Instruction for recovery ???

Hi akm

I am not real sure I understand your question.

If you restore a Image all the installed software program's will operate as they did before the Image was created.

You can also chose which file and folders you would like restored.

But you can not chose a program[s] to be restored, because they will not have the necessary registry setting for them to be in an operable state.

I hope that this near to an answer to your question?

Take Care
TheQuest 8)

Sorry for the delay in this reply, had not seen an email notification yet.
Thank you very much for the followup !
Background...
Laptop crashed, and we ran a Dell diagnostic check with the Dell tech on the phone, and it showed the HD as kaput.
Have for the last day been turning on the subject laptop occasionally to see if it might click in, but it kept runnning Wdos CHKDSK and then shutting off.
Last night turned it on, it went through the hr+ long Wdos CHKDSK, and when I looked at the laptop after dinner, it had the login screen... logged in, and it worked (am using it 'as-we-speak'), but it seems to be slowing down more each time we restart.
A new Dell HD is on its way (under warranty, thankfuly), used Acronis to backup HD, and have backed up most current desktop data to an online file storage site (4shared.com) that have been using for a year or two, so think pretty reliable.
Now, am not sure of process to install new HD.
Assume...
1. Install HD hdwr
2. Install original OS sofware from Dell (XPpro)
3. Then need to install Acronis from original disk ?
4. Then, run retrieval of Acronis 'differential' backup ? Will Office2003 run, after that (ie will Outlook, Excel, etc run) or will I need to install Office2003 from original disk separately ?
Am not following very well, your statements...
"If you restore a Image all the installed software program's will operate as they did before the Image was created."
and...
"But you can not chose a program[s] to be restored, because they will not have the necessary registry setting for them to be in an operable state."
Ps(edit): It appears we may also be able to connect to old HD with SATA connector and get files off directly, if adviseable.

Hi akm

You have me at a disadvantage in the fact that in all the time I have used TI I have never used the differential backup tool. sorry.

I have not used TI from within Windows for over six years, I do everything I need to do with the recovery disk, Also I now only use Windows OS's to help others.

I now use Linux as my main OS, the Linux distro I use as my OS is PCLinuxOS.

TheQuest 8)

If possible, while the old hard drive is still functioning, create a new backup and be absolutely certain to check mark the
Disk option type backup so all partitions on the hard drive are included in the backup.

Assuming now that you have a full disk backup (which includes all partitons); the replacement disk will be the same capacity as you old disk which means the easiest and the method that offers the best chance of success is to perform a Disk option restore. Using the
disk option restore, your new disk will match your old disk and your system will revert to identical to the date and time of the backup being used.

1. The restore must be done when booted from the TI Rescue CD.
2. Attach the target in its intended boot position.
3. The source with the tib backup archive can be located elsewhere such as an external enclosure. Use the new backup or if that not possible, then use the last differential ( of the full type backup) which will automatically include the base backup.
4. Perform the restore and shut down.
5. Disconnect the source so only the new disk attached--no other drives attached.
6. Reboot.

If you your TrueImage backup was of the full disk type and your perform a disk option restore, you should expect to boot back into normalcy.

More details can be found at item 7A of my signature index.

GroverH wrote:

If possible, while the old hard drive is still functioning, create a new backup and be absolutely certain to check mark the Disk option type backup so all partitions on the hard drive are included in the backup.

Thank you for the suggestion !
Am trying to create a new backup from the old laptop HD which is still working very slooow.
Following Acronis10 process...

1. backing up 'My Computer'
2. Disk 1 (NTFS (C:) and FAT 16... ie entire HD
3. backing up to external HD, E:\Acronis\MyBackup.tib
4. create full backup
5. use default options
6. start
7. goes thru operations 1 & 2, then popup error message during 3 of 3... "E000101F4: Failed to read data from the disk. Failed to read from the sector 2,237,114 of the hard disk 1".
8. clicked on Ignore All, and operation 3 appears to continue, but appears to get hungup, and does not get beyond 0% 'progress'

Have run chkdsk /f and sfc /scannow from the cmd prompt, and all seems ok with the old HD.
Any ideas ?

Edit 101019 (1245):
Update, 'Total progress' says "2 days remaining" ?

