recover operation failed when restoring from an image file with a GPT disk

Before looking for more esoteric causes, one thing should be checked. When you are working with a UEFI PC you need to ensure that you boot the recovery media in UEFI mode. For each device there should be both an UEFI and a BIOS/Legacy "version" listed in the list of boot devices - you need to select the UEFI version.

Ian

thank you so much for replying, and i apologize for the delay in replying back (...holiday stuff ...).
but, back this this (very important to me) problem:

regarding the question, "..is the acronis usb boot drive booting into uefi mode", the answer is yes.
I am using a dell optiplex 9010, and i am booting off of a usb acronis drive (an 8 GB usb thumb drive) i made with the acronis true image program i bought and installed on a windows machine.

With the optiplex, i press F12 at startup, and i get several boot options in a list.
there is a "uefi boot" option, and it has an option for the usb acronis boot drive, and that is what i select when i boot to the acronis usb drive.

again i apologize for the delay, and i look forward to your next suggestion!

question: when i used the acronis options to prepare the new drive before trying to copy the image file to the new drive, in the 'create the partitions on the new drive' part, it asked to leave <> 1 MB of free space before the 1st partition like it does when there is an MBR drive. Also, this seemed to be the default option, and i accepted it. I have found this works with MBR drives, but could it be causing a problem with the uefi gpt drive?

again, thank you you in advance, 
Michael

another note, 
after i get the error "recovery option failed", if i just try to do it again, when i get to the "new partition location" screen, the partition i made (in the add new disk screens) that was called "windows" now just says "unallocated", and instead of the type saying ntfs, that says "unallocated" too.

i wanted to note this in case it is helpful information

Michael, what is the size of the source disk drive used to create the backup image you are trying to restore here?  How much used / free space is available on that source drive.

When doing any disk recovery there is no need to create any partitions as these will be wiped by Acronis anyway!  The only action needed is to prepare the target drive for GPT on a UEFI system.

Next, there is no need to manually specify all the individual partitions etc on restore - just select the top level Disk tick box - that will automatically select all the hidden / system partitions below that level and will attempt to resize any partitions as needed to fit the size of target disk being used.

Finally, always check the Log for the restore operation before leaving the rescue media environment and if needed, use the right-click option to save a copy of the log to your USB stick, so that it can be viewed later!  The log will show any errors or reasons for a failure.

Please see forum topic: [How to] recover an entire disk backup - and in particular the attached PDF document which shows a step-by-step tutorial for doing this type of recovery / restore.

Hello Steve, 
Thank you for helping!
I need to know how to re-image and restore gpt drives big time.
i tried your suggestions, but i am getting the same error, "recover option failed"

here is more detail, 
* your question 1: 
The source hdd is the hdd that came with the new computer i have (it a used computer, but it is new to me).
The hdd has win10 on it, it is a 2 TB sata hdd, and it has 29.2 GB used and 1.79 GB free (the total size is 1.81 TB), so about 30 GB are being used.
I am storing/writing the image file to a usb 3 external hdd.
The hdd i am using for the destination hdd (when i try to restore the image file of the source drive) is also a sata drive, and it is only 320 GB.
Note, i have 4 of these, i bought them all new for testing stuff like this, and i have tried 2 of them (eg in case one was failing), but i got the same error. 

* your suggestion for the "add new disk" option in acronis, 
-i tried again, and i got the same error "recover option failed"
-when i ran the "add new disk" option, i did not create any partitions, i just selected the "initialize as a gpt drive" option, and just clicked next until it said it completed successfully

* your suggestion for the selection of the individual partitions to restore, 
-i just selected the "top most disk 1 check box" option, and that selected all of the partitions, and then i clicked "next"
-note, the "select items to recover" option has a partition called "mbr and track 0"
-when i created the image file from the source drive, i did not see any partition called "mbr and track 0"
-question, is that a problem?

* the log files
-they all end with "the backup is corrupted, but you can still try to recover data..."
-so i made another image file, and i tried to restore it again (using the methods you suggested), and i got the same error "recover option failed"

* the article you asked to read
-there is a lot of info in them, and im not sure about this
-when i boot my pc and press f12 to pause at the bios options screen, it says this, 
boot mode is set to: UEFI; secure boot: off
-does the secure boot setting being off matter?

