Following a fresh install of Windows XP Pro (from an OEM DVD - it’s a self-built system), all the relevant/latest hardware drivers/OEM software and Windows activation, I made a first backup using the above software. The backup was of an unpartitioned C: drive, amounted to 8.15Gb, was saved to a separate WD HDD and was verified successfully.
Problem: on trying to recover from this backup, an “Error occurred while opening this file” window appears following reboot.
First this is based on an old modified version of Acronis. By chance did you defrag the drives with the image on it? That has been known to cause problems. Did you run this backup from the boot CD or desktop? EaseUS, Paragon and Macrium all have free basic versions. Acronis has a try and buy version.
Yes, I did defragment the backup file in the days between saving and trying to recover from it - I noticed that it did so in a ‘weird’ way that a couple of other 3rd-party programs have in the past which later ceased working, i.e. nothing happened for about 1 minute (as if the Windows defragmenter was hanging) and then suddenly the complete file reappeared ‘defragmented’. Although the waste of time is annoying, at least I can now add Acronis to my list of cowboy software publishers!
Before reading your comment, I’d noticed from the Acronis forums that the WD offering is a ‘lite’ version of the 2009 release, so next I will be trying the full version of Paragon’s Backup & Recovery 11 that came with the December edition of Computer Shopper.
