Advice re:- migrating OS et al from 3.2GB HDD to spare 20GB unit.
Can some one take me by the hand and guide me step by step through this ? :)
I have an old Thinkpad running XP Pro on a 3.2 GB drive, complaining that there is less than 192MB of remaining space!!
I also have an old 20GB drive that was in another laptop. It still has XP Home on it and was operational when removed from the machine, it's now in a caddy but hasn't been used since.
As I don't have an installation disk, and the thinkpad has a copy of TI 8 Personal Edition on it, I would like to migrate the content of this drive onto the 20GB drive in the caddy and then swap that drive into the Thinkpad.
Does that sound reasonable and achievable??
I don't mind if it treats the 20GB drive as one partition, but if at all posible I would like to separate off the OS onto it's own partition, say 7/8GB or whatever is ideal.
I do have a copy of Paragon Partition Manager 2009 SE if that couldn't be achieved within TI.
Maybe that's just not possible!
Any help would be appreciated!
Edit:-
A little more info.
I've fired up TI 8, and find the only options seem to be: -
Create - Restore - Explore and Unplug.
taking the "Create" route, I find that the disk is formatted "FAT 32", which I didn't expect!
Can this be changed to NTFS whilst migrating to the larger 20GB disk?
I think I've also found two more stumbling blocks!
1) The Thinkpad has only one USB socket, and it is USB 1.1
2) The Caddy I have the 20 GB drive in currently, requires two USB sockets, one for power one for data....apparently, not sure if it would work with just one!
Still hoping there is someone that will guide me through this!
Six-h,
Will reply later on today - rushing to work. Will amend this reply later.
In the meantime, have you looked at Grover H's sticky in the main 2011 forum?
Hi Colin B,
I appreciate your mesage and look forward to hearing from you later.
Can't seem to find the "main 2011" forum, but I'll keep looking!!
I find this web site very confusing to navigate.
That's not a criticism of it's design, more an indication of my impaired mental capacity! lol
Six-h, I think you are going to have problems even leaving aside your USB 1.1 . TI 8 is about 6 years old now, and wasn't designed to use NTFS, although it did recognise those drives, there shouldn't be a problem cloning them and they should clone as NTFS, it was just image restores that were restricted to FAT32. You should see a Clone Option, under the second panel on the main form 'New Disk Deployment' (see page 11 of the manual if yours isn't showing this). The best way of cloning a laptop drive is to take the old drive out of the laptop and place that into the external drive/caddy and place the new drive into the laptop and perform what is known as a 'reverse clone'. Do not use the wipe original drive option before testing the new drive. After the clone has been made, disconnect the external drive and then reboot the laptop.
Have you made a rescue CD and tested it to make sure the laptop can boot from it? It is best to start the clone from the CD rather than in Windows - in fact if you were to 'reverse clone' this is the only way you could do it.
In your case, due to your USB 1.1 problem (it'll work, but cook tea, have a lie down, do the washing up and shout at the television, maybe even go to bed, it'll be s-l-o-w), you would be better off inserting both drives into a PC and running the clone from there, you'd also be able to start off in Windows, but they'd both need to be removed before the PC performed the second reboot.
Ah forgot you also have a copy of TI 2009, this does allow NTFS images to be made. If the TI 8 CD won't boot your PC, then make one from TI 2009 and see if this will boot the laptop. OTOH if you decide to put one of the drives into the PC, I assume you'll have two USB2.0 ports available for the caddy.
Your caddy will indeed need a second USB connection as it that will provide it with the 5v required or it might work by tricking your USB controller into providing 10v at 500mA or more (technically breaking the USB specification).
I probably misled you when I mentioned the main 2011 forum, it is actually entitled True Image Home Forum.
First off, apologies for the length of this post, I've been nibbling at it all afternoon hope you find it reasonably ordered and lucid! lol
Six-h, I think you are going to have problems even leaving aside your USB 1.1 . TI 8 is about 6 years old now, and wasn't designed to use NTFS, although it did recognise those drives, there shouldn't be a problem cloning them and they should clone as NTFS, it was just image restores that were restricted to FAT32.
Using TI 8 was my attempt to abide by the spirit of the EULA's, I was tempted to install my copy of Home 2009 on the lappy (without removing it from my PC!! Eek...shock horror!), but with only 155MB of available space on the miniscule HDD and windows already complaining, I thought TI 8 would be "slimmer" but as you point out, life's too short for USB 1.1 lol.
You should see a Clone Option, under the second panel on the main form 'New Disk Deployment' (see page 11 of the manual if yours isn't showing this).
Already confused! Here is my opening GUI for TI 8, http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh220/Theracles/GUI_TI_8.jpg Page 11 of the manual shows the difference between my freebie and the "full fat" version!
The best way of cloning a laptop drive is to take the old drive out of the laptop and place that into the external drive/caddy and place the new drive into the laptop and perform what is known as a 'reverse clone'. Do not use the wipe original drive option before testing the new drive. After the clone has been made, disconnect the external drive and then reboot the laptop.
Ahh! at last, something that agrees with my own logic...maybe my brain isn't dead after all!
