Solved Image your system with free Macrium

[PCG]

... I'm back and the test went well. It took 11:59 (see snip).

Two issues only to report; I will include in the next post.

 

[PCG]

Issue #1 -- Power Save Mode: Approximately 7 minutes in to the first two attempts, I received a message that stated "Entering Power Saving Mode" (see snip). I do not understand why this occurred. I turned off hibernation and ensured my Power Options were set to "Never." I'm not really sure how I got through this: During the second try I kept moving my mouse around but that didn't help. On the third and successful attempt I turned on my external HDD at 5 minutes in and then instead of just moving the mouse around I actually slid the Macrium bar (circled in yellow in the snip), every 10-15 seconds.

There's probably a better way to deal with this, so if you know what it is, please advise.

 

[PCG]

Final post about the test, regarding Issue #2 -- an ApplePhotoSreams.exe error. This showed up the first time I booted back in to the newly imaged C: drive, and again when I tried to access the iCloud control panel. I'm not sure what happened, but I rebooted one more time and it disappeared and has not returned. Should I be concerned?

If not, other than the Power Save issue, (which I'm still open for recommendations), I'm good, and ready to move on to my wife's laptop, a Dell XPS M1330.

Thanks for all of your help!

 

[whs]

The issue #1 I do not get. Was that whilst you were operating from the WinPE CD.

And regarding issue #2 I am completely lost. What is this rotten Apple stuff.

 

[PCG]

Yes, I used a WinPE USB... and the Power Save messages occurred approximately 7 minutes in to the 'restore image' process.

I should have mentioned that upon entering the power save mode, the monitor goes blank and the computer becomes un-responsive, necessitating a reboot.

 

[PCG]

Regarding the rotten Apple stuff, I really don't know. I just recently started using the Photostream through Apple's iCloud when I upgraded my phone to an iPhone. That problem seemingly has gone away...

 

[kado897]

That is a Dell message about power saving. I wonder if there is a setting in the BIOS.

 

[PCG]

That was the first place I looked... I have two options under the ACPI Power Mgmt Setting in the BIOS: "S1" or "S3";

S3 is the default and from an online search, that appears to be correct setting for me. I will keep searching.

 

[whs]

Whatever settings you made in your Win7 does not count because the WinPE is running on it's own mini Win7. So it can only come from the BIOS.

 

[alan10]

Can we be absolutely certain that the Restore was conducted under the control of the WinPE Boot Rescue.

A RESTORE can be launched via Macrium running under Full Windows (placing code in RAM)
or via the built in "Recovery Boot Menu Option",
in addition to the WinPE Boot Rescue,
and the screen shows very little difference.

A few years ago I had some doubts,
and after extensive testing found that my chosen mechanism was not properly installed and it was falling back to one of the alternatives.

 

[kado897]

I'm not sure which version of Macrium is being used here but I think the Windows boot menu option is available only with the paid versions.

 

[PCG]

I may have been wrong about S3 being the correct ACPI setting in my BIOS. Here's what I just learned from the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification, Revision 4.0a of April 5, 2010:

S1 Sleeping State -- The S1 sleeping state is a low wake latency sleeping state. In this state, no system context is lost (CPU or chip set) and hardware maintains all system context.

S3 Sleeping State -- The S3 sleeping state is a low wake latency sleeping state where all system context is lost except system memory. CPU, cache, and chip set context are lost in this state. Hardware maintains memory context and restores some CPU and L2 configuration context. Control starts from the processor's reset vector after the wake event.

Does this sound like I might be on the right track? I'll try changing the BIOS to S1 later this afternoon and report back.

 

[whs]

Yeah, you should be on S1.

 

[alan10]

I'm not sure which version of Macrium is being used here but I think the Windows boot menu option is available only with the paid versions.

Guilty as charged

I do have that benefit.
Originally the Free version not only lacked that but it also lacked any incremental/differential backup and any form of WinPE recovery.

The free version has more recently been given some benefits that were reserved for the paid version and I am afraid I have lost track of the distinctions.

Regards
Alan

 

[kado897]

I think the only real benefit the free version has got recently is the ability to handle GPT disks.

