This is just to document my first awful experience with an AF (Advanced Format) hard drive in case it helps someone else. I thought I’d be lucky enough not to run into a problem because I am running Win8-64 on newer hardware. But that doesn’t help when a coworker asks for help upgrading their computer with a larger hdd (hard drive), does it? /sigh
Windows Vista SP2 32-bit
Western Digital 1 TB hdd, WD10EZEX
I figured this would be a quick image and restore process and in the beginning it was. But then I received an error when trying to install MS Security Essentials. And same goes for the Windows Update application. It would error with a message that the service wasn’t running when indeed it was. Windows Update was working fine on the original drive, but not working at all on the new drive.
I am not reporting a problem or a deficiency with Macrium Reflect. I don’t even know if it’d be POSSIBLE for Macrium to address this issue directly in their software. Also, I don’t know if this workaround is even possible in WinXP or any Microsoft OS prior to Windows Vista SP2, nor do I know if this is a viable option for Vista-64 SP2.
Long story short, I finally figured out the replacement drive is an AF hdd. The change in sector size from 512 bytes to 4096 bytes wreaks havoc on some applications, to include part of older Windows operating systems.
In order to overcome the issue I did three things. I’m not sure if one or both of the first two are necessary due to insufficient testing on my part, but I’m guessing they’re both necessary.
I doubt this matters at all, but the device interface for the hdd was set as RAID in the CMOS. I changed it to AHCI fully expecting a BSOD but must’ve been lucky. Vista loaded up fine and applied the AHCI drivers without incident. In addition, an early version of Intel Matrix Storage Manager was already installed on the computer when it was brought to me.
BE SURE TO COMPLETE THE FIRST TWO STEPS ON THE OLD HARD DRIVE BEFORE YOU IMAGE/CLONE IT.
1) Install the Microsoft KB2553708 hotfix for Vista on the old hard drive before taking an image of it. (This hotfix improves Vista compatibility with AF hdds and updates the FSUTIL command to include “bytes per physical sector.”)
2) Install the Microsoft KB2470478 hotfix for Vista on the old hard drive before taking an image of it. (Updates ESENT which some applications are built on, including Windows Update, so it can handle sector size changes.)
3) Take an image of the old hdd and restore the image to the new hdd.
4) Boot to Vista and install Intel Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST) v9.6 or higher. (For Vista, I could only find Intel Matrix Storage Manager from Intel’s regular download page. This did not work. I did finally locate a v9.6 of Intel RST for Vista on the Intel site which indicated it was for specific Intel branded boards. The computer I was servicing is an HP Pavilion and I have no idea if it’s an Intel branded board. I was lucky enough that this software worked.)
FSUTIL FSINFO NTFSINFO X: (X=applicable driver letter)
This command line command will indicate both the Bytes Per Sector and the Bytes Per Physical Sector of the referenced hdd. If the Bytes Per Physical Sector isn't present, there's a good chance KB2553708 hasn't been applied. Bytes Per Physical Sector showed <not supported>
for me until I installed Intel RST. (This means the hardware or driver doesn't support the IOCTL_STORAGE_QUERY_PROPERTY in order to allow software to determine the physical sector size.) Besides <not supported> this can show 512 for a "regular" hard drive or 4096 for an Advanced Format (512e or 4096) hard drive.
Here’s where I solicit advice:
I have a “server” which runs Windows XP SP3 32-bit which suffered a hard drive crash a few weeks back. I replaced that drive with the same drive referenced in this document, an Advanced Format hard drive. I have had problems with the Windows Update application on this machine and was forced to switch to using the windowupdate.com method instead. I’m not sure if this was pre or post crash, though. But after learning about this issue I am very concerned I’m going to run into problems with the AF hdd in this WinXP machine. And I don’t know if there’s a similar workaround for WinXP. I’m not even interested in looking into it quite yet, but I am interested in any comments folks might have.