-so, i am stumped, 
-eg, i am not sure if i am doing anything wrong when i am making the image file
-eg, is that what the log file is saying?

again, thank you sincerely for you help, 
michael

Michael, thanks for all the answers to previous questions but sorry some more to ask of you!

Is the new (to you) computer working Ok with the original 2TB HDD installed?  Does it boot correctly into Windows 10 and show no errors etc?

If yes, then have you checked the log for the backup task where you are making an image of the 2TB disk & partitions, does this show all was successful with no errors being reported?

UEFI Secure Boot should not matter whether it is turned on or turned off for the purposes involved here in creating a backup and restoring it to another drive.

Have you checked the 2TB disk for any errors, initially by using CHKDSK /F and / or using the diagnostic tools provided by the disk maker / support site for same?

There are several other options that you could try for this issue:

You could try using Windows Disk Management to 'Shrink' the size of the Windows OS C: partition on the 2TB original disk, so see how small it can be made, i.e. to try to reduce the size to less than your target 320GB disk drive. 

You could try using an alternative Backup & Recovery application to perform the same operations.  Macrium Reflect offer a free version that would be suitable - you would need to make a copy of their rescue media to use for the restore.

Hello Steve, 
-please, ask as many questions as possible/helpful!

* 1st question: 
-yes, the new pc boots normally to its original hdd. 

* 2nd question: 
-no, i have not checked the hdd on the new pc, but because it is new/refurbished i was hoping that step could be avoided.
-i have opened the disk management utility, and it shows all of the partition statuses as healthy.

* thank you for answering the question about the secure boot mode.

* about the size of the destination drive: 
-i bought 3 of these dell optiplex computers.
-2 of them say the bios is in legacy mode, and i have been able to successfully restore an acronis image on both of them to the 320 GB hdd.
-the 2nd legacy optiplex has a 2 TB hdd, and i just successfully created and restored an image file from the 2 TB to the 320 GB drive.
-so, i was hoping since there is such little space being used on the 2 TB hdd because it is new and i have not added anything to it yet (i have not even connected it to my home network / the internet yet), acronis would be able to shrink it to the available size.
-also, my ultimate purpose for the optiplex is to use it to run hyper-v to test stuff with virtual machines, so i wanted to ensure the optiplex itself was changed as little as possible to ensure as much as possible that it will run hyper-v as well as possible (...ive also purchased separate ssds to ultimately run the actual vm files from while the os runs on the hdd to help the vms run better).

question: is it not possible for gpt drives to accept the 'shrink thing' like the mbr drives seem to be able to?

* about using a different program:
-i was really hoping i could learn how to use acronis for this purpose.

question: 
-is it possible i am creating the image file improperly?

question: 
-when i boot to the original hdd, and i look at the c drive, i see this folder with this one file in it, 
the folder name is this
BIOSUpdate_9010_w10p_1909
the file name is this
o9010a30.exe
-could that be causing any problems?

* I know that is not much more information from my end, but i'm not sure what to do next.
Thank you again very much for your help!
michael
 

Michael, regarding checking the 2TB HDD, chances are that the HDD has been repurposed as there is very little chance of it being refurbished and even new drives can come with bad sectors or issues.

You could try checking on the HDD drive makers support web site using the model and serial number to see if it is still under warranty if it was a new drive installed in the PC.

Disk management showing the drive as healthy is no guarantee that there are no faults with the drive such as bad sectors - only running diagnostic tools can determine this!

