Need Help Restoring and Resizing to a New Disk
I have read all applicable manuals and forum posts and still cannot find a solution for my problem.
I am attempting to replace an old 160GB hard drive with a new 1TB one. I have been trying to use the restore and resize function in Acronis 2010. I have created and validated a backup to an external hard drive and I have replaced the old hard drive with the new one and booted to the TI disk I created.
Once booted to the TI disk I can find and start the restore process.
According to the 2010 guide I should select all partitions (4 in total) and omit the MBR and Track 0. It seems that the order I do this in is irrelevant as Acronis lists the partitions in alphabetical order in the left table, and when I hit next it always takes me to the same partition first.
After I select the partitions and proceed to change their settings I want to keep 2 partitions unchanged as far as size, switch one from 107 GB to 700GB and switch another from 37GB to whatever is left.
My problem is twofold. First, Acronis defaults the first partition to primary and active, this is wrong. It will not let me untoggle active. Then, because Acronis lists the partitions in its own alphabetical order it takes me to what should be the last partition. I assign it to the new drive and move onto what should be the second partition and the only active partition. I want to resize this partition. I can access the screen and slide the bar to get it to approximately the size I want.
After doing this it reads:
Free space before: 0
Partition size 700GB
Free Space After:225 GB
Then when I hit next and select the location for the last partition, it appears that the resize did not register, since the last partition has a free space after of 800+ (what it would be if I did not resize the previous partition.
When I hit next to get to the summary before I hit proceed it does not register any size increases for either partition, so I cancel and go back and try to select them in a different way, always to the same problem.
In short, how can I make only the partition I want active, and since only one can be active, why is Acronis defaulting to the 47MB partition, and why is my resize not registering through to the end?
I do not know if this is of consequence but I was using a RAID1 when I generated the backup and am no longer using a RAID setup, as I just have a single 1TB drive. As far as I understand that distinction should not make a difference for Acronis.
Thanks
Mike,
First, open Windows Disk Management and look at the graphical view of your disk. That shows what the partition sequence is. Posting a picture attachment could be a help to us as well.
When using the Rescue CD (which you absolutely must do). ignore the drive letters. Windows uses one method of assigning drive letters and the Linux CD uses a different method. Your clue is to use the volume name assigned to each partition and match that as you assign partitions.
Enlarge only the main user partition and keep the others as close to the original size as practical.
Attached is a slideshow guide which I have been working on. Perhaps it can help.
Download and then unzip the file. Double click on the unzipped exe file to begin.
The sideshow is based on a Windows 7 install in a Compac Laptop. The partition sequence as shown in Windows Disk Management and used in this example is
Partition 1=System or System Reserved (Maintain same size) (199mb)
Partition 2=Main user Windows partition (size can be expanded fully except leave space for the remaining partitions)
Partition 3=Recovery Partition ((maintain same size) (13.51 GB)
Partition 4=HP_Tools (maintain same size)(103MB)
Keep us posted as to your results.
addition:
As this is a work in progress sample, you still need to do this.
After performing the restore and resize procedure. Before you reboot.
Return the the restore procedure again and restore the MBR/track0 from your backup onto the new disk.
You should also restore the Disk signature option located in lower left of the target selection screen.
after completion of this added step, this should make your system properly bootable.
This is discussed in the user manual page 88, sect 10.2.2
Restoring a disk with hidden partitions.