DiscWizard Clone and Volume Shadow Copy conflict - Solved?

I experienced this problem after a DiscWizard Disk clone of a Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 installation where the backup failed due to a problem with the Volume Shadow Copy Provider. I believe after some testing on Windows XP installations in a MS Virtual PC environment that the problem is related to the disk signature in the Master Boot Record (MBR). The disk clone operation gives the cloned disk a new signature (probably in order to prevent conflict with the source disk), and also changes the signature in the following registry key on the cloned disk:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

The result being that Windows starts without recognizing the disk as a new drive. Since the disk is not considered a new no update is performed on keys that needs update when the disk signature is changes (like those of the Volume Shadow Copy Provider).

If you replace the source disk one solution would be to check its signature and apply this to the cloned disk after the completion of the clone. You would then also need to restore the signature in the appropriate registry key mentioned above.

Another solution, the one I had to use on my Win SBS 2003 disk since I didn't write down the original disk signature, is to simply give the cloned disk a new signature and have Windows recognize it as a new disk. This requires a reboot after the change of the signature and a new reboot after the "new" disk has been recognized.

I used the utility MBRFIX (just do a Google for "mbrfix download") to read (MBRFIX readsignature) and change (mbrfix generatesignature / mbrfix writesignature <4-byte hex>) the disk signatures.

An alternative solution might be to skip the MBRFIX-program and leave the disk signature unchanged, but to delete the disk registry key (\??\Volume{...}) under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices" and have windows rediscover the drive. I have NOT tested this one though.

So far I the above mentioned solutions have solved the problem for me both under Windows XP and Windows SBS 2003.

 

Just a quict follow-up

My testing of the suggested alternative solution with just manipulating the "MountedDevices" registry key didn't produce the desired results. I was not able to have Windows recognize the cloned disk as a new one.

The solutions with changing the disk signature with MBRFIX (or similar utility) and 2 x reboot however solved the problem for a new Windows XP clone test under MS Virtual PC.

 

I just had to come back to see if anyone had fixed this problem! Wish I had checked sooner, kam33mitch's solution seems much quicker than what I finally did!

I went back to trying Ghost 10, which will only do a copy by partition, not a full hard drive clone. (I like splitting my hard drive into C & D drives) However, doing it that way seems to mess up the partitions so that when Windows starts up, it tries to login and then immediately logs back out. My husband happens to own a product called BootMaster Partition Recovery. After removing my old hard drive, he booted my computer with the BootMaster diskette and used that program to fix the partitions. After that, everything seems to be working perfectly, and I am able to use my backup programs with "Enable busy files to be backed up" selected. No errors, nothing in the backup report about shadow copy failing! I think this pretty much proves that the answer wildman6801 got from Microsoft that said We need to install drivers when installing Windows XP on SCSI or SATA Hard Drive was not a solution for this problem. I never installed any SATA drivers other than what was installed automatically by XP (SP 2).

One more thing. I had written a note directly to Acronis about their product. I finally got a reply from them but by that time, I had already made the Ghost 10 image work. Someone looking for help in the future might want to try what they told me, though. They said:

Hello Cheryl,

Thank you for using Acronis Migrate Easy 7.0 http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/migrateeasy/

Please create Acronis Bootable Rescue Media following Tools-> Create Acronis Bootable Rescue Media, boot your machine using this media and perform the cloning again. Then please check if the problem persists.

Thank you.

(I had written them about using TrueImage 11, but I figure it probably would work the same way.)

 

Thanks Pip!

We actually do own Ghost 10, but I don't think it came with Ghost 2003. I was able to find 2003 on eBay, though, and went ahead and bought it, even though I don't have that problem anymore. This problem has bugged me so much that I'm thinking of experimenting with it more in the future...just not with my main desktop computer!

 

SOLUTION CONFIRMED: MbrFix /drive 0 generatesignature

Great news!!!

I can confirm that halholme's suggestion does indeed fix the problem quickly with no apparent side effects.

