Survival Kit changes partitioning from MBR to GPT

See KB 61738: Acronis True Image: Survival Kit disk partition for backups is limited to 2TB on BIOS-booted systems

Thank you, Sir, for your quick reply.

I have converted my external HDD into an Acronis Bootable Rescue Media by the simple method following your above link. That procedure, however, also results in an MBR drive. I attach two screen shots of the conversion procedure and one of the resulting Windows Disk Management.

I very much appreciate your help in this matter and hope you can help me again. Thank you.

Perkelb

If your Windows OS is a 32 bit version or your PC is an x86 machine then it is your system that causes the MBR conversion.

Thanks, Enchantech, for the advice. However, the computer has a 64 bit operating system and a x64 based processor.

Okay, as Steve said on BIOS/MBR booted systems the Survival Kit is limited to 2TB.  In order to boot your system in the correct mode(BIOS/MBR) to perform a recovery the Survival Kit disk must be formatted as an MBR disk.  2TB is a limitation of the MBR standard and not a limitation or flaw in True Image.

If you desire to use the GPT standard then your PC must boot via UEFI/GPT.

Thanks, Enchantech. System information states BIOS mode to be UEFI. If the computer nevertheless boots in BIOS can I make it boot in UEFI/GPT ?

Oh, I just realized that it may well be possible to make the computer boot in UEFI but I would not be knowledgeable enough to perform the conversion. So either I make do with Acronis Survival Kit and backups on a 2 TB hard disk or I create a separate boot stick.

You have already been very helpful. Thank you! But may I ask two more questions:

Do I have to update a boot stick every time Microsoft updates my Windows 10?

Can a boot stick created with my Windows 10 desktop computer (which can very well handle Acronis Survival Kit on a 4 TB external hard disk) also boot my Windows 10 notebook and thus enable me to recover the notebook´s full Acronis backup stored on an external hard disk?

Perkelb

Do I have to update a boot stick every time Microsoft updates my Windows 10?

Can a boot stick created with my Windows 10 desktop computer (which can very well handle Acronis Survival Kit on a 4 TB external hard disk) also boot my Windows 10 notebook and thus enable me to recover the notebook´s full Acronis backup stored on an external hard disk?

No to the first question.  The boot media should only be updated if there are significant changes to the Acronis application or you need to add additional device drivers.

Yes to the second question, but while the the disk will boot on both MBR & GPT systems, your MBR system is likely to have issues with the 4TB drive given the limitations of MBR to max of 2TB drives, so would suggest doing some testing to check this for yourself.

Enchantech may be able to advise more on the second question as I do not any such larger drives that connect directly via USB.

To be on the save side I will simply assume that my notebook just cannot handle backups from drives larger than 2 TB. I am sure I can live with that.

One, probably last question, though, I still have: Can I simply cut and paste an Acronis full backup (.tibx file) from one external hard disk to another with Windows Explorer?

Perkelb,

If you wish to use your 4TB disk as a Survival Kit and take advantage of the full 4TB capacity you would need to convert your desktop from MBR/BIOS to UEFI/GPT boot.   Win 10 after version 1703 can convert your Windows OS system disk from MBR to GPT from an Admin command prompt using a built-in utility called mbr2gpt. 

Prior to conversion you would need to setup your PC to boot correctly.  You would need to enable Both UEFI and Legacy/CSM boot in your PC bios setup so that once the conversion is completed your PC, no longer finding the MBR boot will know to look for boot code in the EFI partition that the conversion will create.  Once you setup this option then boot the PC as you would normally.

Once booted to Windows 10, in the Search box type command.  This should auto select Command Prompt.  Looking in the right (white) section of the popup and select Run as administrator.  The command prompt will open after you acknowledge the UAC warning.

You first need to Validate that your Windows disk can be converted.  To find out at the prompt run the following command:

Mbr2gpt.exe /validate /allowFullOS

If the tool returns : Validation completed successfully, then your disk can be converted as is.

To convert your Windows 10 OS disk run the following command:

mbr2gpt /convert /allowFullOS

The output from this last command will look like the screenshot above.