Dedicated diagnostic utilities from the disk manufacturers take the longest time to complete the checks, but provide the most accurate methods of checking whether the disk is good or needs replacement:

 - Western Digital drives: Western Digital Dashboard

 - Seagate disks: SeaTools for Windows

 - HGST disks: HGST Windows Drive Fitness Test (WinDFT)

 - Intel SSDs: Intel Memory and Storage Tool (GUI)

 - Samsung drives: Samsung Magician

 - ADATA drives: ADATA SSD ToolBox

 - Kingston SSDs: Kingston SSD Toolbox, Kingston SSD Manager

 - Transcend SSDs: Transcend SSD Scope

 - Silicon Power disks: SP ToolBox

 - Toshiba disks: Toshiba PC Diagnostic Tool Utility

 - Crucial disks: Crucial Storage Executive

 - SanDisk disks: SanDisk SSD Dashboard tool / SanDisk SSD Dashboard user guide1

All disk drives, MBR and GPT should allow for being Shrunk in size providing there is sufficient free space on the drive to use!  If Windows Disk Management does not allow using the Shrink option, then there are other tools that can and will do this for you. 

Download a copy of the free MiniTool Partition Wizard software, install this in Windows, then use this to resize your partitions.  Click on the Apply button to make the changes when done.
Note: this will require a Windows restart to complete the changes.

If you are creating a standard Disks & Partitions backup image of the 2TB HDD and using the default settings provided for the task, then there is very little that you can do wrong here!  The only way to get this wrong would be to try to use a Files & Folders backup image, as this will never be able to capture vital system files & data due to locked files held by the OS.

Using a different backup application is a good method of proving if any issues are being caused by Acronis or arise from the hardware involved.  I have both Acronis and Macrium applications installed on most of my PC's and typically use both of these from time to time, even though Acronis is my normal default tool.

The BIOS update folder / file is very unlikely to have any impact on what you are trying to do and is probably a left-over from when the Dell was refurbished and the PC BIOS was updated to a more recent version at the same time.  The BIOS update is often needed when UEFI & Secure boot is in use on older PC's.  You should be able to check the BIOS version from within the settings on the PC or via the Dell Support web site using PC serial or tag identifier.

You mention about wanting to use the PC with Hyper-V for testing virtual machines, which is something I have used quite a lot recently!  I can tell you that having a good sized SSD is going to be a necessity when using Hyper-V.

I am using a HP laptop with an Intel Core i7 CPU, 32GB RAM and a 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD as the host system for my Hyper-V VM's and these run almost as fast as if they were normal PC's with 6GB RAM and 4 virtual processors allocated and the VM running from the SSD.

Previously, I has running the VM's from a 2TB Seagate SATA HDD and they were painfully slow to boot.

One final comment, it would be worth testing this Dell PC by installing one of your 320GB drives and doing a clean install of Windows 10 to this.  Provided the PC has previously been activated for Windows 10, then doing a clean install will be smooth and with no activation issues.  Ideally, it is best to activate Windows on the PC with a Microsoft Account email address although it works fine with the hardware signature.

Hello Steve, 

I am very scared (...for lack of a better word) to resize the partitions on the source drive.
I understand the importance of discovering and learning and trying new things, but let me ask this:
Would using a larger destination drive "test" the same thing that resizing the source partitions would test?
If so, would getting a 2 TB drive to re-test with accomplish the same thing?
If so, I'd like to try that 1st so i change as few things as possible on the source drive.

I can re-use the 2 TB for other things, too, after using it for this test.

I know this is separate from the "run diagnostics" option.

Also, thank you for answering all the other questions, and reminding me that trying other programs that do the same thing (eg acronis and macrium) is an essential troubleshooting step.

And thank you, too, for the insights into running vms, that is my next goal (eg to setup a test lab).

-michael

Michael, one reason for suggesting the resizing / shrinking of the partitions on the 2TB drive is to see whether there is an issue with that drive given you told us that it only has 29.2 GB used and 1.79 GB free.  Just going on those sizes alone suggests that there is very little installed on the drive other than Windows 10 and maybe some basic applications!

Personally, if the 2TB drive only has a basic, vanilla install of Windows 10, then I would repeat my earlier suggestion to remove the drive, replace it by a 320GB SSD then do a new clean install of Windows 10 using the Windows installation media that can be downloaded from Microsoft easily.

Note: for Hyper-V you should be using Windows 10 Pro unless you are going to use a registry hack (see webpage here) to get it working on a Home edition of Windows.

Hello Steve,

Thank you for continuing to help.