It looks like you may not be able to achieve a new backup.

What type backup is your old backup? Is it a disk type backup or one only of the C partition? or is it one only of Files & Folders?

Which Windows are you using and which TrueImage are you using?

GroverH wrote:

It looks like you may not be able to achieve a new backup. What type backup is your old backup? Is it a disk type backup or one only of the C partition? or is it one only of Files & Folders?
Which Windows are you using and which TrueImage are you using?

Thanks for the followup.
Old backup got erased when installed new HD with Dell setup and left external HD connected with USB :(
So, put old HD back in laptop D830 and am trying to 'reconstruct' replacement backup... ie starting all over.
But old HD is very slooow, so maybe that is part of the problem.
Am going to leave Acronis10 go for '2 days' (per previous post/edit, and with all disk info) and see what happens.
All of laptop/Acronis info is in my signature.

Keep us posted as to your results. Good luck.

GroverH wrote:

Keep us posted as to your results. Good luck.

Thanks, will probably need it !
The laptop HD backup, from the injured laptop HD to the external HD-1, finished a little after mid-nite (took about 10hrs, slighly better than 2 days, tic).
This morning the .tib file looked about the right size, 40gb.
Ran the Acronis10 'Validate Backup Archive' tool, and the file passed.
The backup process log is attached, (there appears to be only? 1 bad sector, guess that may be the problem with the laptop HD, dont know that much about HDs)...
Now the real test, plan to...

1. copy the .tib file to another external HD, HD-2
2. install the new laptop HD
3. install the OS from the Dell install disk, and the 'chipset' drivers so can see the HD-1 backup file (after disconnect the usb connection for HD-1, tic)
4. install Acronis10 in the laptop
5. try to backup from the newly created archive file in HD-1

Thoughts ?

Edit 101021 (1049):
4. Or, should we use Acronis install CD to 'reboot' HD b4 install OS... or after install OS, then use Acronis install CD ? Will check user guide and if no answer, and if no answer on this forum, guess will try all in about same order.

TheQuest wrote:

Hi akm
You have me at a disadvantage in the fact that in all the time I have used TI I have never used the differential backup tool. sorry.

Thanks anyway for taking a look.
If you see anything you may comment on in subsequent posts, please let us know.

akm,
Your response has me totally confused or perhaps I am not understanding.

1. It is not necessary to copy the backup file from one external disk to another external disk. This could introduce more problems such as a corrupt file. If this is absolutely necessary, then after the copy, you will need to boot into Acronis 10 and re-validate the new copy before attempting the restore.

3. It is not necessary to use the Dell Install disk. The restore will overlay all contents of the disk at time of restore. (see note-1)

4. It is not necessary to install Acronis 10 on the laptop. (see note-1)

Note-1: If I understand correctly, you have indicated successful completion of a disk type backup which includes the entire contents (all partitions) of your current disk. Therefore, you can restore this backup onto a new blank disk and the new restored disk will assume the contents your current bad hard drive at time of backup creation. Upon completion of the restore, TI 10 and all your programs which existed prior to backup will exist after restore.

Restore procedure:
1. Install the blank disk onto the laptop.
2. Boot from the TI Rescue CD
3. Restore the recent full backup and choose the disk option restore. Refer again to the Restore image in post #4 above. Also illustrated in the Restore guide of signature index item #7A.
4. Upon completion of Restore, remove, the TI CD and shutdown. Disconnect all drives excepting the newly restored disk.
5. Reboot into the new drive.
6. After first successful bootup, run chkdsk c: /r to fix any disk errors carried onto the new drive.
7. If your new disk has a larger capacity than the original, the preceding procedure will result in your having some unallocated space but this can be easily fixed after your are up & running on the new drive by downloading either of the free partition utilities such as
Partition Wizard Home Edition 4.1 or EASEUS Partition Master 4.0 Home Edition.