Note: the last output line instructs that you need to switch the firmware to boot to UEFI mode, this step was completed prior to conversion in the instruction here.  Important: A shutdown of your PC should be done at this point.  Once shutdown occurs you can start the PC again and it should boot into Windows this time in UEFI mode.

At this point you can create the Survival Kit on your 4TB disk in GPT format and have access to the full disk capacity.

As for your laptop, if the laptop is a BIO/MBR boot machine as well it likely will boot the Survival Kit boot partition however, your joy may end there however as the MBR system has several limitation dependent on OS version as outlined below:

Because the transition to a single-disk capacity of greater than 2 TB has occurred fairly recently, Microsoft has investigated how Windows supports these large disks. The results reveal several issues that apply to all versions of Windows earlier than and including Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1.

To this point, the following incorrect behavior is known to occur when Windows handles single-disk storage capacity of greater than 2 TB:

• The numeric capacity beyond 2 TB overflows. This results in the system being able to address only the capacity beyond 2 TB. For example, on a 3 TB disk, the available capacity may be only 1 TB.
• The numeric capacity beyond 2 TB is truncated. This results in no more than 2 TB of addressable space. For example, on a 3 TB disk, the available capacity may be only 2 TB.
• The storage device is not detected correctly. In this case, it is not displayed in either the Device Manager or Disk Management windows.

Many storage controller manufacturers offer updated drivers that provide support for storage capacities of more than 2 TB. Contact your storage controller manufacturer or OEM to determine what downloadable support is available for single-disk capacities that are greater than 2 TB.

If your laptop is capable of UEFI boot you could convert that device as well and the Survival Kit would work the same on both systems.

Hope this helps.

Enchantech,

you have spend a lot of time on me and given me new hope. Thanks a lot!

As mentioned earlier, my desktop already boots in UEFI mode and has put the Acronis Survival Kit with a full backup onto the fully available 4 TB drive. So all smiles there.

At issue is only my laptop. Manufactured in 2017 it has the newest 64 bit Windows 10 operating system (OEM) and an x64 based processor. System information states BIOS mode to be UEFI but, well, when installing the Survival Kit the external drive gets converted to MBR and thus reduced from 4 to 2 TB. So I assume the machine could handle UEFI if only Windows would let it. From your latest comment I gather that I can probably command Windows to also converse to UEFI, especially since the incorrect behaviour you mentioned does not seem to affect Windows 10.

So, in the next few days (since I cannot right now) I will attempt to use mbr2gbt as you explained to me.

Thanks again and please bear with me!

Perkelb

What you need to understand is that a PC can be UEFI capable and not have UEFI active. 

If Windows is not installed on the machine with UEFI enabled in the bios setup then the result will be an MBR/BIOS boot machine.  Clearly by what you say your laptop is an example of just that.

So yes, enable UEFI boot and Legcay/CSM support on your laptop, run the conversion as outlined, and then both machines will have full use of your 4TB GPT drive.

So, in the next few days (since I cannot right now) I will attempt to use mbr2gbt as you explained to me.

Please make sure you have a current full disk backup of your OS drive before starting on any attempt to convert from MBR to GPT.  This is your safety net in case anything goes awry in the process, plus offers an alternative method of converting.

If you recover a disk backup (created from a MBR system) using the Acronis rescue media booted in UEFI / GPT mode, then the recovered disk will be migrated automatically to GPT.

See the ATI 2020 User Guide: UEFI-booted system, MBR, UEFI supported

In this step of the wizard, you need to select the destination hard disk.

Currently your system contains:

System: UEFI-booted

Source partition style: MBR

Operating system on the source disk: Windows, booting in UEFI is supported

If you migrate the system to the selected disk:

After migration, the destination partition style will be converted to GPT and you will be able to boot from it.

Destination disk after migration:

System: UEFI-booted

Partition style: GPT

Operating system: Windows, booting in UEFI is supported

Disk size: the entire disk space is available

You can find more information about the migration procedure in Migration method section.

Thanks, thanks a lot for your friendly help.