Have you made a rescue CD and tested it to make sure the laptop can boot from it? It is best to start the clone from the CD rather than in Windows - in fact if you were to 'reverse clone' this is the only way you could do it.
Well! wadaya know! I've always been confused as to how to check that either a boot disk or an image is viable, and far too scared of losing my OS tro ever try it having never had to use it "in ernest" as it were! I've just dug out the boot disk I made in 2007 (a year after acquiring TI 8) and this lappy has recognised it and booted into TI 8...I'm impressed!
Ah forgot you also have a copy of TI 2009, this does allow NTFS images to be made. If the TI 8 CD won't boot your PC, then make one from TI 2009 and see if this will boot the laptop.
Yes, moving swiftly on! You mention making a bootable CD with TI Home, since I've got the "boxed copy", is it necessary/avisable to do this. I was under the impression that the installation CD also performed this function.
OTOH if you decide to put one of the drives into the PC, I assume you'll have two USB2.0 ports available for the caddy.
Since these are both 2.5 inch drives, I presume you mean attach them to my PC via USB (2.0 in this case..thankfully!) rather than open the black magic box and surgically attach them. :) If that is the case, I have one more small problem...only one 2.5in caddy! I've ventured into the "Clone Disk" area of TI Home, and it would appear that it expects the source disk and the target disk to be present at the same time.
In my simple mind, I would expect to be able to do this:-
1) Remove 3.2GB HDD from lappy and install in caddy.
2) Attach caddy via 2x USB 2.0 sockets to my main PC.
3) Fire up Acronis Home 2009 and make an image of the 3.2GB disk to either my PC's internal HDD, or (preferably) to another USB attached External disk...(I have two, a 320 & a 160GB both 3.5 inch)
4) Swap the 20GB HDD into the 2.5" caddy in place of the 3.2GB one and request Acronis to restore the Image that it's just made, from which ever disk it was written to, onto the 20GB HDD in the caddy.
5) Fit the 20 GB disk from the caddy into the laptop and fire it up.
Simples!...to quote our furry friend!
Am I missing something?
There was that little but ever so important bit of info about v8 - you are using a 'lite' version versus the 'full' version, no wonder you don't see what I see (hmm that's a song).
If the boxed CD sees both computers that's fine, though at a later stage I'd check if you are using the latest version of 2009 and make an up to date rescue CD, though in Acronis land that might mean the CD might alter in which hardware it will work with.
I've not thought about cloning a drive with both drives external, I think unless the drives are attached via eSata, TI expects at least one drive to be connected internally.
Your list is certainly an option, making sure that you validate the image before doing the drive swap, and TI will allow you to either stretch the partition to fit the new drive or leave the sizing as is and you get to have an extra partition on your drive.
However, there is one problem that might occur, Windows or the IBM BIOS might sulk at finding a different size drive - more likely to be Windows. Here the normal remedy would be to produce the trusty XP install CD and run a repair, something you won't be able to do. Unfortunately until you try the drive swap you won't know. One of the problems with brand name machines.
Sorry about the omission Colin, maybe I should sue PC Format magazine for misrepresentation! They advertised this freebie as:-
EXCLUSIVE FULL PROGRAM - Acronis True Image 8 PE - Complete backup and drive imaging tool
B*st*rds!!
Right, tried to boot the thinkpad from the TI Home 2009 CD, the interface appears but my USB mouse is disabled and I have to use the track point!
Tried to enter the first option, ...the full Acronis TI GUI.
It starts to load, then I get this message:-
"Kernal Panic - Not Synching : VFS : Unable to mount root fs on unknown - Block (1,0)"
Then I have to do a hard shutdown as I cannot communicate anymore with the machine.
Re-starting, I'm back to 1999....what a palaver!
Can't try on this machine at the mo, but I'll try in the morning.
I expect it'll work, its a self build.
Asus P5Q3 Deluxe/WIFI-AP Motherboard
Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz CPU
Corsair 2 x 1Gb PC3-10666 RAM
nVidia GeForce 9600GT Graphics with 512MB DDR3
and a 500GB Samsung Spinpoint HDD
Running Vista Ultimate SP2 32bit
This Thinkpad is totally alien to me!
It's running XP Pro SP2 from this 3.2GB drive, using only 192MB of RAM !
I've bought another 128MB off eBay and it should arrive mid next week.
I can then swap out the current 32MB sodimm and slap it in to give me a heady total of 288MB which is it's max.
2 slots @ 128 and 32MB nailed in.
The HDD is then the next most limiting factor, at 3.2GB it has little room for anything more than the OS.
Since I don't have an XP Pro disk, I really don't want to lose this installation, so I was hoping that;
a) This spare 20GB drive I took out of a "Clevo D22ES" will be "seen" by the Thinkpad, and
b) That I can transfer the blessed OS on to it!
The manual gives little clue regarding the HDD, I did find the following statement listed under "Hints and Limitations"!!
Using the Hard Disk Drive You can use only 7.9 GB of the hard disk drive of your computer in the Windows 3.1 or DOS environment. If you install a hard disk drive with greater capacity, you cannot use all of it.
