Do not use the System Clean Up under Tools and Utilities
Don’t use the System Clean Up under Tools and Utilities. I attached a print screen of what it did to my icons. It’s even worse than the print screen – when I loaded My Pictures there were no folders with icons, just words saying what the files were called. Thankfully I made a backup before I did that and was keeping my fingers crossed it would work. I have been waiting for 2012 as I skipped 2011 after multiple tries… every build of TI 2011 failed in some way on my 64 bit Windows.
Well the backup and restore worked. I like the new UI. The only thing I was quite literally shocked by was the restore process using the rescue CD. I normally (I have been using TI since TI 10) just select full disk restore and that’s that. Now it breaks it down and you have to tell it which partition to put where. This is confusing because the letters for the partitions on one screen are not the same on the next. To figure out what letter was what partition I had to uncheck Disk and put a check mark on each partition which would bring up what letter it was – then I would look on the next screen to compare the GB’s (because the letters were different) to find out where to put it. The very last asked me where to put the MBR. This was really confusing – I spent 45 minutes and still was not sure when I hit “Proceed” if I selected correctly. When you want to do a full disk restore it should simply put back the full disk – that it. I can’t imagine what a beginner would think of those series of choices.
I have mentioned this before but still think it needs to be taken care of… when you log into the forum there is no https which means your password is going over unencrypted. This is no big deal as this is just a forum – but, this same email and password are what is used to access my Acronis account where I have 10 registered products and there is more personally info about me. I really don’t like that and have tried to get around it. By trying to get around it I created such a mess it took customer service a month to get me squared away. In other words, I was unable to have a different password on the forum than my Acronis account. I noticed for the new sync feature in 2012 you need to have an account, and it’s asking for the same account email/password that works for this forum. I mean why bother using https for our account on Acronis.com when they give away the info while logging into the forum??? It’s like locking the front door and leaving the back wide open – you are only as secure as your weakest link… and this is one huge weak link. Not good.
I forgot to mention one thing that was great. I run Bitlocker and I did the 2012 backup within Windows and then restored that backup from the rescue CD. Using 2010 I would have to do a complete re-entrypt after a restore from the CD. With 2012 I did not. That is very good news. I do not use a TPM.
Actually - my bad. I just checked and it's because Bitlocker isn't on - so I do have to re-encrypt. Bummer : (
Sandy
Hi again.
I have requested a clarification by Acronis on the use of Http's.
Help me with your restoring a backup issue. What was the status of the target disk?
A. Was the restore being applied over top an existing working copy of that drive?
B. Or, Was the restore being applied to an unformatted disk?
C. Or something else
Your postings startled me so I made some tests and this is what I found when booted from the 2012-5545 Bootable Media CD.
1. If the disk option restore was applied to an existing disk (partitions already exist) such as to freshen up with everything being the same, then the restore was no different that it has been in the past. You selected the backup, selected the target disk; selected "Recover disk signature" ( if a new disk). and clicked Proceed.
2. However, if the target disk was unallocated, my experience matched yours. The disk option restore is now different than in the past if the target disk is unallocated. The Acronis help section mentions some steps bypassed if the disk is recognized as unallocated.
Now, checkmarking a disk restore to an unallocated disk now becomes a totally manual procedure and user must work their way through all the partitions--same as a manual restore. I did find that the program is more intelligent about size allocation but user will need to make the same corrections as they would make if the restore had been manually restoring all but mbr, etc.
The most common correction will be that user must know which partition is active and correct the program when it chooses wrong. This correction will be necessary in any situation where the 2nd partition is the active partition and the first partition is something like system reserved. The program will try to make the first partition active and the correction will be necessary when adjusting the 2nd partition--if it is the 2nd partition which is the real active partition.
Sandy,
Click on my index below and look at item 3-BB. The Compaq example matches yours partition arrangement the closest but not exactly. If your computer still has the first partition only a few MB; the second partition the active and system; and the 3rd partition was the data partition. If your restore was like that, then the only resize you had to make may have been the 3rd partition. The program offered sizes for 1 and 2 as preset from existing.
Anyway, to answer your question, the disk receiving the MBR is always the target disk. Also on the same screen was the "Recover Disk signature" option which is usually only necessary when restoring to a new disk.