Enchantech made it clear that both UEFI and CSM Support must be enabled prior to the conversion. In the firmware interface I found CSM Support to be disabled but I cannot see there whether or not UEFI is enabled. However, System Information states BIOS Mode to be UEFI. Can I assume that UEFI must already be enabled anyway since CSM Support is disabled?

Perkelb

Please run the command msinfo32 in Windows and check what is shown for the BIOS mode on this computer?  Does it show Legacy or show UEFI?

Steve, I did as you suggested. BIOS Mode is UEFI.

Perkelb

Ok, if the BIOS mode is already shown as UEFI for the Windows OS, then the next check point is to look in Disk Management and check what partition scheme is being used for your OS drive, as normally with UEFI this should be using GPT, so need to check if this is so or not?

Open Disk Management then right-click on the disk number for the OS disk and select Properties, then look at the Volumes tab to see the partition scheme.

The images above show how my own drives look, the OS SSD is using GPT while my second data HDD is using MBR.  The OS uses UEFI as the BIOS boot mode.

Steve, my setup equals yours.

I have an SSD with the Windows operating system and all the programmes in volume C.

And I have an HDD for data only (Volume D).

Disk management shows for the SSD partition style GPT and for the HDD partition style MBR.

Perkelb

Ok, then you have no need to do any conversion from MBR to GPT which leaves a mystery for why creating the Survival Kit on this system would want to change to partition scheme from GPT to MBR?

I will need to think about this for a little while...

KB 61639: Acronis True Image 2019 and 2020: how to create Acronis Survival Kit - is very clear that:

If the external HDD is not a GPT one and has a file system different from NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT, Acronis True Image suggests formatting the disk. Note that formatting will erase all data on the disk.

So as your OS boots using UEFI / GPT, and your 4TB external drive was already using GPT, there should be no need for it to be formatted back to MBR and lose half the capacity!

KB 61738: Acronis True Image: Survival Kit disk partition for backups is limited to 2TB on BIOS-booted systems covers the situation for a Legacy / CSM boot system using MBR.

You try to create Acronis Survival Kit on a USB disk larger than 2TB.

Survival Kit creation wizard shows the following warning:

Attention! Your computer is running in BIOS mode which limits bootable disks to be MBR with 2TB maximum size. If you proceed, the selected external disk will be converted from GPT to MBR, shrunk to 2TB, and you will not be able to use the remaining disk space beyond 2TB.

Cause

Your installed Windows system is running in BIOS mode, which restricts bootable disks to be MBR. MBR scheme restricts bootable partitions to maximum size of 2TB.

Your scenario from this topic just should not be happening and if this is repeatable, then you should open a Support Case direct with Acronis to have them investigate why is doing this?

Dear Steve and Enchantech,

I am very grateful to both of you for helping me so much.

Yes, I have tried repeatedly to create a backup with the Acronis Survival Kit with my laptop only to find the backup had ended up on an external hard disk shrunken by the process.

My desktop however works well with the Survival Kit. In fact, I should and will try to create a backup with the Survival Kit with my desktop onto the external HDD I usually use with the laptop to make sure it´s not the HDD causing trouble. After all, that HDD could also not be made an Acronis Bootable Rescue Media by the simple method you told me about.

It seems to be a hard nut to crack. I will let Acronis have a go at it unless it is the HDD that failed me.

Thanks again for all you have done for me. I really appreciate it.

I wish you all the best and please keep well and fit!

Perkelb

Perkelb,

I take it you had success converting your desktop and creating the Survival Kit drive with it.  But you did not have the same success with your laptop?

After creating the Survival Kit drive on your desktop did you try attaching it to your laptop and booting to it?

If not you should try it.  There should be no reason for the laptop not to do this.

Once the laptop is booted follow the instructions in the KB link provided below to determine in what mode the laptop booted the Survival Kit drive.  Follow the instructions for 1. WinRE/WinPE-based media (default).

KB 59877

I bet that you find the laptop booted the media in UEFI mode.  If it did not then UEFI is probably not enabled in the laptop bios setup. 

A good way to verify if the laptop is using UEFI to boot beyond what Steve has shown is to have a look a Windows Disk Management and your C: drive.  Your C: drive needs to have an EFI partition in order to boot using UEFI.  The screenshot below shows the second partition (99MB) is the EFI partition therefore the disk boots using UEFI.

