# Solved: Drive Imaging after a motherboard replacement



## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Just a note of caution to those that swap out a motherboard and also keep a drive image as a safety backup of their operating system.

I ran into this situation:

I was facing either a new bios chip after a bad flash or a replacement motherboard.
I figured a replacement like a Gigabyte MA74GM-S2 was a wise way to go as it offered upgrade potential up to an AMD AM3 CPU while the Acer board was limited to only AM2 CPUs.

It was a good choice, even easier to install and get up and running than expected.
In my situation, XP booted with out any modification or repair.
The Gigabyte drivers installed with out issue and all was fine with just two things standing out.

My license to A-Squared needed to be renewed.....no biggie.
But Acronis no longer worked as it no longer recognized my hard drive.
I have several versions of Acronis and one version would also not recognize USB.

All the Acronis drive images of this Acer system are now inaccessible for re-installation.


On my Acer, I'm now using BartPE with the Drive Image XML plug in, for drive imaging.
I've tested it and it works properly for my system.

I still like and use Acronis on my other computers.......just no longer works on my Acer.

So after replacing an oem motherboard with something else, it's wise to double check that the images you saved will actually work when you need them.
You might need a different drive imaging utility.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I've never had any issue using the Acronis Recovery CD to restore to changed hardware.

For the situation you describe, I'd have taken the disk to another computer and copied the image to a spare hard disk. Install that hard disk into the problem computer as a secondary disk, surely that would be recognized.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

JohnWill said:


> I've never had any issue using the Acronis Recovery CD to restore to changed hardware.
> 
> For the situation you describe, I'd have taken the disk to another computer and copied the image to a spare hard disk. Install that hard disk into the problem computer as a secondary disk, surely that would be recognized.


I don't think you realized my situation.

My operating system did boot with the new motherboard and all of the Gigabyte drivers installed sucessfully.
The issue was I was not able to use Acronis to image the new setup.

Even if I were to remove my hard drive and make a drive image of what my setup currently is.......every time I would need to re-install that image, I'd have to remove the drive to a computer that didn't have the conflict with Acronis.
Even if I have a second drive with an Acronis image on it......I can not use Acronis to access it from within my Acer computer.
Acronis that I have, the Seagate, WD and the free Acronis version 10 Home will not recognize that a hard drive is in my system.

So, anytime I would want to make an updated drive image using your method....I'd still have to transfer the drive to another computer to do so.
Anytime I'd want to instal that image, I'd have to transfer the hard drive to another computer.

Easier to correct the situation now 
For me...it was BartPE and the DI XML plugin.

BTW....I did check for Acronis plugins......they exist , but not for the versions I have.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I can't imagine why a new installation of Acronis True Image won't work with that MB, that would be a first!

What did Acronis support have to say?


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

JohnWill said:


> I can't imagine why a new installation of Acronis True Image won't work with that MB, that would be a first!
> 
> What did Acronis support have to say?


I didn't bother with Support and I did reinstall the free version of Acronis Home 10 .

I already had BartPE with the DI XML plugin, so using it was expedient.

There might be a paid version that works, but I'd have to actually pay for it


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

The free version has the same hardware capability as the paid version, so if it doesn't work, I'd wonder if the pay one would.

Quite frankly, I'm having a real hard time believing that it doesn't work, there has to be something that's not being said here.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

JohnWill said:


> The free version has the same hardware capability as the paid version, so if it doesn't work, I'd wonder if the pay one would.
> 
> Quite frankly, I'm having a real hard time believing that it doesn't work, there has to be something that's not being said here.


About the only thing I can add to the past tries is that I've been booting from the rescue discs. I tried the original ones and I made new ones.

An update.

The WD Acronis version uninstalls with out problems.
The Free Home version is now broken and will not load in windows and will not uninstall.
I uninstalled the Seagate Discwizard version and installed a newer version.
I now get an error code E 00140FA2 when opening Diskwizard in Windows.
A search in Acronis' error codes brought up nothing

A google search only brought up this unresolved problem
http://www.tech-pc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=64350

All other apps and utilities seem to have survived the MB swap.

Not much more I can say other than if someone has swapped a motherboard....don't wait until you need to reimage to test your imaging app.
I'm glad I found out early rather than too late.

BTW, I have tried out DI XML, both by making an image and then installing it.
It works properly, but takes about an extra 15 minutes to fully copy an image back onto the hard drive, compared to Acronis.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Well, I think that's one I'd have to see in person.


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

I can see where there might be a problem if the original Mobo was Tattooed for the OS ..
and the replacement Mobo wasn't.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

JohnWill said:


> Well, I think that's one I'd have to see in person.


One what?....


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Noyb said:


> I can see where there might be a problem if the original Mobo was Tattooed for the OS ..
> and the replacement Mobo wasn't.


