How to backup hidden partitions?
If I choose "Disks and Partitions", I can only see the two partitions that are visible to the currently running O/S (Win7-32bit). None of the other partitions on that disk (Dell Recovery, BootIt BM, Win7-32-alternate, Linux Mint) are shown, whether I click "Full partition list" or "Short partition list"
It doesn't look like a "Disks and Partitions" display issue either, because if I choose "Full System Backup", the total size for the backup is the same as for a D+P)
I am in the process of transitioning from the original HDD to an SSD which came with a "free" licence for TrueImageHD. That program also didn't show my hidden partitions, so I purchased an upgrade to the full version thinking that hidden partitions might have been an "advanced feature"
Thanks in advance for any help (or for - gently - pointing me towards the "obvious" setting that I have missed)
Apologies if this is multi-posted. The Captcha doesn't seem to like Opera 12.17
Paul
Hi Steve,
No I hadn't tried any other application. (I had assumed that software which claimed it would "back up entire disks (including hidden partitions)" would get down to the bare metal and do exactly what it said on the tin - and, in particular, would know how to handle the disk layouts of the various multi-boot systems available.
EaseUS does show an additional 49.0GB Logical Partition marked as "Unallocated" which might well be the problem - at least for for a simple-minded backup program which just thinks "I don't need to copy any of that!"
Ho hum. "Heads" I lose, "tails" I don't win.
I suppose I'll have to back everything up by hand (with associated multiple reboots)
Thanks for your help
One option you could consider is to do a Sector by Sector type backup which will backup the entire drive and gives you the further option of backing up unallocated space as well. See the attached screen shot of the Advanced options tab.
Thanks for that hint, I'll do some reading overnight - but I guess that trying to restore a sector-by-sector backup of 3 partitions hidden in one "unallocated" logical unit might give me some s-l-i-g-h-t trouble - especially since I was intending to make each primary partition on the SSD larger than it was on the original HDD
As the saying goes: "Every task on a computer can be broken into two parts. The first part is easy, but the second has to be broken into two other parts; the first of those parts is also easy but the second has to be broken into two further parts, the first of which is easy, but the second part is... impossible"
You may want to try Macrium Reflect v6 Home Edition. They have a trial version as well as a free version. I know that when I switched from TI 2016 to Macrium I noticed that it showed, and backed up, all of the partitions on my drive, including the hidden partitions. TI didn't even know they were there. Macrium displays them and also provides some detailed information about them. Added bonus, the performance of the backups is orders of magnitude faster than TI.
I see you mention a Dull Platitude in post #1 :)
Some years ago, I found out the hard way (with a Dell Vostro) that when you make and restore a disk image with Acronis (running Acronis within Windows) that it rewrote the master boot record and that rendered the Dell recovery partitions as inaccessible. I was a bit put out at that although I went on to clean install W7 and so it was a non issue in the end for me.
Perhaps those with more knowledge on that could elaborate for you. Would a later UEFI set up have the same problem for example.
Would running TI from bootable media pick up all the partitions I wonder.
Thanks to all for your suggestions - not that I managed to succeed, but I'll note my experiences here to save any future reader from wasting their time too.
(Something on this web page managed to crash my web browser during a previous attempt to write this note. Apologies if this comment is a little rushed - and I will stay well away from the "italics" button this time)
Booting from stand-alone rescue disk...
a) The 32bit version would not run "Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown - block (1,0)"
b) The 64bit version would run but did NOT show the hidden partitions
c) Neither did EaseUS
d) From the size "expected to copy", the "copy unallocated space" option seems to refer to space /within/ the selected partitions, rather than any disk space /outside/ those partitions
I haven't bothered to investigate in greater detail. I am giving up on this program and will use the Terabyte "Image for ..." programs which do show & copy all my partitions, but a couple of points in passing...
1. The "kernel panic" was probably just a glitch in the burn process, but if it was then a slap-on-the-wrist for the lazy programmer who didn't verify the copy against the original. What if the error was at a later point so the restore program would start up ok, but then failed during a restore process?
2. Why have /both/ 32bit and 64bit versions of the restore process on the same CD? If both can restore any backup, why confuse the user with an unnecessary choice? And if either is limited in the restorations it can perform, shouldn't it be made crystal clear? After all, restoration of a partition is not something that one will be doing every day - or even every year
3. I do not care for lazy &/or dumbed down installation processes which give me no choice on what functions are installed or where (at least 350MB on my - extremely limited - C: drive). Nor do I care to have an administrator-level-only icon stuck on to every user desktop
4. Nor do I want at least 4 processes automatically started at every boot. While I appreciate that Acronis may see "backup-to-the-cloud" as a great sales feature, since I live out in the sticks with extremely slow upload speed, the idea of backing up gigabytes to the cloud is of ZERO interest to me.
</rant>
Thanks again to everyone who tried to help
Paul
Couldn't agree more with your rant Paul, especially #3.
Once I got the refund I applied for, when I uninstalled TI2016, it sent me to Acronis for feedback on why I have uninstalled it.
I told them the reasons, too bad but I have zero confidence in their program because I never know when the images are suddenly going to fail to validate and other issues.
I still have all their previous versions but doubt if I'll be using them on my main computer.
I'm probably going to go with Terabyte's program as I use multiple OS's and although Macrium's Reflect seems to work really nicely compared to TI, I also need a Boot Manager that allows for more than 4 Primary partitions and BIBM fits that requirement nicely, also, BIBM s cheaper than Reflect, especially given the state of the current exchange rate for the Can/US dollar.
Thanks for your comments - at least I know my problems weren't mine alone.
To give Acronis their due, I didn't have any trouble requesting a refund.
Logman, Re your lack of confidence - I am away from my backups, so can't check for myself at the moment but IST(V)R that both TI and IfD stored their backups as *.tib" files)
If I wasn't completely mistaken, I was wondering whether the similarities might extend beyond backup-file-extension to backup-file-structure - ie. maybe IfD/IfW could read TI backups?
Pleased to hear you got the refund OK.