Any way to restore PGP disk image?
I created a True Image 2010 disk image of my PGP encrypted C:\ drive and then validated the image was OK. I also mounted the image and browsed the files with no problems. After problems with an OS upgrade, I tried restoring the image. The restore went fine but the partition would not boot.
I then researched the problem and discovered the issue with creating disk images from PGP encrypted disks. In the future I will decrypt the disk before creating an image. In the meantime, is there any way I can restore this image as a bootable partition? Will using True Image 2011 help?
Thanks,
Craig
Thanks for your help, MudCrab.
Let's see if I can recall the correct sequence. The first time, I believe the PGP passphrase banner came up, but after I entered the passphrase it would go to a black screen with something like a "no OS found" message displayed. After several tries of restoring the partition and MBR all I would get is a black screen with the message "bootguard" displayed.
And yes, the image was created using TI 2010 running in Windows (XP). It was not created using a boot disk or sector by sector. I can mount the image and browse files without any errors. I have since restored an earlier image made prior to PGP encryption but it would be nice to get back to my latest image.
Hello Craig,
Thanks a lot for your post. I am sorry for jumping into this thread so late, but anyway, I will provide you all the information that you need.
When you created the backup from Windows live initially, the data was provided by PGP drivers unencrypted. Basically, this means that what is stored by Acronis was unencrypted data.
We also back up automatically the MBR, which is needed when you want to perform Bare Metal Restore (for example, you buy a new hard drive).
What happens in your case is that the MBR contains some code (PGP Bootguard), that allows the computer to boot from an encrypted drive.
In your case, you restored the partition, and the results is unencrypted data. Acronis also restored the MBR automatically, but this contains Bootguard, which believes that the partition is encrypted. Since it is not, the result will be an unbootable system.
In order to resolve this problem, you will need to rebuild the MBR, so we clear the Bootguard traces. Please, check this article in order to know how to achieve this.
If you have any other question, do no hesitate in letting us know.
Thanks,
Asier
Thank you very much for your response, Asier. I will definitely give that a try the next time I need to restore that image. I believe your resolution should solve my problem. Thanks, again.
Regards,
Craig