-Regarding the question "...is there an issue with the original hdd, or the original pc itself...", taking the route of making changes to the original source drive/machine (eg by resizing partitions or replacing hdds) may be necessary, but i want to change as little as possible to the original source drive/machine during the very first troubleshooting steps.
-in an effort to do that, and because I am going to be getting a 2 TB sata hdd early next week, i am going to wait until that arrives so that it can be the next troubleshooting step.
-I will try it as soon as it gets here, and then post the results.

-note, trying a different program like Macrium, and running diagnostics on the original source drive are great suggestions too.

-michael
 

Hello Steve,

-I noticed this, and i am uncertain if its important.

-When i make the image file, i store it on an external usb drive.

-The making of the image file goes normally, and during this part, on the "partitions to backup" screen, it shows 3 partitions: "recovery partition", "efi system partition", and "ntfs (unlabeled)" (the last one is the windows partition).

-however, when i try to restore the image file, and i get to the "select the items to recover" screen, it shows the 3 partitions from when i made the image, but it also shows a partition called "mbr and track 0".

-i dont know how that can be (eg, how does the "mbr and track 0" partition end up in the "select the items to recover" screen when it was not on the "partitions to backup" screen?

-is this important?

thank you again!

michael

Michael, every disk drive has a mbr (Master Boot Record) which is stored in Track 0 of the drive where the MBR points to how the OS will find boot information depending on the type of BIOS boot method being used.

If you use the top 'Disk' option when recovering a backup image, then ATI will copy back all that is needed. 

If you are recovering to an unformatted / raw disk drive, then the MBR & Track 0 are needed but there may be cases when restoring an individual partition to a working disk drive where it wouldn't be needed to restore these items (as they already exist and are good).

Hello Steve,
-I see, ...the "all disk drives have an mbr even if they are gpt drives" (if im understanding that correctly) thing is still a little fuzzy to me, but it is getting clearer.
-knowing that is not an error is beyond helpful.
-I will update this post as soon as the other drive arrives, which should be tuesday.

michael

See webpage: Difference between MBR and GPT which has a detailed description of the differences involved here and also the commonality with both having a MBR.  See the linked Microsoft documentation ( MBR and GPT ) which adds the following clarification.

The protective MBR area exists on a GPT partition layout for backward compatibility with disk management utilities that operate on MBR.

Hello Steve, 
-I got the 2 TB drive, I tried it, and i got the same error message.
-i tried to make another image file, and while making the image file it freezes when it gets to saying "3 minutes left".
-i tried to make another image file, and this time just before clicking the "proceed" button, I opened the "options" and turned on the option to "ignore bad sectors", and i tried to create another image, and this time it got to say "2 minutes left", but then it froze again
-acronis was not responding to the keyboard or the mouse during these times, so to get control back I had to press and hold the pc's power button
-so,
-I ran this at an elevated cmd prompt, "chkdsk c: /f "
-it replied it would do that at the next restart, so i restarted, and it said it found no errors.
-I cannot find the log file for this though, eg i look in the event viewer and all i find are entries for 3 times i ran chkdsk without the /f option
-
-the pc runs great when you boot it to windows
-I have not run any other diagnostics yet
-all i want (in the end) is a way to replace this pc's hdd in case the hdd it came with stops working, but it would be great to be able to use the same thing (acronis) for all 4 pcs i have.
-
-question, could i try to re-install windows on another hdd and choose legacy mode for that hdd on this same pc?
-unfortunately i feel like i am spinning my wheels right now. 
-thank you again in advance, 

michael

Michael, sorry but your latest findings only tend to confirm that there is a real issue with the original source 2TB HDD and I can only repeat my earlier recommendation (repeated below):

Dedicated diagnostic utilities from the disk manufacturers take the longest time to complete the checks, but provide the most accurate methods of checking whether the disk is good or needs replacement:

 - Western Digital drives: Western Digital Dashboard

 - Seagate disks: SeaTools for Windows

 - HGST disks: HGST Windows Drive Fitness Test (WinDFT)

 - Intel SSDs: Intel Memory and Storage Tool (GUI)

