Windows 7 Pro Backup and Restore stumper

Totally and completely stumped...

I was given 2 computers to do with as I wished, and I'm trying to bring
them back to life and donate to a local social agency.

Computer 1:

Compaq Small Form Factor. XZ8646UT. Dead hard drive which I replaced.
Did not have anything resembling the original system files, so used a
Dell W7 Pro restore DVD. Everything works, computer is activated.

Using the Backup and Restore program, I created a set of W7 system image
DVDs which work fine. When doing these projects, I always check the
disks to make sure they work.

Upgraded to W10 which worked fine until the replacement HD also started
to fail. Awaiting another replacement.

Computer 2:

HP 6000, smaller desktop. Optical drive physically broken, replaced with
a used unit I had. I think this computer was used as a small server
somewhere, since Linux was installed on it. Used the same Dell W7 Pro
DVD, everything works, system is activated.

But...

Creating a system image apparently goes into a loop. After burning the
first disk, the dialogue says to give the next disk the same number (1
in this case) and promptly burns the first disk over again. You can
tell this by watching the progress bar. Have only managed to make a
complete set, 3 disks, one time. But I burned that set before
activating. After activation, all attempts have failed.

Use the same DVD's on both systems.

Thinking the optical drive I installed was the issue, replaced it with
the drive from Computer 1, which did burn a set with no problem. But in
the HP, the image creation still failed. Tried a different brand of
DVDs, failed.

Not found anything Googling as of yet. Lots of failures, but none like
this.



Theories, anyone?






--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 36.0.4
Thunderbird 31.5
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 10/15/15 1:52 PM, Ken Springer wrote:
Totally and completely stumped...

I was given 2 computers to do with as I wished, and I'm trying to bring
them back to life and donate to a local social agency.

Computer 1:

Compaq Small Form Factor. XZ8646UT. Dead hard drive which I replaced.
Did not have anything resembling the original system files, so used a
Dell W7 Pro restore DVD. Everything works, computer is activated.

Using the Backup and Restore program, I created a set of W7 system image
DVDs which work fine. When doing these projects, I always check the
disks to make sure they work.

Upgraded to W10 which worked fine until the replacement HD also started
to fail. Awaiting another replacement.

Computer 2:

HP 6000, smaller desktop. Optical drive physically broken, replaced with
a used unit I had. I think this computer was used as a small server
somewhere, since Linux was installed on it. Used the same Dell W7 Pro
DVD, everything works, system is activated.

But...

Creating a system image apparently goes into a loop. After burning the
first disk, the dialogue says to give the next disk the same number (1
in this case) and promptly burns the first disk over again. You can
tell this by watching the progress bar. Have only managed to make a
complete set, 3 disks, one time. But I burned that set before
activating. After activation, all attempts have failed.

Use the same DVD's on both systems.

Thinking the optical drive I installed was the issue, replaced it with
the drive from Computer 1, which did burn a set with no problem. But in
the HP, the image creation still failed. Tried a different brand of
DVDs, failed.

Not found anything Googling as of yet. Lots of failures, but none like
this.



Theories, anyone?

I should have noted, all updates were installed before creating a system
image.


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 36.0.4
Thunderbird 31.5
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

Ken Springer wrote:
Totally and completely stumped...

I was given 2 computers to do with as I wished, and I'm trying to bring
them back to life and donate to a local social agency.

Computer 1:

Compaq Small Form Factor. XZ8646UT. Dead hard drive which I replaced.
Did not have anything resembling the original system files, so used a
Dell W7 Pro restore DVD. Everything works, computer is activated.

Using the Backup and Restore program, I created a set of W7 system image
DVDs which work fine. When doing these projects, I always check the
disks to make sure they work.

Upgraded to W10 which worked fine until the replacement HD also started
to fail. Awaiting another replacement.

Computer 2:

HP 6000, smaller desktop. Optical drive physically broken, replaced with
a used unit I had. I think this computer was used as a small server
somewhere, since Linux was installed on it. Used the same Dell W7 Pro
DVD, everything works, system is activated.

But...