You can also store a backup of your laptop on the Survival Kit drive and once you verify that it is in fact booting using UEFI then you can recover the backup to your laptop by booting the laptop with the Survival Kit drive.

Enchantech,

my desktop never had a problem with the Survival Kit, unlike the laptop.

But that laptop´s C: drive does have an EFI partition and partition style GPT. The laptops system information states BIOS mode to be UEFI and the firmware interface shows CSM Support to be disabled.

I have now created a Survival Kit cum full backup of the desktop onto the external HDD which I usually use with the laptop and which I had converted back to GPT prior to the backup. The backup went well and did not shrink the HDD. From that backup I then booted the laptop following your instructions above and found PEFirmware Type Parameter to be 2 which means UEFI.

Then I attempted to create a full backup of the laptop onto the same HDD which already had a Survival Kit created from the desktop. Acronis offered to update the Survival Kit prior to the actual backup which I allowed. However, it then mentioned that the parameters of the medium could not be found and offered to format the medium.

Your last paragraph I understand as follows: With my desktop I can create a Survival Kit (I would do that on a newly formatted GPT drive) and then create the actual backup of the laptop onto that drive (without updating the Survival Kit which it will offer). From that drive I should then be able to boot the laptop and recover the backup to the laptop. Is that what you mean?

Well, even if we cannot solve the problem I certainly have learned a lot about computers since starting this topic.

Perkelb

Perkelb,

Yes, you understood correctly.  It is a bit odd that your laptop hardware does not support the 4TB disk but that seems to be the issue.  I have read that some bios versions have such a limitation but have not run into it, until now possibly.

Is it possible that the laptop is running a 32-bit implementation of UEFI here?

If you ignore the option to update the Survival Kit when using that disc on the laptop, can you boot the Survival Kit on the laptop?

Steve,

I was thinking the same thing here about this issue.  If that is the case the OP may or may not have success.  I see this as a case where the Survival Kit's check of the system on the laptop detects a 32 bit UEFI system and because 32 bit is involved, TI wants to redo the Survival Kit to match the laptop's presumed 32 bit limitation. 

Problem is that the system in this scenario would be using the Survival Kit drive as simple storage for the backup file.  From my research this scenario has a chance of working, in other words as a storage disk, the laptop may make use of the disk.  What it cannot do is use the 4TB disk as a boot disk which is where I think the rub comes in here.  The Survival Kit utility is assuming that the laptop will be booting a 4TB drive on a 32 bit system so it flags that and wants to format the disk.

So if the user ignores the prompts to create/update the Survival Kit and simply configures and runs a backup task, (provided the laptop can in fact address the drive properly) then that would work for the OP.  Only issue would be the prompt to create a Survival Kit each time the drive is used with the laptop.

One further option here would be to use such as the MiniTool Partition Wizard to remove the current 2GB FAT32 Survival Kit partition on the 4TB drive, then create a new 2GB FAT32 partition (without the flag for the Survival Kit) and give this a Windows drive letter, i.e. S:

Once the above is done, then use the normal Acronis Rescue Media builder to create the Simple WinPE version of the Survival Kit on the laptop giving it the drive letter (S:) of the new 2GB FAT32 partition.  That approach will stop the nag about updating the Survival Kit each time the drive is used on the laptop and the rescue media so created in the FAT32 partition should be capable of working with both computers.

Correct.  Was hoping the OP could try it out as is and make sure the laptop could address the entire 4TB drive capacity.  If not then what you say would still work but the laptop may only have 2TB available space or, it may not access the drive at all.  In other words the drive would be visible but greyed out.  If that proves to be the case a check for a bios revision upgrade may fix the issue.

Steve and Enchantech,

thanks to both of you for your continued interest.

My next step is to format the drive again into a 4 TB GPT drive and create the Survival Kit onto it with the desktop. Then I will create the actual backup of the laptop onto that drive (without updating the Survival Kit which it will offer). From that drive I should then be able to boot the laptop and recover the backup to the laptop. I would not actually perform the recovery for test purposes out of fear to upset C: of the notebook.