I want to do more checking on what happens when the disk restore is to a disk which is not the same and has any type data on it.
After checking further, I found the disk option restore has only been changed if the target disk is recognized as unallocated.
Additional Edits:
A 2012 CD Disk restore to an unallocated disk. When the disk option is checked, all partitions and mbr become checked and 2012 will now require the user to complete each step and restoring mbr is now part of that procedure. In the past, checking the disk option would cause all the partition selection to be bypassed by this is no longer true.
Thanks for you input Grover.
I really have no idea what happened. I took the Full disk backup with TI 2012 from within Windows and within 1 hour of taking the backup (after the disaster of System Clean Up) I booted from the rescue CD to do a full disk restore of that backup - Your basic full disk restore where you really have to do no in depth selection of where the partitions go. But that is not what happened. The drive letters didn't match from one screen to the next. I got through it, but it was very, very confusing. I attached a print screen of my computer disks. In the end I just need it to work - and it did where 2011 did not - that is all that matters to me. I will have to look at it again and write down exactly how I did this so the next time I will know for sure what worked. I was just surprised that it was so complicated...
I checked your example - but I don't recall even seeing an MBR option to select. My "layout" doesnt really look like yours.
As for https - they will probably tell you what they told me - they have no plans of changing that. But the more they get into Sync (which I see requires an account, which to me means maybe you can use their server??) or online backup, they better make sure the password which is the key to your private data is always https period - which means they need to seperate the forum from Acronis.com accounts. When I brought this up - they were not concerned. But as a person who protects their data - I was concerned.
Thanks,
Sandy
Sandy,
in my Compaq guide, check especially figures 8-9-10.
Simulating a restore, get to your system as shown in figure 8.
Click on the column icon (upper right) and make your selections to match those in figure 9
If your figure 9 matches mine, when you go to the next screen, you will have a column listing similar to figure 10.
If you get your screen columns to match mine, you will find that it helps to make the restore more intuitive as the steps will be in numerical order. Practice doing a restore with the changes I suggest. Remember, its only practice just do NOT press the Proceed option.
I could only replicate your experience if the disk was unallocated. If the target disk had partitions, my testing showed the restore to act same as before.
Others have had the icon problem. As I recall, they corrected either by cleaning the icon cache or reselecting a couple of the main icons. MVP Mark Wharton was one of the ones offering "how to" get the icons back to normal.
I just booted from the rescue CD and looked at it again... when I get to the part that says "Select the items to recover" I select Disk 1 (all the drive letters on this page are correct) so I hit Next.
On the next screen it says "Settings for Partition 1-2" and prompts me to enter a "new location" and this is where the drive letters change and C becomes D. So I selected the new location, which isn't a new location and hit next.
Then I get "Settings for Partition C" with another prompt for new location. So I selected D which is really C.
Then I do the settings for MBR of Disk 1 which is just selecting the internal drive not my USB.
But none of this matters... I posted this because I thought what happened to me was the new norm for this program and what you are saying is it isn't - you aren't getting any of this and can do a full disk restore like you always did in past versions of Acronis. Good. Then they didn't really change anything, there is simply something wrong with how my system is acting with 2012. And since I can figure it out and get a successful restore I guess I won't worry too much about it... maybe it will work itself out in a later build.
As for your directions... I will try and make those changes and see if it helps me have a better understanding of what is going on.
As for the icons - that should not ever happen. I shouldn't have to do anything to fix that - and that wasn't the only problem... clearly that feature isn't ready for prime time. I also posted here to make sure people knew - and if they do want to try it - make sure they have a backup first.
Once again... thanks for your input and all the time you put in to directions, etc.!
Sandy
Sandy,
I understand and agree with your sentiments. One thing I would suggest that you do (without delay) is to assign a name to your C drive. You can do that quite easily from disk properties of Windows Management. Make up your own but do include your drive letter as part of the name. One example might be
Win7_C
This example identifies it as the system partition and the drive letter you assigned. i always include the drive letter as part of my partition name identification. I have names and drive letters also assigned to all my externals.
After you have assigned a name, this name will begin to be displayed in your future backups and will make partition identification easier.