Creating a system image apparently goes into a loop. After burning the
first disk, the dialogue says to give the next disk the same number (1
in this case) and promptly burns the first disk over again. You can
tell this by watching the progress bar. Have only managed to make a
complete set, 3 disks, one time. But I burned that set before
activating. After activation, all attempts have failed.

Use the same DVD's on both systems.

Thinking the optical drive I installed was the issue, replaced it with
the drive from Computer 1, which did burn a set with no problem. But in
the HP, the image creation still failed. Tried a different brand of
DVDs, failed.

Not found anything Googling as of yet. Lots of failures, but none like
this.

Theories, anyone?

It sounds like the status of the first burn was "failed".
That might happen if "Verify" is turned on and a check of
the burned disc reveals trouble.

You'd need to see if there was a log file to consult,
with the progress of the backup in it.

OK, I don't see a logging option here. The "wbadmin" command
is the command line equivalent of using the GUI. Notice it
has a "-noVerify" option, implying the default is to verify
the contents of the DVD after the burn. Normally, if a
read-verify of a DVD is carried out, it happens at
a higher speed than the write, so costs you maybe 50%
more time.

"Wbadmin start backup"
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/.../cc742083.aspx

The poster here, finds side effects of his backup attempt
in Event Viewer. The date and time in Event Viewer should
be used to correlate with your attempts at doing backups.
Unfortunately, the user was scooted to some other forum,
rather than have his question answered.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...85c9a47?auth=1

I find Windows Backup to be a wee bit of a pig when
it comes to DVDs. I was testing Windows Backup in
some flavor of Win8, and there was a bug where the
disc needed to be "formatted" before being offered
to the backup program. It meant sitting in front of
the computer and baby sitting the damn thing (2 hours
total). I would much rather the software just create
ISO9660 files which I could process later and make media,
as then I could keep my sanity.

Paul

On Thu, 15 Oct 2015 13:52:34 -0600, Ken Springer
wrote:

Totally and completely stumped...

I was given 2 computers to do with as I wished, and I'm trying to bring
them back to life and donate to a local social agency.

Computer 1:

Compaq Small Form Factor. XZ8646UT. Dead hard drive which I replaced.
Did not have anything resembling the original system files, so used a
Dell W7 Pro restore DVD. Everything works, computer is activated.

Using the Backup and Restore program, I created a set of W7 system image
DVDs which work fine. When doing these projects, I always check the
disks to make sure they work.

I'm not sure why you'd use Win 7's Backup and Restore program. There are
much better options available.

Upgraded to W10 which worked fine until the replacement HD also started
to fail. Awaiting another replacement.

That sounds suspicious. Failed hard drives are quite rare these days. Two
failed hard drives in the same PC might signal an issue.

--

Char Jackson

On 10/15/15 3:05 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
Totally and completely stumped...

I was given 2 computers to do with as I wished, and I'm trying to bring
them back to life and donate to a local social agency.

Computer 1:

Compaq Small Form Factor. XZ8646UT. Dead hard drive which I replaced.
Did not have anything resembling the original system files, so used a
Dell W7 Pro restore DVD. Everything works, computer is activated.

Using the Backup and Restore program, I created a set of W7 system image
DVDs which work fine. When doing these projects, I always check the
disks to make sure they work.

Upgraded to W10 which worked fine until the replacement HD also started
to fail. Awaiting another replacement.

Computer 2:

HP 6000, smaller desktop. Optical drive physically broken, replaced with
a used unit I had. I think this computer was used as a small server
somewhere, since Linux was installed on it. Used the same Dell W7 Pro
DVD, everything works, system is activated.

But...

Creating a system image apparently goes into a loop. After burning the
first disk, the dialogue says to give the next disk the same number (1
in this case) and promptly burns the first disk over again. You can
tell this by watching the progress bar. Have only managed to make a
complete set, 3 disks, one time. But I burned that set before
activating. After activation, all attempts have failed.

Use the same DVD's on both systems.

Thinking the optical drive I installed was the issue, replaced it with
the drive from Computer 1, which did burn a set with no problem. But in
the HP, the image creation still failed. Tried a different brand of
DVDs, failed.