Does that apply also to WinXP?
There is no tech spec of the HDD mentioned anywhere!
The section that covers replacement/upgrade of the Drive is just one sentence saying in essence:
Get a new one from IBM, and slide it in!
Is there any clue on the label of the drives that might indicate that they are interchangeable?
Edit:
Marvelous things Digital cameras!
Just found photos of the 20GB drive when in situ in the Clevo lappy.
It's a Fujitsu Model MHT 2020AT Part No CA06297-B022 20GB ATA 100 4200RPM Ultra DMA.
Just pulled the other one out of the Thinkpad and it's a Hitachi Model DK237A-32.
Searching the net for details, shows up that it is 4200RPM, and described as "Ultra DMA/ATA-33"
Must get to bed!
Nite Nite!!
The BIOS itself might only be able to see a max of 10GB or so, but I think the clue is the reference to W3.11 and DOS, so your XP version shouldn't have a problem.
As far as the boot CD - download the SAFE environment for 2009 and perhaps even the ISO version. Install the SAFE program and then remake the rescue CD, you'll now see when you run it an extra choice of SAFE MODE, this uses BIOS calls rather than trying to load drivers, which might work better with your laptop. The ISO version uses a different kernel and drivers to the standard Acronis one so might work as well.
The SAFE mode is under the Plugins tab and the ISO under the Bootable Media tab.
Being IBM your drive probably already has a name (my x61 labels the C drive as 'software'), but if it doens't give it one as this will make it easier when in the Linux environment to know which is your old drive and which is your new - Linux won't necessarily report your drives in the same order as Windows.
What build number is your TI 8? The last build was 937 (2005).
Check what options you have under Tools. I don't have my copy of TI 8 installed at the moment, so was going by memory and the user manual.
Hi Colin, Cautious optimism regarding how much of the disk might be visible! I like it!! Postman has just been and delivered the additional 128MB of RAM...now installed so I'm "maxed out" with a massive 228MB lol things are improving. I've downloaded the BartPE & Safemedia file and installed it. I've also downloaded the ISO file and saved it in case it's needed. If so, would you suggest that I burn it using Imgburn which I have used before, though I'm not too familiar with the correct procedure when burning ISO's.....my current 100% success rate so far has nothing to do with my skills, more down to the quality of Imgburn which I don't pretend to understand! Firing up Acronis after installation of the Bart file and electing to create a boot disk, it shows options to burn two flavours of TI and also a "safe" one. The icon next to the tick box for this option I recall seeing when I booted the Thinkpad from the original TI software CD. I didn't select this option, instead I selected the full Acronis option and this is when the "Kernal Panic"message appeared as it struggled to load. Upshot is, I suspect that the BartPE download wasn't needed. Perhaps I should first try booting from the CD again, selecting Safe Mode, (With the Lifebuoy Icon) before burning my own rescue CD?? You advise me to "Name" my drive, bit confused by this, isn't it already named "C"? If some other name is needed, how do I go about it? Just checking the "About" in TI 8, it says Build 797 and the copyright is 2000-2004, so it is indeed old in technological terms!
Edit:
Just tried the original TI Home2009 CD in the thinkpad again and as suspected, the "Safe" mode works. I managed to get into the Clone Wizard.....I'm not sure that it's such good news though, 'cos I'm still left with the single USB 1.1 socket, and the associated power problems for the caddy.
Caught me just before I go to bed!
Well build 797 must be a build for the UK market I suspect.
I don't use Imgburn, but I would think it should work the same way as gBurner (which I use) and Nero etc. If you are lucky, just double clicking on the ISO file should open Imgburn and from there it should be straight forward to just click Burn or whatever their 'go' button is.
Your drives only have a letter which exists in registry not on the disk - so outside Windows C:\, D:\ etc doesn't actually exist. Because Linux looks at the world differently to Microsoft Windows, it is possible that what was your C:\ drive in Windows is reported as E:\ or some other letter. If you aren't used to this it is very easy to make errors and end up deleting the drive you don't want to. Giving a drive a name on the other hand stays the same no matter what drive letter it is given.
In Windows just click on my computer, highlight your C:\ drive and click on 'rename' type in anything that is meaningful to you.
Try the Acronis SafeMode first - if that fails then burn the ISO - if that also decides not to work then post what doesn't work as there are some parameters that can be added which might kick it into life.
BartPE will require downloading the BartPE program and then making yet another disk, unfortunately you would also need access to your Windows installation files. On your laptop with XP you might have a folder called I386 or software tools. In i386 Windows installation files will definitely be there, under software tools they may or may not be. I can't recall what name IBM put the files under, but on an XP machine they are almost certainly lurking.
Now there's a surprise!
Just going to bed. Hmm....... Adelaide maybe?
I had presumed that you were somewhat closer to me in Manchester UK!!
Well we've got one of those very British October days, as we say goodbye to the travesty that passes for Summer here: Hazy blue sky, warm out of the wind, but still plesant to go for a walk!
