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My recovery disk doesn't see my external hard drive (with the backups on it)

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Hi there, My desktop computer runs windows XP SP3 (fully updated) with True Image 11 build 8101 installed. I've never had to do a backup (touch wood!) but recently, I tested the rescue disk. It worked fine but could only read the drives on the computer itself and not the connected external hard drive (with the validated backups on it). I understand that at some point in the process, I'm supposed to hit F11 and alter some settings that appear on the screen there and then plug the ext. drive into a USB and then it will be recognised. My computer knowledge is not great, so could someone please explain to me PRECISELY, (preferably step by step) what to do, so that when using the rescue disk, the software will see the connected ext. drive so that I can complete a backup from it (I was surprised that it couldn't detect it automatically). Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Robert, Australia.

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Hello Robert,

Thank you for posting your question, I will be happy to help. 
I suggest you to try ISOLINUX Bootable Media. Since your version is a little bit outdated one (we do not develop it any more), this is the only way to solve the issue. If Acronis Bootable Media is unable to detect the hard drive, most probably, Acronis Startup Recovery Manager will also fail.
There are two types of Acronis Bootable Media:
- Acronis Bootable Media that you can generate in your Acronis product. This type of media is based on Acronis Loader;
- Acronis Bootable Media that you can download from your account on the Acronis web site. This possibility is available for Acronis True Image Home 2010 and Acronis True Image Home 2009, we will implement this possibility for Acronis True Image 11 Home in the nearest future. This type of media is based on ISOLINUX.  ISOLINUX Bootable Media is usually more up to date than the Acronis Loader one. 
I am sending the ISO file to you via Private Messages. Please download the file and burn it to a CD disk. Please see this article on how to burn an ISO file to a CD disk. 
Boot the system from the new CD and check if the issue remains. The program should detect the hard drive automatically. 
Please let us know the results. 
We have released a new version of Acronis True Image Home, please see this web page to learn more about it. Maybe, you will want to upgrade. 

I may recommend you to install a trial version of Acronis True Image Home 2010 available here in order to make sure that the program runs flawless for you.

If you would like to purchase the upgrade to Acronis True Image Home 2010, please visit the Acronis online store.

We are looking forward to hearing back from you at your earliest convenience. If the provided information is not clear or if you have any other question do not hesitate to post them and we will be glad to answer.
Thank you.

Hi Oleg,

Thank you for your reply and assistance. I did some more testing and found a solution that works in one precise way only, as follows:-

1. Boot with the rescue cd (made from program), have the external hard drive powered up but NOT connected to the computer.
2. When Acronis loads, select “True Image Home” and click enter. The next window that loads is the “Pick a Task” window, BEFORE proceeding…
3. Plug the ext. hard drive into a USB port.
4. Now, after clicking the “Recovery” option, Acronis analyses the drives, this time picking up the ext. hard drive!
5. In the next window “Backup Archive Selection”, if I expand 'My Computer' in the left pane, it NOW shows the external hard drive (so that I could access my backup files if required).
6. Follow the wizard’s prompts to a successful outcome.

Here’s the interesting thing, if the ext. hard drive is plugged in EITHER before or after the precise point described above, it is not picked up by the software. I tried every combination and this is the only scenario that would lead to a successful backup.

I don’t know whether it’s my specific computer setup or something peculiar to the external drive but there should probably be a note in the user guide that offers some advice for this situation.

Thanks again, I now regard my problem as solved.

Robert, Australia

As Oleg suggests, download and burn the iso file to a CD, (I always use RW CD's in case of coasters) you will probably find that your external disk will be recognised without the procedure you describe

Thank you to Oleg for the private message with the link to the ISO file and to Como for suggesting I burn the file and test it.

The result is that it works perfectly. I plugged in the external hard drive before booting from the rescue disk created from the ISO file. After loading, it opens directly to the "select a task" window. I clicked on "recovery", it analyzed the drives (including the ext. one). When the next window opened, expanding "my computer" in the left pane included the external hard drive with the backups on it.

Problem definitely solved. Thanks again to Oleg and Como.
Robert.

Hi Oleg-

I have the same problem that Robert had. The Image is on my external drive, but the drive doesn't show when I boot from disk. What's weird though the image does show there under my C drive even though it's not on my C drive but on my F drive. I'm wondering if the ISO file that you sent to Robert will work for me. I'm running True Image 9 on Win XP SP3.

Thanks for any help.
George

Hello George,

I'll be glad to assist you.

Unfortunately, we don't have ISO image for Acronis True Image 9 Home already, however I've sent you a Private Message with a download link for the ISO image for version 10. They're backward compatible, so you will be able to restore your backup archive.

Please reply to this thread or to my PM if you need any additional assistance.

Thank you.

George Bennett wrote:

Hi Oleg-

I have the same problem that Robert had. The Image is on my external drive, but the drive doesn't show when I boot from disk. What's weird though the image does show there under my C drive even though it's not on my C drive but on my F drive. I'm wondering if the ISO file that you sent to Robert will work for me. I'm running True Image 9 on Win XP SP3.

Thanks for any help.
George

Is this from the rescue disk? - You should be aware that the Linux rescue disk lists the drives differently to Windows, the only sure way to know which drive is which is to name them with meaningful names, i.e. System Disk, Data Disk External disk etc.

Hello all,

I would like to update the thread with the following information:

We have recently implemented the possibility to download the appropriate ISOLINUX file from within your account for Acronis True Image 10.0 Home and Acronis True Image 11 Home (English versions).

You can find the information on how to do it in this article

Please do not hesitate to ask additional questions if the provided information is not clear or you need a further assistance. 

Thank you.

Hi Oleg,
I'm having the same problem that Robert had where my external USB drive is not recognized. Could you send that ISO to me too? Already tried the ISO image on the Acronis site but that would not work for me. Am running Vista Home Premium, TI 11 Home and am unable to use the BartPE option. Thanks,
Doug

Hello Doug,

Thank you for posting, I will be happy to help. 

I am sending the file to you via Private Messages. 

If the provided information is not clear or if you have any other question do not hesitate to post them and we will be glad to answer.

Thank you.