You can download the latest version of MbrFix from http://www.sysint.no/en/Download.aspx

Here's what I did:

1. Reboot from a floppy or CD so we're not changing the MBR while Windows is running. (I'm not sure this is required, but it's what I did. I am very happy with the BartPE boot disk from http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ - it creates a bootable CD with a pared down version of Windows on it. I ran MbrFix from a floppy after BartPE started up. I'm pretty sure any DOS boot disk would do.)

2. Just to make sure drive 0 is the right partition to work on, run the command:

Code:

MbrFix /drive 0 listpartitions

Examine the results to make sure that the drive has the boot partition and is the size you expect.

3. Again, to be safe, tuck away a copy of the current MBR with the command:

Code:

MbrFix /drive 0 savembr BackupMbr0.bin

4. The key step is to generate a new signature for the drive with:

Code:

MbrFix /drive 0 generatesignature

5. Reboot from your hard drive.

6. As halholme mentioned, Windows will detect this as a new drive and ask that you reboot. Reboot as suggested.

At this point, your drive should be working properly. I tested mine with both the Windows Backup program and NovaBACKUP and they both worked fine after this fix.

Just to be clear, this solution does NOT involve removing the PartMgr filter from the Windows Registry discussed earlier in this thread.

As a side note, an IT wizard friend of mine recommended Drive Snapshot as a great little utility to do complete disk backups and clones. It can take a consistent snapshot of your drive(s) at a particular instant in time even while you continue working on the machine. It's a little rough around the UI edges, but it performs very well and it seems many IT folks have used it for years. (As a matter of fact, it's pre-installed on the boot disk from the unrelated BartPE mentioned above.)

If anyone wants to verify a simpler set of steps, please chime in. (E.g. Can you do this directly from Windows instead of booting from another disk?)

 

MbrFix might be safe to run directly from Windows

I wrote to the author of MbrFix, Kåre Smith, and thanked him. I also asked him

Here's the key part of his reply:

If we have any brave souls that would like to test that, please let us know how it works out.

 

I ran all my MbrFix-testing from a "DOS-prompt" under Windows XP / SBS 2003 and didn't experience any side effects.

When doing my cloning tests on Windows XP under MS Virtual PC the program used was Acronis True Image Home 11 (15-day free trial). Tried first with Seagate DiscWizard, but it required a Seagate (or Maxtor) disk present in order to operate and my virtual hard drives where not recognized as such.

On my SBS 2003 system after being able to access the "Shadow Copies" tab of the disk's Properties-dialog (select a disk, right-click and properties) I have a couple "\\?\Volume{.....}" entries in addition the normal drive letters. I assume that these are related to the two volumes on my retired source disk. My only use of the Volume Shadow Copy services before the clone was via the SBS Backup software. If the Volume Shadow Copy service is used to keep online version-backup of files I would guess that my solution with generating a new disk signature on the cloned disk would render the source disk's shadow copies unaccessible. The solution with giving the cloned disk the same signature as the source (requires the source disk to be removed after the clone) seems more likely to retain access to the shadow copies of the souce disk. This has NOT been tested though.

 

Doesn't the recovery console, located on the Windows Install CD have a fixmbr program. Wonder if that might work as well. I beleive that can generate a new MBR for a drive?

 

Anyone else tried this? Any other brave souls tried this under Windows yet?

 

IT WORKS !!!!

OK, got up early and brave...

Downloaded the Mbrfix tool and rebooted to Windows XP safe mode.

Opened a command prompt window.

Followed LarryD's steps 2-5 above. After first reboot, it took a good 8-10 minutes for the initial boot to complete, but then got something like "new hardware added not available until reboot". Rebooted, all is normal.

Used both NTBackup and Ghost 12.0 to perform Shadow Copy backup...no errors, no problems !!! Yahoooooo!

I have to say a huge thanks to everyone on this thread...NICE WORK !!! Extra thanks to halholme for the key discovery !