What the hell am I doing sitting here in front of a blasted PC! :)
Well, I've just run SIW on the Thinkpad, and here's some of the detail:-
OPERATING SYSTEM INFORMATION:-
Property Value
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
Features Terminal Services inRemote Admin Mode, Uniprocessor Free
Activation Status Activated
Checked Build No
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
System Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Kernel Version 5.1.2600.3051
Security 128 bits, 40 bits
Product Name Microsoft Windows XP
Build Lab 2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.061219-0316
Hardware DEP Available No
DEP for 32 Bits Applications No
DEP for Drivers No
DEP Policy OptIn (only Windows system binaries)
Windows Update's version number 7.0.6000.381
Automatic Updates Notify me but don't automatically download or install them
System Restore Enabled
Owner rob
Machine GUID a2e609dc-c671-49ce-82e5-b8fc25e136c2
User Name Gabrielle
Workgroup MSHOME
Computer Name HOME
Language English (United Kingdom)
Installation Time 2005-11-09 21:08:43
Boot Time 2010-10-09 13:17:21
Up Time 1 Hour 47 Minutes 50 seconds
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIOS Info:
Version: INET 28WW
Firmware version: 77.0
Characteristics: Supports Enhanced Disk Drive Spec
===============================================================
SIW also states the max memory modules is 2 x 256MB = 512MB
The manual however, states a max of 2 x 128 plus the hardwired 32MB = 288MB
Can that be right??
Is there some way I can send you some info from SIW that I'd rather not post here?
I'm not sure how usefull it is.
Nite Nite! :)
Note to self:
Never try to copy & paste tabulated information.....f**ing nightmare!!
Manchester - good grief, all those road works on the M40 a poor ex kentish boy like me could never make it past the Watford Gap (well that was in 2008 on a quick visit back). Queensland actually!
Why not do what you yourself suggested if you have the time. Make an image of the laptop drive and store it on your PC and then recover the image to the new drive, bung it in the laptop and see what happens. One advantage will be that you'd be able to do all this in Windows and of course at USB2.0 speed.
I suspect the 32MB might be video ram, whatever the laptop says at the BIOS splash screen is the total amount of RAM available to your system.
You can always PM me - click on the PM me envelope next to my user name
lol! You are right to stay South of Watford Gap!
when you venture north of that there are signs on the motorway (between the dark satanic mills) that say "HERE BE DRAGONS"....an' bleedin' 'orrible weather!
Thought it might be worth a try doing it as I suggested, but it just seemed to be too simple and I bottled out!
It must be a fairly common occurance though, when you think.
Picture the scene....
HDD dies.... no worries mate I've got a backup image! ( sorry about the appaling Aussie accent!)
Slip in a new (bigger) Drive.
Slap on the image from the external drive.
Slop a few tinnies down yer shirt whilst Acronis earns it's keep!!
Excuse me, I'm beginning to dribble like Barry Humphries!
Now, the only area for concern that I can envisage is that Acronis might not know what to do with all that extra space...(3GB image onto 20GB drive) but isn't that what generally happens, as in my parody above?
Changing the file system from FAT32 to NTFS along the way!
I'm afraid that is beyond my simple wit to even imagine how it is done let alone the possible problems which could arise, though I believe it is possible.
If I get a bit of quiet time over the next day or so, I'll try it and let you know how it goes.
On restore of an image TI will give you the choice to either extend the partition to cover the complete drive or allow you to keep the layout exactly as it is now. If you were to do the latter,you'd end up with a C:\ partition and the rest as blank space - this can be partitioned using Windows Disk Management or if you are feeling flush purchasing DD11.
The bottom line is TI can extend your piddly partition size to a larger one.
XP comes with a FAT32 to NTFS conversion utility, you need to open up a command prompt box and type in convert c: /fs:ntfs
Thought I had destroyed the drive!!
I put it into an "Icybox" 2.5 inch caddy, the only connection is to the first 44 pins, the other 4 are left bare.
Plugging the caddy in to my Vista PC, (using the two USB connectors), it shows in "Computer" but the "Bar Indicator" showing how full it is, shows up as red, not the familiar blue I had expected.
Edit: Wonderful thing t' internet!
Googled "Red Bar in Free Drive Space", and apparently (in W7 anyway) the bar turns red when there is little drive space left! So at least it was able to detect that!
Right clicking the drive and selecting Properties causes Explorer to crash and the "Not responding" message shows in the title bar.
I can start Task Manager, but it has no effect, in the end I'm forced to just disconnect the caddy and all returns to normal.
Could it be that Vista doesn't like the FAT 32 file system?
Swapping another laptop drive into the caddy that is formatted NTFS, everything works just fine.
With some trepidation I returned the lappy drive to it's home and waited with baited breath for it to boot....which it did just as if nothing had happened!!
What do you think is the matter?
Why is it that these things always happen to me? :-(
For the moment, I'd boot the PC via the rescue disk and make an image or clone from there.
The problem won't be due to it being FAT32 but probably because the SSID on the drive is incorrect as far as Vista is concerned.
For the moment, I'd boot the PC via the rescue disk and make an image or clone from there.
