True Image?

[Kenny]

Firtly let me wish everyone a happy Christmas and peaceful new year. Now to
the problem.
Using XP Pro/SP3 and Acronis True Image 10.
I have 3 drives, 2 IDE and 1 SATA, XP is on the 1st IDE and the TI image
file is on the SATA.
I have been able previously to restore an image whilst I could start TI from
Windows but I am now in a situation where I can't do that, even in Safe
Mode, "Last known good......" and System Restore don't work.
Thought it would be no problem, just start TI from the CD and work from
there, problem is that when starting from the CD TI doesn't see the SATA
drive where the image is stored!
I often see TI highly recommended in these groups but this seems to be a
serious flaw in it.
SATA drivers are not the problem since these are loaded at bootup.
Is there any out of this? Any help appreciated.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Firtly let me wish everyone a happy Christmas and peaceful new year. Now
to the problem.
Using XP Pro/SP3 and Acronis True Image 10.
I have 3 drives, 2 IDE and 1 SATA, XP is on the 1st IDE and the TI image
file is on the SATA.
I have been able previously to restore an image whilst I could start TI
from Windows but I am now in a situation where I can't do that, even in
Safe Mode, "Last known good......" and System Restore don't work.
Thought it would be no problem, just start TI from the CD and work from
there, problem is that when starting from the CD TI doesn't see the SATA
drive where the image is stored!
I often see TI highly recommended in these groups but this seems to be a
serious flaw in it.
SATA drivers are not the problem since these are loaded at bootup.
Is there any out of this? Any help appreciated.

You can make two types of TrueImage boot CDs: Safe Mode and Full Mode.
AFAIR, the full mode CD will see SATA drives.

 

[Kenny]

Thanks for the reply, the CD has both Safe Mode and Full Mode on it, I
found out that with Safe Mode my USB mouse wouldn't work but does in Full
Mode!

 

[Kenny]

It seems Acronis is well aware of this and will send an ISO to each
individual who contacts them, see this forum thread:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/archive/index.php/t-40648.html
and this:
http://forums.techguy.org/all-other-software/697371-solved-acronis-true-image-sata.html
I didn't read the rest of the 36,000 Google hits for "True Image doesn't see
SATA drive".
What I am going to try is copying the image to an extenal USB HDD, copying
it back to an IDE drive then running True Image.
I will never use Acronis products again and think the MVP's in this and
other groups should think twice before praising TI so highly.
Will post back with the results but unlikely to be today.

 

[Daave]

It seems Acronis is well aware of this and will send an ISO to each
individual who contacts them, see this forum thread:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/archive/index.php/t-40648.html
and this:
http://forums.techguy.org/all-other-software/697371-solved-acronis-true-image-sata.html
I didn't read the rest of the 36,000 Google hits for "True Image
doesn't see SATA drive".
What I am going to try is copying the image to an extenal USB HDD,
copying it back to an IDE drive then running True Image.
I will never use Acronis products again and think the MVP's in this
and other groups should think twice before praising TI so highly.
Will post back with the results but unlikely to be today.

Acronis True Image, once any issues are resolved, is an excellent way to
backup your entire system. I hope you are able to resolve your
particulat issue. I read those threads you linked, and I understand your
frustation. The first one is from over four years ago, so I'm not sure
how relevant it still is. I found an interesting tidbit on it, though:

"The reason I ask there can be a problem of Ti BootDisk not seeing SATA
with out a PATA connected to the system."

And from the newer link:

<quote>
The "Full Mode" CDs that Acronis creates are Linux-based, and do not
include SATA drivers. Bizarre but true. Hey, it's only five-year old
technology, eh?

However, If you create a "Safe Mode" Boot CD, that is based on Windows
drivers, which do have SATA support. Who would have thought that "Safe"
is more complete than "Full"?
</quote>

Of course, as you know, your USB mouse wasn't compatible with the Boot
CD running in Safe Mode! So, I hear your frustration.

Also from the same thread, one poster reported success after having
upgraded to version 10.0.4942. Then again, the other poster didn't have
success with that method! So, I'm not sure if you tried this method or
not or whether or not it would solve your problem.

Here's my two cents:

As much as I like Linux (which is what the Boot CD uses), it has its
limitations, mainly the lack of SATA drivers! Also, the speed of the
restoration process (when using the Boot CD), is nowhere near as fast as
when running under Windows (at least that has been my experience with
version 9). This is why I made my own BART PE boot CD with the Acronis
plugin. It may seem like a bit of a hassle, but once you have it, you'll
be happy you have this useful tool.

For more info:

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/support/bartpe/

Have you used Acronis support? If not, you should; you're paying for it!

Good luck.

 

[Kenny]

The issue is that TI has poblems with nForce chipsets, my m/b is Gigabyte
GA-K8NSC-939 with nForce 3 250Gb chipset.
How many others may have similar and not realise that there's a problem with
TI until it's too late?
My comments still stand.

 

[JS]

Hey, if they are willing to send or let you download the ISO,
what more can you ask for.

I checked their site and there are various builds
available to download with Build # 4942 appearing to be
the latest.

Also version 10 is two generations old, with TI 2009
being the latest.

If there is a blame on their part it is the failure to notify
you of updates for your product.

I use Norton Ghost Version 10 which is three generations
old so I know most likely see a SATA drive but it's reliable.
So if your TI 10 has been reliable except for that one flaw
why trash it.