GroverH wrote:

akm,
Restore procedure:
1. Install the blank disk onto the laptop.
2. Boot from the TI Rescue CD
3. Restore the recent full backup and choose the disk option restore. Refer again to the Restore image in post #4 above. Also illustrated in the Restore guide of signature index item #7A.
4. Upon completion of Restore, remove, the TI CD and shutdown. Disconnect all drives excepting the newly restored disk.
5. Reboot into the new drive.
6. After first successful bootup, run chkdsk c: /r to fix any disk errors carried onto the new drive.
7. If your new disk has a larger capacity than the original, the preceding procedure will result in your having some unallocated space but this can be easily fixed after your are up & running on the new drive by downloading either of the free partition utilities such as
Partition Wizard Home Edition 4.1 or EASEUS Partition Master 4.0 Home Edition.

Thanks for the followup.
1. the disk is not blank because tried to install, and that is when troubles started with recovery process etc... maybe we can 'format' to make 'blank' ?
2. planning to reboot from Acronis10 install disk as directed by Acronis10 menu as one of the recovery options.
3. plan to use only full backup that we have (done with 'sector' error message, per log attached earlier)... done after original backups erased during Dell install because original backup on was erased because external HD was connected to laptop by usb during install process.
4. will do.
5. will do.
6. will do. Ps: Where to find list of cmd prompt commands... ie chkdsk /f etc ?
7. new laptop HD is larger gb than old, so will need to fix. Is it possible to do with and XPpro tools like 'Computer Management' / Disk Management' tool, or do need to use special program you mentioned ?
Comments ?

a: Chkdsk command: More information about chkdsk can be found at this link:
http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/chkdsk.htm

You can run chkdsk from the Windows Recovery Console or more often, you can go to the Windows Start/Run and type in Cmd which will open a dos window. At the Dos prompt, type in the command
chkdsk c: /r (and press Enter)

b. It is best that the target disk is not formated and is blank which the TI Add disk functins can do. To make the target disk blank, go to item 7F of signature index. This illustrations will not match exactly but it will show you how to remove using the TrueImage Rescue CD. This can be done just prior to starting the Restore.

c. To afterwards allocate the unallocated space to other partitions, XP Pro cannot perform this without spoiling the existing partitions. Use either of the other two tools mentioned. They are an easy download and easy to use.

However, if you wish the unallocated space to be an additional new partition with the other partitions remaining the same size, then, yes, you can do that using Disk management.

GroverH wrote:

a: To make the target disk blank, go to item 7F of signature index. This illustrations will not match exactly but it will show you how to remove using the TrueImage Rescue CD. This can be done just prior to starting the Restore.

Just a quick question...
'item 7F of signature index' is where ?

Edit 100120(1522):
BTW, our Acronis10 version was created with an update disk (from Acronis) for version 8. Do we use the version 8 original disk or the version 10 update disk, or ... ?

Edit 100120(1535):
Think found recovery disk answer at...
http://www.whatsabyte.com/P1/create_cd.htm

Edit 100120(1608):
Any problem if boot from OS install disk and use boot with CD option, and use 'Welcome to Windows' setup to wipe the C: partition per...
http://lifehacker.com/157578/geek-to-live--how-to-format-your-hard-driv…
...and then boot from Acronis recovery disk ?

Item 7f: Click on the links inside my signature below and find item 7F; or you can click on this link which is direct to the original post.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=213446

The Acronis Rescue CD should be of the same version/build as used to create your most recent backup. I believe you have indicated this is V10-4942.

I would suggest that you perform several practice runs. Go ahead and delete the target partitions as described in item 7F. Then so several practice runs for the Restore function. Practice selecting the appropriate disks, etc until you feel comfortable with your selections. It is practice as long as you do NOT press the PROCEED button. Click CANCEL to stop the practice. Once you click the PROCEED button, the procedure cannot be canceled without repercussions. Again, the Restore Guide listed in Index item 7A shows you exactly what you will encounter.

Be sure you are aware of the disk sizes of both drives. Drive letters must be ignored. The backup will show your old partitions sizes. The target disk will show as unallocated. The practice run will show all this which is why the practice should be done.

GroverH wrote:

Item 7f: Click on the links inside my signature below and find item 7F.

Sorry, still confused by '7F'.
When click on signature get 'Acronis closed forum message' and cant find any '7F'... is it an acronym for something ?
When go to postings below signature on http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=213446 , there are some instructions on how to delete partitions.
Started boot from recovery disk and went to New Disk Wizard.
It seems stuck on 'Analyzing partition D:...'
The magnifying glass was moving, but now its not... cursor will not move.
Cant see how to shut down, so guess need to turn off with hold power button.
Will definitely take your advice on practice... if ever get that far.