* CURRENT LINKS *
Referenced kb hotfixes:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2553708
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2470478
Main Intel RST page:
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/sftwr-prod/imsm
Main Intel Download Center page:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com
Intel RST v9.6 for Vista, only indicated for specific Intel boards:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=15251
Windows Vista SP2 32-bit
Western Digital 1 TB hdd, WD10EZEX
I figured this would be a quick image and restore process and in the beginning it was. But then I received an error when trying to install MS Security Essentials. And same goes for the Windows Update application. It would error with a message that the service wasn’t running when indeed it was. Windows Update was working fine on the original drive, but not working at all on the new drive.
I am not reporting a problem or a deficiency with Macrium Reflect. I don’t even know if it’d be POSSIBLE for Macrium to address this issue directly in their software. Also, I don’t know if this workaround is even possible in WinXP or any Microsoft OS prior to Windows Vista SP2, nor do I know if this is a viable option for Vista-64 SP2.
Long story short, I finally figured out the replacement drive is an AF hdd. The change in sector size from 512 bytes to 4096 bytes wreaks havoc on some applications, to include part of older Windows operating systems.
In order to overcome the issue I did three things. I’m not sure if one or both of the first two are necessary due to insufficient testing on my part, but I’m guessing they’re both necessary.
I doubt this matters at all, but the device interface for the hdd was set as RAID in the CMOS. I changed it to AHCI fully expecting a BSOD but must’ve been lucky. Vista loaded up fine and applied the AHCI drivers without incident. In addition, an early version of Intel Matrix Storage Manager was already installed on the computer when it was brought to me.
BE SURE TO COMPLETE THE FIRST TWO STEPS ON THE OLD HARD DRIVE BEFORE YOU IMAGE/CLONE IT.
1) Install the Microsoft KB2553708 hotfix for Vista on the old hard drive before taking an image of it. (This hotfix improves Vista compatibility with AF hdds and updates the FSUTIL command to include “bytes per physical sector.”)
2) Install the Microsoft KB2470478 hotfix for Vista on the old hard drive before taking an image of it. (Updates ESENT which some applications are built on, including Windows Update, so it can handle sector size changes.)
3) Take an image of the old hdd and restore the image to the new hdd.
4) Boot to Vista and install Intel Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST) v9.6 or higher. (For Vista, I could only find Intel Matrix Storage Manager from Intel’s regular download page. This did not work. I did finally locate a v9.6 of Intel RST for Vista on the Intel site which indicated it was for specific Intel branded boards. The computer I was servicing is an HP Pavilion and I have no idea if it’s an Intel branded board. I was lucky enough that this software worked.)
FSUTIL FSINFO NTFSINFO X: (X=applicable driver letter)
This command line command will indicate both the Bytes Per Sector and the Bytes Per Physical Sector of the referenced hdd. If the Bytes Per Physical Sector isn't present, there's a good chance KB2553708 hasn't been applied. Bytes Per Physical Sector showed <not supported>
for me until I installed Intel RST. (This means the hardware or driver doesn't support the IOCTL_STORAGE_QUERY_PROPERTY in order to allow software to determine the physical sector size.) Besides <not supported> this can show 512 for a "regular" hard drive or 4096 for an Advanced Format (512e or 4096) hard drive.
Here’s where I solicit advice:
I have a “server” which runs Windows XP SP3 32-bit which suffered a hard drive crash a few weeks back. I replaced that drive with the same drive referenced in this document, an Advanced Format hard drive. I have had problems with the Windows Update application on this machine and was forced to switch to using the windowupdate.com method instead. I’m not sure if this was pre or post crash, though. But after learning about this issue I am very concerned I’m going to run into problems with the AF hdd in this WinXP machine. And I don’t know if there’s a similar workaround for WinXP. I’m not even interested in looking into it quite yet, but I am interested in any comments folks might have.
* CURRENT LINKS *
Referenced kb hotfixes:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2553708
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2470478
Main Intel RST page:
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/sftwr-prod/imsm
Main Intel Download Center page:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com
Intel RST v9.6 for Vista, only indicated for specific Intel boards:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=15251