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Restore more than 3 partitions from disk image

i am upgrading the SSD in my laptop. I did a disk backup before installing the new SSD. Now I want to restore, and I have discovered that the software will only restore 3 partitions at a time. I have 2 questions:

1. Does it matter what order I restore the partitions in?

2. If I buy the paid version, will it restore all the partitions at once?


Thanks!

Comments

  • I don't understand.

    If I do a disk backup and then a disk restore all partitions are restored. I cannot select 3 partitions. I select the whole disk.

    However: as an option I can select one (1) partition from a disk backup instead of the whole disk but not 3.



  • When I select the whole disk, I get a pop up message which says it will only restore 3 partitions, and that I can use partition restore for additional partitions. The backup contains about 6 partitions. I am using the free version of AOMEI standard. 

    Perhaps ypur backup didn’t have more than 3partitions?

  • Yes I had 5 partitions. I didn't see a popup. But I tested with a MBR disk. Partition 4 and 5 were in an extended partition. Do you have a GPT disk per chance? I have no idea or that would explain the difference...

  • I don’t know those terms MBR, GPT, extended partitions.  I have a new dell Inspiron laptop with a 256g SSD. 

  • edited December 2017

    Then you probably have a GPT disk on an UEFI system. You can check in Aomei.

    Like in the Disk0 info of the example image. Here Basic MBR.  I'll test a GPT disk some time.

    I  guess the first 3 partitions are system and the rest is data? I think the order after the first 3 does not matter but why not in the left to right order?

    image

  • Apparently my old disk is gpt and the new one is mbr, and that’s the reason for the 3 partition limit. I’ll post some screen shots soon. Is there any way we could talk on the phone? 

  • I thought with a disk restore the new disk would automatically be converted to GPT. But if not, then you should Clean the new disk with Diskpart.

    Do you have a USB Sata cable to connect the new drive to the PC while running WIndows from the old SSD? If not than boot from bootable Aomei DVD or USB and go to Utilities.

    Either way. Goto CMD.exe (DOS command) and type in:

    Diskpart

    List disk

    select disk #   (# the disk to be cleaned, the new one)

    List disk         (check if the # disk is selected with *)

    Clean             (The disk is wiped completely)

    exit

    exit


    Then restore again. Alas no phone help. I'm just an Aomei user.


  • Hmm, I don't seem to be able to upload images. 


    The full text of the message is "The source disk contains over 3 partitions. Disk Restore only supports to restore 3 partitions at most from GPT to MBR. You could use Partitioni Restore to restore the remaining partitions to the destination disk".


    If it wasn't obvious, I want the new disk too be the boot disk.


    The  partitions are 

    *:ESP 500mb

    *: 128mb

    C:OS 225.87 gb

    *: 882 mb

    *:Image 10.04 gb

    *DELLSUPPORT 1.08gb


    That's why I'm not sure that starting at the  top is  a  good idea.


  • edited December 2017

    You first have to Clean the new disk with Diskpart. Then the new SSD goes to new state, neither MBR nor GPT. If you restore then it will be autom. initialized as GPT and all partitions will be restored in the original order. It will boot. On an UEFI system the boot disk must be GPT.

    What do you mean with Starting at the top?


  • Unfortunately, I somehow managed to corrupt the original disk, so I can’t boot to it. 

    The only boot option I have is my AOMEI thumb drive. I do have other computers, Ann SSD enclosure. 


    Can I format the new disk from a command line?

  • Oh, and by starting at the top, I mean that I get a vertical list of partitions, not the horizontal graphic you shared. 

  • edited December 2017

    Yes. You don't need to format. But again, it must be Cleaned with Diskpart in order to convert to GPT.  During restore it will be initialized as GPT and formatted.


    Install the new SSD in the laptop

    Boot from the thumb drive

    Goto Utilities menu and goto Command Shell  (CMD)

    Perform the Diskpart commands mentioned in #7

    Restore the whole disk, not 1 partition at a time. 


    Did you perhaps always click #2? Don't.  That would explain why the destination is not automatically converted to GPT like I thought it would.

    Or is there data on the new SSD that you want to keep? Backup them first.

    In order to boot, the new disk must be converted to GPT thereby losing existing data.


    Only click #1 in the image then Next.

    image


    https://www.backup-utility.com/help/disk-restore.html

  • Thanks, this is great.  

    I don't see a #7 or anything about diskpart in the link you sent?


    "Did you perhaps always click #2?", not initially, but when I got the message about 3 partitions, I clicked #2 to see how many partitions there were.

    The new drive is already installed in the laptop. There's nothing on it at all. Brand new from crucial.


  • Never mind, I see what you meant about #7

  • I did the clean, which finished almost instantly. But when I try to restore the disk, I still get the message about only restoring 3 partitions for GPT to MBR.So somehow the clean didn't make it into GPT. 

  • Ah, your instructions omitted the diskpart "convert gpt", I did that and I'm now restoring. But I didn't check the button  about "aligning for SSD". Is that a problem? Should I do it aggain?

  • Hi again. It worked perfectly. I couldn’t have done it without your excellent advice. Thank you so much!

  • Oh, except for one thing. I was moving from a 256g drive to a 1tb drive. The disk restore created the same partition size as before, and left the rest of the drive unallocated. Is there any way I can have it allocate to C all of the available space?

  • edited December 2017

    1. I tested your situation with GPT to MBR and I got the same message. MBR can only hold 3 normal partitions.

    2. Sometimes Convert GPT is necessary sometimes not and sometimes it causes problems. Don't know why. But there are different Operatings Systems, Diskpart versions, Aomei versions, Aomei from bootable media versus Running OS. Anyway you found that out. In my experience Aomei did the conversion/asked for permission to convert.

    3. It may be necessary to Reload disk or Reboot after the Clean in the Dos Shell since the bootable version of Aomei reads the state of the disks when it is booted and is not aware of changes with Diskpart.

    4. See my answer about resizing partitions before or after restore.

    https://www.aomeitech.com/forum/discussion/3874/restoring-drive-image-to-a-larger-disk

    5. For testing: Do you need all 6 partitions? If you make a system backup I guess that only the first 3 are backupped. If you restore the system backup to the Cleaned old SSD does it boot? 

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