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Windows 10? New software update for Symantec System Recovery 2013 Desktop Edition?

davep2344
Level 3

I am currently using Symantec System Recovery 2013 R2 with my Windows 8.1 based desktop PC.  I am planning on upgrading to Windows 10 on July 29, 2015 when Windows 10 is released.  I've been relying on Norton Ghost and SSR 2013 to do full system images for years.

Is Symantec currently working on software for Symantec System Recovery 2013 so that it will be compatible with Windows 10?  

Will Symantec be offering a FREE update patch to Symantec System Recovery 2013 that will make it compatible with Windows 10?  Will it be called Symantec System Recovery 2013 R3 or something else like Symantec System Recovery 2015?

I would like to see SSR 2013 tested and certified as compatible with Windows 10 as soon as possible.  I would prefer not to have switch to another vendor's system image backup software like Acronis.  Their website is saying that you can get a free software update for Windows 10 compatibility for Acronis True Image 2015.

385 REPLIES 385

Doug3909
Level 3

I was promised a call between 9-10AM this morning and guess what? Suprise it never happened!

09319748 case number.

 

 

W3jnp
Level 3

I didn't get mine either.

weff
Level 4

I note that you've only released the details about getting SSR 2013 R2.SP3 working but also not enabling the SRD wizard


The simple steps to allow the SRD Creator to run are:

    Open a windows file explorer and navigate to the install directory (for me it was C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec System Recovery\Console )
    Right click on SRDCreator.exe and select properties
    Change to the Compatability tab
    Click "Change settings for all users"
    Check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
    Change the compatibility mode drop down to "Windows 8"
    Click OK
    Click OK again to close the properties
    
From there open the SRD Creator Wizard as per normal
.


What I found though - for a laptop using Typical mode SRD creation the disk that that was created and booted afterwards had no issues at all.

For my main desktop (which has always needed Advanced mode SRD creation) Typical mode failed during disk creation with errors ECA3232B & ECA3232C. Using Advanced mode after the Windows ADK 8.1 was installed built the SRD disk ok - but when it was booted it was missing a file \Windows\system32\oledlg.dll and that dll needed it to be added in to the image file (procedure detailed earlier on this page (but is a little difficult).

Once the missing dll was added the desktop SRD disk boot and ran SRD utilities as per normal and I have since run a complete restore of my Windows 10 desktop due to having some printer issues that were easier to fix by reverting back using the SSR image restore (plus I wanted to prove that the SRD disk was functional.) The main desktop booted and ran without any issues afterwards.

If the SRD Create disk builds successfully in Typical mode I would expect that restores using that same disk would also work. Providing the SRD disk at least boots - the contents of the Typical SRD disk are files from Windows 8.1 and as long as your PC only uses disk functions supported under Windows 8.1 then there should be no errors.

If you don't currently have an SRD disk for a PC - then if Typical creation works - you at least will have an SRD disk that will allow you to restore an image.

Obviously there are no guarantees - but if you are desperate to have an SRD disk for your system - then this process will at least allow the SRD disk create wizard to work under Windows 10.

Ron_Bierman
Level 2

Went to that page and cannot find the fix you say is there.

weff
Level 4

To answer your concerns I have been able to achieve the following:

1. Created an Image backup of main desktop boot drive running under Windows 10 using SSR 2013 R2 SP3 after applying cjm fix

2. After managing to later corrupt Windows 10 partly when fixing printer support I opted to boot a Windows 8.1 SRD disk and do a full restore of the main desktop boot disk - using the Image file created under Windows 10 as I wanted to be sure that I had a working Backup and Restore process.

3. That restore was flawless.

4. i have also established a fix to enable the SRD create Wizard under Windows 10 - so that people who are desperate can at least try the wizard and create an SRD disk. If it is created in Typical mode there should be no issues. I have created a laptop SRD disk in Typical mode without any issues and subsequently booted and tested without any problems.