 - Samsung drives: Samsung Magician

 - ADATA drives: ADATA SSD ToolBox

 - Kingston SSDs: Kingston SSD Toolbox, Kingston SSD Manager

 - Transcend SSDs: Transcend SSD Scope

 - Silicon Power disks: SP ToolBox

 - Toshiba disks: Toshiba PC Diagnostic Tool Utility

 - Crucial disks: Crucial Storage Executive

 - SanDisk disks: SanDisk SSD Dashboard tool / SanDisk SSD Dashboard user guide1

For your further question:

-question, could i try to re-install windows on another hdd and choose legacy mode for that hdd on this same pc?

I again would repeat what I suggested earlier:  Remove the 2TB HDD and put one of your 320GB SSD in its place, then do a clean install of Windows to that SSD leaving the BIOS as it is now, i.e. using UEFI.

One reason why I would not recommend changing the BIOS to legacy is that you are taking a backward step, restricting the number and size of partitions you can have, and preventing any future upgrade to Windows 11 (which does not support legacy BIOS mode).

Hello Steve, 

Thank you for continuing to help.

Now that I've answered the question of "did it need a bigger destination hdd", I am going to do the things you suggested to see if there are any problems with the original hdd.

I am running the onboard dell diagnostics on the hdd with the thorough option selected, and it looks like it will take about 6 hours.

Also, i will also try to re-install windows on a different hdd and see if that works, and then see if it lets me run acronis.

I will do this with the uefi bios, but regarding using the legacy bios on all 4 of the pcs i have for this test lab thing im trying to setup, it may seem odd, but that will guarantee these win10 pcs will not accidentally update to windows 11...

Then i want to learn more about UEFI with the pcs that are currently in this test lab and will be freed up when I get these other 4 pcs going (and then maybe appy it to the test lab thing once i know more....).

Also, you're suggestion of resizing the partitions seems very logical, and i am going to get brave and try that (...they wouldn't put the option there if it didn't work...right?).

Currently i have exports of virtual machines on the C: drive, and if I had the physical drive itself split into 2 partitions, I could update my image files more often without disturbing the exported vm files and iso files and the rest (and/or without having gargantuan sized image files).

I will need a few days to do these things, but I am going to do them asap, and i will update this post asap.

Thank you again, ...i cant wait to get this resolved
michael
 

update

the dell onboard diagnostic just finished and said it found no errors.
it took about 5 hours.
it is a seagate drive (i took it out and looked at it to make sure).
do you think it is worth the time to install and run the seagate diagnostic "sea tools" thing, too?

i'm thinking the seeing if I can install windows on other hdds drives should be the next test I do, would you agree?

...thank you again!

Michael, the Seagate diagnostic tools are the best for testing that make of drive - more so than the generic Dell tools.  Seatools can normally be run as a stand-alone tool - been a little time since I needed it but I have run it from either a floppy disc or CD before though that may be more than a few years ago!

Hiren's BootCD   Download is a good tool to have in your kit and has a range of different diagnostic tools packaged in an ISO image that can be burnt to either a CD (older XP 32-bit version) or DVD (latest 64-bit Win 10 based version).  It works essentially like rescue media allowing a PC to be booted from the optical media and tools run offline.

...update just because its been a few days, 
i am working on these things and will i be updating this post in the next couple days...

Hello Steve,

-i apologize for the delay, and i beg your pardon

-to cut to the chase, i cannot get my acronis 2017 to make an image of a uefi/gpt on this pc
-i have not tried on other pcs, i have not had the time to
-i am thinking i should just buy and try the newest acronis true image 2021
-do you think that is a good idea?
-i would not mind having it at all if is it (understandably) better

-regarding the pc and hdds i am working with for this problem,
-i tried several things,

1. on the pc's original hdd, which is the gpt hdd using the uefi boot mode, i did the following:

1a. i shrank the partition to 1 TB, ran the acronis program again, and it failed again
-i used the windows disk manager to turn the drive from 1 huge 2 TB partition into 2 smaller 1 TB partitions
-then i booted off the acronis usb, ran the program, and it went through all the questions, and i clicked on proceed, and it began and said it needed 8 minutes, then that went down to needing 6 minutes, then it froze
-this happened more than once