If that works well I would have a 4 TB drive fully available for backups for as long as I do not update that Survival Kit with the laptop but update it with the desktop only. Having to ignore prompts to update the Survival Kit with the laptop is no problem at all.

I have not yet done the above since a friend uses the laptop and I have to fit into his busy schedule.

Also, I have now put my case to Asus who manufactured the notebook and its motherboard since the the problem seems to be caused by the notebook rather than Acronis True Image.

So, thanks again for your patient help. Please bear with me.

Perkelb

Steve and Enchantech,

thanks for your patience. I have now successfully done what I announced in my last comment. The external HDD now has a Backup cum Survival Kit, 4 TB available and is bootable. It also has a 2 GB Acronis HM partition just like the external HDD which I use with my desktop.

How, though, can I be sure I could recover a backup without actually doing a recovery? After all, doing an unsuccessful recovery might mess up my computer.

For a final resolution of my problem, i.e. enabling the notebook to create a Survival Kit without shrinking the HDD, I am still waiting and hoping for the right hint from Asus.

For that please bear with me again. Thanks for your great help and patience.

Perkelb

Perkelb asked:

How, though, can I be sure I could recover a backup without actually doing a recovery? After all, doing an unsuccessful recovery might mess up my computer.

First test that you can boot from the external Survival Kit drive in the same BIOS mode as used by your Windows OS, and that when doing so, it can see both your internal drives and also the 4TB backup partition on the external drive.

If the first test is successful, then further actions / tests would be best performed by investing in a spare drive for the ASUS computer that you could use in place of the working drive (by removing the latter and recovering to the spare drive installed internally).

Steve,

thanks for your speedy answer. Doing as you suggested would leave me with an extra Windows, though. If I would then re-install my original C-drive can I expect it to work just like before the swap? I guess Microsoft may want to prevent unlicensed copies of Windows.

Perkelb

There would be no issues with Windows activation provided the 'extra Windows' is used only with the original computer hardware.  Windows is activated based on the hardware signature of the device where it is installed, which doesn't include the specific disk drive signature (only the motherboard, CPU, key adapters etc).

Many users use cloning to create a second identical copy of their Windows OS drive to keep in a safe, offline location for a very quick recovery option.

I have used this same process for testing when needed, doing those tests on a spare drive then putting back the original when done, all without any issue.

Steve,

thanks again for your quick reply. I feel reassured now knowing a clear path to creating a surely good copy of my C-drive. Now I wait for Asus. Please bear with me.

Perkelb

A related question to Enchantech... have you used Windows Disk Management console to convert from MBR to GPT instead of the mbr2gpt method?

To Perkelb, I've read through this thread three times at least so I'd like to just get a summary of the laptop...

1. What is the model of the laptop? What BIOS version?

2. Right-clicking the Computer desktop icon and selecting properties, what exactly does it say for "System type". I assume from what you said that is should say "64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor".

3. When you plug in the 4TB drive, do you have any problem in reading off that drive from the laptop?

4. In msinfo32, BIOS Mode says "UEFI", Secure Boot State say "off". Correct?

BrunoC,

I have used Disk Management to convert MBR to GPT.  The difference is that MBR2GPT  converts without data loss whereas the Disk Management or DiskPart methods do not.

Enchantech wrote:

BrunoC,

I have used Disk Management to convert MBR to GPT.  The difference is that MBR2GPT  converts without data loss whereas the Disk Management or DiskPart methods do not.

Ah, I didn't see that in the document I read. Good to know!

BrunoC,

what do you mean with computer desk top icon? I have several icons on the laptop desktop. Each one links to a different programm. An icon for the desktop itself, though, I do not know except the one I see in the Windows Explorer on the left pane under This PC. But that icon reveals no such information as sought by you.

Perkelb

Perkelb,

Alternatively, open the Windows 10 Settings and go to System->About. I have a line that says:

System type          64-bit operating system, X64-based processor

BrunoC,

the laptop is an Asus X556UQ - DM885D.

The BIOS version is 317.

(Windows Settings...System...About...) System type says "64-bit operating system, x64 based processor".