Hi Grover,
I went ahead and used your example and changed the drive names with the letter included. I do that for all my external drives but just didn't bother with the OS partitions because I only do full disk restores. I know Linux does change the drive letters - but what I am running into I find odd. As long as I get a successful restore all is okay in my world. I just did a clean install on this computer and before I installed TI 2010 (which I know works on it - TI 2011 did not) I wanted to see how 2012 would do. I will wait for an update and see if that addresses this... I really don't want to have to go "backwards" to 2010 - but the restores were a lot easier!
Thanks for your help!
Sandy
Just to pass this along... when I do a full disk backup in Windows it hangs at the end with 1 minute remaining. So I have been simply exiting the program because I can see the backup has been created. But when I try to shut down windows I can't as it says, "An operation is happening and the computer will shut down when it's finished." But it never finishes and you have to do a hard shut down to get the computer to go down. Just passing along. Hopefully they will fix this in the next build.
Sandy
Sandy,
This may be of assistance. I use the Pre/post option to control my power schemes as per this pdf. If you have time,
read the pdf and it is very easy to implement. The post command resets the normal power setting and also shuts down the machine.
Hi Grover,
I will check it out. It's weird because my laptop does not go to sleep during backup... everything is working fine - within Acronis it shows "1 minute remaining" for backup even though the backup has been successfully completed. I go about using the computer after the backup has been completed and all is good - until I try to shut down and can't. I will take a look at your pdf.
Thanks,
Sandy
One other thing Grover - keep on them about the lack of https for this forum since the same email/password is used for our acronis.com accounts where people may have their backups stored on their server. Many, many people use Wifi hotspots on their smartphones or iPads where they check forums, etc for fun. Acronis needs to either separate this forum from Acronis.com or allow users to use a different password for their Acronis account to ensure that password always goes over https.
Sandy,
I will keep you posted but here is something you should try.
Assuming that you are logged out and want to log in.
Click on the login button before you enter any data. This will produce an error and the resulting page link will contain the https.
Now the error visible and the https link visible, go ahead and submit your login data and press the login button again.
This would seem to imply that http's is partially being used.
Awesome! That's perfect!! This should be posted as a sticky. Way to work around the problem... I will do that from now on. You know this has really, really bothered me. We have been hit with identity theft in our home - the Sony hack caused a lot of work, and I personally have had 3 different credit cards used for fraudulent purchases in the last 6 months (and I have never lost my wallet.) So I try to do what "I" as a user can to make sure things are secure online (and I still feel like I am losing the battle.) Doing what you mentioned will definitley up the security for the login on this forum (Acronis also needs to encrypt the cookies though, which you may want to ask them.) You are the best and thanks for taking the time to let me know - try to get the word out if you can.
Thanks!!
Sandy : )
It would seem one solution would be to remove the login windows and have a single login button. Pressing the login button would open an http's windows with the blank username and password windows. I have suggested this as a fix. I'll keep you posted.
Identity theft is a worry that concerns a lot of us.
Just to pass this along... when I do a full disk backup in Windows it hangs at the end with 1 minute remaining. So I have been simply exiting the program because I can see the backup has been created. But when I try to shut down windows I can't as it says, "An operation is happening and the computer will shut down when it's finished." But it never finishes and you have to do a hard shut down to get the computer to go down. Just passing along. Hopefully they will fix this in the next build.
Sandy
I am now onto Acronis True Image 2013 on Windows 8 Pro and this still happens..??.. I only do full backups within windows due to BitLocker. It has been 2 years and I thought you would fix this by now and I would not need a workaround. Also, I have to have all my backups in folders or Acronis (using the rescue CD) will not see them even if you select to view all types of files. Not a real problem, just make sure your backups are in folders, but I thought I would mention it.
Please fix the hanging on 1 second because even if you use the task manager to end it you will have to do a hard shutdown (physically hold the power button down) because it won't let you shut down, you will get a message that says, "Operations are in progress" until you physically shut it down. So please fix this.
But my restores have been rock solid, which is why I love this program! So you get a smack and then a kiss ; )
Sandy
Sandy,
I can not comment on the "1 sec" problem, as I don't have it occur on my systems.
The Rescue Media can "see" .tib files when not in folders, but you may have to "browse" to the location to find them.