The problem won't be due to it being FAT32 but probably because the SSID on the drive is incorrect as far as Vista is concerned.
That's a relief Colin! I won't re-boot my PC and try it tonight 'cos if I get involved with it and have any problems, I'll never get to bed!! I'll boot from the disk tomorrow and try to make an image! Thanks for your help, and for explaining how to use the PID to get the most out of an install disk!
Back again Colin :-(
Tried booting my vista PC into all flavours of TI Home2009, with and without the disk caddies attached and even in "Windows" with the same result....now the caddy with the 3.2GB drive from the lappy just isn't "seen".
My other External drive, (the target drive I intended sending the image to) is seen fine.
The lappy drive just doesn't respond at all now, last time, when it crashed Explorer, it wouldn't stop spinning!
Put it back in the lappy and it boots normally.
I'll never understand computers,...or Acronis come to that.
I think I'm sliding inexorably into senility!
Is Windows seeing the caddy?
Is Windows seeing the caddy?
No, that made me think that I'd fried it, but it's OK.
I put the other 20GB drive in the caddy, and that is OK.
Was beginning to think I needed a "Jumper" on the 4 pins.
Windows just is not aware of the caddy at all when the small drive is in it.
Whilst it was attached I opened Device Mgr. to see if there was anything flagged, but all was well.
opened the properties on each of the 8 USB Root Hubs and the USB Host Controllers and all said this device is working normally!!
Makes me wonder if the caddy needs drivers for anything other than an IBM machine.
I take it the caddy is powered up before Windows boots?
Might be worth checking if it is recognised on a different USB port, perhaps a rear one that is directly connected to the motherboard.
Hi Colin,
When I hooked it up the other day, there was, just briefly a "Found new hardware" notice, quickly followed by one saying I think, that it was installing some Hitachi drivers, but that disappeared very quickly, didn't really get more than a glance.
The little drive is indeed a Hitachi one, but I dont recall seeing such a notice the first time I plugged it in with the other 20GB Fujistu drive in, mind you that's about a year ago: Is it normal that drivers are needed for different brands of disk?
Drive is back in the Lappy now, but I'll try it again later with two of the "Back" sockets.
Regarding the powering up of the caddy: This evening on the first occasion it was connected before booting, but it can't be powered before Windows boots, 'cos it takes it's power from the USB sockets which aren't live 'till windows is up and running ....are they?
Hi Colin,
Bit of background:
I know sweet FA really, but I used to teach OAP's basic computer skills, when the classes petered out, some of the people would phone me when they got in trouble and I would go round and between us we'd sort the problems out.
That led to me being given old PC's which I'd try to get running acceptably and give them away, so at the moment I have nine PC's in various states of disassembly in my Garage and one in the corner of my lounge also running XP Pro!
I hooked up the lappy caddy to the two rear USB's on that one.
Again, it "Found new Hardware" and asked for the drivers...found some and installed them.
I could interrogate the drive, but again, Explorer kept on crashing.
Went back to my own Beast running Vista, powered down, slipped in the Acronis Boot CD, lit up my 320GB ext drive and plugged in the caddy, (again using the front two USB sockets), and you are right, it did power up before Windows loaded!
I tried to access it in Full Fat Acronis...not seen.
Changed to Acronis Safe and the drives were all showing (My 4 internal ones, the 320GB External, and the little FAT32 one.
Tried to create a "Backup" of the Fat 32 one on the 320GB one, and the system wouldnt accept my name for the backup "J:\ThinkpadOS.tib"....it also wouldn't accept it's own generated name! lol
I have to say, I find Acronis TOTALLY inscrutable, confusing and absolutely misleading!
So it wouldn't surprise me if I had done something wrong.
It is so confusing I am never certain if I'm creating an image of the disk I intend to, or indeed if that image will be created on the disk I expect it to go to!
Do you understand me?
anyway, I had to abort that attempt since Acronis wouldn't accept even it's own created name!
SO..I went in to Windows and thence once more into Acronis...this time I got a little further, and the process began....only to be aborted with a "Project failed" notice or some such words.
before unplugging everything, I interrogated the lappy drive, and to my horror there was a ".tib file on it.
Booting the lappy from the disk, windows needed to do a "Disk check", which took a while, and then thankfully Windows booted, however, I now have only 32MB of space on the drive!
Have I somehow attempted to create an image of the drive ON the drive??
It's the only thing that seems to make sense.
At least, that way, I can understand why the attempt failed!
But it does give hope that if I had directed Acronis to make the image on the right blasted drive , it had a fair chance of success!
What do you think?
Is it possible you could give me a blow by blow instruction on how to do this using TI Home from within Windows, 'cos I think the above proves that it will do it if properly instructed?
I really don't think I can afford to make another mistake!
Sorry to be such a pest!
Just another thing that might or might not be significant:
When I connect the caddy with the 3.2GB drive in it, to my Vista PC, the usual "Autoplay" window opens, but only gives a couple of options, "View files & Folders" and something else I can't remember, but it also says "Reading Files" or something like that and never stops, the green progress bar at the top just keeps scanning.
