O.T. Missing Folder/files

If I'm understanding you correctly the disk id's do not match up
C: drive is (000369E9) and the E: drive is (000E9230) so I would
need instructions to change the XML file.

https://postimg.cc/tnCkssyL


I had the thought of doing a test to see if the older Mrimgs we
haven't checked if they also have the have the XML error but
before doing so I saw our last Mrimg we did after I downloaded
an important update and it doesn't have the XML error.

https://postimg.cc/SnQ86BMp


Robert

Robert in CA wrote:
If I'm understanding you correctly the disk id's do not match up
C: drive is (000369E9) and the E: drive is (000E9230) so I would
need instructions to change the XML file.

https://postimg.cc/tnCkssyL


I had the thought of doing a test to see if the older Mrimgs we
haven't checked if they also have the have the XML error but
before doing so I saw our last Mrimg we did after I downloaded
an important update and it doesn't have the XML error.

https://postimg.cc/SnQ86BMp


Robert


You're probably backing up the first disk, containing
System and Windows. The identifier applies to the whole
disk, so the Macrium XML file would look like this. Partition 1
is "System" and Partition 2 is "Windows".

image_entry id="1"
!-- disk is the 1 based index of the disk to be imaged --
!-- id is the disk signature and is ... ... --
disk id="000369E9"1/disk
!-- partition is the 1 based index of the partition on the disk --
partition1/partition
/image_entry

image_entry id="2"
disk id="000369E9"1/disk
partition2/partition
/image_entry

E: is probably part of the backup drive, so "000E9230" won't be in the
sources section of the XML file.

*******

Each backup you make, records the DiskID it found. Even if the XML
file has the wrong value, the MRIMG file will have the "as recorded"
value, ensuring during restoration, that the Disk ID will
end up the same as it was during the backup.

Somewhere along the way, you changed drives and don't
remember doing that.

This problem does not materially affect what's been done,
so there is no reason for hair loss here. If you restore an
MRIMG, if tries to put things back as recorded in the MRIMG.
And when the backups are made, Macrium faithfully records
what is on the disk, even if it doesn't match the XML file.

Fixing up the XML file now, is for consistency and to cause
the error to buzz off. A Macrium backup run today, will
show the same metadata as one made yesterday.

Macrium does as much consistency checking as it can,
before the backup operation starts. Once it starts making
a backup, the software is convinced the backup has
sufficient integrity to be useful. It knows it is backing
up SATA Port 1, even though the identifier didn't match.
If a matching identifier had been found on any other
port in the machine, that's the one that would have got
backed up. The algorithm is, back up the "Disk ID" one
if you can find a match, otherwise, use the port number
and grab that drive, as the closest matching identifier.
If there was no drive on Port 1, the Disk ID didn't match,
Macrium would stop and present some red error text.

Paul

I understand what you're telling me about the Mrimg ID and backups but
I thought I identified the ID because you said it was where we check items
and those were the only numbers I could find. Where else would it be?

I only time I changed hd in the 780 was after I bought it I installed a new 2TB
hd and I changed the external (1TB) hd for a (2TB) hd but that was ages ago
almost as far back as when I started using external hd's in the first place. The
only time I replaced the hd in the 780 recently was when we had that bad Win
7 hd that wouldn't boot which is why I bought all the new hd's to clone but that
doesn't explain how far back the XML occurred.

I still would like to clean this up by editing the XML regardless if the backup
is just mismatched and we haven't even looked at the 8500 or the Windows 10
hd's to see if they also have this issue. I didn't invest all this money and effort
for a backup system to have Mrimgs that are mismatched. I would like clean
matched Mrimgs.


Robert

Robert in CA wrote:
I understand what you're telling me about the Mrimg ID and backups but
I thought I identified the ID because you said it was where we check items
and those were the only numbers I could find. Where else would it be?

I only time I changed hd in the 780 was after I bought it I installed a new 2TB
hd and I changed the external (1TB) hd for a (2TB) hd but that was ages ago
almost as far back as when I started using external hd's in the first place. The
only time I replaced the hd in the 780 recently was when we had that bad Win
7 hd that wouldn't boot which is why I bought all the new hd's to clone but that
doesn't explain how far back the XML occurred.

I still would like to clean this up by editing the XML regardless if the backup
is just mismatched and we haven't even looked at the 8500 or the Windows 10
hd's to see if they also have this issue. I didn't invest all this money and effort
for a backup system to have Mrimgs that are mismatched. I would like clean
matched Mrimgs.


Robert

You can make brand-new backup plans using the GUI.

I only showed you this, so you could test and see if
the error message goes away.