Well....that would be my situation.....but oddly enough Windows activation went smoothly.
With a new motherboard I was expecting to have to present a reason for the change.
I phoned in to MS. The call was automated.
I had to reenter my product key as the one automatically extracted was incorrect......but once entering in the product key on request.....it all went smoothly.
Took about 10 minutes.

I think I'll run Prime 95 in the background to make sure the system is stable.
So far all seems to work ....except for Acronis.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Another update:

I was able to uninstall the free Acronis Home version 10 by using Revo Uninstaller.
With all three versions properly uninstalled....I reinstalled the free Acronis Home version 10.
The situation now is that by opening in Windows, I can access my hard drive and make an image if I so chose. But the rescue disk still doesn't 'see' a hard drive. 
There is no Acronis support for this version and no plugin available for BartPE.

The issue seems to be, from reading the Acronis forum, that the Linux kernel used in this rescue CD is an older version that does not recognize some newer motherboard chipsets.


I guess I'll keep an eye out for the next free version of Acronis and see if that works.
But for now......DI XML is the current solution for me.


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## Rich-M (May 3, 2006)

If I am reading this correctly, the real issue is that there is always payback from using an OS from another motherboard, on a different one and while 90% of the ones I have seen affect networking somewhere along the line, Acronis can be really finicky too if it sense something odd or different with a hard drive. Since the OS is the same but the hardware is different, you would have to make a new rescue disk anyway and that obviously may not be possible here if the program won't work right anyway.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Rich-M said:


> If I am reading this correctly, the real issue is that there is always payback from using an OS from another motherboard, on a different one and while 90% of the ones I have seen affect networking somewhere along the line, Acronis can be really finicky too if it sense something odd or different with a hard drive. Since the OS is the same but the hardware is different, you would have to make a new rescue disk anyway and that obviously may not be possible here if the program won't work right anyway.


I think having multiple installations of different versions of Acronis compounded my problem initially ( conflicts maybe ? ) until I uninstalled all versions and accomplished a fresh install of the free Acronis version 10 .
.
Then it became obvious that the rescue CD made from that fresh install did not include the necessary drivers to see the hard drive.

There is no support for the versions I was using because they were all free.

From the Acronis forum, I get the idea that Acronis 11 will make a rescue CD that works in my case . The paid versions have a BartPE plugin available.....which would have been very nice in my case, but not offered in the free versions.

It's rather surprising that the Seagate/Maxtor and WD versions don't include an update to image their products in all known situations ....like this one.


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## lotuseclat79 (Sep 12, 2003)

Hi Jack,

My first question is did you have a bad flash of your bios? In my situation, I have an Intel board (and my bios is several years old) for which there are several updates since mine was current. Intel not only publishes the latest bios, but also an alternate separate one and a complete instruction guide for both - in case one runs into the situation of experiencing a bad flash in order to recover from it. Are you sure that AMD does or does not do both with complete instruction guides? If so, it would have saved you from having to procure a new motherboard to resolve your situation.

-- Tom


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

lotuseclat79 said:


> Hi Jack,
> 
> My first question is did you have a bad flash of your bios? In my situation, I have an Intel board (and my bios is several years old) for which there are several updates since mine was current. Intel not only publishes the latest bios, but also an alternate separate one and a complete instruction guide for both - in case one runs into the situation of experiencing a bad flash in order to recover from it. Are you sure that AMD does or does not do both with complete instruction guides? If so, it would have saved you from having to procure a new motherboard to resolve your situation.
> 
> -- Tom


I had a bad flash.
The reason is unsure.
The instructions were clear and a search on flashing Acer T180s showed a lot of others having the same issue.
There was no way to survive it.
The original bios file was saved, and when the failure was noted at the end of the flash attempt, I was not able to flash it again reverting to the original bios.
That should have worked but also was noted a failed attempt.
There was no way to survive the bad flash.
And so, turning the computer off was the last act of that mother board 

I was left with replacing the bios, about a $35 part.

However, I had an optional path to consider.

My Acer board was limited to only AMD AM2 CPUs.
A new Gygabyte motherboard offered me the ability to upgrade to an AMD AM3 CPU in the future for only an extra $35-40 above the cost of the bios fix.



> Are you sure that AMD does or does not do both with complete instruction guides?


AMD has nothing to do with the bios in an Acer MB.
It was a Phoenix bios that was a custom job for Acer and Acer was the proper source for the bios utility. Even the bios company that would have supplied the bios chip would have used the bin file from the Acer flash utility.



> If so, it would have saved you from having to procure a new motherboard to resolve your situation.


The motherboard swap was really pretty easy Tom.
The form factor was the same and all the hookups identical with nothing left unresolved, hardware wise.
I hadn't even bothered to compare chipsets, thinking the manufacturing dates of 3 years apart and being AM3 ready would have made enough of a difference that I was probably facing a repair install a minimum, a clean install of XP likely....but when it was all assembled, XP booted up and the Gygabite drivers all installed with out issue.
Even activation was fairly simple....a pleasant surprise.