Norton Ghost version 14 - has a 30 day trial available
(Trial does not allow you to create a Bootable Restore CD AFAK)
http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost14
Product Review "Symantec's 14th Ghost":
http://www.softpedia.com/reviews/windows/Norton-Ghost--Review-78775.shtml

True Image 2009 - has a 15 day trial version available,
(Trial version can create a Restore/Rescue Media CD, but I have not verified
this yet)
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/
User's Guide: http://us1.download.acronis.com/pdf/TrueImage12_ug.en.pdf

 

[peter]

Running a Gigabyte mobo with the Nvidea 650 chipset and all SATA drives.
True Image 10 sees all of the drives....

peter

 

[John Barnett MVP]

The Safe mode option does restrict the use of USB peripherals. As you have
found out, to have full USB functionality you need to use Full Mode.

I have to admit that I've used Acronis True Image 10 previously (although I
now use ATI 2008) and never had any problems with it accessing my SATA
drive. It has always worked fine for me.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Twayne]

Firtly let me wish everyone a happy Christmas and peaceful new year.

Now to the problem.
Using XP Pro/SP3 and Acronis True Image 10.
I have 3 drives, 2 IDE and 1 SATA, XP is on the 1st IDE and the TI
image file is on the SATA.
I have been able previously to restore an image whilst I could start
TI from Windows but I am now in a situation where I can't do that,
even in Safe Mode, "Last known good......" and System Restore don't
work. Thought it would be no problem, just start TI from the CD and
work
from there, problem is that when starting from the CD TI doesn't see
the SATA drive where the image is stored!
I often see TI highly recommended in these groups but this seems to
be a serious flaw in it.
SATA drivers are not the problem since these are loaded at bootup.
Is there any out of this? Any help appreciated.

Kenny,

I haven't used TI in a long time, but it seems like it should see the
drive unless the boot version it creates is pre-SATA incorporation. I
now use Ghost14 but that's on no help to you, I know.

Did you have to use a driver disk to install your SATA drive? If so,
that's possibly what will be missing in Safe Mode; If so: You might try
installing the drivers while in safe mode and see what happens; I don't
know if it'll work or not.
I don't know why TI's boot doesn't see the SATA drive unless it's a
version before they provided the support for them. If so, you're
probably stuck with doing a rebuild of the OS, installing TI, and trying
from there to recover your data.
Have you tried using an XP CD to do a Repair Install? Or looked into
useing your System Recovery CDs & methods, if that's what you have?
In theory you won't lose any of your data, and I never have, but ...
those are famous last words when messing with the operating system
parts, so I'd advise make it a last ditch effort, just in case.

Can you beg/borrow someone's external USB drive & use of their PC? Put
the SATA drive in their machine and copy the SATA backups to it. Then
bring the drive to your machine, plug it in, and when it asks for the
archive location, give it the external drive. As a rule external USB
drives won't need driver insalls; XP already has them so it's plug & go,
plus, TI;s bootup should see a USB drive OK.

A last thought: You said it can't see the drive, but can Administrative
Tools, Disk Maintenance see it? Sometimes SATA drives "hide" and need a
drive letter assigned to them in the Disk M window.

Best of luck,

Twayne

 

[Galen Somerville]

Firtly let me wish everyone a happy Christmas and peaceful new year. Now to the
problem.
Using XP Pro/SP3 and Acronis True Image 10.
I have 3 drives, 2 IDE and 1 SATA, XP is on the 1st IDE and the TI image file is on the
SATA.
I have been able previously to restore an image whilst I could start TI from Windows but
I am now in a situation where I can't do that, even in Safe Mode, "Last known
good......" and System Restore don't work.
Thought it would be no problem, just start TI from the CD and work from there, problem
is that when starting from the CD TI doesn't see the SATA drive where the image is
stored!
I often see TI highly recommended in these groups but this seems to be a serious flaw in
it.
SATA drivers are not the problem since these are loaded at bootup.
Is there any out of this? Any help appreciated.

I found True Image 10 did not fully cover my needs.

I got True Image 11 and have had no problems.

Galen

 

[Twayne]

The Safe mode option does restrict the use of USB peripherals. As you

have found out, to have full USB functionality you need to use Full
Mode.

That's interesting. I notice you used the word "restrict" rather than
"prevent" or similar, so I assume it's rather selective in nature?

I only ask because I see my external USB hard drive OK from Safe Mode.
I've never had reason to look for anything else and my mouse is a PS/2
so I wouldn't have noticed a USB mouse not working and don't think I've
ever looked for anyting in Safe Mode except my ext drive. I have Roxio
installed also; forget the version right now.

Any ideas where I might read up for more info on this? Or am I seeing
my external drive because of Roxio and otherwise it would be missing?
I checked Google for USB +"safe mode" but no luck at least on
the first few pages. Also tried "safe mode" +USB .

Any comments, links, etc. most welcome.

Regards,

Twayne

 

[JS]

Universal Serial Bus Devices Do Not Work in Safe Mode:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310496/en-us

Also: http://www.intel.com/support/peripherals/sb/cs-011939.htm
"If USB Legacy Support is disabled in the BIOS,
you will not be able to use your USB mouse or keyboard
in any of the following situations:"

 

[Twayne]

Thanks JS! Excellent references. No idea why Legacy didn't occur to me
as part of the picture, but ...

Regards,

Twayne

 

[JS]

You're welcome.

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com

Thanks JS! Excellent references. No idea why Legacy didn't occur to me
as part of the picture, but ...

Regards,

Twayne