Edit 100120(1723):
Shut down and restarted.
Got past 'analyzing' and now at 'Destination Hard Disk'.
Shows external HD and laptop C:.
Proceeded with 'clear' laptop C:
Now going to 'Restore Data Wizard'.

Edit 100120(1739):
RDW got hung up on analyzing D:...
Shut down and restarted CD boot.
Got to recovery wizard and (after a few practices) Disk Partition Recovery from Archive (external HD) is in progress.
Says '20 hour remaining'.
Does that sound right ?

Edit 100120(1747):
Looks like recovery process is hung up on 'Operation 1 of 3' (FAT 16 file system?).
Current operation progress bar was moving and hours changing until got to 20 hours, and now nothing is moving, including the cursor.
Shut down with power button ?
Yes, had to do it.
BTW, when Acronis load starts from boot CD, says...
"Loading, please wait...
ata2: disabling port"
Assume thats ok ?

When you click on my signature, this is the link which will take you to my Index of guides, etc
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/3426

Yes, you were at the correct link which is the old Wilder Security forum which was the prior host to the forum. The link was an old but still pertinent link.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=213446

I cannot explain the problems you are having when booted from the Rescue CD. Have you ever booted from the Rescue CD prior to tonight? In other words, did it work normal before?

The ata2: disabling port" message is just informational. It can be ignored.

Specified time is meaningless. It could take more or less. Once you start the restore, let it run--even overnight if necessary.

GroverH wrote:

When you click on my signature, this is the link which will take you to my Index of guides, etc
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/3426
I cannot explain the problems you are having when booted from the Rescue CD. Have you ever booted from the Rescue CD prior to tonight? In other words, did it work normal before?
Specified time is meaningless. It could take more or less. Once you start the restore, let it run--even overnight if necessary.

Appreciate the patience!
Yes, finally understand what you have been trying to tell me about the signature click etc... sorry about my misunderstanding.
Problem with the recovery specified time 'waiting', is it just stopped registering any progress with the current process, not to mention the overall progress... it was just frozen.
Left office and now at home with subject D830 laptop, trying to figure out what to do next.
Have never used a recovery CD b4, and it seems very sporadic in its operation.
Sometimes it will load A10, and sometimes not... and when it does, ,
sometimes it will complete a process and sometimes it will freeze up.
Would loading XP (without any utilities etc), and then running A10 from the recovery CD (and then wipe C:), be a problem ?
Might go ahead and try that, or maybe just sleep on it.
Cant believe how fidgety these PCs are !

Edit 100120(2111):
Am running the formatting only part of the Dell OS install CD.

Edit 100121(0940):
Formatted D830 new HD.
Booted from A10 recovery disk.
Tried 'verify backup', and got stuck (clock stopped moving and no way to cancel) on 'analyzing D:'
Rebooted and tried 'create disk'... seemed to work, ie cleared C: and showed Disk 1 (C:) and Disk 2 (E:) the backup disk with .tib.
Tried 'Restore Data' and got stuck on 'processing please wait'.
Rebooted and tried 'Backup Archive Validation Wizard'... it got stuck on 'analyzing partition C:'
Guess will, for last time, re-install the old D830 HD and try creating a new A10 recovery disk.
After that, if doesnt work, may need to install Wdos and reinstall all software and go get old data files from my 'Karens Replicator' (non-compressed backup of C:) backup... running out of time and patience.

Edit 100121(1025)
Does A10 recovery CD need to be a CD-RW or can it be a CD-R only ?

Edit 100121(1342):
Well, the process has started.
Created new A10 boot CD, rebooted with new (clean, we hope) HD in D830, 1st clicked on 'full version', but got stuck on processing, rebooted and clicked on 'safe version', and is currently in 'Disk Partition Recovery' process, and at 19 hours and counting.
Will let go as long as it still is running, ie doesnt get 'stuck' (definition in post above :)
Wish us luck !

Good luck with what your are doing. If it fails, here are some additional comments.