Not found anything Googling as of yet. Lots of failures, but none like
this.

Theories, anyone?

It sounds like the status of the first burn was "failed".
That might happen if "Verify" is turned on and a check of
the burned disc reveals trouble.

I had the same thought, by just watching what was happening. Then that
didn't make a lot of sense when the same thing happened with the drive
that worked in Computer 1. Same brand and package of DVDs.

You'd need to see if there was a log file to consult,
with the progress of the backup in it.

OK, I don't see a logging option here. The "wbadmin" command
is the command line equivalent of using the GUI. Notice it
has a "-noVerify" option, implying the default is to verify
the contents of the DVD after the burn. Normally, if a
read-verify of a DVD is carried out, it happens at
a higher speed than the write, so costs you maybe 50%
more time.

"Wbadmin start backup"
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/.../cc742083.aspx

The poster here, finds side effects of his backup attempt
in Event Viewer. The date and time in Event Viewer should
be used to correlate with your attempts at doing backups.
Unfortunately, the user was scooted to some other forum,
rather than have his question answered.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...85c9a47?auth=1

I find Windows Backup to be a wee bit of a pig when
it comes to DVDs. I was testing Windows Backup in
some flavor of Win8, and there was a bug where the
disc needed to be "formatted" before being offered
to the backup program. It meant sitting in front of
the computer and baby sitting the damn thing (2 hours
total). I would much rather the software just create
ISO9660 files which I could process later and make media,
as then I could keep my sanity.

Win7 GUI also gives you a warning the disk needs to be formatted, but
there is a check box where you can tell W7 to do it with each subsequent
disk and not be asked.

It just doesn't make any sense to me that this situation should even
exist. :-|



--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 36.0.4
Thunderbird 31.5
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 10/15/15 4:19 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
On Thu, 15 Oct 2015 13:52:34 -0600, Ken Springer
wrote:

Totally and completely stumped...

I was given 2 computers to do with as I wished, and I'm trying to bring
them back to life and donate to a local social agency.

Computer 1:

Compaq Small Form Factor. XZ8646UT. Dead hard drive which I replaced.
Did not have anything resembling the original system files, so used a
Dell W7 Pro restore DVD. Everything works, computer is activated.

Using the Backup and Restore program, I created a set of W7 system image
DVDs which work fine. When doing these projects, I always check the
disks to make sure they work.

I'm not sure why you'd use Win 7's Backup and Restore program. There are
much better options available.

It's looking down the road. These 2 computers are destined for the
social services folks I'm both working and volunteering for. So I'm
considering what might happen when I'm no longer looking after their
computers.

My modus operandi is to keep it as simple as possible in this case. So
if I use whatever is available in the operating system, I think, if the
person after me is basically computer illiterate, the simpler appearing
Windows program might be less intimidating.

No backups will be scheduled/needed. Only the one initial system image
of the W7 install.

I want to get all systems, maybe a total of 8, to be set up as identical
as possible. I'm not even sure all their software installs are legal.
Eventually, all will be W10, but these W7 images are in case there needs
to be a rollback to 7 for some reason that isn't apparent within the
default 30 days you're given. So all I'm doing is getting all the W7
updates at that point installed, then moving on to W10.

I did like the look and feel of EaseUS Todo Backup, but was never
successful with DVD images there either.

Upgraded to W10 which worked fine until the replacement HD also started
to fail. Awaiting another replacement.

That sounds suspicious. Failed hard drives are quite rare these days. Two
failed hard drives in the same PC might signal an issue.

The computer came with a dead drive. It was dropped off at work for
recycling, and I ended up with it. I do have to keep costs down, so I
ordered a refurbished drive. It was DOA. And the 2nd one lasted 2-3
weeks, w/ SMART indicting @3.5 years continuous use. But as long as
Micro Center will replace them for free, I'll keep trying them. LOL


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 36.0.4
Thunderbird 31.5
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On Thu, 15 Oct 2015 19:30:11 -0600, Ken Springer
wrote:

On 10/15/15 4:19 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
On Thu, 15 Oct 2015 13:52:34 -0600, Ken Springer
wrote:

Totally and completely stumped...

