2013 Image Disk Restore Leaves Windows 7 Unbootable
I am using the latest 2013 True Image Build with Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. This is a UEFI system using GPT disks. Until yesterday, I was using the latest 2012 True Image Build without issue.
Prior to yesterday, I was using 2012 to backup the primary disk to an image stored on an internal secondary disk. I am creating a full image, then 3 differentials, then full... I had created a bootable restore CD and had booted from this CD and restored the entire primary disk from a backup image at least a couple of times with no issues.
Yesterday, I upgraded to 2013, created a new bootable restore CD, and wrote a backup image. I then tried booting from the CD and restoring the image. The restore appeared to work fine (no errors). However, when I re-booted the system I got problems. The system wouldn't boot and gave a status of oXC0000225. I restored the image again - same failure.
On a whim, I booted from the 2012 restore CD and the restore (from the same image backup created with 2013) worked just fine.
Puzzled, I booted from the 2013 CD and restored the system again - exact same failure. Booted from the 2012 CD again and it worked perfectly.
Any input would be much appreciated.
Thanks for the response. This system is using UEFI rather than BIOS but to the best of my knowledge nothing has changed with the UEFI interface.
You might be correct that the system was repairable. On the screen with the boot error it was suggesting that the windows installation disk be used and repair be selected. I do not have a windows installation disk (system was purchased from HP) so wasn't able to try the repair option.
Oklahoma: I can't help with your Acronis 2013 Restore CD problem (I remain with 2011) but I can say that you do NOT need the Windows 7 installation disc to effect a repair of a non-booting or otherwise troubled system. In the search field of Start enter, "repair disc" and you will be provided with the link to "Create a System Repair Disc".
No Windows system should be without one!
Hans-Peter, thanks for that. I would still like to resolve the problem as to why the 2013 image restore leaves me with an unbootable system. Am I the only one with this problem?
Oklahoma,
What type of image did you make a complete disk or just your C partition?
If in error the System Partition wasn't included W7 won't boot (if your PC has a sytem partition that is). The other possibility might be the Active flag has become deactivated and again the PC will not be able to find the drive to boot from.
Colin, it was an image of the complete physical disk containing 3 partitions - system, c, and d (which is for HP recovery). When I was testing the restore, I restored the complete physical disk.
As 2012 boot CD works fine, you're doing everything right, and the only advice here might be open a support ticket while you're within your 30 days of free support. (it may be qualified as recovery issue though and then it's not time-limited).
You can try restoring it switching bios to legacy mode instead of UEFI to check if there is any difference.
PS - there is no 'active' flag on GPT disk.
PS - there is no 'active' flag on GPT disk.
Indeed, I forgot this was a GPT disk.
Thanks for the help. I will open a ticket with support. Does this mean to submit an email to them? I'm new at this. Thanks.
http://www.acronis.com/support/contact-us.html and of two options available for this product (email(webform) and chat) the latter will reach a live human faster (but is's not available outside of business hours).
Thanks everyone. I contacted support this morning via chat. They gave me an ISO to download to create a new 2013 bootable cd with. I did so and it seemingly restored the image just fine. But, when I booted, I had the exact same problem. I used a 2012 bootable CD, restored the same image and the system boots fine.
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for your posts and your help.
Oklahoma, thank you for keeping us posted about the issue and I am very sorry that you experienced it.
We are currently working on the issue and if you need additional help with your case, please contact me directly.
Let me know if you have additional questions please.
Thank you.
I am considering upgrading my software to the 2014 version. I am the OP for this thread. Has this issue been fixed?
oklahoma,
Just curious. Do you have a disk which was restored by 2012 version or whatever version.
I would be curious as to the partition arrangement as viewed by Windows Diskpart.
From a command prompt, type
DISKPART
From the Diskpart prompt, type
LIST DISK
SELECT DISK X (X BEING THE GPT DISK)
LIST PARTITION
The resulting list will list all your partitions and include the Microsoft Reserved Partition which is not visible in the Windows Disk Management.
TrueImage has not been able to reproduce the same arrangment of partitions when the Miscrosoft System Resereved is placed anywhere other than first.
