Ran cleanor once, now MS wants me to backup, failing hard drives

CCleaner for Windows CCleaner Windows Bug Reporting
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Sorry for the delay. Macrium Reflect:

MBR Disk 1 931.51 GB

1. RECOVERY (none) NTFS Primary 5.65 of 8.01 GB

2. Win7 (C:) NTFS Active 50.60 of 297 GB

3. Completely blank 75.61 GB (created when I shrank C:)

4. DATA (D:) NTFS Primary 252.83 of 550.90 GB

I ran checkdisk at a command prompt in Windows and got this message: "Access denied as you do not have sufficient privileges. You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode." I think this has something to do with Admin settings but don't know how to get around this. This is a home computer.

I downloaded Rufus. I am dl the iso image but it's going to take about 6 hours. I don't fully understand how to do the fall back option yet so I may have a few questions when I get there.

I've changed boot order before in BIOS, but not on this puter. I looked and didn't see the external drive as an option in one section, but saw it in another section. I'll get back to you with details on this when ISO finishes downloading. The external drive was plugged in when I looked at BIOS.

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Hello Brad - You're doing good so far, it's better to take your time than rush through this. We're getting to the point where it's time to prioritize things, so we'll deal with the most important things first. Being able to boot from either the Toshiba external drive or the USB stick is vital to the whole plan. When you go into the BIOS settings, look for a page or a section for "Boot Options" or "Boot Configuration". In that section, you should see a way to access "Boot Order", or a subsection listed on the page itself. It should look similar to this:

Boot Order:

Hard Drive

Internal CD/DVD ROM Drive

USB Diskette on Key/USB Hard Disk

USB CD/DVD ROM Drive

Network Device

At the top or bottom of the page, there should be a bar explaining what the "F" or function keys are used for. Whenever I use the word USUALLY in this example, be aware that I'm talking about the Function Keys used in my BIOS, not in yours. Yours could be different. Read and understand what your function keys are used for, do not take my word for it.

All you want to do here is change the boot order, nothing else. USUALLY the F5 and F6 keys move an item up or down in the boot order, you may have to select or highlight the item first, using the page up/page down keys . When you get that item to the top, USUALLY F10 is used to save the settings and to exit BIOS. You may have to try using USB Hard Disk for the Toshiba and USB CD/DVD ROM for the USB stick, it will depend how your BIOS "sees" the hardware. Try different combinations, you may find that one setting will work for both. I can't really offer more in the way of advice on this, you'll have to experiment and be careful with what you're doing. USUALLY the F9 key will reset everything to the default settings if you think you messed things up.

Next, Ken W's idea of using the CHKDSK /R command is good, it could recover any data in the bad sectors. Be aware that it will take a long time to run, it's up to you if you want to use it. The reason it didn't work for you is you have to right click the command prompt and select "Run as Administrator" to use CHKDSK. Use all capitals, and enter "CHKDSK C: /R" (without the quotes) for the C: partition and "CHKDSK D: /R" for D: partition. Also note there's a space between the colon and / mark.

You did the right thing saving all your files from D: to your own Toshiba, it's almost enough to fill the entire drive. If you shrink C: partition down a little more, so that it's 280GB (286720MB), you'll be able to save both the recovery partition and C: partition to your dad's Toshiba, and have a little room to spare. Did you get a chance to read the link I posted and watch the video? If you can drag and drop files, it's basically the same. Click on the recovery partition first, select "Clone this Disk", then move the recovery partition to the target drive, keeping it at the front of the drive. Then move the C: partition. Hit "Next" on the bottom of the page, read the summary on the next page to see if it looks right, then hit "Finish". Remember, you can do this over if you have to. Go back to my previous post to read how to boot the Toshiba. You can use it until you get a new drive. When you get your new drive, clone these two partitions from the Toshiba onto it, extend C: drive to where you think it's right, create and format a new D: partition (use NTFS), then copy the files to D: from the other Toshiba, and you're back in business.

And last, plan B, the safety net. By downloading the ISO file, and using Rufus to create a bootable USB stick, you will have a way to do a fresh install of Windows 7 to your new hard drive, just in case something goes wrong with plan A. It's the same as having the installation DVD, I chose this because you mentioned you weren't too thrilled about buying Windows 7 again. As long as you have a valid activation key, you'll be fine. Keep in mind, you only want to test this to be sure it will boot. DO NOT select to start the installation, or it will start to overwrite either the hard drive or the Toshiba. Kill it on the first screen by clicking the red x in the top right corner, the same way you would close a program. To be absolutely safe, make sure to do the clone to the Toshiba first, and make sure it boots, then be sure to disconnect it, before you try testing the USB stick.