1b. i ran the onboard dell diagnostics on the hdd, and it said it passed with no errors
-i made sure to use the most thorough option, it took about 6 hours, and i confirmed the log file said the same thing

1c. i ran the seagate seatools bootable usb diagnostics on the hdd, and it said it passed with no errors, and i confirmed the log file said the same thing
-i made sure to use the most thorough option, and it took about 4.5 hours

2. on the pc itself, using the 320 GB hdd i have (unfortunately it is just a sata hdd, not an ssd), i installed a new copy of win10 using a media creation tool bootable usb and using the uefi boot mode
-after the installation completed, i confirmed windows setup created a gpt partition style on the hdd
-then i booted to the acronis usb, i tried to make an image of the 320 GB partition, and it failed shortly after clicking the proceed button (eg, at the same place it failed at on the original hdd)

3. on the pc itself, using a separate 2 TB hdd i have, i installed a new copy of win10 using a media creation tool bootable usb, but this time i used the legacy boot mode
-after the installation completed, i confirmed it created an mbr partition style on the hdd
-then i was able to successfully create and restore an acronis image
-if this is worth noting, i did the restore to the same 320 GB hdd used in all the other tests/attempts

4. on the legacy/mbr hdd, i shrank the 2 TB partition into 2 separate 1 TB partitions, i ran acronis again, and i was able to successfully create and restore the image file again
-so, based on everything, all i can do is use the legacy hdd as the solution for that particular pc
-and, as far as not being able to make acronis images of gpt partitions, i cannot think of anything else to do other than get a newer version of acronis and try that
-or, are these possibly too far out or silly :
-maybe because the bios was updated, and therefore it will no longer work with the older versions of acronis i have, and therefore i have to get a newer version of acronis?
-maybe i have to use a usb 3.0 flash drive?
-i am using a usb 2 flash drive, and i have tried the usb drive in both the pc's usb2 and usb3 ports for the uefi tests
-uhg...i wondered if i was wasting my time there

5. thats all i have up to now
-so im thinking i should try the newer acronis

6. again, i am sorry for taking so long to reply

i hope to hear back soon, 
thank you again, too
-michael

Michael, sorry to read of the continued woes with this particular Dell PC and it is very strange that all seems to be fine if the PC is using Legacy / MBR but fails every time with switched over to using UEFI / GPT..!

Before going out and considering buying ATI 2021, I would recommend downloading a copy of Macrium Reflect 8 Free and testing that on the PC with UEFI / GPT for backup & recovery.  This will help confirm whether the issue is definitely only with the PC when using GPT or whether it is your ATI 2017 that is having a problem.

MR8 is a lot different to ATI in the look & feel but will let you do the testing here and will allow you to create bootable rescue media for the recovery etc.  It will coexist with ATI on the same PC with no issues!  (I have MR8 Home installed alongside ATI 2021 plus have used MR7 free for some years as a second backup / recovery application for my toolbox!)

Hello Steve, 
-I really want to have just one solution that works for everything every time (eg if acronis 2021 worked for the gpt drive, i would hope it would also work for the legacy drives ;^)
-eg, ...so i can concentrate on using the things instead of just getting the things to run in the first place
-but it is becoming clear that may not be a practical approach

-so, even if i did buy a new version of acronis, i should try macrium either way
-knowing me, i am probably going to do both
-I will update this post as soon as I make the next step with macrium and/or acronis 2021

thank you for keeping this post alive

-michael
 

Michael, one point ref ATI 2021 is that it is the final version from Acronis with a perpetual license after which all products are now annual subscription.  If buying a copy of ATI 2021 then ensure it is the 'Standard' version if you want the perpetual license - all other editions are subscription.

The point in suggesting MR8 Free is to eliminate either your ATI 2017 or the actual PC itself as causing this strange issue with recovering to a GPT drive.  This is something I have not seen anyone else reporting and never seen myself.  If the same happens with MR8 then it is unlikely that ATI 2021 will be any different to 2017 either.