This could be a rights/permissions issue on the files in the root of the drive they are located on.
I have had 1 the second problem for far too long... using several versions of Acronis True Image.
I browsed but was unable to see them. I could see other files on that external drive while browsing, and all the tib files located in folders. Once I moved the tib files to folders I was able to see them. I could test this using TI 2012 on W7 and see if the same thing happens...
Also, Acronis still has not addressed the login not using https unless you use the workaround mentioned above by GroverH. That login is attached to your Acronis Account which has many registered products. If the login was just a forum login it wouldn't matter so much (but really, I still don't like it.) All logins should be https by now.
Just to pass this along... when I do a full disk backup in Windows it hangs at the end with 1 minute remaining. So I have been simply exiting the program because I can see the backup has been created. But when I try to shut down windows I can't as it says, "An operation is happening and the computer will shut down when it's finished." But it never finishes and you have to do a hard shut down to get the computer to go down. Just passing along. Hopefully they will fix this in the next build.
Sandy
I am now onto Acronis True Image 2013 on Windows 8 Pro and this still happens..??.. I only do full backups within windows due to BitLocker. It has been 2 years and I thought you would fix this by now and I would not need a workaround.
Hello Sandy,
Thank you for posting this question in our forum. I am happy to assist you.
I want to thank Grover H and James F for the excellent supporting you.
The reported issue can be system specific and needs investigation. When using Windows Bitlocker, please check this article from our knowledge base. From my own experience I cannot see the issue on my private machine (Windows 8 Pro and True Image 2013). I recommend creating a system report of the affected machine and contacting support. You will find all available support options in our Customer handbook.
If there is anything else we can do for you, please let me know.
Thank you.
This hang at 1 minutes is happening on 3 different computers when a backup is done inside Windows.
Alienware M17xR2 Windows 8 Pro 64 Bit - Acronis TI 2013 (also happened when this system was running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit and Acronis 2012)
Dell XPS M1530 Windows 8 Pro 64 Bit - Acronis TI 2013
Dell Inspiron N5040 Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit - Acronis 2012
The only thing they have in common is I am using Bitlocker and they are all Dell.
I am a little surprised you can't replicate this when it is happening on so many of mine...
This hang at 1 minutes is happening on 3 different computers when a backup is done inside Windows.
Alienware M17xR2 Windows 8 Pro 64 Bit - Acronis TI 2013 (also happened when this system was running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit and Acronis 2012)
Dell XPS M1530 Windows 8 Pro 64 Bit - Acronis TI 2013
Dell Inspiron N5040 Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit - Acronis 2012
The only thing they have in common is I am using Bitlocker and they are all Dell.
I am a little surprised you can't replicate this when it is happening on so many of mine...
Hello The Sand,
Thank you for your reply.
I also used a Dell Laptop in past. But the first thing I have done was to remove the Dell system recovery partition. Also I did not use Bitlocker. However in your situation you should check if you have this kind of partition on your system. The Dell recovery partition you can export to DVD drives using the Dell tools. Also you can delete this partition afterwards with the Dell tools.
If you need additional assistance, please create a system report of the affected machine and contact support. You will find all available support options in our Customer handbook.
If there is anything else we can do for you, please let me know.
Thank you.
Peter,
Can this problem not be tested in the Test lab? She IS using BitLocker on all her machines. She IS using a standard Dell computer. While partition modification may be the only ultimate answer, this should not be the first step in troublehooting. I understand you may need her system reports in order to find her specific problem but the use of BitLocker is not an abnormal situation.
Thank you. Grover
Just to clarify 2 systems (Alienware and the XPS) have already had all partitions wiped when I clean installed Windows 8 on them. When I purchased the Dell Inspiron N5040 I also cleaned install the same OS again - I believe I got rid of any unnecessary partition then.
The easiest way to get around this is to remove Acronis from the Start Up menu and all Services using the Task Manager - then you can shut down without a permanent hang. Then just re-enable what you need when you launch the system again. I find that a fast workaround.
I was just surprised you aren't running into this.
Also, I would not recommend a user get rid of the recovery partition. I did, but I would not "recommend" that to somebody - I would not recommend even moving it.