I have no problem reading off that drive from the laptop.

In msinfo32 BIOS Mode says "UEFI" and Secure Boot State says "off".

Thanks to you, too, BrunoC for trying to crack this nut.

Perkelb

Steve, Enchantech and BrunoC,

we have come to the end of the road. Asus, too, could not solve the problem of my laptop being unable to install Acronis Survival Kit without converting the external drive into MBR and thus shrinking it to 2 TB. I have already installed the Survival Kit with my desktop onto the drive which is to store my laptop backups and I will only ever update that Survival Kit with the desktop.

Steve, Enchantech and BrunoC, it was great pleasure dealing with you, to witness such knowledge, helpfulness and patience. I am very impressed.

Thank you for all you have done for me!

Perkelb

Perkelb,

Sorry to hear that you were unable to find resolution to this issue.  This problem is very strange and one that I have never seen or heard of before you.  Glad to have been of assistance but if I may ask.  Would you take the time to use the Feedback option in the Acronis GUI to report your issue?  It would be helpful if you would include a System Report with that feedback and that you provide a reference link to this thread.

Enchantech,

Yes, I am of course more than happy to provide some feedback. However, following the feedback link at the bottom of this page I cannot find a way to link my feedback to this thread. Or does reference link simply mean my email address?

Perkelb

Please use the Feedback option in your installed True Image program.  Click on the Help at the bottom of the the left hand menu, then click on Send feedback.  The "Attach system report" should be checked by default but in case it is not please tick that box.

Enchantech,

I have sent my feedback to Acronis as you have suggested. Is there anything else I should do to close this topic?

Perkelb

PS: My feedback is kind of a summary and reads as follows:

I use Acronis True Image 2020 on two Windows computers. With the desktop I can faultlessly create Acronis Survival Kit cum backups onto an external 4 TB drive.

But when installing Acronis Survival Kit onto another external 4 TB drive with my notebook the drive gets converted from GPT to MBR and half the drive becomes unallocated and unavailable. The same happens when applying, with the notebook, Acronis Rescue Media Builder to the drive.

The notebook was manufactured in 2017. It boots in BIOS mode UEFI version 317 from an SSD which has an EFI partition. The SSD is GPT but the notebook also has an HDD in MBR. It has the newest 64 bit Windows 10 operating system (OEM) and an x64 based processor. Fast Boot and Secure Boot Control are enabled, CSM Support is disabled and Secure Boot State is “off“.

The external drive is not at fault as it does take the Survival Kit from the desktop without shrinking.

I also asked Asus who manufactured the notebook and its motherboard but they, too, found no solution.

As a workaround I have installed the Survival Kit with my desktop onto the drive for the notebook backups. I will only ever update that Survival Kit with the desktop since the notebook would shrink the HDD again.The notebook can boot from that drive and recovery with the backup on that drive also seems possible.

On the Acronis User Forum I have received very competent, friendly and patient help. My topic “Survival Kit changes partitioning from MBR to GPT“ posted 2020.03.31 could not be fully solved but kind helpers led me to the workaround and taught me a lot in the process.

Perkelb,

Your feedback is appreciated by we MVP's and I am confident the developers of True Image will find it very interesting.  If they can reproduce the behavior they may find a solution. 

As for any thing else from you, I think you have done quite enough to be honest.  Again, thanks for the feedback.

Perkelb, thank you! I've found your feedback and asked our colleagues from the RnD to review it

Ekaterina,

thanks for picking up this case. I guess RnD stands for Research and Development and means the engineers at Acronis. I keep my fingers crossed.

Perkelb

Perkelb wrote:

Ekaterina,

thanks for picking up this case. I guess RnD stands for Research and Development and means the engineers at Acronis. I keep my fingers crossed.

Perkelb

Hi! Yes, one of our developers is analyzing the logs from your system 

To anybody reading this and able to help me:

After receiving such great help with this topic

I have now received a few times the following message from Acronis Forum:

"New post has been created...You can view the whole post at the following URL...You will receive emails like this for all replies to your posts..."

However, I haven´t got a clue as to how or where to find these new posts.

I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Perkelb