What is the "recovery partition"?

gregrocker said:

Are you able to restore using the Backup image you made?

Boot into the Win7 DVD recovery console, select "Recover using an image" and see if it will reimage onto the freshly converted Basic disk.

It reimaged, but the partition is basic, not dynamic. Here's the snip I alluded to above, and forgot to include. Note that the recovery partition is basic simple, while the C volume is dynamic.

Yes I remember the screenshot. But I understand that you have since converted the disk from dynamic to Basic, which you say caused the loss of the Win7 installation in the process.

You said you reimaged the Win7 backup image back onto the HD. Did it reimage the dynamic formatting to the Win7 partition, or does it remain basic since you converted it to that?

What is the performance of the reimaged HD?

gregrocker said:

Did it reimage the dynamic formatting to the Win7 partition, or does it remain basic since you converted it to that?

What is the performance of the reimaged HD?

That screen shot was taken *after* I'd converted to basic in TestDisk and then reimaged, so I guess it just reproduced the dynamic formatting.

BTW, one of the things I tried was to make the second partition "Primary bootable" in TestDisk, thinking that the problem was that it was booting to the initial Vista Recovery partition. That didn't work. It didn't boot at all. Then when I reimaged and tried to boot I got an error and Windows wouldn't boot. Then I set the initial partition back to "Bootable Primary" and converted everything to Basic again, and it wouldn't even boot into Vista Recovery. Instead I got the message: "BOOT MGR is missing". I then opened TestDisk again, and wrote the MBR to the first sector, rebooted, and reimaged the disk again *and this time Windows 7 booted OK*.

But the volume format is still dynamic, not basic.

At least I have the installation back, which I thought I had goobered up, but I'm back to square one.

How do you feel about a clean reinstall? Perhaps to another HDD?

I wonder if zeroing the drive would take it back to basic?

gregrocker said:

How do you feel about a clean reinstall? Perhaps to another HDD?

I wonder if zeroing the drive would take it back to basic?

I have some pretty complex settings and software installations. I would definitely not like to do an install without transferring that stuff.

This won't transfer software installations? Why don't they have an engine that transfers stuff in a file format, instead of this disk image stuff? Back when I was using Windows 98 I did a transfer by just starting a clean install on another disk, erasing all the files, and then transferring all my files via copy from the old disk to the new one. Seems like systems have gotten a lot more complex and difficult to deal with, since then.

As a last ditch effort I tried to create a WinPE disk using Acronis Plus Pack for True Image Home, thinking that if I could at least get that done I'd cancel the refund request. So the first thing it asks me for is the folder where the WinPE files are located. What the heck? How would I know where they're located? I did a Google search, and wouldn't you know that everything on the Web is completely inscrutable regarding *where* the WinPE files might be located, or even *if* they located *anywhere* on a Windows 7 Pro installation. There was some talk about building a "technician computer" but how am I supposed to know what that is, or how to do it? So once again Acronis proves to be basically unusable. You'd think it'd be slightly clearer about what the deuce is going on.

But I doubt that Acronis can clone a system that's on a dynamic drive anyway, so I was really just doing it to see if there's anything redeeming in this software at all. And there isn't.

So, any ideas beyond a clean install? If I do that is there some way to easily transfer my apps and data to the other system?

The system I have is still "freezing" periodically, about once a day.

I created one of those "Easy Transfer" files on the 0.5TB drive. Do I now just do a clean install to the 1TB drive, then set that as the primary boot drive in bios, and then import all of my stuff from the Easy Transfer file? Do I have to set any switches to ensure that the 1TB drive becomes the new "C" drive? Should I change the drive letters in the disk manager before exiting for the last time from the current intallation, to do a clean install on the 1TB drive? Will I have to reinstall all of my applications, enter the activation keys, etc.? Since I'm doing a transfer from Win7 Pro to Win7 Pro I thought maybe it would transfer my apps too. The transfer file is certainly big enough, or does it just transfer the data and not the apps themselves?

My system is still freezing, so it looks like I have no choice but to do a clean install. I'm just trying to minimize the workload, and chances of failure.

Can anyone help?

Unplug all other drives before doing the install, making sure it is set to boot After DVD in BIOS.

Suggest you check your Easy Transfer files to see that all saved files are there. I don't use ET since it copies settings back which is a potential corruption path and lessens the freshness of a Clean Install.

Boot from the DVD, keep ethernet plugged and select "Connect to internet during install" to get latest drivers/updates into installer, then Custom install, use Advanced drive tools to partition the HD as you wish, making sure to format at least first partition before installing Win7.

Upon connecting to the internet, activate using link at Computer>Properties, then get Windows Updates for newer drivers. Check Device Manager for any missing drivers, which can be obtained from the Support Downloads page for your model computer. You can also back up the Windows/System32/Drivers and /driverstore file to find any missing drivers.

Yes, you'll need to reinstall your programs. Take your time. If you need any keys, audit them first from your current install using Belarc Advisor. Some apps should be available on your model's Downloads page. Adobe reader/flash and Java runtime/free Ofc suite are available on their sites.