Bootable recovery disk doesn't work on windows 7 machine
Something similar happens to me on my Win7 Ultimate 64 machine...
When using the boot disk as included with TI2010 or the separate download, I get immediate reboot when clicking one of the option buttons before doing backup.
Has anyone an idea how to workaround the issue?
This happened when trying to append to existing archive which has been created a week ago using same version of the product. Archive check said that archive is valid...
Thanks in advance,
Ameise
Ameise,
Was the boot disk made with the same build of TI you currently have?
What build of TI do you have?
Is your PC a brand name or one that you made yourself?
Hi,
its ATI Home 2010 Build 6053. BootCD as it comes with the box and the separate download for the product (I expect it to be same build) do NOT work.
The system is an Intel based P45 (Gigabyte EP45-UD3P) with Q6600 4GB RAM running Win7 64 bit.
The funny thing about is that the first backup of the system worked last week - but a new increment fails with reboot.
I select Backup, then my partitions and the target to append to. Afterwards I want to set the files to ignore (pagefile.sys etc.) and while I press the according text in the dialog: BOOOOM ->
reboot. Tried several times - no luck yet. :(
Any help is highly appreciated since this turns the product to be worthless for me...
Ameise
I suggest making a new TI 2010 boot CD from your installation.
The image that worked, was that from within th eLinux environment or were you booted into Windows?
You don't need to exclude Pagefile or Hyperfile as these are not included in any image. You will see a 'placeholder' for them when looking at an image, but it doesn't physically contain either of these system files.
From within Windows, does the increment validate, and can it be explored or mounted satisfactorily?
@bodgy: Thanks for your help...
The initial image was made using the Boot CD as it comes with the TI 2010 installation.
The image can be mounted and I see all the files and can access them. Seems not to be an invalid one. Btw. the pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys files are in there with their sizes. I'm not really sure if TI omits them during backup.
I retry if my case fails only when doing append to existing archive. Might be it does not crash when doing a new archive.
Not really funny anyway...
Ameise
Just back after next reboot. The new CD from ATI loads and crashes at same location (when I want to exclude files). Reboot without any notice... :( No matter what if I do a new archive or append to an existing one.
Seems to me as if Acronis should do something to fix it...!
Any help appreciated,
Ameise
Ameise:
I don't recall anyone else reporting this issue on the forum, so if it was a bug with the bootable ISO or the boot CD, you would think that the forum would be filled with reports of this problem, although that does not rule out that it may be a bug that occurs with your particular combination of hardware.
Can you run Memtest86+ on your PC to rule out bad RAM? http://www.memtest86.com/. Let it run for several passes. If you see any errors whatsoever, then RAM is the culprit.
Nothing to do with the thread, just trying to stop notifications being sent to me when comments are posted.
@Mark:
used Memtest86+ -> memory is fine. Seems to be an issue for Acronis to fix...
Ameise
Im having the exact same issue. Brand new Dell E6500. Is there any progress on this at all?
Nothing so far. I'm still waiting that someone from Acronis looks into this discussion. Somehow not that nice :(
I'm talking to support right now. The tech sent me a new .iso with the latest build but it failed to resolve anything. I feel its a hardware problem where Acronis is not keeping up. I will post my results from the chat window but Im not being optimistic.
Ameise and Kirill,
The rescue CD's that you have made, do they work on other machines especially a non Dell PC ?
This would clear up if there is a problem with the actual CD and the rescue media files installed, or whether this is a Dell specific related problem.
Additionally, if you can get that far, what TI build number does the rescue CD report?
Yes the disk works fine on other machines including other Dell models.
The build number that I have is 6053.
Just finished with tech and they are supposedly escalating the issue. Now we wait...
Thanks Kirill!
Mine is no Dell machine. The image works well in VirtualBox environment, but not on the real machine. The build is 6053.
Ameise
Mark,
Do you have any suggestions on how to recover a system if the Acronis-provided boot CD doesn't work, nor does the downloadable ISO one? (Both work on other machines for reasons you've detailed).
Many of us in this forum are experiencing the same problem, and Acronis hasn't responded. It seems to obviate the whole idea of backup, if there's no way to do a restore when a disk has failed and needs to be completely replaced.
The kludge is to rebuild a Win 7 system onto a brand new disk using the tools that came with the PC; then install Acronis; then use Acronis to restore a backup image. But that's a whole lot of work.
Any other ideas? I suggested backing up an image to a USB external drive, and then swapping in that drive, but Acronis says it probably won't work.
I've also tried using having acronis TI 2010 make an external drive bootable...but the program couldn't find the drive!
Robert:
I think the options available to you are the following:
1. Contact Acronis support and ask them to make a custom ISO that will include support for your particular hardware.
2. Build a BartPE boot disk that includes TI 2010
3. Build a WinPE boot disk that includes TI 2010
Of the three options the third is the best, especially if your build is based on Windows 7 (BartPE is based on Windows XP). Windows 7 pre-installation environment (PE) contains thousands more drivers than Windows XP did, and is more likely to support a wider variety of hardware. Acronis includes the ability to make a PE-based boot disc in the Plus Pack.
There is more information about WinPE here: http://kb.acronis.com/content/5415
Forum member Mustang has his own solution called MustangPE here: http://www.mechrest.com/plugins/MustangPEBuilder/MustangPEBuilder.htm
The new build of TI 2010 is supposed to have addressed some issues.
Thanks for your reply, Mark. I've been trying to get #1 to happen for awhile, and they say they can't do it. #3 looks like it's intended for a professional IT manager who's backing up and restoring lots of machines. However, if I made one, maybe I could sell it to all the Acronis users of new machines who want to be able to do a restore from their backups!
