Multibootsystem with Acronis True Image Home

You should be fine restoring back to the original location. OSS will adjust the hidden status when an OS is booted. Otherwise, you can always use DD after the restore to change it. You shouldn't need to deactivate OSS before restoring.

Hi,

OK. Im not sure what you exactly mean.
My situation is I have 5 Windows Systems and every System is hidden to each other. In Acronis True Image Home - which is only install in ONE Windows I have made Volume Backups from every System . This Backups where made until OS Selector was aktive so that Acronis Image show no Windows Flag on 4 Backups. Only the Backup of the System where Os Selector and Acronis Image is installed shows the Windows Flag.

I tested to Resore of Vista ( hidden Partition ) and Acronis True Image says I must shutdown the System before it goes on... I did not so and break it.

I think: If I do so and Windows restart what about Acronis Boot Manager ? Does Acronis True Image ignore that Bootmanager and boot direktly in his own Bootdevice ? Should I install Acronis True Image on every Windows and not only on one ?

Please help me i am really unsure what to do for a Restore

Can you please clarify which version of TI you're using (Post #1 says "TI 2001")?

I would first run a test restore when booted to the TI CD, not from Windows. If this works properly you can test out a "reboot" restore from Windows.

Since TI is requesting a reboot it makes me wonder exactly how your system is configured. Is each Windows partition booting from its own partition or do you have them booting from the same partition? If it's not too much trouble for you, could you post a copy of your BOOTWIZ.OSS file? It may help me to see it.

The goal is to figure out the easiest method to use that leaves the multi-boot system intact after a restore. I have not done extensive testing with OSS 11 and the last two versions of TI, but early tests indicated that tight integration wasn't there (like in the older TI versions).

You should not need to install TI into every Windows installation.

When TI in Windows needs to reboot it may do the operation using the Linux version of TI or it may use pre-Windows mode (like chkdsk). If TI needs to change the MBR code to do the operation it should restore it back to its original code after it's finished.

Hi,

Ok, I attached a copy File of my bootwiz.oss. Every Os is installed on a separate Partition. This Partition was aktive during install and the others hidden.

I test a Restore of Vista 64 ( one of the 5 installed OS ) in Win7 ( where True Image is installed ) and it fails ! I got a Errormessage with Code 9 .

This Message was not even before I update to Build 6868.

What sholuld I do ? Why is it not recommended to Install Acronis True Image on every OS of my Multibootsystem ?

Best Regards Edit. I use Acronis True Image 2011 with Plus Pack
Harald

What is giving the error code ("Code 9")? Is it TI or is it when you try to boot into the restored partition?

Did you run the test restore from the TI CD?

I wasn't recommending against installing TI into each Windows OS. I was just saying that you shouldn't need to. You certainly could install it and create separate backups from each booted system.

MudCrab wrote:

You certainly could install it and create separate backups from each booted system.

Hi,

Now I install Acronis True Image on every OS and make a backup of them. Now It works perfekt from every booted Windows.

I think that ATi doesnt make a valid Backup from hidden Systemvolumes created from OSS. This Backup Methode dont work for me.

But what do you think about my bootwiz oss file - is there something wrong ?

Best Regards
Harald

I didn't notice anything wrong in the BOOTWIZ.OSS file. If I have time later I'll try and run a test and see if I can tell what's happening.

Hi,

Now, a little Time passed by and all works good. I can Restore Backups from every OS but I am quiet unsure about this:

During a Restore of a Backup Acronis True Image shows a Option MBR and Track 0.
In my Case - should I check or uncheck this Option ? I do uncheck.

Am I right ?

Best Regards
Haraldpeter

You shouldn't need to check it. It's generally only needed if the MBR/Track 0 has become corrupted or is missing (like on a new or wiped drive).

Hi,

Now I have Backups of my installed systems ( 3 Drives and 5 OS Partitions ). For example - on the second Drive there is only XP on a aktive Partition with 50GB. On this Drive there is another empty Partition ( created with DD for Reserve ).

Can I restore a Backup of a OS from the first Drive ( 108GB Partition ) in this second Drive ? How should I do that ? Can I duplicate XP in this empty Partition?
Or, can I make a new Install of Vista in this empty Partition without getting trouble with your Methode ? ( first deaktivetd OSS, then make aktive the new Partition and so on ...)

Best Regards
Harald

You should be able to do either. However, each needs to be done so it doesn't corrupt the setup.

