System Image

This is similar to a problem that happens with Dell. Acronis rewrites the boot code (is that the correct term ?) with one of its own and that renders access to the factory recovery partition as non available. Once that has happened then there is no way back as far as I know... which tbh is no great loss anyway given the bloatware that comes with most new PC's.

tpalermo30,

Thanks for posting this info. I also own a Toshiba Laptop (win7x64). I'm a frequent HDD backup Cloner and Imager.

I have a question what you posted --> "I always test the recovery partition to make sure it loads just in case something is wrong."

I'm interested in how you test the Recovery partition. Could you describe how you do that? Is there a way to test or validate the Recovery partition[s] without actually performing a Factory Restoration on your Laptop? I see my Factory Restore partitions present on my Disk Mgmt Console (attached screencap) but is that the same thing as testing/loading them to verify that they're functional?

Mooly,

Thanks for the info about Dell PC's regarding the Master Boot Code re-write. You referred to the Restore partition[s] as non available after an Acronis Image restoration to the HDD. With Dell PC's, does that mean that these partitions are removed from the HDD or are not accessable due to the MBC being replaced by an Acronis MBC?

Attached is a sceencap of my Toshiba Laptop Disk Mgmt Console showing the Factory Restore partitions. I haven't Imaged with Acronis in a while but my memory's telling me that these partitions were present after I did a test-restore from an Acronis (full-HDD) Image in the past.

No real good way to test it, I just restored it from the system image, like I said windows 8.1 boots fine but the restore partition is still in my disk managment but it wont boot. I wish I could verify before to make sure everything is correct. I was really trying to find a system image corrator for my small business we own but at this point I don't think True Image is the way to go just because it does not restore all partitions correctly. I think Mooly could be correct the Mast boot code must be getting re-write and it's messing things up.

Thanks for the info. How do you test to see if the Restore Partition will boot? Do you start the Toshiba Factory Restore boot sequence and then cancel the Restore procedure before actually starting the Factory Restore action?

If I recall, with Toshiba Laptop's, the way to boot into the Recovery Console is to hold down the 0 key while pressing the Power-on button on the Laptop. Is that what you're referring to by testing to see if the Restore Partition boots?

I actually just restored it from the system image I made with Acronis True Image. I don't know if that's the best way to test but I wanted to make sure it would work. I just can't figure out why it basically kills the recovery partition. I guess it's not that big of a deal but I just like when things work lol.

Your Windows 8.1 computer is most likely using GPT partition structure. There is a hidden Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR) that Acronis doesn't handle correctly during recovery. Acronis 2014 always places this partition first on the disk, when it originally was the third partition on the disk. This results in the partition with the WinRE.wim not being in the correct location. The Windows 8.1 recovery is looking for the WinRE partition to be the first partition, but after recovery it is now the second partition.

The handling of the MSR partition has been improved in the 2015 version. As long as the recovery is to the original disk the MSR partition will be placed in the correct location. However, if the recovery is performed to a new disk the MSR partition is placed first on the disk breaking the functionality of the factory recovery partition.

The following link contains information on the command reagentc which can be used to reset the paths to your recovery partitions.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825204.aspx

Most of the time just running the following commands from an elevated command prompt will restore the factory recovery functionality.

reagentc /disable
reagentc /enable

But if these commands don't work, it can be quite complicated.