I make lots of backup definitions on my copies of Macrium,
and if I have any question about what I'm doing, I just
make another one :-)

Paul

I created a new Mrimg backup then I went into disk management.

https://postimg.cc/pm4CGcZ1

https://postimg.cc/qt2smJgz

and here's the 8500:

https://postimg.cc/t7bjv2vT

Robert

Robert in CA wrote:
I created a new Mrimg backup then I went into disk management.

https://postimg.cc/pm4CGcZ1

https://postimg.cc/qt2smJgz

and here's the 8500:

https://postimg.cc/t7bjv2vT

Robert


I don't see any complaint in the first pair.
Is there supposed to be a problem there ?

The second one (8500) shows me a 1TB drive and a USB stick.

Paul

No I was just showing it to you in case you saw
something that was out of order.

However I thought I had changed the 8500 hd
from a (1TB) hd to a (2 TB) hd so that means it's
the original hd in the 8500. Which makes it all
the more important we create error free Mrimg
backups so that I can create Win 7 Pro clone
backup hd's for both computers.

So was my computer ID correct? if not then where
do I find it? If it was then how do we edit the XML?

Thoughts/suggestions?
Robert

Robert in CA wrote:
No I was just showing it to you in case you saw
something that was out of order.

However I thought I had changed the 8500 hd
from a (1TB) hd to a (2 TB) hd so that means it's
the original hd in the 8500. Which makes it all
the more important we create error free Mrimg
backups so that I can create Win 7 Pro clone
backup hd's for both computers.

So was my computer ID correct? if not then where
do I find it? If it was then how do we edit the XML?

Thoughts/suggestions?
Robert

The DiskID shows up in the Macrium Reflect backup window.

Partition1 Partition2
+-----+------------+-----------+
| MBR | System | C: | Disk1 (on Macrium XML file)
+-----+------------+-----------+ Disk0 (on Disk Management window)
^ ^ ^
| | |
| VolumeID VolumeID
DiskID

+-----+------------+-----------+
| MBR | System | C: | Disk2 (on Macrium XML file)
+-----+------------+-----------+ Disk1 (on Disk Management window)
^ ^ ^
| | |
| VolumeID VolumeID
DiskID

When you place a brand new drive in a computer,
then examine in Disk Management, it prompts right away
for partitioning type. It is around this time, that the
basic format of MBR is established and a "unique" DiskID
written.

Alternately, when Macrium clones Disk1 to Disk2,
one of the steps afterwards is ensuring the DiskID
of the clone is different than the DiskID of the source.

If the DiskID on two disks is the same, if Disk1=Disk2,
then Disk2 goes "Offline" and the partitions won't mount
and you can't put files on it.

There's no particular reason for DiskID to exist!
Each drive has a serial number set at the factory,
the combination Vendor : Model : SerialNumber is
a unique enough number, that fabricating a DiskID
isn't necessary. But, there it is, and we're stuck
with it.

It is, for the most part, self-maintaining. I've only
edited one with a hex editor, maybe once or twice.

The VolumeID can be edited with this. I've used this
command a lot more over the years, but mainly when
re-creating a partition and trying to make it "match"
its predecessor.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sys...loads/volumeid

It's possible for a USB stick to not have a serial number,
and then the DiskID is the tie breaker. That should not be
happening too much today. Electronics are a lot more
serializable than they used to be. USB compliance is better.

Paul

I understand we can change the label but not the ID but not
how do I do it step by step? I have no clue what to do even
after I download it ?

I decided to do a backup on the 8500 to check it and see if it
had the same XML issue. All Mrimgs looked good until the end
and the earliest date! So I've had this since 2016 and there's no
way how I could remember that long ago what I did to get this
but we need to resolve this problem if I'm going to have clean
Mrimgs for both computers This is especially true of the 8500
which has it's original hd and needs to have clones made.

https://postimg.cc/CRgxByhS

https://postimg.cc/yDjsDkpy

https://postimg.cc/mzzspVLm

https://postimg.cc/bdV6w8RS

Thanks,
Robert

Robert in CA wrote:
I understand we can change the label but not the ID but not
how do I do it step by step? I have no clue what to do even
after I download it ?

I decided to do a backup on the 8500 to check it and see if it
had the same XML issue. All Mrimgs looked good until the end
and the earliest date! So I've had this since 2016 and there's no
way how I could remember that long ago what I did to get this
but we need to resolve this problem if I'm going to have clean
Mrimgs for both computers This is especially true of the 8500
which has it's original hd and needs to have clones made.

https://postimg.cc/CRgxByhS

https://postimg.cc/yDjsDkpy

https://postimg.cc/mzzspVLm

https://postimg.cc/bdV6w8RS

Thanks,
Robert

What you're looking at there, is a list of backup definition files.

