True Image problems, backup software opinions needed

[Tbag]

I have made a whole backup of my C drive using TI 9 a few monthes ago and still I cant restore my backup.
Right at the end just before it asks you to reboot I got this message and it fails-
E000101F4: Failed to write data on the disk
Failed to write sector 0 of the hard disk 1
I was then told I had to use a boot disk so I tried that and got another message just after I click the recovery button saying-
E000101F4: Acronis True Image server has detected unsupported hard disk drives. Acronis True Image does not support Windows Dynamic Disks, EZ-Drives, etc.

I have no idea what this means and ive tried everything I can think of so now I want a easier program to use.
Is Norton Ghost any good and if so which previous version of Ghost doesnt have that install a certain amount of times thing on it?

thanks

[andie41]

Try driveimage xml

http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm

[Tbag]

can i get more popular program suggestions, please

[InXess]

True Image is as good as it gets. Fix your harddrive with error checking utilities, get them from manuf. website. What is your HDD?

[Skith]

Did you, at any point, convert your disks from Basic to Dynamic? Very few drive imaging programs (that I am aware of) support Dynamic disks. If you have recently reformatted your drives (using a WinXP CD, not sure about the Win2K CD) you may have inadvertently converted them to a Dynamic Disk. For some more info, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309044

It is a fairly common mistake, if that is what happened. The Fault lies entirely with MS for not making it clear that Dynamic Disks are only meant for very special situations.

I am not sure what steps you need to take if your disk has been converted to a dynamic disk.

[Poppa_Meth]

The drive I back up to is a dynamic disk. I wonder if Acronis will have any issues restoring from such a disk to a basic disk? I'm pretty sure I've had to do it once in the past with no issues.

[Tbag]

Did you, at any point, convert your disks from Basic to Dynamic? Very few drive imaging programs (that I am aware of) support Dynamic disks. If you have recently reformatted your drives (using a WinXP CD, not sure about the Win2K CD) you may have inadvertently converted them to a Dynamic Disk. For some more info, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309044

It is a fairly common mistake, if that is what happened. The Fault lies entirely with MS for not making it clear that Dynamic Disks are only meant for very special situations.

I am not sure what steps you need to take if your disk has been converted to a dynamic disk.

I have no idea what Dynamic Disks are let alone know how to convert them, I have never formated the drive but I have restored them using the factory restore disks that uses Ghost

[Tbag]

True Image is as good as it gets. Fix your harddrive with error checking utilities, get them from manuf. website. What is your HDD?

I think its a Toshiba MK6021GAS

[Tbag]

Any more program suggestions?

[Skith]

Poppa_Meth: I suppose it is possible, I have to admit my knowledge of the subject is dated to around True Image 7.0.

vijaygunners: iI wonder if your laptop (it is a laptop, right?) has a hidden partition, and that is somehow messing things up. Companies will often store reinstall or restore information on a hidden partition, especially with laptops. You might check the companies website for more info on your model.

A Windows XP (Pro, not sure about Home) CD might be able to convert your disk back into a basic disk (all data will be lost). Partition Magic might help, but I can't guarantee it will work to wipe your drive and turn it back into a basic disk. There might be freeware or opensource disk partitioning and formating software that could solve your problem. Search the forums for recommendations. I would only pursue this option as a last resort.

Good Luck!

[Poppa_Meth]

I tested this today on the old machine we had setup this way. TI restores fine from an external USB drive set as dynamic. Also, the disk I was restoring TO is a Dell installation including a hidden partition and caused no issues. I'm using the last built of TI 9.0.