True Image 2014 "Can't load kernel file"
Got a new SSD to upgrade my Dell E6500. Used Acronis to migrate data from existing HDD. Made True Image boot disk. Followed instructions to make image and saved on external HDD. Replaced old HDD with new ssd. Booted with recovery disk. Restored two partitions. Quit True Image. Booted with recovery disk. Restored MBR. Removed boot disk and booted. Got this message. "Loading DRMK V8.00... can't load kernel file".
Please tell me what do now. Thanks.


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Thanks very much! I decided that the easiest way was to use a USB>SATA adapter I had on another drive and use True Image to "clone" the HDD to the SSD. That worked perfectly. I should have used that method in the first place.
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I faced this problem today and cloning the disk wasn't an option because I needed to change the partition layout. How I fixed it, in the end, was quite simple.
I got the same error as you, "Loading DRMK V8.00... can't load kernel file". At first I went about how to fix the dell recovery partition, but then I realized that this wasn't the recovery partition, it was the dell utillity partition. So, I visited this page: www.goodells.net/dellutility/recreate.shtml, there I saw a "PowerQuest Partition Table Editor" screenshot that indicated that the dell utility partition should NOT be marked as active (mine was).
From there, fixing it was quite easy. All I had to do was make the Dell utility partition (16mb FAT) not active and make the restore/recovery partition active. (System restore is still working just fine on my laptop btw)
This is only valid for Dell computers/laptops with Windows Vista or 7, older computers use DSR ("Dell System Restore") which means your fat32 or fat16 partition will be the recovery partition, not the dell utility partition. Also, if you don't already have, you should make a full backup image of your harddrive before attempting this. Anyway...
1. Download hiren's boot cd and use it to boot your computer from a CD, flashdrive or whatever
2. On the Hiren's boot menu, select "DOS Programs" and hit enter
3. Select "Partition Tools..." and hit enter
4. Now select "Partition Table Editor 8.0" and hit enter
5. Wait for it to start
6. After PowerQuest PTEditor loads, Select the correct hard drive on the "Hard Disk" dropdown menu.
7. Find de "DE" partition (Dell Corporation diagnostic partition) and change the value of the "Boot" column from 80 to 00 (80 = active, 00 = not active)
8. Find the RESTORE partition (it's usually around 10GB in size, select the partition to see the "partition information"), the "Type" column will likely say "07"
9. Now change the value of the "Boot" column of the RESTORE partition from 00 to 80 (to make it active)
10. Click on "Save Changes" and you're done.
11. Close PowerQuest PTEditor window by clicking on the [X], turn your computer/laptop off, Now turn your computer on and remove the Hiren's media to see if your computer is booting correctly.
When you're finished, the PowerQuest Partition Editor "Boot" column values should look a bit like this, but the order of the partitions may be completely different.
This is how I did it, but whatever method you choose will work as long as you make the dell utility partition not active and the windows recovery partition active. Heck, you could even do it on acronis if I'm not mistaken. But for me it would mean waiting hours to restore the image once again.
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Thanks so much for the detailed information, I was able to get my new drive back up and running quickly by using your guide!
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Hey everyone,
I am receing this same error after creating a new RAID 0 on my 1TB HDs and restoring from a full backup from my old RIAD 0 750GB HD. The restore is successful, unfortunately, the Loading DRMK V8.00... can't load kernel file". shows up when booting on the restore 1TB HD. I have tried everything in this article/post and nothing seems to fix this problem. Acronis has been less than at all helpful. After making me jump through hurdles trying to upload all sorts of intel to their FTP server, they tell me to view an article about reinstalling Windows off a Windows disk. This isn't going to fix my "boot" problem. Not sure where to go or what to try next. Anyone have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.
I am thinking of just going back and using my 750GB HD RAID 0 and using my 1TB HD as the other drive in the RAID 0 essentially losing 250GB immediately in an "unused" partition since I can't seem to restore my data onto the 1TB and run it as is.
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Hello J Morin,
Message "Loading DRMK V8.00" comes from Dell utilities, namely, file DELLBIO.BIN that is launched instead of Windows.
Could it be that changes that you have made in PowerQuest program were not saved? Can you start this program again and see if "DE" partition has "00" boot flag and "07" 10 GB partition has "80" flag?
If your computer uses UEFI BIOS you can enter its boot options and see if you can put Windows Boot Manager on first position in boot order list. Notice if you have any Dell entry in that list.
Do you remember whether you were selecting recovery destinations for each partition from the backup or you just indicated the RAID 0 as recovery target? I would suggest you to repeat restoration this way:
1) boot into Acronis bootable media, start Acronis True Image 2016 and select Tools tab, locate Add new disk option and click on it. Select your RAID 0, select MBR or GPT layout depending on what you had in the backup, skip the step with creating partitions and proceed. This will completely clear your RAID
2) launch restore wizard and when asked what disk/partition to restore, click only on parent checkbox in the left upper part, the rest of checkboxes will be selected automatically. If the backup was made in disk/EntirePC mode, this will allow to restore in disk mode instead of individual partition restoration. Select your RAID 0 as destination when asked and proceed with restoration
3) after restoration finishes, but before you reboot, save a system report from Help menu in the right top corner. It will contain recovery log and could help if further troubleshooting will be needed
4) enter UEFI BIOS settings and make sure that Windows Boot Manager is first in the boot order list
If you will be prompted to indicate recovery destination for each partition individually at step 2, it would mean that the backup was created in partitions mode from the beginning and not in disks/EntirePC mode. In such case please go to "what to recover" step and uncheck Dell partition and "MBR and Track 0", repeat the restoration.
If this does not help and you are ready to continue working with technical support, send us system report, photo of boot order in UEFI/BIOS and PowerQuest program.
Regards,
Slava
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