(I hope Acronis finds this and fixes the process to avoid others going through the pain we all have had with this.)

 

Generating a new drive signature with MbrFix worked for me too. But I did it from the command prompt from within Windows XP Pro SP 2 and I wasn't in Safe Mode - the only thing I shut down was Symantec AntiVirus. Windows Backup Utility is running in the background as I write this.

Thanks Hal - Thanks Larry -

 

Wildman, kam, zippy - have you guys had a chance to try MbrFix??

 

I haven't used MbrFix. Before this solution was offered I wiped the entire drive and started over from scratch.

I found this to be a good solution for me because I can reinstall only the software that I use and keep the junk off of my system. I had a lot of programs that have been installed and uninstalled over the course of 2 years. So this wasn't all that bad for me. I had a backup of the folder "Documents and Settings" and printed out all of my security settings and used Belarc Advisor to tell me what software I had installed along with the keys. In less than 24 hours I had the entire system backup and running with all the configuration and software that I wanted installed including updates. The system is running a lot faster than it was.

This is something that I try to do every year because Windows can get really gummed up with junk over time. You can use all the tools in the world to prevent this but I have always found it best to just reinstall everything. I was just trying to avoid from doing it this time. I wanted the next clean install to be when I upgrade to Vista. It didn't happen that way!

 

Sorry, I've been out of town but I'm dying to try it so hopefully this week-end.

I'll report back how it goes.

 

OK, I tried this as outlined above using the comand prompt within windows and everything appears fine. Did the two re-boots, put PartMgr back into the upper filters and the backup program using shadow copy works great. This looks like the FINAL solution to this bug.

Thanks to everyone for advancing this to a good and easy solution. I just can't believe the lack of support that you get from the software companies.

 

Thanks kam33mitch!

You solved my BSOD problem with msbackup and norton ghost. I deleted the upperfilter, altho you have more recent posts about the signatures. One serindipitous effect this had is that my system tray--notification area was always corrupt and that fixed the problem. Some icons didn't used to show up, but now they all do. You should tell Seagate about this problem. Thanks again, genius! I joined this forum just to thank you. My Dell computer is 5 years old and stable as a rock. Am going to Vista Business now that I installed a 500G hard drive.

 

This worked for me

I had the same problem BSOD when with windows live trying to backup to my WD extrenal drive from my new Seagate 160GB. Followed the instructions below and it's on its way without errors. I did notice that the backup that is being created is all Zip folders. Is this normal?

 

Disabling shadow copy won't get the most up to date versions of the files. You should change the MBR signature and reenable shadow copy. By the way, my system tray started being corrupt again--many have this problem with XP. I just learned to assign a password and pause a bit before typing it in. This, unrelatedly, allows all the system tray icons to appear. Also, I like seeing the hidden partition on my Dell hard disk and will leave the upperfilters as kam33mitch posted, without altering the signature.

 

I ALSO FOUND THIS FIX ON ANOTHER SITE....IUSED IT AFTER REENABLING SHADOW COPY AND IT WORKERD GREAT....

"I have a Dell 4600 and upgraded from my failing original SATA 120GB to a Seagate SATA 300GB (ST3300631AS). I use Dantz Retrospect 7.5 to backup to a Maxtor external USB drive. I used Acronis Easy Migrate 7.0 to clone the drives. Every time I tried to backup, Retrospect would say "preparing backup" then I would get the blue screen of death (BSOD) error saying "Bad_Pool_Header Stop: 0x00000019".

Here is the fix and it works brilliantly: I found it on

1. Go to windows Device Manager
2. Click "view" and select "show hidden devices"
3. Scroll down to "storage volumes"
4. Click on the plus to expand.
5. Click on each one listed and right click and uninstall. (you will get a message on some staying to reboot before it takes effect. Select no until you do them all.)
6. Reboot.
7. Wait till windows automatically reinstalls devices. Will prompt to reboot again.
8 Reboot.
Now it should work.

