How to restore a DriveImage Backup to a GPT-based system drive

2

I just bought a new laptop and was trying different things on it. I backed up my system partition with DriveImage XML and made a clean install of Windows to test something new. Later, when I tried to restore the backup, it showed that 'unable to retrieve drive layout'.

I googled a bit and the reason seems to be that my system drive is GPT-based, which DriveImage XML does not recognize.

I found the following thread: Driveimage XML : unable to retrieve drive layout

The answer there seems to be change the system drive from GPT to MBR. However, there does not seem to be a way to do that without losing all the data on that drive.

My primary drive: GPT Disk 2 1. Windows RF Tools, NTFS Primary, 2013MB

  1. SYSTEM, FAT32(LBA) Primary, 360 MB

  2. Unformatted Primary, 128.0MB

  3. Windows (C:), NTFS Primary, 96.97GB

  4. NTFS Primary, 450.0MB

  5. Recovery Image(E:), NTFS Primary, 10.90GB

  6. HP_TOOLS, FAT32(LBA) Primary

My system drive is Windows(C:). I am able to recover the backup XML image to a standalone partition on my portable drive. Can I just copy-paste the files in the partition in my portable drive to Windows(C:) and overwrite the old files? Will the system boot in this way? Or what other options do I have?

At this moment, I see two possible options:

  1. Foramt Disk 2 from GPT to MBR without data loss, which is highly unlikely because I have more than 4 partitions on this disk.

  2. Copy-paste personal folders from the backup to existing Windows(C:). I found a website introducing how to recover files from Windows.old folder. What I am not sure is what to do with boot files in my case.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971760

The final solution for my case is that I gave up trying to restore my system with the XML file. I made a clean install from scratch. That being sad, I am really mad at DriveImage XML. They should put a big warning regarding this issue.

John

Posted 2015-02-05T14:25:16.143

Reputation: 121

There are methods to covert your GPT partition into MBR without data loss. The current amount of partitions you have will make that impossible since they exceed the number of partitions that can exist on a single disk. – Ramhound – 2015-02-05T14:38:12.790

1Yeah, this is another problem to one of the potential roots. Acutally, I would prefer to keep GPT structure as it is the new trend. It was also my fault to blindly trust 'DriveImage XML' blindly. So, what about the other root: copy-paste the files to Windows(C:) directly? I found a few websites introducing how to recover files from windows.old folder after a new install. I think it's similar for my case. I am just not sure about whether directly copy-paste would cause boot problems. – John – 2015-02-05T15:26:14.957

You cannot just copy and paste Windows files and expect it to be bootable. There are far to many files you cannot access even as an Administrator ( for instance the registry hive ). – Ramhound – 2015-02-05T15:52:26.380

You are mostly correct in this regard. However, this link shows that it is somehow possible with Windows tool. https://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=12&checkda=1&ct=1423163897&rver=6.5.6509.0&wp=LBI&wreply=http:%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2Fkb%2F971760&lc=1033&id=288908

– John – 2015-02-05T19:18:39.977

You already wiped all that data. So that isn't an option in this case. – Ramhound – 2015-02-05T19:28:47.467

Well, I made several installs of windows. So the files in windows.old might not be the version that I want to restore. However, I did make a backup with DriveImage XML, which means that I have all the folders such as "Program Files", "Users", "Windows" .etc – John – 2015-02-05T21:10:04.560

Is your last comment just additional information in your discussion with Ramhound, or are you implying that your problem is solved? You might want to add key points from the comment thread to your question as additional clarifying information. – fixer1234 – 2015-02-05T22:46:05.610

Thanks for the suggestion, fixer1234. I did not find a solution to restore from the backup and I figured that it might take more time than to make a new install from scratch. So I made a new install and installed all the drivers and softwares. It took me like 3 hours. Anyway, I should say that it's ironic how DriveImage XML does not fulfill its only functionality. – John – 2015-02-06T10:00:14.843

DriveImage fulfills everything it was designed for, it does not support GPT. – Moab – 2015-02-08T00:50:23.170

Then, they clearly forgot to put a big warning that it does not support GPT-based disks. – John – 2015-02-08T14:42:29.653

Answers

0

I had the same issue.

I restored my backup partition on an external MBR disk using 'DriveImage XML'. I backed up the restored partition with an other appropriate backup/restore software (ie: not DriveImage XML) and, at last, I restored the latest backuped partition again on my tageted GPT disk with the appropriate backup/restore software.

I hope this could help !

user1039379

Posted 2015-02-05T14:25:16.143

Reputation: 1

Asked: 2015-02-05T14:25:16.143

Viewed: 2 999 times

Active: 2020-02-17T13:03:15.470