Probably why Explorer crashes so often when I open any of the files on the disk.
Just thought it might be significant!
:(
Can you try running chkdsk /f on the drive caddy. In Windows if Explorer is crashing, then that problem needs to be solved before going further.
Though the disk works correctly if put back in the laptop?
Can you try running chkdsk /f on the drive caddy. In Windows if Explorer is crashing, then that problem needs to be solved before going further.
Though the disk works correctly if put back in the laptop?
Hi Colin,
I was "excommunicated" by something!
Monday evening, I was just sat here and a message popped up "Asus WiFi AP@n has closed" !!
No probs I thought, but it wouldn't accept my wireless key.
I tried the endless Hex Key among other things but nothing worked.
Then today...it just accepted the wireless key that it previously rejected!
I'll never understand these things!
I just get the feeling that it was Acronis that's upset it.
However, I digress.
The lappy insisted on running CHKDISK when I tried booting from the drive after re-fitting it.
It produced a yard or two of "Blue Screen" report, and with no way of saving it obvious, I had to dismiss it, and it booted into windows normally....complaining that there was now only 82MB of free space...EEEK!
The attachment is a shot of the "C:" drive at the moment, I'm not sure which bits of dross have been created by the attempt to image the drive, so I'm scared of deleting any to make space...any ideas?
Explorer is crashing, not because there is any fault with Explorer.
Attaching the 3.2GB drive in the caddy to both my Vista PC, and to my XP PC achieves the same result.
Ergo the fault must lie with the drive rather than "Explorer".
It also can't be the caddy since this performs faultlessly with the 20GB drive installed.
I didn't mean to imply there's a problem with Explorer, but that whatever is causing Explorer to crash needs to be sorted in case that also is causing TI problems accessing the drive.
However, I see two problems from that jpg attachment.
1. You have a Found.000 file - that may be the file that is filling your drive as it's a chkdsk lost segment folder unless another program also generates that type of folder as well.
2. There is a True Image file on the drive, admittedly it is reported as 0KB (suspicious in itself) but it could actually exist and the entries in FAT are incorrect.
Delete the folder and the tib file.
Run chkdsk from a command box making sure you use the /f switch.
Is there any possibility you could have picked up a virus of some kind that is causing problems on the drive?
I didn't mean to imply there's a problem with Explorer, but that whatever is causing Explorer to crash needs to be sorted in case that also is causing TI problems accessing the drive.
Ahh! I understand; could it just be because it's formatted FAT 32?
Don't understand otherwise how only the Thinkpad can read it with no trouble!
Thanks for advising re the "Found folder" and the ".tib" file I've deleted them and the available free space jumped from 62MB to a much healthier 446MB !
I've just run chdsk /f from a dos prompt. After the system shut down and re-booted, the diskcheck only took two minutes and only generated a single screen report, again, I couldn't save it, and it continued to boot into windows.
Then I get the "Low Disk Space" warning again telling me there is only 168MB free!!
What's used all that lovely space I just regained? Grrr..
Regarding the possibility of a virus, having so little disk space, I've not been able to put on SAS or MBAM to run a scan, and since I can't hook it up to the net anyway, (There are two PCMCIA slots, and one has an IBM LAN Card in it but I don't have the adapter to attach an RJ45.) I had never thought of a virus!
Thankfully I have AVG 9 Free set on my machines to scan removable devices, so hopefully there is nothing nasty being transferred, however, the Thinkpad was used by a nine year old girl previously, and there was a "Limewire" folder on it!...Hmm Can I run an SAS scan on it from a USB stick? Is there a "portable" edition? I'll Google it!
Just another line of attack, (remind me if I've already done this!!) lol
Maybe I could create an image using the Thinkpad and TI 8 from within Windows, sending it to one of my 3.5 inch external drives.
I know the connection would be slow because of the USB 1.1 connection, but maybe opting for "no compression" would speed things up a bit!!
I'll wait for your thoughts on that before trying it!
Thought there was a "Portable" version of SAS!
Just downloaded and run it, only found 23 minor cookies...thankfully!
Warning! free space now 111MB!
Where does it keep going?
Every time I reboot there is less and less free space.
Am I just noticing because it's so critical on such a small drive?
Well, I've succeeded in creating an image on my 3.5 inch Ext drive using TI 8 from within Windows, and checked it for errors!
That has to count as progress!!
Just hope that it is indeed OK, and that the Thinkpad will "See" it when I try booting from my rescue disk.
I'll post back with the result.
Are you able to mount the image?
In TI 8 it's called 'plug in' if I recall correctly.
If it is possible, I'd mount the drive ('plug in' option) and run an AV checker through the virtual drive.
Hi Colin,
It's all fallen apart!
I've swapped the 20GB drive into the Thinkpad, and fired it up with the TI 8 boot disk, but when Acronis starts, the only options I have are: create Image, and Restore Image.
Selecting Restore, the only disks it sees are the CD Drive with the boot disk in it, and "C:" which is the 20GB drive that I've just fitted to the laptop.
It just doesn't see the 3.5 inch External drive where I've created the image!