The problem was they got corrupted using DiscWizard and Acronis (which is the DiscWizard engine). There are other explaination at that site, but the above works WITHOUT A REINSTALL OF WINDOWS OS!!!!"

 

Whopp

I don't remember reading that anyone else in this thread tried what you suggest.

I fixed my problem by generating a new drive signature with MbrFix running under XP. So I wonder if your suggestion - uninstalling the storage volume - accomplishes the same thing?

My problem is fixed so I have no need to try your suggestion - but can you really uninstall your boot drive in device manager? Will it let you do that? And if it will, will you then be able to reboot?

 

Tried it

I tried what whoppsrus5254 suggested on my Dell Dimension 2400 and didn't use mbrfix and it worked. Simply uninstall the storage volumes. No BSOD on shadow copy! I can easily say this is a better solution since it involves no third party software, merely Windows. I put my partman upperfilters registry entry back and everything. My Dell FAT16 partition is again hidden. I have an extra "Removable DIsk" in My Computer but that's because of my fiddling with the drive letters to get my USB drive back to G:; where it was before I removed the Upperfilters entry. Thanks. By the way, 5254 is the last four digits of the Kim Komando radio show's call in toll free number, any relation? She has a competing message board at www.komando.com, but it costs to post to it. I have posted many items as "ladlers".

 

I'm really glad I discovered this thread! I have the same problem: cloned my boot disk using SeaTools and now Mozy backup is generating the BSOD. One thing to note: I cloned from a PATA disk to a new PATA disk, so it's not limited to SATA drives.

I want to try the whoppsrus5254 solution of deleting storage volumes. One question: is it necessary to delete all of the storage volumes from device manager, or only the boot drive volume?

 

Ok, here's another solution I found on the wildersecurity forum:

"Right click My Computer and select Properties, select Hardware, Device manager, select View, select View Hidden Devices, and then for each Genric-volume entry under Storage Volumes, right click and select update and let windows try to find a better driver for the Generic volume. If windows says it doesn't a better driver, that's okay, but it will probably update at least one of the entries. Then close down the device manager and reboot. Prob should be gone."

When I looked at my "storage volumes" in device manager, I saw that drilling down, several of the entries had corrupted names (i.e., weird characters after "Generic volume ".) Instead of deleting all of the storage volumes, I ran the "Update Driver" routine for each of these entries. After the update, the volume name was fixed. This probably accomplishes the same thing as deleting the storage volumes, but it seems a little less kludgy.

I haven't verified that this will fix the BSOD problem, but I'm hopeful that it will, based on other people's experiences. Someone else fixed the problem by going into the registry and updating the volume names, but using "Update driver" is simpler and more straightforward.

 

EZ GIG was the problem

My 0x00000019 BSOD / BAD_POOL_HEADER problem began when I moved to a new 250Gb hard drive on my laptop from a 40 Gb drive. After moving to the new hard drive, whenever I used my usual WD Backup to back up data to my MyBook drive, the Bad Pool problem caused a BSOD.

Apricorn makes some wonderful, inexpensive, easy-to-use products for cloning disks, and I used one of their products with their EZ Gig software to accomplish the clone. The whole thing went perfectly -- thank you, Apricorn. I had to install EZ Gig in order to create the bootable Emergency Recovery disk, which accomplished the actual disk clone.

But EZ Gig was the problem as it turned out. To fix the Bad Pool problem, I didn't uninstall EZ Gig, so I have no idea whether that would help. Instead, I used System Restore to restore XP (on the new hard drive) back to before the EZ Gig install (which took place on the old hard drive from which the new hard drive was cloned).

Problem gone!

I have noticed that other users on the Web have this problem in conjunction with the many re-labeled versions of Acronis software bundled as backup solutions from many disk manufacturors. In this case, Acronis is the actual creator of both EZ Gig AND WDBackup. How ironic that uninstalling one Acronis product allowed the other to work in my case.

Acronis -- EZ Gig is terrific -- but you really should fix this Bad Pool problem! I'll send Acronis an email.

Cheers.