fix things, but still have to move forward with everything else at the same time. I will post the results here when done.
Thanks.
Thank you for your reply, Sydor01, and for the feedback.
Sure, I entirely understand your decision. I'll keep tracking this thread, and wait for news from you.
Thanks a lot for cooperation.
Hi Yana.
No luck, same result. I've attached the latest recovery log.
The other thing that has consistently happened every time I attempt a restore (or even just letting ATI 2011 re-partition my drive and nothing else) is that the drives not only disappear from the BIOS completely, but prevent my PC from booting or posting all together. All I get is a flash of the post screen, than a black screen. As soon as I hit a key, it immediately reboots. No message, no error. The monitor is on and not in standby, so I'm not missing any messages.
The only way to allow my PC to boot again after this is to physically take out the drive. I have to install it into an external enclosure and then attach it through USB or eSATA to a running system in order to wipe out any data that ATI put there. I've had to do this for every single restore attempt, or every time I allow ATI to create/modify partitions on a drive.
Back to the scratch install ...
that the drives not only disappear from the BIOS completely, but prevent my PC from booting or posting all together
That may cause UR to fail. I guess it's too much to suggest you to try the same with a WinPE-based media (process of building the one may be rather complicated). But if drivers of linux-based media cause drives to disappear...
Hi Anon.
Yes, I've actually already attempted the WinPE version, downloaded the AIK and built the image with the Plus Pack plug in. I also tried connecting the raw drive to Windows 7 and partitioning the drive ahead of time before attempting a restore, still get a fail on recover.
I was originally thinking that ATI 2011 still doesn't manage the SSD build properly, but the same disappearing act happened with my mechanical drive as well. As soon as I attempted to partition that through ATI, it was also gone and prevented my PC from booting.
I have the same "recover operation failed" message with my back-up image file, and am using build 6696. I have 3 back-up files (all full back-up), and get the same error messages. Please help!
JY Lee,
Are you trying to do a Universal Restore? In many cases, such a recovery fails because the drivers that are provided to ATI are not the right ones. If you are positive you have the right chipset, RAID/SATA controlles in an uncompressed format (ie in .inf format), then you should contact Acronis Support.