Can not get my image restored!!!!!

[NickT02LS]

I am so peeved right now it is not even funny. Next time ready for PC I think i will be a mac convert after all this meesed up crap with windows.

Last night when I get home go to start computer and there is a error about missing dll file, then aas I click the error more missing file errors keep coming up, gets progressively worse until PC does not start windows. Ok, that's cool, I have backup and disk image on another drive in computer, no problem right, WRONG!!!

So pop in the windows 7 disk, go to restore disk image, error!!! Got a few errors while trying once I got one when I checked of not to include one of the disk, the one I keep getting is that there is not enough space on drive for restore. Now the disk the image is on is 150 GB, the disk trying to put it on is 500 GB, so why the problem???

So keep searching on my laptop and find a suggestion to do diskpart-clean. Go through every suggestion I found to use diskpart such as clean, =sytem blah blah blah. Still not worky. I install Windows 7 on the drive which works, install backup files and is there. But I want the image to restore. So in the new install I cant get it to do a image restore, so I try from Windows 7 CD again, FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now what, ok I have Acronis that I have never used on disk, lets give that a shot.
It starts the procedure from what I can tell, It says something about partition part 4 of 5 while running and counting down the time, at this point it is 1AM and I am goint to bed. Get up this morning and computer still does not boot. The acronis screen was on it's main page before I tried to star computer.

I really feel that windows 7 image backup left me with a false sense of security seeing that it is turning out this difficult. It really should not be, should be able to go through and have it work. This is really horrible, if I do finally get it working somehow I will probably have 10 hours into it, rediculous.

So any other ideas, my last resort is to reinstall windows and my back up files. What I hate with that is then I need to reinstall all my programs, updates ect. and still will be missing my emails that were saved. The image should have everything back to that date.

HELP!!!!!!

Any ideas

 

[richc46]

Welcome
Try a repair install. If things work as they should, you will not lose your stuff and you will be up and running, again.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html?ltr=R

 

[SIW2]

Sounds like he couldn't get into his windows installation.

Windows system image restore failed - it is not very reliable.

 

[NickT02LS]

Welcome
Try a repair install. If things work as they should, you will not lose your stuff and you will be up and running, again.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html?ltr=R

From those directions looks like you need to have windows start up first, my drive is empty right now???? Or are you suggesting to reinstall windows first then go through that???

 

[richc46]

Sorry,
It seems that SIW, who posted after me, read your post a little more carefully. You need to get into the OS, then you repair. If you boot from the DVD, you will actually reinstall and you will have to reinstall your stuff. I can't think of anything else.

 

[NickT02LS]

Ok, so got it going, seems to be ok except a few short cuts such as Microsoft works was not working, no biggie. Anyway what I did when I got home was re install windows 7 then restarted and booted from the Windows 7 disk, tried the restore image again and it worked, Yea!!!! I think though my attempts the drive at last try was not formatted.

Whew, I now installed Acronis and will use that for my back ups and image.

 

[wanchoo]

And that is a very wise decision that you have taken. Acronis is about the best imaging software.

I suggest that with Acronis installed, you create the Acronis Boot CD asap and test its functionality. Once the Boot CD is found OK you may uninstall Acronis from the hard drive and use the Boot CD alone for all future images.

Whew, I now installed Acronis and will use that for my back ups and image.

 

[richc46]

It may be good to keep the image on an external hard drive in case your problems are caused by a bad hard drive.