Backup Images and Copy Prohibited Recordings

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Bee_Dee_3_Dee

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#41

Post by Bee_Dee_3_Dee » Thu May 16, 2013 8:07 pm

nathagt wrote:No, but I'll be doing it tonight or tomorrow night (now that OKC is out of the NBA finals). I currently have my OS on a 32GB SSD but it's not enough space. I'm restoring to a new 120GB SSD and I'm hoping that won't break my DRM keys.
omg!

i'm the biggest nba/ basketball fan. (BOTH indiana and miami) i was just pausing the okc mem game at 2:47 42-35 so i could beat a chapter of a game called Cry of Fear.... :D

np though. :D

i've rooted against okc (sry) (i luv miami) and okc was in deep trouble without westbrook.

i needed the break. ty u saved me time. i'll skip ahead now and see if it was close..........

k, i just watched the ending. and that wasn't close. but i still want to see the TNT crew's take on miami. ;)

But, now, back to the Image restore...................................

if you've never done a restore with any software ever. and that's wat is sounds like:

A. Don't rely on running Acronis (any imaging software) exclusively from within Windows. In other words, MAKE the bootable recovery disk. (the option to make one is in several places including the program's Start Menu goup) And test it to be sure that you can not only, boot from it; but that you can also browse to (see/ select) backup image(s). And if all seems fine, as far as the boot disk and seeing backups (selecting them), then don't bother to run the restore from the boot disk. Instead, just exit the program. then boot back into windows. and start a restore from Acronis in Windows. See, u want to be comfortable with the bootable version of Acronis. But use it only when windows won't boot.

B. If u ever do, use the bootable disk to restore, be careful when choosing the location to restore the backup, to. Because while running the bootable Acronis (any bootable imaging software), the drive letters can be different from when running Windows. For example, C drive might be listed D, E, or F rather than C. And as a result, a drive with important data might actually be listed as C drive and u could accidentally overwrite it. The only way to truly know, is to have a labeling system. i use labels based on the size, manufacture, and partition. My C drive is labeled, "250_WDC_D1_P1". Because i know that my C drive is labeled, "250_WDC_D1_P1", i can always rest assured that that, is where i want to restore an image of my C drive. no matter wat drive letter is assigned to it. Note: The "D1" part is so i can distinguish drives; if i ever were to have multiple 250 GB WDC (Western Digital Corp) HDDs. Like for example, i DO have two 1.5 TB HDDs. Made by Seagate. I label the two of them, "1.5_SEA_D1_P1" and "1.5_SEA_D2_P1".

C. Most important of all, is the following question: "What am i going to do if the restoration fails?" Because, it can fail, and at any point during the restoration. And as a result u could be left with a PC that won't boot at all; because the C drive's partition was deleted at the beginning of the restoration that failed- which IS what is done 1st (automatically) when the restoration begins. Well, as a result, most people just end up reinstalling Windows. And those same ppl much of the time give up on imaging software. hopefully u are successful!

D. Hopefully they have cleared-up the MBR (Master Boot Record) backup part of Acronis. IF it is still the same; then u may be puzzled by the options to restore just the partition, just the MBR, or both. Here's how works:
1. Say everything is mostly AOK with ur PC. It starts, runs fine in Windows, but u don't want to diagnose a minor problem that has just recently started occurring. (And because Googling for a possible solution and fixing it could take hours or days. Whereby restoring an Acronis image might take just 20 minuets or less depending.) So u decide to restore a backup. Well, in that case, ur MBR is AOK. So u can just leave it as is. And just restore the backup image without including restoring the additional MBR restore option. (it is itty bitty in size and is of no matter in THIS scenario.)
2. But if u have a PC with a C drive that is acting really crazy, like won't boot at all, or just as important, say ur replacing ur C drive that completely failed physically, or replacing because u want to use a faster larger better brand new drive. This scenario IS what the MBR backup restore option is for! get it? ;) (A replacement drive or a messed up one would definitely need the MBR backup that Acronis makes with every backup of a C drive. Or else it wouldn't boot properly. (Hopefully they cleared it all up in the version 2013.)

GL :)

Edit 1: i missed reading that u were restoring to a new drive! i just noticed it. lol
So, option 2 is a must! (restore the MBR in the backed up image too!)