At this point in time, you do not khow whether your problems relate to the condition of your backup; or a conflict with your CD; or a problem with your laptop; or a mix of all three. Unfortunately, the time to confirm whether your Rescue CD was compatible was long ago before any crisis.

One possibility is that you might be able to restore your V10-4942 backup via the TIH 2010 version. You can download the normal trial version but it has to be installed in a computer (any) in order to create a trial Rescue CD. In order to avoid this trial installation, you might contact Acrois support via a private message contact and request a download link for the ISO version of the trail version. With this ISO file, you can burn that to CD and achieve a trial version you can use in your restore attempt of your existing backup. You will need to supply your serial number with the request.

If that fails, it would seem recovery via your backups is not a possibility.

The next step, would be to utilize your computer recovery disks which came with the computer at time of purchase. Using these disks, you should be able to recover your system back as it was the day it came from the manufacture. All Windows updates will have to be re-applied and any new software will have to be re-installed from their install disks or downloads. If your laptop is actually malfunctioning, even this procedure may be difficult to achieve.

Once you get your system operational, you may be able to explore your backup and copy/drag any personal files from the backup onto your new hard drive.

Good luck with your efforts.

Thanks for the suggestions.
A10 'Disk Partition Recovery' is still in progress... at 1day 2hours remaining (and counting).
If this time around it gets struck, will start looking at your other suggestions.
Probably will go with Dell original install CDs, that came with D830, and start reinstalling original program CDs after Wdos and Dell drivers are installed.
Will be a pain, but maybe like moving from one house to another, may get rid of a lot of extra baggage :)
But, hopefully the current A10 recovery will work !

Edit 100121(1524):
At "1 day 3 hours remaining" (and 2hours into the A10 recovery process), and both green bar & cursor are still moving, ie process not 'stuck' yet.
Not holding breath, but at least there is a glimmer of hope... knock on wood !

Edit 100122(1036):
Still running recovery, 19hrs later... "12 hours remaining". Knock on wood again !

Edit 100123(1721):
Good news, bad news...
1. A10 recovery seems to have gone well !
After 30 hours or so, everything was back.
2. Then called Dell, and asked them to run me through the process of checking the new D830 HD to make sure the hardware itself was ok, before mailing back the old D830 HD.
Proceeded to learn what seems to be a normal phenomenon these days, ie support people only seem to know about the narrow focus of their job description... in this case, only how to run the Dell install CDs.
The Dell tech ran us through the hardware check with the Dell drivers disk, the HD tested fine, and then proceeded to want to run the OS install.
Repeatedly told him that we had re-imaged the HD with our A10 backup, but as found out after calling and talking with another Dell tech, the current tech didnt understand that the 're-imaging' concept, and was assuming that that OS still needed to be reinstalled.
So, in that OS reinstall process, fortunately (sortof) we punched the 'r' option for repair instead of the 'i' option for install, even though the tech wanted me to punch the install option.
The process started out like it was going to 'reinstall' XP, but ended up looking like it was 'repairing'.
As it ended up, it did do a 'repair', and all other software seems to be running normally.
The problem am having right now is getting Microsoft updates.
First had to reset IE connection settings... have both dialup and cable connections available, but it started out trying to use dialup which is not connected.
'Repairing' the XP OS must have reset some of the previous settings, and now am dealing with those problems.
So, among all the lessons learned along this process, this one was... do not trust any support tech to have a general knowledge about computers and always triple check anything they say... what a pain !
Just hope can get XP back to 'normal' without needing to do another 2 day A10 recovery !
Had to upgrade to IE-7... XP repair must have reverted system back to IE-6.
Right now, trying to get MSupdate to work, loads and says needs to install 'Microsoft Windows Component Publisher', but when click ok, MSupdate stalls out and comes back with use tools to delete files etc... did that but still getting same message when try to load MSupdate.
Have to leave office, still trying to figure out how to get MSupdate to work.
Can anyone think of anything else the Dell XP 'repair' may have screwed up ?