The earliest ones were made to back up a disk configuration
that existed in 2016.

The backup definition is there, to back up the things you
wanted at the time. There must have been a partition 4 at
the time for example.

Such a backup definition file would not be relevant to today
in 2021. Your drive has fewer partitions on it, implying
you made a configuration change.

Consequently, a backup definition prepared in more modern
times, is likely to be correct for a job in 2021.

You don't have to use the old definitions, in the year 2021.

What's important, is the partitions you need to back up,
are getting backed up. To check that, you go to Restore,
Browse for files to restore, select one, pretend you're
going to Restore it. There will be a graphical representation
on the screen, including a DiskID. That tells you what
actually got recorded. If there is a System and a C: ,
then that's the OS portion secured. If there is a 24GB Restore
partition, that's the Dell Restore for putting a clean OS back.
Maybe you've captured that too. That would be part of keeping
a Dell 8500 in order perhaps.

I don't see anything particularly wrong here. Computers
change. We make new definition files in the Backup menu,
to account for change, and capture the disk as it is
today.

Perhaps you would not want to even restore an image from 2016.

When the image does not match, there are some things you can do.

1) Select an MRIMG file, like double click on one in File Explorer,
and you should be prompted, via a small window with a tick box
per backed-up partition, to mount the MRIMG file as if it is
a virtual disk drive. The letter C: you backed up, you can, via
that menu, tell the machine to temporarily make that drive
letter W: . Once mounted, you can traverse W: and copy out your
BookMarks file from 2016 and put it on a current partition of the
hard drive.

This is the so-called "Random Access" option, in which you go
fishing inside a backup, for a specific file or folder you need.

There is no need to restore every blasted MRIMG collected.
Some images collected are so old, they may not be desirable
as fully restorable images. They can be treated like a USB stick
with select-files stored in them.

I gave an example, where the oldest one I fully restored, was
two years old. And I only went back two years, for a specific
driver issue. Eventually, I returned the machine to the present day.

It's unlikely you would return the machine to 2016, to fix a
malware problem.

2) You can restore just a single partition from an old backup.
As long as the partition isn't marked Active, it won't blow up
the boot-ability of the computer. But there is only room for
four primary partitions (with MSDOS partitioning). You could
for example, examine the 2016 image collected (if you still
have one), and pull the "partition 4" from it that is currently
missing.

Again, no reason to restore the whole thing. You can be more
selective.

This is a lot like looking at old manuscripts at the library.
You expect old items to look "crusty" from the perspective of
today. Examining the images, by Browsing them, can help you
discover what changes happened to the drive setup over time.

This is why, picking names for MRIMGs, putting comments in the
Comment Field, is important for future archaeological purposes.
A backup is as useful, as the effort you put into cataloging
it. And don't panic, because you've collected "lots of something".
For example, I doubt you've lost a single BookMarks file. C:
is probably in every one of those backups.

If a backup completes too quickly, that's a hint something is
wrong. For example, one backup test I did, I was expecting
the backup to take 2 hours and it took 10 minutes. That
was a hint to me, that the preference I'd selected, hadn't
worked. And that's the only time to be really concerned, is
if the output isn't big enough to contain what you think it
contains.

You have many backup definition files. You made them for
a reason. The "name" of the backup, the text you enter,
that's your hint for later as to what you were doing.

Backup Definitions Existing MRIMG files
------------------ --------------------

Don't have to match Contain a self sufficient
existing MRIMG files snapshot.

Backup Definition 1.XML Can be examine, mounted,
Backup Definition 2.XML restored, as they stand,
.... independent of anything
else.
These are like cooking recipes.
"If you don't want a 2016 cake, Via Comments you keep in
don't use a 2016 recipe." the file, such a Comment
helps later, when figuring
them out.

There is no reason to panic. This is Forensics 101,
leave enough evidence *somewhere* so that if there
is any discrepancy, you've taken note of what happened
and why you did it.

I keep a notes file on my computer, for this purpose.
That's the central control for my machine. Think of it
as a log book. It doesn't have to be "pretty" to work,
it just needs hints. I occasionally transfer the notes
file to the other machine, so I have two copies of the
log.

Paul

I started a fake restore to check partitions and hopefully
found what you meant? Is the image ID the same as the
disk ID? and I see a backup ID?

https://postimg.cc/HVPQzXHx

https://postimg.cc/DS91khS3

I was just going through the Mrimgs looking to see if any
had the XML alert and it just happened to be 2016. You're
correct, I wouldn't want to use it anyway. I remember we
tried random access awhile ago to access my folders files.
I seemed to have difficulty with it.

