Default for Restoring Whole Disk to Orig Drive: First Track

[boomer3200]

Hi,

I normally use Image for Windows in WinPE to restore a whole disk image of a Dell system with Windows XP to the same original drive. I restore using the normal option and would like to ask about the best settings to use in that scenario. Specifically, I'm wondering most about when to force recovery of theFirst Track and the Disk Signature.

My understanding is that the default is not to restore the First Track in IfW (in case someone wants to recover a partition only). However, I've also seen people say on the forum that if you select a whole drive to restore (C as the target in this case), then the first track would be recovered with the AUTO option by default. Is that correct?

I understand that the First Track restore includes the MBR/EMBR, disk signature, and boot code. Does AUTO restore that information only if it sees a difference between the image and the actual drive? Or rather does it write the whole First Track apart from the partition table if it sees any data in the image file? In the first case of only restoring when there are differences, you would only need or want to explicitly select "restore first track" to change the AUTO setting to a specific sector count if you have an unusual third-party tool occupying part of that area (I do not). Otherwise, you might want to always restore the First Track as an option.

Ultimately, I'm wondering if I should normally still restore from the known good image of the First Track even in cases where I think the current state of the drive's First Track is okay. I assume the Disk Signature would almost never change unless I altered the drive letter, but it's harder to know about the rest apart from simply seeing if the system boots.

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

Normally, the only reason you would need to force the first track restore would be if there was code there that wasn't supported (e.g. an unsupported boot manager). In most cases, the "AUTO" option works fine.

When you restore a disk image the first track is restored automatically ("AUTO" setting). There is no "Restore First Track" option to enable since it's enabled by default. If necessary, you can change "AUTO" to force restoring all sectors or specific sectors (e.g. "0" to restore the entire track, "3" for first three sectors, etc.). For example, if the disk is configured as EMBR and you restore the disk image, the first track data (where the EMBR data is stored) is automatically restored and the disk will be configured as EMBR even if it was MBR before the restore.

When you restore a disk image the original disk signature (the one saved in the backup) is also restored by default. In your scenario you don't need to change it.

Changing a drive letter does not change the disk signature. Changing the signature usually does change drive letter assignments.

[boomer3200]

TeraByte Support(PP) wrote:
>
> When you restore a disk image the first track is restored automatically
> ("AUTO" setting). There is no "Restore First Track"
> option to enable since it's enabled by default. If necessary, you can
> change "AUTO" to force restoring all sectors or specific sectors
> (e.g. "0" to restore the entire track, "3" for first
> three sectors, etc.). For example, if the disk is configured as EMBR and
> you restore the disk image, the first track data (where the EMBR data is
> stored) is automatically restored and the disk will be configured as EMBR
> even if it was MBR before the restore.
>
> When you restore a disk image the original disk signature (the one saved in
> the backup) is also restored by default. In your scenario you don't need to
> change it.
>

Thanks for your detailed and quick reply Paul. I was uncertain that the First Track was being restored by default when restoring the whole image. The reason why was that under Restore Options the choices for Restore Disk Signature and Restore First Track were still de-selected by default, and the AUTO text box was greyed-out as shown on page 86 of the IfW manual. Sounds like the First Track containging the Disk Signature is always restored when the whole disk is selected. I appreciate the explanation.

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

Page 86 is displaying the options when restoring a partition. In that case, the first track and signature are not restored by default because you're most likely restoring back to the original drive or to a different drive that's already configured.

[boomer3200]

TeraByte Support(PP) wrote:
> Page 86 is displaying the options when restoring a partition. In that case,
> the first track and signature are not restored by default because you're
> most likely restoring back to the original drive or to a different drive
> that's already configured.

I'm getting the same display with the Restore First Track and Restore Disk Signature boxes unmarked when restoring from an image file to the whole original drive. I selected to restore to the whole drive with a checkmark (C) and the two partitions it contained were automatically checked.

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

Sounds like a partial backup (entire drive not selected when backed up). Does the "Disk" line end with "Partial"?

[boomer3200]

No, under Disk to Restore I select the HD and under Where to Restore I select HD0. Not seeing Partial listed in either of those places.

[Brian K]

On the Options screen, is the first choice "Scale to Fit" or "Set Active"?

[boomer3200]

Scale to Fit is the first choice

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

Are you using an older version of IFW?