Richard,
I wrote the tutorial here: http://forum.acronis.com/forum/9449 for building WinPE bootable media, and believe me, I am not a professional IT manager. Others have successfully done this procedure. Please give it a try.
Robert:
If you find the procedure to be more than you want to undertake, then give serious consideration to MustangPE.
Once you have a Windows PE based recovery environment you'll never want to go back. I've been using one based on Vista RTM recovery environment (VistaPE) for several years now and I've not yet met any hardware that was unsupported. It's handled everything that I've thrown at it. Having Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, Regedit, and all of the other Windows tools on the recovery CD is great for fixing Windows problems; much better than using Linux tools.
If one is considering going with WinPE recovery media, be sure to consider these differences between the what you get with the WinPE ISO made via the Plus Pack with the MustangPE ISO (which I also have):
-The ISO built via the Plus Pack as described here http://forum.acronis.com/forum/9449 is based on the BartPE plug-in version of True Image, which is not the full Windows version
-The ISO built via MustangPE contains the full Windows version of True Image, but the MustangPE build is not supported by Acronis
-The ISO built via the Plus Pack is a "raw" WinPE environment. True Image will start automatically, but once TI is closed, you are at a command line interface, unless you have done some modifications of your own. So far as I know, Windows Explorer does not run (at least I have not be able to get it to), which is why the A43 file management utility is important
-The ISO built via MustangPE includes a refined Windows-like shell, so that you actually have icons that you can click. You can still get to the command line if you want to or need to
-The ISO built via the Plus Pack is free, while the MustangPE cost $19.98 ($9.99 for the ISO Builder + $9.99 for the True Image plug-in)
I have given up on this issue being resolved and use Windows Backup within Windows 7. It seems to work fine and it looks like I will save money now that I won't need the latest versions of Acronis.
I have given up on this issue being resolved and use Windows Backup within Windows 7. It seems to work fine and it looks like I will save money now that I won't need the latest versions of Acronis.
Doug:
Be sure to make a Windows 7 recovery CD and test boot your PC(s) into the recovery environment to verify that you have driver support for all of your hardware. This is a requirement for anybody's recovery environment, even Microsoft's. But Win7PE has a pretty good assortment of available drivers on the CD/DVD at this time, and they have made provisions for adding new drivers from a flash drive when booting.
Just a short update...:
the new build seems to solve my reboot issue so far. I'll keep an eye on it ;)
Thanks,
Ameise
Just tried the 7046 build of TI 2010 – no joy – behavior is the same as build 6053. Reboots on Dell XPS Studio 8100. I am in the second tier of the Acronis tech. support and have sent, to the best of my ability, all of the requested information.
I understand that the Acronis rescue media uses a build of Linux as its OS to support the TI 2010 application. I have seen discussions here of using an Acronis TI 2010 “plug-in” for use in a Windows PE environment. I would like to know why Acronis, which is a rather large company, does not directly offer a Windows PE based product ready to go. For the short term I have resolved my issue by using Norton Ghost 15, which is Windows PE based, and does work with my Dell XPS Studio 8100.
Frank,
Have you tried using the latest ISO version of the rescue CD available from your Acronis account?
I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft weren't ' quite picky ' tm, about how commercial entities use their PE based environment and of course whatever the licence fee is they require.
I have sent all the reports requested by Acronis, including the one captured to a USB drive. I have sent a screen shot - a jpg - of my screen to them. I have tried all of the ISO options of the 6053 build. I have only tried the "regular" build of 7046. Of course they would have to license the PE environment from MS - but they would gain access to that vast library of drivers written both by MS & its partners. It would be come a "cost of doing business." It can not be too bad as Symantec manages to do it. I started this process in early march and am now working with the tier 2 folks at Acronis. I will continue to do so. The Acronis works fine on my Dell 630i. I have used it successfully on other hardware as well. It just seems to have issues with the newer CPU/Motherboard combinations.
Just tried the latest build of TI2010 with similar results as last time, loads and then reboots at the initialize screen. I'm running out of time and and have been at this for weeks. Going to start looking into other products.
Finally got this working. What I ended up doing was deleting all the partitions and reinstalling windows 7 on 2 partitions that it recommends. Everything came up just fine with the boot disk. What bothers me is Dell the manufacturer of this laptop created that faulty partition and also recommends this product on their website. This just shows how much testing goes into software before it is approved by a vendor.
Thanks for all your help everyone.
Kirill is right. I had this happen to me on a Dell Vostro 3500 today. I used version 6053 (downloaded the new 7046 but didn't try it yet) and I built the image on a Dell 3500... but when trying to restore to an identical 3500, it would just reboot once the boot CD scanned drives and was "initializing". It took some searching, but after booting in Disk Director I was able to delete the existing partitions on the 3500's hard drive. Once I did that, I could boot TIH fine and restore the image from my USB flash drive to the 3500 successfully.
I have no idea WHY this is the case since I was previously able to boot off the CD on the first 3500 machine to create the image... but for whatever reason, booting on this one didn't like the system until I deleted all exisiting partitions on the HD.
I have seen folks complain of similar issues and MOST have Dell machines... Could be something about the way Dell sets up their recovery partition on the drives??? Not sure. Maybe it is related to the way Windows 7 desires 2 partitions to install and Dell giving it 3 freaks it out... who knows...
Either way, nuke the partitions first (pull out the hard drive and use it in another computer if you have to) and then you should be able to recover to it fine. Now if you are trying to backup instead... well... then I guess you are out of luck. :-P Maybe 7046 resolves this, but it doesn't sound like that's the case from what I've been reading from others.
Brent,
As you have DD11, could you check what OS type the Dell partitions are, though I suppose reading above you've now altered your partition structure and so won't be able to.