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#42

Post by nathagt » Fri May 17, 2013 1:03 pm

Yeah OKC was doomed without Westbrook. I think Scott Brooks needs to go too, OKC has very little in way of actual offense and instead relies on talent. That only works if your talent isn't injured.

Thanks for the suggestions. I loaded a new USB drive with the bootable media software. All the drive letters were of course scrambled but the drive names showed up so it was inconsequential to me. Since I was changing hard drives, I had to run everything from the USB drive. Seemed strange that you had to use a mouse for Acronis. I had to go find one because my bluetooth mouse obviously wouldn't work. I would much rather use the keyboard.

They haven't really cleared up the MBR record thing, it's still confusing but I restored it like you suggested. Curiously though, when I rebooted, I got a message saying BOOTMGR is missing. I had to put in the Windows disk. It immediately detected a problem and fixed it. The computer booted normally after that. I think that may have been because I removed the original hard drive but I'm not sure. Even if I went to boot options and selected the new drive I got the message.

Much to my dismay, even changing ONLY the OS drive kept me from playing a .wtv file recorded after my backup was made. I do have a backup of the most recent playready database file but it was getting late so I haven't tried that yet. I was curious about one other thing. Have you ever tried burning a backup to a bluray disc? I was thinking about ordering some BD-Rs and keeping a fail safe backup (in the event that other backups were inaccessible).

Last thing: I also got in a new 4TB drive from newegg. This is the second one, I sent the first one back because it was acting funny, or so I thought. After I got my system restored last night, I decided to install the new drive. With drives over 2TB, you have to use GPT to format. The problem happened when I was trying to create a simple volume (partition) on the new drive. It was taking longer than normal and then out of nowhere the computer restarts. From that point on, the PC would only boot to the Windows Logo screen and hang. I took the drive out, put the old one back and it booted normally. I had different but equally strange issues with the last Seagate 4TB drive that I sent back. I think I may give up on adding more space internally.

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Bee_Dee_3_Dee

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#43

Post by Bee_Dee_3_Dee » Fri May 17, 2013 5:38 pm

nathagt wrote:Yeah OKC was doomed without Westbrook. I think Scott Brooks needs to go too, OKC has very little in way of actual offense and instead relies on talent. That only works if your talent isn't injured.

Thanks for the suggestions. I loaded a new USB drive with the bootable media software. All the drive letters were of course scrambled but the drive names showed up so it was inconsequential to me. Since I was changing hard drives, I had to run everything from the USB drive. Seemed strange that you had to use a mouse for Acronis. I had to go find one because my bluetooth mouse obviously wouldn't work. I would much rather use the keyboard.

They haven't really cleared up the MBR record thing, it's still confusing but I restored it like you suggested. Curiously though, when I rebooted, I got a message saying BOOTMGR is missing. I had to put in the Windows disk. It immediately detected a problem and fixed it. The computer booted normally after that. I think that may have been because I removed the original hard drive but I'm not sure. Even if I went to boot options and selected the new drive I got the message.

Much to my dismay, even changing ONLY the OS drive kept me from playing a .wtv file recorded after my backup was made. I do have a backup of the most recent playready database file but it was getting late so I haven't tried that yet. I was curious about one other thing. Have you ever tried burning a backup to a bluray disc? I was thinking about ordering some BD-Rs and keeping a fail safe backup (in the event that other backups were inaccessible).

Last thing: I also got in a new 4TB drive from newegg. This is the second one, I sent the first one back because it was acting funny, or so I thought. After I got my system restored last night, I decided to install the new drive. With drives over 2TB, you have to use GPT to format. The problem happened when I was trying to create a simple volume (partition) on the new drive. It was taking longer than normal and then out of nowhere the computer restarts. From that point on, the PC would only boot to the Windows Logo screen and hang. I took the drive out, put the old one back and it booted normally. I had different but equally strange issues with the last Seagate 4TB drive that I sent back. I think I may give up on adding more space internally.
cool. glad to hear u succeeded! :)

the bootMGR missing sounds interesting. (It's good u noted a solution for others.)

when u (anyone) does a restore with Acronis to a new drive, maybe the following is precise enough to prevent any problems with bootMGR and having a message pop-up telling u it's missing:

A. Shut down the PC.
B. Disconnect the boot drive that is being replaced and connect the replacement.
C. Boot from the Bootable Acronis disk.
D. Select the backup image u wish to restore.
E. Choose (select) ONLY to restore the MBR backed up with the image u picked (and NOT the Partition), to the new replacement drive. (Carefully! :) )
F. Restart the PC.
G. Boot from the Bootable Acronis disk.
H. Select the backup image u wish to restore and this time DO choose (select) to restore the entire image (Partition). (Not including the MBR restore option should be just fine, because it was already restored during Step E.)
I. Boot the new drive into windows and see if everything is AOK. (After making sure it is listed in BIOS as the default Boot drive.)
J. (Optional) If, u want to use the old boot drive, say as a spare/ storage drive or sumptin', then Shutdown and reconnect it. But carefully choose a strategy to format it from a bootable disk of some kind. Or, if comfortable, that u can boot into Windows successfully with Both boot drives connected, go ahead. But be sure to format (erase) the old Boot drive (carefully! :) ). Plus follow any protocol necessary to guarantee zero problems with the old boot drive connected too.

But maybe, for restoring images to a new drive, an alternative for ppl without the knowledge to fix the bootMGR, like u did so successfully is:
To simply use the Clone Drive Option from the Bootable Acronis disk (Tools/Clone HDD or some whereabouts). That may be why the clone tool is there. (To make it easier on the majority of users. It is a handy tool regardless of one's level of incite. I myself prefer restoring from images, versus using cloning methods. Because an Image is like a Hard-copy. :) and u can never have too many Hard-copys. ;) )

As for ur question:
Have you ever tried burning a backup to a bluray disc?
Yes.

And to describe how i manage the files:

A. On the first day of the first month following building a PC; i make a New (Full) Incremental Scheme Backup. The default settings (for a new Incremental backup Scheme) involves by default; 1 Full backup is created and after that, all following are only Incremental backups. The Full backup is only around 12 GB; because i install all programs and keep all data on other drives other than C. And as a result, the Incremental backups are as small as 150 MB. :)
B. Make an Incremental everyday. They take as little as 40 seconds.
C. On the first day of every month following building a PC; i make a New (Full) Incremental Backup. And if it seems AOK i may wait a few days or immediately delete all Incremental backups from the previous month. BUT, absolutely, keep the Full backup that was created the first day of the previous month.
D. i repeat step C every month for a Gaming/ Work PC. And every three to four months for an HTPC.
E. Burn Full backups to Blueray every three to four months. And after checking the integrity of the files on the burned blueray disks, delete them from my backup HDD. BUT i like to keep the folder i initially made for them. That way i can browse the empty folders for reference to backups made and burned or not yet burned, versus rummaging threw BDs.

For example, here's an easy backup history for this PC taken from keeping the old empty backup folders:

2011-01-14 (That's when it was built this PC.)
2011-02-01
2011-03-01
2011-04-02 (I was off one day. ;) )
2011-05-03 (Oops! two days off.)
2011-06-01
etc....

And it was to much of a beach to burn backups before getting my Blueray burner. I LUV IT!!! See:
LG BH14NS40 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... k=BH14NS40
the "Power2Go" program is included in the retail version i got at Fry's Electronics. And it works perfectly awesome for all Data burning jobs. No coasters at all. NONE! after over 75 burns.

For GPT problems and solutions (and i hope it is ok to post this here) try posting at http://www.sevenforums.com/. they are the best! and i think they cover win8 now too.

GL :D

eclas

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#44

Post by eclas » Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:37 pm

I know this is an old thread but I have related question. If I backup the playready folder then do an in place refresh to clean up this win 8.1 PC would protected files play by restoring the playready folder?

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#45

Post by cwinfield » Sat Feb 27, 2016 12:31 pm

eclas wrote:I know this is an old thread but I have related question. If I backup the playready folder then do an in place refresh to clean up this win 8.1 PC would protected files play by restoring the playready folder?
No, you need a backup image so your hard drive partition data matches your mspr.hds file.

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#46

Post by eclas » Sat Feb 27, 2016 1:04 pm

An image would just have the same problems.
so that means there is no way to clean the system fully without losing the protected recordings? That stinks. :(

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#47

Post by Bee_Dee_3_Dee » Sat Oct 28, 2017 4:58 pm

Crash2009 wrote:Well, haven't you guys been working on some great stuff! I have nothing to add, just wanted to mark the post.
Crash2009,

i've wanted to update this thread ever since reading ur compliment; and especially after reading and witnessing all the hard work u have done on getting WMC to work on Win10; but there's hasn't been the time to. (i lost url to ur thread on other site on how to run WMC on Win10... wat is it? ty)

Update: After 4+ years, using Win7, all is fine with my PlayReady Folder being moved to my Recording drive.