What to do??
You can only mount an image from within Windows, not from Linux.
OK let's recap.
The drive that contains the image is an external one, but not the drive caddy one?
I've forgotten, why weren't you able to make the image with TI 2009?
It is a driver problem with TI8 as far as not being able to see your external drive. Are you able to put your hands on an external powered drive caddy? By powered I mean with a power pack rather than a parasitic connection to the laptop?
The only other options that I can see is installing one of the drives temporarily in your more up to date system and imaging or cloning there.
Woo Hoo!!!
Just re booted the lappy with the external drive "Live".
I only fired it up last time after the boot disk had done it's bit, in case it got confused which disk to boot from!
I'm just in two minds whether to continue, 'cos I've buggered up the date and time again.
Because it exited Acronis into "the void", ie. there is no OS to find, the date and time are lost!
but I didn't re set them before trying this re-boot.
Do I need to abort, or should I carry on and restore the image???
I'll just go get a coffee in the hope you'll see this!! :-)
cross posted.
the external drive that I've managed to create the image on is a "Medion HDD To GO" and it has it's own PSU.
I have the lappy running booted from the boot disk into Acronis TI 8.
I've selected "Restore" and the Medion External disk is visible and I have navigated to the Thinkpad image.
only worries now are
1) Will it restore successfully.
2) Does the computer clock time matter that it thinks it's 1999 again!
An other question, will Acronis, during this "Restore" wipe the dross off the 20GB disk I've fitted in the Lappy?
Also, will it change the format from FAT 32 to NTFS, or does Windows do that afterwards?
OK,
Aldi to the rescue!
As the 20GB disk is blank, you can do no harm by starting a restore.
Once the restore is finished, disconnect the external drive during the reboot procedure or just switch the power to the drive off.
Change the date time to the correct one as you may find a whole load of software will misbehave if it finds the wrong date.
Good luck.
lol The ubiquitous Aldi!!
No the 20GB Drive is just as it was when in a previous lappy.
The OS (XP Home) and all the files and programmes are still there.
Will Acronis re-format it in process of restoring the image?
Re the time, can I re-set that after restoring the image, or must I shut down and start again?
Will Acronis re-format it in process of restoring the image?
Yes, or to be more precise, it will blank the drive (as it's all one partition at the moment) and then lay the image contents on top. I'm referring to the 20GB drive here
If you are successful, then make a new image from this drive and then if you still want to split the partition into two, this can be done with TIH by a little trick. Of course if you have a copy of Disk Director to hand, then resizing would be easier, but it can be done in a limited way with TIH.
No you need to have the date correct before Windows boots, if you don't want any software you've installed to either stop working (if it's licence works by date stamp - Firewall or antivirus) or for example TI to start trying to make an image from a schedule - only if you have TI installed on the image with a schedule naturally.
Thanks Colin,
To tell the truth, I'll be pleased with just a single partition, but ifthat works OK, I do have a copy of "Paragon Partition Manager 2009SE....(Giveaway of the day!) lol
Never used it but maybe that would do a similar job.
Going to try restoring now, might take a while as it's USB 1.1 transfer speeds!I'll let you know how it goes!
Edit:
Looks like it's working......slooowly!
After 20 mins of seemingly total inactivity, it sprang into life...telling me :-21hrs to go!!
In the last 5 minutes that's come down to 6 hours, so I might just stay up till dawn and nurse it through!
Well I never!!
Not quite 3:30am and it has finished restoring the image and the lappy boots perfectly.
May be my imagination, but it seems to boot quicker than before.
I'll follow your excellent advice to immediately image this drive before doing anything more, but after I've had a bit of shut eye!
Thanks Colin,
I'll need to get your further advice concerning the switch from FAT32 to NTFS, don't know if you're familiar with Paragon Partition Manager!!
Hello Colin,
I have made an image of the Thinkpad's new 20GB drive, using Acronis via the Linux interface, (I seem to recall being told that is more reliable than using it directly in Windows), and Acronis is just checking it now.
Whilst that is underway, I have been trying to re-format the old 3.2GB Drive now resident in the caddy.
Still had the old problem that Autoplay is "Reading Files"... for ever, so ignoring that, I right clicked the Disk Icon and selected "Format", set it to "NTFS" and "Default" as the Allocation Unit Size, and clicked "start", after the warning that all data would be lost, nothing seemed to be happening, the lappy drive was spinning constantly, and the "Access" light on the caddy was permanently on.
After a while, I aborted it.
However, it must have been doing something, 'cos now, I dont get the Autoplay window, I'm told the drive needs formatting first!
Just having another go, this time I've set the format to NTFS, and the unit size to 4096 bytes ....same result, access light on the caddy is permanently on, and nothing really seems to be happening!
Whoa! just got a message from Windows, "Cannot complete formatting"... so something was happening!
How can I force this drive to speak to me??!
The drive sounds as though it is on its' way out.
Try formatting as FAT32, are you using XP or Vista to format?
When you say caddy is this the old one or the new one? Fiddly I know but try it in the new one, just incase the electronics in the old caddy are playing up.