All right Brad, I think you have everything you need to do this. If you're unsure about something, or if you run into problems, post back, we'll take it from there.

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I understand how my boot priority works with this BIOS now. Green light. It's doable. :) But for the Plan B, I'm having problems downloading the ISO image. I've tried it twice in Firefox and each time the download has stalled(for an hour) at 3.0 GB of 3.01 GB downloaded. I tried dl on Chrome but it was exceedingly slow without giving much info on the dl. I also tried it on Explorer and it stalled at 97% of the download. My connection is only 1mbps, but firefox only got up to 635kb speed. Is there another secure download site/server where I can get the ISO image?

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Brad - Sorry to hear about your problems downloading the image, I forgot to mention it's 3GB, and I forget not everyone has a high speed cable or fiber optic connection. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but if it's too much trouble for you, then don't waste any more time with it, just proceed with the original plan. In the meantime, I'll see if I can find another source to download the image file.

I'm glad to hear you figured out how to change the boot order in BIOS, that is key to booting the Toshiba once you finish cloning the recovery and C: partitions. That way you can continue to use your computer until you get a new internal drive. Did you read the instructions, watch the video, and try Macrium yet? Once you have that done, it's just a matter of powering down, disconnecting the internal drive, connecting the Toshiba, then boot, enter BIOS and change the boot order. Once you save and exit, you'll find out if the Toshiba boots Windows or not.

Also, I forgot to mention, don't do anything with the old internal drive until you have everything from both Toshibas either cloned or copied to your new internal drive, and you're 100% certain that everything is there and everything works. Your old drive isn't dead yet, and it can serve as an additional backup to the Toshiba just in case you overlooked something when you originally copied D: partition from the old drive.

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Also, if I run chkdsk is there any danger of my hard drive crashing and dying?

I have cable internet, I'm just on a tight budget so I'm on the least expensive option. I really want to do Plan B.

I haven't gotten up to speed on Macrium yet. The holidays are interfering. :)

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I've tried it twice in Firefox and each time the download has stalled(for an hour) at 3.0 GB of 3.01 GB downloaded. I tried dl on Chrome but it was exceedingly slow without giving much info on the dl. I also tried it on Explorer and it stalled at 97% of the download. My connection is only 1mbps, but firefox only got up to 635kb speed. Is there another secure download site/server where I can get the ISO image?

I'm surprised they don't offer a split download option for people on slower connections, or a download manager themselves that insures the download will complete without failing.

For such a big download it may be best to download and install a freeware download manager that has resume capabilities. If you go that route make sure it's a download manager that has no adware and no spyware.

Edit:

I just remembered, Firefox has a download manager add-on called DownThemAll, I don't know how it does on gargantuan sized files though.

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Running chkdsk will take a long time on a 1TB drive, and will put somewhat of a strain on the drive. If you're worried about it, run Acronis first, and see if the condition of the drive has stayed the same or gotten worse. If you're concerned about the drive failing, then don't do it.

I will look for another way to download the ISO for plan B. It will take me some time. I think if you proceed with the cloning process, and it works, you will have the peace of mind knowing that your operating system, Windows, is off the old drive and safe on the Toshiba. Then you can go back and run chkdsk without worrying about the old drive failing and leaving you stranded.

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O.K. Brad, I think I found another way to download the ISO a little quicker. I'll send you a P.M. explaining what to do.

29

Try downloading the iso file in safe mode with networking. (going to the download site only and nowhere else of course)

30

Okay. Plan B is looking good. I dl the ISO file by using the new link and the firefox add-on. I used Rufus to install it on the stick. This is where I'm unclear on how to test it. Do you mean for me to reboot and test the iso stick that way? Or do you just mean for me to run the "Setup.exe" on the stick in windows? I did that and it seemed to work. Wanted me to run it and so I pressed the red X to stop it. Is that what u mean by testing it?

Also, can I put other non-related files on this stick now or should I just get another stick for that?

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O.K. Brad - The purpose of the memory stick is to be able to install Windows 7 from scratch. Using Rufus makes the stick bootable, so you can use it without having an operating system installed on the drive. What you did was start the installer from Windows, but it is really meant to work independently from Windows. What you should do is shut down the machine, boot into BIOS, and change the boot order so you are booting from the USB stick itself, not from your hard drive. If the installer starts, then you have what you need to do a clean install, and you know what to do to kill the install. I only wanted you to have this in case you ran into problems either cloning your operating system to the Toshiba, or from the Toshiba back to the new drive.

Also, do not use that stick for anything else, just hang onto it in case you need it. Get another stick if you need to copy other data. Remember, the process is not over until you have everything from the two Toshibas either cloned or copied to your new hard drive, and you are sure that everything works and none of your data is missing. Do not erase or format your old hard drive, either of the Toshibas, or the USB stick with Windows 7 until you are absolutely sure.

