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Partitions contain errors

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Hello, the only information I found about this issue was someone trying to back up a Linux system, which did not apply to me. I'm trying to back up a Windows XP laptop. I ran a disk check on the system first, which did repair a few errors.

When I run Acronis to back up, it says "Some partitions contain errors and can be imaged only sector-by-sector." I defragmented the hard drive and ran another disk check, which did not turn up any more errors. Yet, Acronis is still giving me this message.

Is there a better tool that I do not know about that I can use to scan the disk to see if there are other errors that the original Windows disk check did not find?

Also, I read a little bit about what the sector-by-sector image means and I realize that it will take longer and be a bigger image, but what will that mean for restoration? For example, the plan is to migrate this image to another laptop which probably will have a larger hard drive. If the sector-by-sector image is smaller than the destination hard drive, will it cause problems?

I suppose I can test this out and see what happens. I have plenty of free time, but in the mean time, if someone is able to give me some information, I would appreciate it

Thanks.

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Acronis does sometimes pick up disk errors that chkdsk doesn't. I hope you used the /r option with chkdsk to do a surface scan. The other common options tend to deal primarily with the integrity of the filesystem structure.

Go to the drive manufacturer's site and see if they have a diagnostic program for your disk, they usually do. If options are available be sure to run the full test including a surface scan which will take some time.

I never restored a sector-by-sector image so I can't really help you. Normally there are controls to allow you to adjust the partition size but I don't know if such a restore still allows them.

Trust you are aware of the issues involved putting an image of one machine on another.

Thanks for your message, and yes, I'm aware of the issues.

I didn't actually use the command line chkdsk; I just scheduled it in the properties window of the C drive. I will try that first before checking the hard drive manufacturer.

Bill, if you used the properties window, it is the same as chkdsk. Just make sure you checked both check boxes in that dialog box (automatically repair and scan for bad sectors).