5. For systems like my main desktop that require SRD creation in Advanced mode (Typical mode fails) the disk that was created was missing a dll - but after modding the boot disk to add that dll in ( a little bit complex) the resulting SRD disk booted successfully and was that used to perform the full restore from the disk image created under Windows 10 as above. Once Symantec fully supports SSR 2013 R2 under Windows 10 both of these SRD disk create issues should go away.

6. While there are obviously no guarantees;  there is every likelihood that once you get the licensing working under Windows 10 then Image creation and restores should then work where your systems only using functions that are supported under Windows 8.1

7. Your system , if you have a maintenance contract, should be using SSR 2013 R2 SP3 as that  supports Windows 8.1 and there will be less chance of problems occurring in a Windows 8.1 restore environment of a Windows 10 disk image than trying to perform restores with a much earlier versions of an SRD disk.

8. So the version of SSR you should now be running under Windows 81 and Windows 10 is 11,1,3.55088.

Hope this helps allay some of your concerns.
 

weff
Level 4

Note: My SSR  version is SSR 2013 R2 SP3 - the level of Service pack people are running may explain some of the issues.

First off thanks to cjm for the workaround to enable licenses to be accepted in Windows 8 Compatibility mode.

Second, I have a work around to get SSR 2013 R2 to create System Recovery disks under Windows 10 using a similar procedure to that specified by cjm used for SSR 2013 R2 license support - but without needing to stop SSR to make this change.
I recently upgraded a laptop for which I had never created a System Recovery Disk previously. Given that Windows 10 is not that different to Windoes 8.1 I saw no reason why having the SRD Creator work from SSR 2013 R2 should not also be possible with a Compatibility tweak. The caveat would be that any new Windows 10 functionality may not necessarily be supported in the created Windows 8.1 environment.
Do this at your own risk:

        Open a windows file explorer and navigate to the install directory (for me it was C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec System Recovery\Console )
    Right click on SRDCreator.exe and select properties
    Change to the Compatability tab
    Click "Change settings for all users"
    Check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
    Change the compatibility mode drop down to "Windows 8"
    Click OK
    Click OK again to close the properties
    
From there open the SRD Creator Wizard as per normal.

Results:

1. Laptop - This worked first go with the laptop in question - using the Typical creation options.

After burning the srd iso to a CD-R I was able to successfully boot the disk and test out various functions of the SSR environment available from that disk.

2. Main desktop - I again set the Typical option and attempted to create the SRD iso - but failed part way through loading the drivers as part of the creation with the following errors:

Error ECA3232B: Invalid OS Code received from INF file for Driver 'ntarm64'
Error ECA3232C: Failed to parse driver compatible operating system version for driver ndisuio.inf

Workaround - the following steps are a bit involved but should be fairly easy to do if you are familiar with Windows.
----------

After failing to google or search fhose errors from Symantec I searched for "failed to create SRD disk" and came across an example that occurred for SSR 2013 where a user needed to load the Microsoft ADK for Windows 8.1 and use Advanced mode in order to successfully create SRD images. I am not sure that this error is as a result of Windows 10 being the underlying OS seeing as the SRD Creator worked with the laptop. The presence of the Microsoft ADK for Windows 8 leads me to suspect errors similar to the above have occurred previously when I was using SSR 2013 as that was the last time I attempted creating an SRD image (a couple of years ago.) I have since upgraded to SSR 2013 R2 with 2 service packs post this but hadn't tried recreating a new SRD image.

I loaded the Microsoft ADK for Windows 8.1, re-tried the SRD Creator in Adanced mode and the SRD image was then successfully created. I already had an SRD image from the iso supplied with SSR 2013 but wanted to test out the procedure on at least one other machine before listing the steps here.

After burning the srd iso to a CD-R when I attempted to boot the disk it failed to start as the EULA.EXE due to oledlg.dll being missing from the SRD disk created. While this file was in the laptop SRD iso it had not been included by the Advanced ADK option mode I had used to create the SRD iso.
In order to add this dll I needed to extract the srd iso files using Winiso to a directory on the system. The actual system files for WinPE 8.1 are within a compressed image file located at \SOURCES\BOOT.WIM from that SRD iso.

