Installed Acronis True Image 10, now computer won't reboot

R

rotaryguy

I downloaded the software from Acronis website and ran through the
installation process. At the end I was told a reboot would be
necessary. Since then (two days ago) each time I turn on the computer
power I get the manufacturers logo display (Sony VAIO) then the screen
goes blank except for a blinking cursor, then after another few seconds
the screen clears and the VAIO logo appears again. It never proceeds
beyond that. I followed Sony support suggestions and brought up setup,
made sure network boot was disabled, and tried to do a Safe Mode
bootup. Problem is, it never makes it to Safe Mode. There is no
indication that the boot loader ever tries to run. I tried all of the
debugging options (enable boot logging, disable reboot on system
failure, Safe Mode, etc.) but always get the same result: no evidence
that XP is even trying to boot up.

I removed the hard drive and put it into a USB external drive
enclosure, and am able to browse the disk and open documents on it from
a different pc. I looked for files that changed around the time of the
software installation but could find none.

I need to find a way to get this drive to reboot! Please help!

Laptop is Sony VAIO VGNFS580w, 100 gb HDD, Windows XP Pro w/ SP2, etc.

Thanks, Ken Grover
 
R

R. McCarty

I would enter BIOS setup and disable the Boot Logo so you can
view the post info. If it was an inaccessible disk drive it would not
automatically cycle back to BIOS post. True Image does add 3-4
Services to the XP boot. While in BIOS I'd also verify the detect
info on the drive and double-check the boot sequencing.
True Image 10.0 is new so if you have access to the web with
another PC I'd visit the Acronis Forums. If this is a known issue
then you'll likely get good advice there:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=65
 
I

isotobin

I removed the hard drive and put it into a USB external drive
enclosure, and am able to browse the disk and open documents on it from
a different pc. I looked for files that changed around the time of the
software installation but could find none.
Click to expand...

Did you partition the hard drive so that the OS and programs are on a
separate partition? Since you seem to be browsing the drive in the
enclosure from another computer, if all else fails, you could reformat the
partition and reload the operating system.


Were you able to boot from the MS XP disk or another emergency disk?
If so, might a system restore to an earlier date or repair help?

There's some nice little tools around the net (bootdisk.com can lead you to
a few. Ultimatebootcd.com is another).

Unfortunately, many computer manufacturers have their own setups which can
conflict when additional services are added. Dell has a load of disk tools
along with their famous "hidden partition" for system restores that makes
it a load of fun when trying to wipe a drive clean. This makes it
difficult for forum administrators to diagnose problems with software.

Does the Sony Vaio have their own set of system tools, services or hidden
partitions?
 
R

rotaryguy

Well all the water has long flowed under the bridge by now, and
everything has been rebuilt. I even got a response from the Acronis
Tech Support team - about two months after I emailed them for help!

The bottom line was that I could read everything on the hard drive,
when it was set up as a secondary drive to another laptop. But I could
not boot to the drive now matter how many disk / boot sector / repair
utilities I tried. So, eventually I had to take the "if all else
fails" step suggested below and completely rebuild Windows XP.
Fortunately I was able to get a complete backup of the drive, using
Acronis True Image Home (what a gambler I am, eh?) that was installed
on another laptop. So there was no data loss, but between 2 and 3
weeks of lost work effort to diagnose, rebuild the system and
reconfigure all of the software that I use on a frequent basis.

Acronis doesn't seem to know how this happened, and neither do I. But
somehow the boot sector got messed up so far as I can surmise.

Can't wait for the next "could never happen" bug to bite me!

Ken Grover
 

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