 

[PCG]

Long night and long morning (and long post, I apologize). I still have no solution regarding my computer going in to Power Save Mode (PSM) randomly when booted up with the Macrium WinPE Recovery Disk.

My system works fine when I do a normal startup using my Windows 7 OS. I experience absolutely no premature PSMs.

I'm pretty much at a loss; here's what I've tried so far, performing a system reboot before each test:

USING MACRIUM WINPE USB RECOVERY THUMB DRIVE:

1. Reconfirmed that PSM is invoked with ACPI setting in BIOS set to "S3."
Test 1: Booted up, PSM NOT invoked after 12 minutes; stopped test
Test 2: PSM invoked at 2:19 minutes.
Test 3: PSM invoked at 4:48 minutes.
Test 4: PSM invoked at 7:40 minutes.

2. Changed ACPI setting in BIOS to "S1"
Test 1: PSM invoked at 2:43 minutes
Test 2: PSM invoked at 6:29 minutes
Test 3: PSM invoked at 2:57 minutes
Test 4: PSM invoked at 1:37 minutes

3. Rebooted, after Macrium start-up moved mouse every 10-15 seconds
Test 1: PSM invoked at 1:46 minutes

4. Rebooted, after Macrium start-up moved menu slider bar up and down every 10-15 seconds
Test 1: PSM invoked at 6:27 minutes

5. Rebooted, changed BIOS ACPI back to "S3." After Macrium start-up turned on external HDD
Test 1: PSM invokded at 1:26 minutes

USING MACRIUM WINPE CD RECOVERY DISK:

6. Test 1: PSM invoked at 1:27 minutes
Test 2: PSM invoked at 1:47 minutes

At this point I hit the internet for additional research. I found many Dell customers with a wide variety of monitors having power save and sleep problems. I tried some of their recommendations as follows:

7. Disabled the "DDI/CI" setting on my monitor and Booted up using WINPE USB Thumb drive
Test 1: PSM NOT invoked after 15 minutes; stopped test
Test 2: PSM NOT invoked after 15 minutes; stopped test
Test 3: PSM invoked at 1:16 minutes
Test 4: PSM invoked at 3:58 minutes

8. Change from HDMI cable to DVI-D
Test 1: PSM NOT invoked after 15 minutes; stopped test
Test 2: PSM invoked at 4:42 minutes

9. Using DVI-D cable, turning off monitor after Macrium start-up
Test 1: PSM NOT invoked after 15 minutes; stopped test
Test 2: PSM invoked some time before 15 minutes (I had the monitor shut-off until 15 minutes passed)

10. Following Dell tech guidance in a thread at their user forum, disconnected all monitor and computer cables and power cords, pressed the power button on the monitor for 5 seconds; reconnect then reboot.
Test 1: PSM NOT invoked after 15 minutes; stopped test
Test 2: PSM invoked at 11:23 minutes

USING A SEPARATE WINDOWS RESCUE THUMB DRIVE CREATED FROM THE WINDOWS 7 "BACKUP AND RESTORE" UTILITY:

11. Test 1: PSM invoked at 3:59 minutes

Since I have no problems during a normal start-up (not using a recovery disk), I'm wondering if a solution might be found by loading some type of driver when prompted during the Macrium startup screen. So far, per previous guidance on these forums, I have always selected "No" at the Load Drivers prompt. Does this sound like a feasible solution to explore?

The saga continues...

 

[whs]

The driver route may be the solution. But I have never messed with that. So you'll have to experiment with that.

 

[PCG]

I'll continue to experiment. I suppose the key will be to figure out which driver is used by Windows 7 after normal startup to prevent the premature Power Save Mode...

 

[PCG]

Also another area I'm digging in to is acpi registry entries; Any changes made there would not be applied during a Macrium Recovery Disk boot-up, correct?

 

[bigmck]

Also another area I'm digging in to is acpi registry entries; Any changes made there would not be applied during a Macrium Recovery Disk boot-up, correct?

The Macrium would restore the way it was when the Macrium Image was made. Any changes after that would not be on the Image.