I then needed to use the Deployment and Imaging tools provided within the Windows ADK for Windows 8.1 under Windows Kits Program area. Run this CMD shell at an elevated level via Right click Run As Administrator. You need to create a separate directory area to mount the BOOT.WIM image file against to add the missing dll.

The directory I used was K:\testz\offline The extracted iso files were located in K:\test3 directory

In the elevated Imaging command shell enter the following DISM command: 

dism /Mount-Image /imageFile:K:\test3\SOURCES\BOOT.WIM /index:1 /MountDir:K:\testz\offline


The dism utility will then mount and expand the compressed BOOT.WIM image file into the directory/files structure for WinPE 8.1 within the SRD iso.

Before you will be able to add the missing oledlg.dll file to K:\testz\offline\Windows\system32 directory you will need to alter the security of system32 directory to be owned by Authenticated Users with write permissions else the file addition will fail.

Select the system32 directory, right click properties, select the Security tab, select the Administrators Group at top - if only Special permissions is ticked in the Permissions for Administrators at bottom - then click on Advanced at the bottom, this will bring up a window saying ownership belongs to trustedInstaller, select Group Administrators this folder only on the lower part then - click Change to the right of TrustedInstaller at the top, Advanced on the Window that opens, then Find Now and then OK and click on Authenticated Users Group in the Search results then OK, the preceding Window will show Authenticated Users, select Ok and Ok again to make the change and Ok to apply it.
Then right click System32 directory again, select Security tab and then select Administrators at the top, then click Edit to change properties and edit properties at the top and click on Administrators at the top and Allow Full Control at bottom and then ok and ok again to apply the change.

There are probably more elegant ways to make that security change but we are needing to change the directory ownership to belong to authenticated users with only Adminstrators have full permission on the directory.

Then copy oledlg.dll from c:\windows\system32 to K:\testz\offline\Windows\system32 and click Continue when it asks  to provide Administrator permission to copy the file to within system32.
At this point you need to close any open explorer windows looking anywhere within K:\testz\offline else DISM won't be able to commit and then unmount the BOOT.WIM file as we write these changes back to the original BOOT.WIM file.

From the elevated cmd shell in Imaging and Deployment enter the following DISM command:

dism /UnMount-Image /MountDir:K:\testz\offline /commit
That will commit the changes then unmount the BOOT.WIM image file from the offline directory.

We then need to replace the original BOOT.WIM file with this modded one now containg the missing oledlg.dll in \Windows\System32.
We do this by reopening the original srd iso file using Winiso and opening the SOURCES directory to show BOOT.WIM. Right click this file and delete it - then add the BOOT.WIM that is located in

K:\test3\SOURCES\BOOT.WIM as this is the one modified using the DISM utility. Then go up a level and select all the files in the iso in the Winiso window and from File, Save As,  write these to a different named iso file srd-mod.iso which is the newly modified SRD disk iso.
Using Nero Burning ROM or other iso burning utility burn this to a CD-R using the Redorder option, Burn image file.
You should then be able to successfully boot from this CD-R and bring up the SRD environment - without any complaints about oledlg.dll preventing EULA from opening.

Whether you need to use the Windows ADK Advanced procedure or not will depend on what hardware/software drivers are in your system - if the Typical option works without failing I would recommend you using that as on the Laptop I had no issues creating the iso or booting from it.

 

Hope this is of some use to people here.

Doug3909
Level 3

This just keeps getting better and better. I got the FIX!!!! I hope everybody is sitting down.

I started a chat session with Symantc support regarding my case, and they transferred me to a live support person. He was nice enough to send me the fix. It's only for the License issue it does not fix anything else because "Windows 10" is not supported. Asked when the real fix is coming out? It's very low pority but there will be a patch at some time in the future.

 

Note the fix is an exe file. They took CJM fix from this forum and made it into an EXE file.