Although recently, i forgot how to use my Context Menu program for creating Hardlinks- and i screwed-up my Copy protected recordings and couldn't play them... but cool because we learn from our mistakes, right? After a few weeks with my Copy Protected recordings unable to be played; i fixed them without even having to read the Help file that the HardlinkShellEx program i use comes with. (Yep. 4+ years of movies back. :) )

Here is the Context Menu program i use for Hardlinks: http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshel ... llext.html

Code: Select all

^^ Skip reading all at the start and scroll down to were it says: 
"Using Link Shell Extension" 
"Pick Link Source causes the selected files to be "stored" as the source for the Hardlinks that you want to create." 
^^ program is so easy to use. If u understand making shortcuts and bookmarks and folders then u can use this program.

A. Four years ago I created a "Playready", Symbolic Link, to take the place of my PlayReady folder (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Playready). I did so by first stopped "Windows Media Reciever Center Service"; then copied my PlayReady folder to my N Drive; then renamed the original PlayReady folder on C Drive to "PlayReady_OLD"; then to take its place, created a Symbolic Link (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Playready[Symbolic Link]) that pointed to the copy of my PlayReady folder on the N Drive. And last but not least, restarted "Windows Media Center Receiver Service". And it worked!

B. So, my designated recording folder ("Recorded TV") is always on my N Drive. And right above it, is my PlayReady folder.

C. About once a week I make full backup Image of my C Drive.

D. At the same time as ^^ a Data backup of my PlayReady folder is made.

E. Two copies of the Backups are kept on two separate drives on another PC. And a couple times a year burned to Blue-Ray disks.

Recently Windows reported My Recording Drive would soon fail. I'd used it so much I didn't care. And after all, I already had a drive to replace it. The replacement drive was on another PC and it was the exact same size as the failing Recording Drive. So I moved all info off of it and onto another drive. Then I Partitioned it the same as my recording drive. (N Drive- first partition on it, for recording- is exactly 1.00 TB and the 2nd partition- 363 GB is for backups.)

Then I moved all recordings off the Recording drive to one of the two 5 TB USB or two 3 TB USB drives that I use to store recordings on and keep my main recording drive empty. (Which also allows for me to, one or more times a week, move the temp recording files to the beginning of the partition in order to improve performance.) Then I copied the PlayReady folder and Recording TV folder to the replacement drive. Eventually it worked perfect. (At first I failed to realize that I should have disabled "Windows Media Center Receiver Service" before shutting down to remove the failing drive and starting up with the replacement drive in. (Because it did not have the proper drive Letters associated yet.) Then after getting the correct drive letters assigned, simply restart "Windows Media Center Receiver Service".)

In addition and as a result, i messed up my symbolic link and I just had to remember how to create a new Symbolic Link (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Playready[Symbolic Link]) that pointed to the replacement drive (N:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Playready). At first I just screwed it up because i forgot how. (After all, I hadn't had to do it in four+ years.) So instead I used one of four ways to fix PlayReady (https://forum.silicondust.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=10360).

But it turned out that there was no problem with my PlayReady folder. As soon as I practiced how to make a Symbolic Link and made a PlayReady one that pointed to the PlayReady folder on my N Drive, all was AOK again. 4+ years of movies played again on my PC and 4 Xbox360 extenders. YAY! :)

If anyone ever uses the HardLinkShellExt program I highly advise reading the Help file that comes with it (it's same as what is shown on DL URL above... http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshel ... llext.html) and follow the example(s) in it. You basically make a folder called "1". Then right click it and select "Pick Link Source". Then on another drive you can right click on an empty space and select from a menu to "Drop As" and select the type (drop a Symbolic Link is best) and that Link will be automatically named the same and the Source (Destination). But it will look different than just a folder. (It has a little green arrow on it.) And properties are a little different for it. There's an extra tab in properties for it called "Link Properties". On my PlayReady Symbolic link, the "Link Properties" Tab it shows:

Code: Select all

Link Properties
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\PlayReady 
Type of Link:        Symbolic Link
Target:              N:\PlayReady
And there's a convenient "Explore Target" button for testing. 
GL :)
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Crash2009

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#48

Post by Crash2009 » Mon Oct 30, 2017 11:03 am


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