The Acronis rescue disc ( based on Linux ) just won't recognize a SATA hard drive in my situation.
No biggie for me....I already had BartPE loaded with a DI XML plugin...so I've got an image of my new setup ready to go if I need it 

This thread is just precaution to others.
Be prepared


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Well, I've never had any issue with using the bootable recovery disk on any hardware, new or old. That's the part I'm having problems with. The only way I see that happening is the comment about certain hardware not being supported in the Linux version that is the base for the True Image recovery disk.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

JohnWill said:


> Well, I've never had any issue with using the bootable recovery disk on any hardware, new or old. That's the part I'm having problems with. The only way I see that happening is the comment about certain hardware not being supported in the Linux version that is the base for the True Image recovery disk.





> The only way I see that happening is the comment about certain hardware not being supported in the Linux version that is the base for the True Image recovery disk.


This appears to be an ongoing problem with Acronis, even into version 11.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/3307

Here's a list at the Acronis knowledge base of similar experiences that I had:
http://forum.acronis.com/search/apachesolr_search/Rescue DISK DOESN'T RECOGNIZE SATA DRIVES

Here is a suggestion by an Acronis moderator to a user of version 11:
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/5766



> Acronis True Image 11 Home is an outdated version, we do not develop it any more. That's why we are unable to fix the issue you are experiencing under Windows. We can fix it for Acronis Bootable Rescue Media. I am sending an ISOLINUX file to you via PMs, this version is the latest one for Acronis True Image 11 Home..........
> 
> ...................
> If this doesn't help, I can propose you to download the trial version of Acronis True Image Home 2010 available here. Please install the program and create Acronis True Image Home 2010 Rescue Media and see if the issue remains. The archives created by Acronis True Image 11 Home are compatible with Acronis True Image Home 2010


Although my version is the 'Free' one of 10....I think I'll give that a try.


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Stoner said:


> .....................................
> Here is a suggestion by an Acronis moderator to a user of version 11:
> http://forum.acronis.com/forum/5766
> 
> Although my version is the 'Free' one of 10....I think I'll give that a try.


That does not work.....the rescue disk is programed as a trial and only demonstrates what is possible to do.
It can, however, recognize my hard drive.
I have no intention of buying it, though.
When they release a newer free version.....I'll be there waiting


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## Rich-M (May 3, 2006)

Just out of curiosity, is all this effort to do something for nothing really worth it? It values your time at nothing and you can buy the newest version of Acronis for $38.99 and be able to do that and so much more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832200013


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I've been using Acronis True Image 2009 for the last year plus, version 11 is indeed outdated. Obviously, support is added in each release for new hardware and configurations. Equally obvious is that it's not in the best interests of Acronis to continually update the older releases forever, they want you to buy the new one!


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Rich-M said:


> Just out of curiosity, is all this effort to do something for nothing really worth it? It values your time at nothing and you can buy the newest version of Acronis for $38.99 and be able to do that and so much more.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832200013





> ....you can buy the newest version of Acronis for $38.99 and be able to do that and so much more.


I don't need Acronis.
I have another drive imaging utility that I've used since swapping out my motherboard and it works perfectly.

The effort I've been posting is purely out of interest.

The point of the thread was to double check the imaging utility used prior to the MB swap so that if an event created the need to reimage a computer, it was assured.
If the need was felt to buy a new version of Acronis....so be it....go buy it now rather than when you are desperate to use an older version that may or may not work.
Be prepared 



> ...............and so much more.


I have no use for the 'and so much more'......for that I use the free Syncback


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

JohnWill said:


> I've been using Acronis True Image 2009 for the last year plus, version 11 is indeed outdated. Obviously, support is added in each release for new hardware and configurations. Equally obvious is that it's not in the best interests of Acronis to continually update the older releases forever, they want you to buy the new one!


Obviously......upgrading/updating old versions ( for free ) to accommodate new hardware won't sell new software and pay to keep a business operating.
It's a reason to make sure that old version after a motherboard swap still works and find an alternative if it doesn't .

I was prepared


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## lotuseclat79 (Sep 12, 2003)

Stoner said:


> I had a bad flash.
> The reason is unsure.
> The instructions were clear and a search on flashing Acer T180s showed a lot of others having the same issue.
> There was no way to survive it.
> ...


Hi Jack,

Well Done!

-- Tom :up:


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

Just an update on the Acronis situation.

I again downloaded Seagate Discwizard, which includes a version of Acronis TI.
It still wouldn't function properly in Windows and the rescue CD still didn't work properly, but there was the option in Discwizard to place the Acronis TI plugin for BartPE, into the BartPE plugin folder.
I then built a new BartPE rescue disk and Acronis would launch from it and properly build an image while booted into BartPE.........which I can access from the BartPE rescue CD at a later date.

MacriumReflect works well.....but it will only build an image while in Windows.


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