This fix does nothing else! WHAT A JOKE!

Great fix Chris.

Since he sent me this non-fix license fix he closed my ticket as resolved!

 

I highly recommend to all uses un-install all SW that is Symatec related!

Any suggestions of a better COMPANY and SW product would be greatly appreciated.

 

Godd luck.

 

weff
Level 4

If you read my really long message at the top of this forum page (2) - that documents the fix to allow you to create a recovery disk. From the SSR menu under Tasks it is option Create New Recovery disk. But, the executable that is invoked also needs to be run in Windows 8 compatibility mode to work.

The fix itself is very simple:

       Open a windows file explorer and navigate to the install directory (for me it was C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec System Recovery\Console )
    Right click on SRDCreator.exe and select properties
    Change to the Compatability tab
    Click "Change settings for all users"
    Check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
    Change the compatibility mode drop down to "Windows 8"
    Click OK
    Click OK again to close the properties
    
From there open the SRD Creator Wizard as per normal.

On my laptop I added the fix, ran the creator wizard and was able to create the new SRD recovery disk in Typical Mode without any issues. I then booted the SRD disk burnt from the produced iso and could use all the options.

On my desktop though the Creator Wizard in Typical mode failed with 2 errors ECA3232B and ECA3232C. I then installed the Windows 8.1 ADK and re-ran the creation wizard in Advanced mode. That completed - but when I booted the CD-R that I had burnt the iso on after it booted it failed due to the windows image needing \windows\system32\oledlg.dll. The long message above documents the steps needed to add that dll onto the CD-R by extracting the iso and then mounting the BOOT.WIM file within it to add in the missing dll. The mount is then commited back and unmounted using DISM utility again from the ADK - then the BOOT.WIM replaced in the iso and a new CD re-burnt. I booted from that modified SRD disk and then it was fully functional.

I believe that both errors will be fixed when Symantec supports SSR 2013 R2 under Windows 10 - but in the interim I can live with the fixes that I had to do.

I have since used that created SRD disk to restore back the disk image of the Windows 10 C: drive and associated boot partition I had created under windows 10 back to the main desktop C: drive again when I needed to revert some changes while having issues with printer support as that was the quickest fix plus I really wanted to know that my backup/restore options using SSR 2013 R2 SP3 were fully functional under Windows 10. Better to know now than need to restore one of these disk images in the future only to find out the restores don't work.

Note that as long as you are able to successfully create a new Reovery disk in Typical mode and then successfully  boot from the CD-R that you burn fom the created SRD iso  you should be able to backup/restore even windows 10 systems - providing that no "windows 10 only" disk funtionality is needed.

If you need to use Advanced mode SRD creation (because Typical mode fails part way) then that is likely to produce an iso that when it boots  may error with a missing dll  - use the windows 10 version of the missing dll to add to the BOOT.WIM file using DISM as that is what the SRD boot environment is expecting. The procedure I used is documented above but it is a bit complex to do. Once Symantec fully supports Windows 10 then those sort of errors should go away.

I also recommend only using SSR 2013 R2 SP3 with the cjm fix (or the new interim patch being produced) under Windows 10 - SSR 2013 R2.3 (Version 11.2.3.55088) as that properly supports Windows 8.1 whereas the earlier SSR 2013 (version 11.0.2.49853) does not support Windows 8.1 and you may have a number of other issues that the latest version has already resolved.

Hope this is useful.

rivers2
Not applicable

After nearly 4 hours, "fix" is still not available via the TechNote.

W3jnp
Level 3

Does anyone know if the recovery disk packaged with the desktop version of SSR 2013 (NOT the R2 VERSION) will work with R2 and if it will restore a Windows 10 installation?

The license fix has allowed me to create backup sets and I am able to restore individual files but my concern is if I need to restore my entire desktop PC.

I do not want to attempt the risk of trying a restore in case it messes things up and I do not have another system that I can use as a test bed.