Hi Colin, I was just watching the "lack of progress bar"! lol
It has again "Failed to re-format", so out of desperation, I'm trying exactly what you say!
(I must be learning something if I can pre-empt your advice!), though it doesn't look promising.
I'm trying this from my main PC, in Vista.
As far as the caddy is concerned, It's an "Icybox", bit of an "iPod looky likey", it's the only one I have to fit 2.5 inch lappy drives.
I have the full size Medion unit, and another full size one that I bought just as an empty caddy which now houses a HDD from an old PC that turned to a cinder!
I seem to recall that in XP, there is an item in the Right click menu called "Manage", and there you can re-name the disk, and manipulate the partitions etc.
Is there such a facility in Vista somewhere, 'cos it's not listed in the context menu?
Just had a look in Task Mgr, under Applications.
Right clicking the entry"Format Local Disk (I:)", and selecting "Go to Process", takes me to "dllhost.exe - COM Surrogate" which is using 5264K of memory, but no CPU....something is very wrong!
Think I'll "Abort" the re-format, again!
Grr.. what to do!?
Another odd thing!
Acronis has just checked the image of the new 20GB drive and says it's OK.
I've just "explored" it and Windows tells me I can explore only "My computer" and "My Data Backups".
Clicking OK, I just get a blank Explorer window!
"Exploring" the original image that I made from the 3.2GB drive, the one I used to restore onto the 20GB drive now working fine in the lappy.
I could access all folders and files just fine.
Rats!
Just done another image of the 20GB drive currently in the Thinkpad, again, sending it to the 3.5 inch Ext Drive, and it was checked by Acronis and found OK (again!)
Before unplugging the external drive, I double clicked the file to see if I could "explore" it.
Acronis then elbowed it's way in, and offered to "mount" the image and assign a drive letter.
This I did and was able to access all areas of the image.
Is that good??
Then I unplugged the External drive from the laptop, and plugged it back in to my Vista PC.
Navigating to the ".tib" file on this machine, it again told me I could explore only "My Computer" and "My Data Backups"
I just don't understand this!
I have three images of the Thinkpad's OS on this external drive:-
1) An uncompressed image of the OS taken from the original 3.2GB disk.
2) A "normally" compressed image of the OS, from the 20Gb disk immediately after it was created.
3) A second attempt exactly as "2" above, because I could not "explore" that image.
Only with the first image can I browse the files contained in the image with explorer!
I know that Image No. 1 can be "restored", because that is the one that I used to create the OS on the 20GB disk which is working just fine in the Thinkpad at the moment..... can the same be said of the other images described at 2 and 3? I'm confused and bewildered by the complexities of Acronis!!
Just a further note so that you might understand my consternation at being denied access to the images described at 2 and 3 above.
This external drive is used soley for the storage of drive images.
There are three folders, one for my Vista PC, one for my Clevo laptop, and one for the Thinkpad.
In the folders, there are three images taken at various times of the complete drives of each machine.
The only ones I cannot access with "Explorer" are those described at 2 and 3 above.
I can see no reason why this should be so; the properties of each are basically the same. There is no indication as to why these two images function differently to all the rest..and it's driving me mad!! lol
OK, the Vista machine is probably having a problem seeing the XP machine's files due to the Security Indentifiers being different.
The main thing is that, the laptop can see them and allows access.
You can change that.
With 2009 + you can elect to restore images without the SSID's, I don't think this was an option with TI 8.
To see the files and folders in Vista you have to assign all the files to your Vista log in, which you do by mounting the image and then right clicking on each folder that you ahve a problem with, clicking on the sharing tab and add your current user name to the folder making sure the option to include all child folders is ticked. Vista will chunk away and at the end you should eb able to access the files.
This will only be temporary as the image has been mounted as read only, so in theory once the virtual drive has been dismounted, the access will be revoked.
Having said that it is strange that I can access an image of an old HP laptop in my W7 machine.
Hi Colin,
I'll have to re-read that and probably follow it practically before I fully understand it!
So you are saying that the two images I cannot "Explore" are essentially OK....if necessary, they would be viable to restore from?
That is my insurance in case it all goes mammaries aloft with the convertion to NTFS!
I suppose it would be best if I convert to NTFS before installing SP3 ?
If the image is exploring or mounting when connected to the laptop, and you can navigate all folders as normal, then the image is OK.
As far as converting to NTFS I don't think it matters whether you do that before or after installing SP3.
Obviously a new 'master' image would need to be made after a successful install.
If the image is exploring or mounting when connected to the laptop, and you can navigate all folders as normal, then the image is OK.
As far as converting to NTFS I don't think it matters whether you do that before or after installing SP3.
Obviously a new 'master' image would need to be made after a successful install.
That sounds good!
I think I'll convert to NTFS sooner rather than later! Then as you say make another "Master Image"
I'm still trying to format the little drive in the caddy.
Attacking it from another angle, not sure it will be any more successful though!
I've found the "Manage" context menu, it's when you right click "Computer" (in Vista), it's been (supposedly) formatting the disk for about 15 minutes so far with no sign of any activity!