Can't boot after restoring to new hard drive with ATIH 2011
I have a Dell Latitude D830 notebook running Win 7 32 bit, with a 2.5" 120GB HD. Want to replace the HD with a Seagate 500GB 7200rpm HD...
Installed ATIH 2011 and Plus Pack under Win 7 and ran it (under Win 7) to create a disk-level backup of all partitions on the HD: System (100MB - hidden), "Apps" (60GB - C) and "Data" (60GB - D) to an external WD 1TB USB HD (which I use almost daily for various backup and file transfers without any issues).
Created bootable rescue DVD, and printed the Help topic about how to do a partition recovery when there's a hidden system partition, which is my situation.
Replaced 120GB HD with 500GB HD and booted from rescue disk.
Followed the printed Help topic... first restored the System partition (without resizing it), then "Apps" (resizing it from 60GB to 120GB) and "Data" (resizing it from 60GB to ~345GB). Then restored the MBR and Track 0.
Then tried to boot from the new HD (without the rescue DVD in the drive). Won't boot - hangs. Going into the BIOS setup, it sees the new HD (and according to posts on various forums, this exact drive is known to be supported and work in the D830).
I've been trying various combinations all day long! Like doing the backup while running ATIH under Win 7 and also while running under the rescue DVD. And doing a disk-level backup and also a partition-level backup. And trying various options settings, like backup/restore by-sector, etc, etc. But nothing has worked.
What am I missing? Are there details that are missing from the Help topic? For example, what settings should be specified when restoring the System partition? What options should I be specifying during backup (eg, sector-by-sector, etc)? And what options for restore? Should I be doing my backup while running ATIH 2011 under Win 7 or while booted from the rescue DVD (if the former, then how are in-use files handled)? Should I be doing a disk-level backup or a partition-level backup (they seem to be equivalent).
I got the advice to try ATIH 2011 from an MSDN forum post that was bad-mouthing Win 7's (free) backup and recovery. But so far, ATIH seems to be much more flaky. It may have lots of "options", but if it can't do something basic like this, then it's worthless.
Thanks for any detailed advice... as I've said, I've already tried quite a few combinations without success.
DT
Maybe it would help if you posted an attachment picture of your Windows Disk management graphical view of your old drive. Does your disk management show any other hidden partitions?
Did you rember to make the system partition (100mb) the active partition. If yes, you can also try restoring the mbr again and this time also include the disk signature option located on the same screen where you select the new disk as the target for the mbr.
Yes, I marked the system partition (100mb) as the active one. But I didn't explicitly set the disk signature option. I'll try that.
Also, I have attached a screen-shot of my old 120GB disk.
BTW: thanks for the quick responses! I need to have the new disk operational by tomorrow; I'm starting a s/w dev project for a new client, and my old disk is maxed-out.
DT
Another question: should I accept the ATIH default "positioning" of the system (100mb) partition? I think that ATIH 11's restore is leaving 1MB before that partition. Don't know why.
DT
I am an oldtimer and at present, I do not use the 100 mb part of windows at this time but should it not be the "Apps" partition that is set Active?
David,
I am not sure that version 11 had the Disk Signature option.
Yes, the spacer before the 100MB system partition is a requirement. This should spacer should cause your starting sector to be 2048 or 4096 as pictured in your backup or restore illustrations of what is to be backed up or what is to be restored.
If you have not resolved your issue at this point, my suggestion would be this. Since time is an issue, I believe the following would be the easiest and quickest solution to creating a larger duplicate drive. Booting from the Rescue CD.
1. Perform a disk option restore as illustrated in the Restore guide listed in item 7-A of my signature index.
Using this method, you have no choice in the sizing and the result will be a duplicate of old drive with the partitions still being the same size. The unused remaining space will be shown as unallocated.
2. Reboot using the new disk to make sure all is functioning correctly. You can look at your new disk in the Windows Disk Management option. You should see the new unallocated space on the extreme right.
2. Either before or after, you can download the free PartitionWizard disk partitioning tool. Download the CD version and the links are below. Burn the iso as an image to create a bootable disk utility.
http://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html
Bootable CD download
http://www.partitionwizard.com/download/pwhe5.iso
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After you know the new disk is working correctly, then
Once you have created the bootable PartitionWisard CD, then boot from it and use the Move/resize option to expand/resize the existing two partitions into the unallocated space.
If I remember correctly, you would use the mouse pointer and grab hold of the 3rd partition and slide it to the max right. Adjusting the bar to your desired width.
Then resize the middle Apps partition into the remaining space.
Once, you have the sizes as you wish, you can then click apply changes; or you can click discard changes and redo the sizing. Don't try to move a partition. Only use the resize feature. This sounds more complicated than it is really easy to do. Don't forget to apply your changes.
Let me know the result.
Added edit:
Don't forget. When doing the restore, place the larger target inside the computer in its intended boot position.
The backup file can be located elsewhere on external disks or networks, etc.
Then perform the restore when booted from the Rescue CD.
Pavel,
According to the screenshot of Disk Management, the 100mb system partition is shown as the active partition. Without that partition, the system will not boot unless changes are made as to where the boot files are stored.
I believe that "Active" G: is the problem
The Drive G Active appears to be a bootable flashdrive and should not be a problem unless the bios is attempting to boot from the wrong disk. The removable could be removed and see what the difference might be. The 100mb system partition is the correct active Windows 7 partition for disk 0 which should be the boot drive.
Whether the sytem is booting from the correct disk can easily be confirmed by rechecking the bios. But after this much time has elapsed, most likely David has made other changes so his system may differ now from what he initially posted.
The problem apparently was that I had not checked "restore the Disk Signature" when I restored the MBR.
I repeated my earlier steps exactly - but made that one change - and it worked fine. I'm now running on the new HD.
If this is a requirement, shouldn't it be documented in the Help topic that I was using? (does Acronis support monitor this forum?) Or is "restore Disk Signature " not required in some situations?
Also (different problem), has anyone seen EXTREMELY long shutdowns of Win7 after having done an ATIH 2010 backup? It says "changes are in-progress" (or something similar), and it takes 30+ minutes to shutdown! Not certain that ATIH is the culprit, but I never saw this before installing ATIH... seems it occurs after having done a full disk image backup to my external USD drive.
But thanks to everyone for their help on the restore problem!
DT