When installing a new OS to a non-booting drive, the same rules apply (deactivate OSS, make the new partition Active, hide any other Windows OS partitions on the drive, etc.), but you must also make the drive the booting drive (or disconnect the other drives) when installing or there will be problems. If OSS is installed on the first drive and you want to install Vista to the second drive (for example), there is no reason to deactivate OSS -- just disconnect the first drive (and any other OS drives) and set the "second" drive as the booting drive. When finished, connect the drives and set the original first drive as the booting drive. OSS should detect the new installation automatically. In other words, if the drive with the OSS installation isn't available OSS won't be getting in the way, so no need to deactivate it.

Copying or restoring an existing system from an OSS setup to a new partition requires care too. You don't want TI to try to "merge" booting with another system. To avoid this, I would recommend doing the copy/restore procedure from the CD, making sure the new partition is Active (restore as Active, if restoring), and making sure the boot.ini file references the correct drive/partition. Before booting the new partition, make sure all other Windows OS partitions are hidden, especially the original (the source of the copy). This is important to avoid drive letter assignment issues if Windows sees "known" partitions (these problems can be fixed with DD, if they do occur).

After the restore or copy, you can use DD from the CD to check the drive letter assignment. Select the Disk Layout for the new partition and check which partition is assigned C:. Normally, this should be the Windows partition (the new partition, in this case). You can change the assignment here, if necessary. Note that if you follow the instructions above and the other Windows partitions are hidden when the copy is booted the first time, Windows should automatically do the correct assignment if it's wrong.

Hi Mud Crab,

First of all - many Thanks for your suggestions and Help.

Ok, now I understand some things quit better - but one makes me a little bit confused: What do you mean about " make sure the boot.ini file reference the correct drive/partition? My currently installed XP from what I made a Backup is on the second drive on Partition 2. The empty Partition is on the same drive and is Partition 1. How do I check this File ?

Please look about what I understand from you and want do:
- First boot in my Main OS Win7 on drive 1 ( on this drive there are 2 others OS ) where DD and OSS is installed and deaktivate OSS
- I check this Win7 as default OS
- then reboot via DD CD and hide all others OS and make the empty Partition on Disk 2 as aktive
- when this done I reboot with TI CD and restore the Backup from the XP Install on drive 2 Partition 2 on drive 2 Partition 1 and alligment the different space from 55GB to 50GB ?! During Restore i dont check MBR and Track 0
- after Restore I boot direktly in DD CD and check if the new XP on drive 2 Partition 1 has the letter "C"
- after done that I reaktivate OSS

Am I right and can I do so ?

At least a Question. I deleted one Vista from my 3 OS on drive 1 but I have a TI Backup of them. This Vista was installed on drive 1 and Partition 2 which is 218GB. On this Partition now there is a Win 7.
For example - if I do so like describe above - is this able, too ?

Best Regards and many Thanks
Harald

TI will usually update the boot.in file so it's correct. However, I usually like to check it before booting. You can check it in OSS, if necessary. DD 10 would let you edit a file so you could easily browse to it, open it, and view it. DD 11 doesn't have this feature.

Deactivating OSS isn't usually necessary when restoring from and image. Restoring is not the same as when installing Windows.

This is what I would recommend:

1. Shutdown the computer.
2. Disconnect every hard drive except Disk 2.
3. Set Disk 2 as the booting drive in the BIOS.
4. Boot to DD and hide any Windows partitions on Disk 2.
5. Boot to TI and restore the XP image to Disk 2. Select to restore the partition as Active.
6. Boot back to DD. Select the Disk layout link and select the restored partition.
7. Make sure the restored partition is assigned C:. Adjust if necessary.
8. Shutdown the computer and reconnect the drives. Set the original drive back as the booting drive.
9. Boot the computer to OSS. It should find the new XP and add it to the menu.
10. Edit the new XP menu entry and make sure the other Windows partitions are hidden. This can be changed later if wanted, but it's best to have them hidden on the first boot-up.
11. If you wish to check the boot.ini file, you can select to edit it from the entry's properties.

The steps would be the same for Vista, except there is no boot.ini file.

To be honest, if it were me, I'd just restore the image, fix any problems, and be done with it. I'm trying to avoid the "fix any problems" step here. If you don't wish to disconnect the other drives (or can't), at least make sure to set Disk 2 as the booting drive and hide all the other partitions -- you only want the "new" destination partition visible.