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Okay. Plan B is completed and tested. Thanks everyone.

Plan A question:

Do I need to shrink C partition to allow for the Recovery partition to fit on the external HD?

MBR Disk 1 931.51 GB

1. RECOVERY (none) NTFS Primary 5.65 of 8.01 GB

2. Win7 (C:) NTFS Active 50.60 of 297 GB

3. Completely blank 75.61 GB (created when I shrank C:)

4. DATA (D:) NTFS Primary 252.83 of 550.90 GB

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I think you should shrink C: just a little more, down to 280GB (286720MB). That way recovery plus C: should fit on the Toshiba with a little room to spare. Remember to move recovery first, keeping it at the front of the drive.

Edit: Taking a break for dinner, I'll check back in 7:30 - 8:00PM to see how things are going.

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Plan A is not working out yet. I tried cloning the bad drive twice and both times it wouldn't boot past the windows startup screen. The computer just restarted before the full win logo shows and before I put in my password.

Oddly, after cloning, the c: drive partition, the used part, is a slightly lesser size than what macrium reads: c: partition on bad drive 51.69 GB used space, clone drive reads 41.90 GB used space. I'm fairly certain I did everything according to the macrium instructions.

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All right Brad, don't give up yet. First, go here http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50081.aspx and reread the instructions and watch the video. Maybe you'll find something you missed or did wrong. Make sure that you are cloning and not imaging the drive. I am concerned about the 10GB of data that appears to be missing, but keep in mind that Macrium copies only your data and ignores things like the paging file and hibernation area on the disk. Any freespace that is mixed in with your data is probably not copied either.

Also, be sure to try different settings in the boot order in BIOS. Remember what I said previously, your BIOS may "see" these as two different kinds of hardware. Your BIOS boot order might have two or more entries for USB devices. The setting that worked for the USB stick might not work for the Toshiba.

If you try everything above, and nothing works, just as an experiment, try cloning just C: partition by itself and see if that boots. I don't like the idea of omitting the recovery partition, but it might be interfering in the boot process.

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but keep in mind that Macrium copies only your data and ignores things like the paging file and hibernation area on the disk. Any freespace that is mixed in with your data is probably not copied either.

When making a Macrium image backup :-

All of that is true only when making an Advanced Options "Intelligent sector copy"

None of that is true when making an Advanced Options "Make an exact copy ..."

N.B. Using "Intelligent sector copy" will allow restoration of the backup to EITHER the original size of the partition you backup,

or to any size down to the absolute minimum that you can shrink the partition after unfixing any the files which may be locked and unmoveable.

When making a Macrium CLONE :-

I would EXPECT it to effectively default to "Make an exact copy ..."

and I CANNOT see any "Advanced Options" that might effectively implement "Intelligent sector CLONE".

Sorry, but "probably" would not work for me :(

Regards

Alan

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Thanks Alan, your input is appreciated as always, and indirectly, you might have just uncovered the problem . I checked this and found that under the Cloning section, Intelligent Sector Copy and Verify File System are set by default. Forensic Copy (exact copy) is the optional setting and enabled by the user. Unless Brad changed this, the defaults should be in place. Nonetheless, it is worthwhile checking.

Also, under the Compression section, I found Intelligent Sector Copy is enabled by default. HOWEVER, medium compression is the default setting for the compression level and no compression is an option to be chosen by the user. This slipped by me and is probably the real problem here. So Brad, you have to select "Other Tasks", then "Edit Defaults", then "Compression", and select "None"(no compression) before trying another clone. What you have on the Toshiba now is not readable by the system during boot. While you're in there, go to "Cloning" and double check what I mentioned in the first paragraph.

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I checked this and found that under the Cloning section, Intelligent Sector Copy and Verify File System are set by default. Forensic Copy (exact copy) is the optional setting and enabled by the user. Unless Brad changed this, the defaults should be in place. Nonetheless, it is worthwhile checking.

Thanks, I do believe that you have seen this.

That works for me :D

I have not seen this because I do not have a spare HDD to "waste" as a clone,

and I chose to avoid selecting my principle archives internal HDD in-case I accidentally authorised a destructive clone whilst searching for an "Advanced Options"

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Okay, I'm confused now. Do I do the Intelligent/verify that is the default or forensic? I understood everything else. I'm a little fatigued. I think you are saying do Intelligent/Verify.

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That's right Brad. Inelligent/Verify should be set in both the Cloning section and the Compression section. Also, and this is really important, in the Compression section, set Compression to "None" - you do not want to compress your data. I think this is why your first attempt failed. I missed this because I assumed any settings related to Cloning would be in that section and nowhere else, my mistake.