I was given 2 computers to do with as I wished, and I'm trying to bring
them back to life and donate to a local social agency.

Computer 1:

Compaq Small Form Factor. XZ8646UT. Dead hard drive which I replaced.
Did not have anything resembling the original system files, so used a
Dell W7 Pro restore DVD. Everything works, computer is activated.

Using the Backup and Restore program, I created a set of W7 system image
DVDs which work fine. When doing these projects, I always check the
disks to make sure they work.

I'm not sure why you'd use Win 7's Backup and Restore program. There are
much better options available.

It's looking down the road. These 2 computers are destined for the
social services folks I'm both working and volunteering for. So I'm
considering what might happen when I'm no longer looking after their
computers.

My modus operandi is to keep it as simple as possible in this case. So
if I use whatever is available in the operating system, I think, if the
person after me is basically computer illiterate, the simpler appearing
Windows program might be less intimidating.

No backups will be scheduled/needed. Only the one initial system image
of the W7 install.

I want to get all systems, maybe a total of 8, to be set up as identical
as possible. I'm not even sure all their software installs are legal.
Eventually, all will be W10, but these W7 images are in case there needs
to be a rollback to 7 for some reason that isn't apparent within the
default 30 days you're given. So all I'm doing is getting all the W7
updates at that point installed, then moving on to W10.

I did like the look and feel of EaseUS Todo Backup, but was never
successful with DVD images there either.

Upgraded to W10 which worked fine until the replacement HD also started
to fail. Awaiting another replacement.

That sounds suspicious. Failed hard drives are quite rare these days. Two
failed hard drives in the same PC might signal an issue.

The computer came with a dead drive. It was dropped off at work for
recycling, and I ended up with it. I do have to keep costs down, so I
ordered a refurbished drive. It was DOA. And the 2nd one lasted 2-3
weeks, w/ SMART indicting @3.5 years continuous use. But as long as
Micro Center will replace them for free, I'll keep trying them. LOL

I wonder how many times MicroCenter sends them out to unsuspecting customers
before they get the hint that the drive really has an issue.

--

Char Jackson

On 10/15/15 1:52 PM, Ken Springer wrote:
Totally and completely stumped...

I was given 2 computers to do with as I wished, and I'm trying to bring
them back to life and donate to a local social agency.

Computer 1:

Compaq Small Form Factor. XZ8646UT. Dead hard drive which I replaced.
Did not have anything resembling the original system files, so used a
Dell W7 Pro restore DVD. Everything works, computer is activated.

Using the Backup and Restore program, I created a set of W7 system image
DVDs which work fine. When doing these projects, I always check the
disks to make sure they work.

Upgraded to W10 which worked fine until the replacement HD also started
to fail. Awaiting another replacement.

Computer 2:

HP 6000, smaller desktop. Optical drive physically broken, replaced with
a used unit I had. I think this computer was used as a small server
somewhere, since Linux was installed on it. Used the same Dell W7 Pro
DVD, everything works, system is activated.

But...

Creating a system image apparently goes into a loop. After burning the
first disk, the dialogue says to give the next disk the same number (1
in this case) and promptly burns the first disk over again. You can
tell this by watching the progress bar. Have only managed to make a
complete set, 3 disks, one time. But I burned that set before
activating. After activation, all attempts have failed.

Use the same DVD's on both systems.

Thinking the optical drive I installed was the issue, replaced it with
the drive from Computer 1, which did burn a set with no problem. But in
the HP, the image creation still failed. Tried a different brand of
DVDs, failed.

Not found anything Googling as of yet. Lots of failures, but none like
this.

I had to sit this aside until today.

But the problem is hardware related, and it's not the two optical drives
as one of them worked in another system.

Today, I tried plugging in a USB optical disk, expecting the backup to
fail. It didn't, ran perfectly.

The only thing(s) I can think of that is hardware related that I haven't
looked at is the SATA cable(s). Those are now my prime suspects.

But, I won't be doing any troubleshooting for the next few days. I need
to get Windows 10 on this computer.


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 36.0.4
Thunderbird 31.5
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"