Edit 100124(1250):
Used 'Dial-a-Fix' to fix MSupdate.
After installing 120some XP updates, all seems to be back to normal.
Guess will finally be able to send original HD back to Dell.
Things seem to be back to normal speeds (eg Excel entries and file saving speed ok).
Quite a learning curve, this one.
Thanks much to 'GroverH' for all the help !
Ps: Oh yes, and now need to follow GH's recommendation... "7. If your new disk has a larger capacity than the original, the preceding procedure will result in your having some unallocated space but this can be easily fixed after your are up & running on the new drive by downloading either of the free partition utilities such as Partition Wizard Home Edition 4.1 or EASEUS Partition Master 4.0 Home Edition."
Not sure which one is best... guess will take a look at both and see what forum folks think.

Edit 100125(0935):
Just another little glitch... started A10 to make a 'quick' backup of current reinstall etc, and got 'Error E000101F4'
Acronis True Image has not found any hard disk drives.'
Reinstalling A10.

Edit 100125(1640):
Reinstalled and no more 'Error E000101F4'
Now am trying to learn how to use the partition manager/s.
Seems like the allocated and unallocated partition spaces dont add up when look at combine.
Start out with...
1. 'unallocated' logical partition, 78.44mb
2. 'C: NTFS' primary partition, 111.7gb
3. 'unallocated' logical partition, 37.27gb
...for total HD size 160gb (HD was 120gb).
Not sure if all 3 can be combined without any problem ?
Suggestions ?

Can you use Windows Disk Mangement and post a screen capture of your current unallocated space?

Item 1 is too small to be bothered with. That may have been a diagnostic or recovery partition--not really sure as to what it was prior. Just ignore it as it is only a few MB in size.

I am assuming that you want the 37GB added to the existing C partition. Is this true?

If yes, then you can open the partition manager and drag the right margin of the C partition over to fill all the unallocated space. The formatted space of a 160 size disk is about 148 so your sizing is as much space can be achieved on any 160 GB drive.

Thank you for the followup !
When use PW and drag the right margin over the large unallocated space (#3, on the right of the C: partition), it shows all 3 partitions as 1 new partition... ie the small unallocated partition (#1 on the left) included with the large #3 unallocated.
The answer to a subsequent email sent to PW was as follows...

Subj: Re: Combine partitions after backup from 120gb drive to 160gb drive ?
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:11:35 -0800
From: MT Solution Customer Support Centre
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi:
Yes. You can use Partition Wizard to resize your C to combine 1 and 3
unallocated partition into one.
Regards.

On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 3:28 PM,
wrote:
> Am trying to remove unnecessary partitions after Acronis recovery of HD
> from old 120gb backup to new 160gb HD.
> New 160gb HD ends up with following partions...
> 1. 'unallocated' logical partition, 78.44mb
> 2. 'C: NTFS' primary partition, 111.7gb
> 3. 'unallocated' logical partition, 37.27gb
> ...for total HD size 160gb (HD was 120gb).
> Not sure if all 3 can be combined without any problem... ie where are
> system files etc ?
> Suggestions ?
> Thanks you for your help.

So, guess they pretty much agree with.
Since both 1 & 3 partitions are 'unallocated' we should generally trust that there are no files in them.
Sorry for the duplication, am just a little bit gun-shy after all the fun Ive had in the last week or so :)
So, here goes (knock on wood) !

Don't forget to check your new disk for errors as mentioned in post @13. Good luck.

GroverH wrote:

Don't forget to check your new disk for errors as mentioned in post @13. Good luck.

Thanks GroverH, 'Partitioning' seemed to go well.
After, there were a few resets for firewall, viruscan, lefthand mouse, etc, but overall successful... ie no major problems (yet :), whew !
Ok to run 'chkdsk' after partitioning ?
Assume run 'chkdsk c: /r' instead of ' chkdsk c: /f', or if just run 'chkdsk c:', will it show (or create a log) of any problems ?
Sorry about the questioning, am getting very gun-shy of running anything that changes the HD !

I am running Acronis TrueImage 11.0 and have done a full backup of my hard drive. I later did a backup of just changes only, my question is if I need to do a restore of my hard drive what is the order I need to do when I run the restore. Do I install the full backup first and then after it is done go and run the change backup after it. Or will the full backup run and then ask for the change backup after it is done?

Mac,
If you want the changes included in your restore, when you start your recovery, choose the change file (probably *-2.tib) for recovery and the recovery will auto include the original full plus the change file.