I thought again about what you said about mismatched
Mrimgs which would explain the lost of some of my
bookmarks on the 8500 and this happened recently not
back in 2016
but I have 99% of what I had so it's not a great loss and I'm
still using the Patriot Key for documents I'm working on so
I don't loose them but I might as well move them all back to
the 8500.

However, that being said if we change the I.D. labels it's only
to stop the VML error from appearing but from what I see it
has already stopped on both computers as the recent Mrimgs
show on the 780 and all the Mrimgs on the 8500 are good after
the VML alert.

So I'm now inclined to go with your thinking and that the
Mrimgs are alright but it still doesn't fix the backspace key which
started all of this and we'll see if the new keyboard fixes this issue.
Then we can move forward and clone the hd for the 780 and 8500.

What do you think?

Robert

Robert in CA wrote:
I started a fake restore to check partitions and hopefully
found what you meant? Is the image ID the same as the
disk ID? and I see a backup ID?

https://postimg.cc/HVPQzXHx

https://postimg.cc/DS91khS3

I was just going through the Mrimgs looking to see if any
had the XML alert and it just happened to be 2016. You're
correct, I wouldn't want to use it anyway. I remember we
tried random access awhile ago to access my folders files.
I seemed to have difficulty with it.

I thought again about what you said about mismatched
Mrimgs which would explain the lost of some of my
bookmarks on the 8500 and this happened recently not
back in 2016
but I have 99% of what I had so it's not a great loss and I'm
still using the Patriot Key for documents I'm working on so
I don't loose them but I might as well move them all back to
the 8500.

However, that being said if we change the I.D. labels it's only
to stop the VML error from appearing but from what I see it
has already stopped on both computers as the recent Mrimgs
show on the 780 and all the Mrimgs on the 8500 are good after
the VML alert.

So I'm now inclined to go with your thinking and that the
Mrimgs are alright but it still doesn't fix the backspace key which
started all of this and we'll see if the new keyboard fixes this issue.
Then we can move forward and clone the hd for the 780 and 8500.

What do you think?

Robert


That sounds like a good plan.

Your most recent XML file likely matches the machine config
with its single disk, and that's why no partition errors
are showing.

I still don't have a way to debug the backspace key. I was
investigating a method, but Microsoft has kinda shut the
door on the tools, and if I got it working, it would
only work in Windows 10. Which is not part of my plans
particularly. I want tools that work on multiple OSes,
I don't like broken/restrictive stuff.

Paul

Agreed about the backspace key but I still don't understand how
it can function while typing yet not function for websites like
eBay where I used it allot. However, we'll see if the new
keyboard fixes it like the mouse did. At least that's my hope.
If not, we can look at other things but as you say Microsoft has
kinda tied our hands on the matter.

The only other option that I can see is to buy another non-Microsoft
keyboard that would load new non-Microsoft drivers e.g. Logitech
K310 or a wired version of it.

I still think it's weird that both computers have the exact same
problems, e.g. XML alert, and backspace keys not functioning
yet I barely use the 780. It's only there as a backup for the 8500.
I run scan on it and do Mrimgs and that's about it. I do open this
site and Dell Imaging, and Notepad occasionally like when doing
Mrimgs.

Once we finish creating clones for the 780 I think I would like to
check the Win 10 hd's to make sure they are OK Also we can re-
visit the PCI cars and see if we can find one for the 780.

Thoughts/suggestions?
Robert

Robert in CA wrote:
Agreed about the backspace key but I still don't understand how
it can function while typing yet not function for websites like
eBay where I used it allot. However, we'll see if the new
keyboard fixes it like the mouse did. At least that's my hope.
If not, we can look at other things but as you say Microsoft has
kinda tied our hands on the matter.

The only other option that I can see is to buy another non-Microsoft
keyboard that would load new non-Microsoft drivers e.g. Logitech
K310 or a wired version of it.

I still think it's weird that both computers have the exact same
problems, e.g. XML alert, and backspace keys not functioning
yet I barely use the 780. It's only there as a backup for the 8500.
I run scan on it and do Mrimgs and that's about it. I do open this
site and Dell Imaging, and Notepad occasionally like when doing
Mrimgs.

Once we finish creating clones for the 780 I think I would like to
check the Win 10 hd's to make sure they are OK Also we can re-
visit the PCI cars and see if we can find one for the 780.

Thoughts/suggestions?
Robert


When using your browser, don't forget to click outside the text box
so the backspace key is not considered text input.

Paul

I'm not exactly sure what you mean? I understand the concept
your suggesting but I don't understand what you mean by 'clicking
outside of the text box so it's not considered part of the test input'.

What text box? When I'm writing in Word the space key functions
on the same line as the text to remove it. If I'm on eBay I look at an
item and then press backspace to return to the previous screen.

Robert