Drive Image and XP Home

[Buz2b]

OK, I've used this program before with "pre-XP" OS's. No problem but it is version 4.0. As far as I know it works with XP. Now I am trying to create a set of "Restore" CD's for a recent build using XP Home Edition. I loaded the program, rebooted after installation, etc. Now, when I start the program and try to create the CD's the CDRW drive comes up as "inaccessible" and will not work. I then tried booting to the diskette set that is created during installation, figuring that maybe the problem is the pqpacket (similar name) file is not loaded properly. It is on the first disk and when booting it clearly shows the CD and CDROM drives as present. However, once I get to the area to select the CDRW drive it still comes up as "inaccessible". I'm stumped. Anyone using this program in XP that would have any ideas for me??

 

[RalfHutter]

I PMed you but...

4.0 doesn't work with XP. You need at least 5.0.

I've never actually tried burning CDs directly from DI. What I do when I want to create a set of restore CDs is to set DI to split the image into 650MB chunks, then burn each chunk to a CDr back in Windows. You set the split size in the "advanced" section while you're setting up you image creation.It's set by default to give 650MB files, I think it shows as "670000000", give or take a few zeros!

 

[Buz2b]

Thanks for the reply. I have done the "split" option before; I'm just not sure it was in this type of instance. It sounds like you are talking about having DI create 650 MB images for the CD set that I can later copy. The only problem is that, (oh god, I think I'm in trouble here), I don't think DI will do this on the same drive that it is backin up. In other words, DI will back up C drive to D, but not C to C. That is what I am dealing with: One 20 GB drive; not partitioned. I know I can partition it and I have Partition Magic to do so; I just want to avoid that if I can. You know, the KISS principal.

 

[Staver]

Well, the latest version claims to burn directly to CD-Rom, but that's not a feature I use, so I can't verify it.

 

[Buz2b]

the latest version claims to burn directly to CD-Rom, but that's not a feature I use, so I can't verify it.

Version 4 that I am using also burns directly to CDR drive. That's not a new feature. Thanks anyway.

 

[tazdevl]

Buz, might be a supported drive issue. 4.0 is how old? 5.0 still seems to be the best. 2002's has most CDRW drives supported but RAID support is somewhat lacking. I'm still trying to figure out if you can just image the data on an array or you have to image the entire thing.

Nero is about the only burning program that stays on top of new drive releases. Most other companies lag by a few weeks to several... and this is their core business. Powerquest is probably even further down the scale and the CDRW industry has accelerate dramatically in the last 6-9 months.

 

[Buz2b]

might be a supported drive issue

Unfortunately, that is not it either. I was using version 4.0 with the same CDRW drive (lite-on 12x10x32) with Win98SE in the past. I was able to make the Restore CD's directly with it. I'm afraid it is a "version" problem. Now I have to decide to "budget" the $$ for a newer version with XP support. I mainly wanted to use it to make the Restore CD's for this system I just built for my stepson; just in case.

 

[tazdevl]

Buz, you're right. Something is screwy with 2K2. I'm not even getting an option/it won't even see my CD/CDRW drives as a destination drives. Don't know what's up with that. CDRW is a LG 8400B (40X12X40).

 

[Buz2b]

tazdevl, are you using 4.0 also? I am "shopping around" for an updated version right now. The "upgrade" price on the Power Quest site is not bad though; only $39.95. Still, I'm cheap! (but not easy).

 

[tazdevl]

Actually using 2K2. Thinking about going back to 5.0. I need to wait until early next week until I can play. Waiting on a couple components for my rig, so I'm down.

Was upgrading some things on a friend's computer and decided just to reinstall XP and use DI2K2 to make a base image after I installed all the updates.

2K2 didn't see the CDRW drive as a destination drive. I woke up @ 2AM and think I might know why. The drive in my friend's computer is a LG 40X12X40. TUrns out it runs in PIO4 on the comp. I'm wondeirng if all the people that are having problems have drives that run in PIO4 instead of UDMA2. Could be an explanation.

 

[Buz2b]

Thanks to a conversation with a fellow AT'er, one suggestion might be to create a small extended partition and save the file there. Then record it to CD. You can then "hide" the partition. That way it will always be there and not get "accidentally" formated away. Or you could just delete the partition after recording it.

 

[randypj]

Buz2b--The idea of an extended partition that can be hidden is a good one. So simple, I never would've thought of it. Seems like a good way to go with my gf's system.

I just image to cd-r file sizes, and then blow them across my network to my other pc. Seems like I never get around to burning them to cd-r though, before I make another image.

Oh, one of my fave things to do is to make an image of my boot partition to a second drive, then hide it. That way, if my boot partition goes South, I can just unhide the image partition, and I'm good to go......might have some missing shortcuts, etc., but good enough to get back in action, since I put all my "essential" programs on my boot partition.
--Randy

 

[Buz2b]

Say randypj, RalfHutter and tazdevl; anyone know if having v4.0 "qualifies" for the Upgrade version of DI 2002? Inquiring minds need to know. I have looked (as usual, probably in the wrong places) on the PowerQuest website and can't seem to find the info for this. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[tazdevl]

I dunno. Most ugrades in the software typically pertain the the previous version though, not 2 versions ago.

That might work, the only issue I see with that solution Buz is... you need a bootable CD than can get you into things and get rolling. I don't know if putting it in a hidden partition accomplishes that. Anyone else know?

Ideally I'd like to use a CDRW straight up and not bother using the boot diskettes.

 

[RalfHutter]

Originally posted by: tazdevl
Ideally I'd like to use a CDRW straight up and not bother using the boot diskettes.

Just use the 2 Drive Image bootdisks to create a bootable CD in your favorite burning program.

 

[tazdevl]

I was hoping the gang at powerquest would have put their collective melons together and provided users with an option to create a bootable cd in DI.

Have you actually made this work or is this an unproven suggestion? Seems to me you have to create a multisession disk, DI clearly states that the CD has to be unformatted or backup won't work. Since it doesn't support UDF, there's most likely going to be a problem when you write to the disc. Unless you're thinking create a bootable CD and copy the image files to it.