2013 and 2014 want to put this MSR (128mb) first regardless of its original location.
Many of the retail manufacturers have the MSR in partition position 2 or 3 and when restored should be restored to the same original location.
Another question: when your created new disks via whatever version, did you also select the "recover disk signature" option during the restore?
Before you upgrade, you might want to try the trial version first.
Also, 2015 is in beta testing.
Here are the results of the diskpart command:
Partition # Type Size Offset
4 System 100 MB 1024 KB
1 Reserved 128 MB 101 MB
2 Primary 911 GB 229 MB
3 Primary 19 GB 911 GB
The above disk was restored by an image that was created with the 2013 version after being booted by a 2012 version CD.
I do not remember if I selected the 'recover disk signature or not'. I tested that I was able to actually restore an image 2 years ago when I first bought the product and haven't had to restore another one since. The scenario was that a 2012 version image would restore fine with a 2012 version recovery disk, a 2013 version image would seemingly restore fine with a 2013 version recovery disk but then the PC would not boot, and a 2013 version image would restore fine with a 2012 version recovery disk.
I am very interested if the above information gives you any clues as to what is going on. Acronis wanted me to send them a bunch of information 2 years ago on this problem and I finally had to quit; just didn't have all the time it would take to assist them in debugging their product and also couldn't afford the downtime to turn my PC into a lab machine. In 2 years, I would think they would have resolved this problem. My PC is just an 'off the rack' PC from HP; nothing special, so I would think I wouldn't be the only one seeing this... But, who knows.
Thanks for your interest.
Hi Oklahama,
I can't help you with fixing the problem. What I am trying to do is to find out what and why. What surprises me most is that 2012 apparently worked for you. Did you use the Windows REcovery CD and run the Startup Repair option?
Thank you for the new info. It was very surprising that the partitions were mumbered 4,1,2,3. The sequence should have been 1,2,3,4
Do you have a tib disk image backup of the your original disk as when new? If yes, I will have a couple questions (if you have a little more time) about that backup but I need to setup some examples for you to view first and so it may be 24-48 hrs before I can complete.
I have friends in Chickasha and have visited there at AO, and the Cowboy Museum in OKC.
Hello GroverH,
Building an image and restoring the image worked for me with 2012 and 2013. The key seemed to be the recovery CD. I could successfully restore a 2013 created image as long as I used the 2012 recovery CD. If I used the 2013 recovery CD, it left me with a windows system that would not boot.
In my notes from 2 years ago (which aren't great), it appears I did try a Windows Recovery CD. I have the following message written down: 'This version of system recovery options is not compatiblewith the version of windows you are trying to repair. Try using a recovery disk that is compatiblewith this version of windows'.
I do not have an image backup of the original disk. The disk that is in the system has been restored from image backups several times during testing 2 years ago.
It sounds like my safest bet would be to just continue to run 2013 and use the 2012 recovery CD. I was thinking about starting to use the cloud backup option and thought maybe I should upgrade to 2014 at the same time. However, I don't want to debug a bunch of problems.
It would be nice if someone from Acronis would say if this problem has been fixed or not.
I do like the the Cowboy Museum and have been to Chickasha many times. I live in Bartlesville, northeast.
Thanks for your help.
As you do not have a backup of the original disk, I am not able to make any comparios.
It is possible for you to try the 2014 Recovey CD without installing the 2014 package.
To create the 2014 Recovery CD.
1. sign up to test the trial version.
2. Register the later provided serial for the trial.
3. After registering the trial, visit your personal webaccoujt and download JUST the bootabole media ISO FILE.
After the download, RIGHT click ont he iso file and choose the "open with" option and then choose the "open with Windowd Disk Image burner"
This will burn and create the 2014 Recovery CD for testing. This test version only has one purpose which is to Recover or REstore a backup. It is limited and will not perform backups nor clones.
Should you decide you want to test the entire trial package,you will need to uninstall your current TI package and install the full 2014 test package. The test package has limited functions and does not include the clone function.
Good luck with whatever you try.