Problem Cloning Drive Using Acronis True Image

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dc_slim · #1 Post by **dc_slim** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:01 pm

I'm trying to install a new HD in my T40p. I've used Acronis True Image before without any problems, but this time it's a different story. The new drive is a Hitachi Travelstar 7K100. (See https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductD ... e=100524-2) I've got it initialized and formated, and have tried several times to clone it. Each time, however, Acronis reboots the machine and then gives me a "disk not found" error.

Any ideas? I've looked on the Acronis knowledge forum and on various web forms without any luck. I'm using True Image ver. 10, so it shouldn't be a software issue.

Yes, I've looked at the HD cloning FAQ. It's very helpful, but this problem isn't covered.

#2 Post by **richk** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 10:11 pm

How was the disk initialized? Where?

smidgley · #3 Post by **smidgley** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:49 am

I've had that error when I've had a USB flash drive inserted in the ThinkPad on the reboot.

#4 Post by **Johan** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:02 am

Where was your target drive mounted during the cloning; in the [ThinkPad] "2nd Hard Disk Drive Adapter For Ultrabay" or in some external USB-enclosure? In the latter case, I suggest you check the post of Wed Aug 08, 2007 in the thread How I Cloned My IBM ThinkPad T42 Hard Drive - Step by Step [using Acronis True Image], which will point you to the Apricorn FAQ; check the very first item there. Could the issue discussed there - which has troubled other people - perhaps guide you further?

Good luck!

Best regards,

Johan

#5 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:15 am

First make sure that you follow the procedure outlined by Paul Pavlik in the following thread when you make the clone:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=38496

When you put the cloned drive in the main hard drive slot of the ThinkPad, hold the ThinkPad upside down to more reliably align the pins of the connector. Make sure the label-side of the drive faces the bottom of the ThinkPad, and the open side faces the palmrest. Several of us, including myself, have inserted the drive with the ThinkPad rightside-up, and have gotten the drive not found error message. The drive has a tendency to drop at the back and plug in one row of pins off. If you have a hard drive caddy attached to the drive, this is less of a problem.

dc_slim · #6 Post by **dc_slim** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:00 am

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to read the posts you referred me to carefully and see if they help. I'm using an external USB enclosure, with the new drive in it. I initialized it through my computer -> manage -> disk management. This worked fine. Windows sees the drive in the USB enclosure, and I can read and write to it (I checked it for errors and formatted it prior to attempting the cone).

I don't have a flash drive in the other USB port, so that's not an issue.

Stay tuned . . . I'll be working on this later today.

1fastvx · #7 Post by **1fastvx** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:51 am

When do you get that message? Right after the system reboots to start the imaging or after everything is done and you swap the new drive into the laptops main drive bay?

John

dc_slim · #8 Post by **dc_slim** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:54 am

Right after the system reboots to start the imaging. As best as I can tell, it doesn't even really get the imaging process started. For some reason it can't see the drive.

I just tried making a bootable recovery CD and tried to do the cloning process with it. Same problem. It won't let me get started -- it gives me an error saying that there's only one drive on my computer (the C: drive). For some reason it's not seeing the new HD in the external USB enclosure.

Any ideas why not?

1fastvx · #9 Post by **1fastvx** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:59 am

I had the same issue on one at work. Just go into the bios and disable all boot devices except for the main HD. If you dont do that it will get hung on the USB drive for some reason.

John

dc_slim · #10 Post by **dc_slim** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:00 pm

Okay, I'll give that a try. Thanks for the suggestion . . . I'll report back to let you know if it works.

dc_slim · #11 Post by **dc_slim** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:13 pm

Nope, same problem. It goes into the "analyzing partitions" part of the process, then gives a "disk not found" error. I'm totally baffled.

#12 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:21 pm

I did see where you initialized and formatted your new hard drive previously. Was this done with the hard drive in the USB enclosure and connected to the ThinkPad? If so, then the following probably doesn't apply.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the USB hard drive plugged into your ThinkPad, boot up into Windows. Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management. Do you see the USB hard drive listed? If not, then your problem may be with the USB enclosure.

I believe I have read that some USB controllers do not support large hard drives. Another problem could be if your USB cable is not supplying enough power for the USB enclosure.

dc_slim · #13 Post by **dc_slim** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:01 pm

Gabbar,

Yes, I used the same enclosure. Windows saw it without any problem. It also recognized it as an 80gb drive, so I don't think there's any problem with the controller.

Does anyone know of any freeware for cloning that would be worth a try? Or is there a way to make a backup image of my existing drive and transfer that onto the new HD, so as to make it bootable? I think I've heard that the latter option really doesn't work, but if anyone knows differently . . .

#14 Post by **richk** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:13 pm

What did you use to initialize the drive? You probably wrote a standard master boot record. Delete the partitions; erase the drive with some stand alone program, like DFT, before you start.

dc_slim · #15 Post by **dc_slim** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:16 pm

I initialized it through Windows using my computer -> manage -> disk management. It doesn't actually show any partitions when I look at it through Windows (using the disk management options, or simply clicking on the drive under "my computer" and going to "properties."

What is DFT? Since I've done a full format of the drive (not a quick format, mind you), what would there be to erase?

#16 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:18 pm

I have not used Acronis, so I can't help you there. When I cloned my drive before, I used the 2nd HDD Ultrabay Slim adapter. This adapter comes with EZ-gig cloning software (you need to run the software from a floppy drive). Worked fine for me. Note to anyone reading this: the new SATA 2nd HDD adapters do not come with cloning software.

I believe you can use Rescue and Recovery to do this. One potential problem is that you need enough hard disk space on your existing drive to make the initial backup. Once the backup is made, it can be transferred to the new hard drive and made bootable (in theory anyway).

dc_slim · #17 Post by **dc_slim** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:26 pm

Or, couldn't I save the backup image to an external HD using a USB connection? My main backup device is a 300gb Maxtor external drive. I think my next move is to try saving an image to it, and then trying to restore it to the new HD.

#18 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:41 pm

AFAIK, the initial backup cannot be saved to an external drive or media. However...

While looking for something slightly different, I stumbled across a post in the following thread by K0lo, which has a link to a thread by MudCrab, which has a PDF guide (written by MudCrab) that may solve your problem.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 996#323996

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=176958

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/supportf ... usb_hd.pdf

Problem Cloning Drive Using Acronis True Image

Problem Cloning Drive Using Acronis True Image

Where was your taret drive mounted during cloning=

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