Thanks in advance.

tmodel46
Level 3

Chris,  Is this fix only for Symantec System Recovery R2 with SP3 installed?  My version is Symantec System Recovery 2013 Desktop Edition.  For such a simple fix this has become way to complicated, at least for me. Norton/Symantec dropped support for GHOST and came out with this Desktop version about 2 years ago. It has worked fine till Microsoft 10 came out. Now I am lost and do not know to try next. Norton/Symantec have always had great products and support but this process has been a mess.

If this is fixable, give me the step by step of what to do and what upgrades may need to installed. 

Seens like Obama Care has worked it's way into the tech support world. LOL!!!

 

weff
Level 4

This is kind of to be expected though.

In the very short timeframe between cjm listing the fix and Symantec producing an exe that any user can safely run  that was always going to be the expected result - then ration the exe to only those users who have valid maintenance contracts and who have raised a case to request the interim fix be provided to them.

SSR Service pack file dates of binary files

SSR 2013 R2                end sep.2014

SSR  2013 R2 SP2        end.mar.2015

SSR 2013 R2 SP3         end.jun.2015

SSR 2013 R2 SP4         end sep.2015 ??

Also need to remember SSR is essentially a Corporate world product for fleets of windows 7 users who don't care about windows 10 in the short term

Symantec  were the ones who killed off Ghost and have pushed Home users of Ghost onto a Corporate world product - they need to provide more timely SSR support so that features like Windows 10 Support are properly coordinated with their actual introduction not some indeterminate time in the future.

zoon01
Level 3

What?

You asked when the real fix is coming out? It's very low pority but there will be a patch at some time in the future!

No Symantec, you needs to improve that right away! Very low priority is not what i had hoped for.

At least you are honest about giving it low priority, so am i!

You now have lost me as Ghost/ SSR user after many many years.

I now buy something else what is cheaper too:

https://www.paragon-software.com/home/brh/screenshots.html

 

goodby

 

 

Polar_Bear
Level 3

Chris,

The TechNote indicates that it is critical to use the correct version of the file: 32 bit or 64 bit; yet, the 64 bit folder in the zip file is empty. Only the 32 bit folder contains the referenced file. I am running Window 10 Pro 64 bit, do I not need the 64 bit version of the fix? Will you update the fix zip file accordingly?

 

criley
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited

Polar_Bear,

I've checked it myself and the file does contain both 32 and 64 bit versions. Can you try again?

Anyone else seeing this issue?

monsieurms
Level 4

I was pleased to see the email "fix" message, but it said install SP3. "Sp3 will not install on this machine."

When I replaced the file in question, that fixed the license issue, but basically reverted SSR to a previous version, which is, if anything, even LESS compatible with Win10--which is the bigger and ultimately far more important issue. At this point, I'd be happy to pay for an upgrade since I'm going to have to pay Acronis $50 anyway, but there isn't one. And in the meanwhile, I really don't have a lot of trust in my backups or my recovery disks any more. You know Murphy's law, right? I'd say my hand is forced at this point. It is just a monumental screwup.

 

r4784
Level 3

I have stopped even trying to use SSR - their record of support for this software after they dropped Ghost is horrible. I will be asking for my money back and uninstalling this worthless software and go with Paragon as it is Windows 10 compatible. I have used both for years now and will stick with Paragon Hard Disk Manager 15.

weff
Level 4

 What issue are you having that prevents SP3 from installing ?

Is it perhaps an "OS Identifier" inside the install files to prevent them even being installed under non-supported OS ?

Could you possibly list the error message you are getting from trying that please ?

Seems as if you have already installed Windows 10 in which case I don't think that Symantec will be able to help you  much until the actual Service pack that supports Windows 10 is available for SSR 2013 R2.

If the 3 monthly Service Pack cycle remains valid for SSR 2013 R2 then we might even see SP4 before the end of September all going well which may also possibly even support Windows 10.

 

W3jnp
Level 3

I keep getting this error when attempting to create a recovery disk (see attached photo). I am able to enter my license number and the program does create backup sets SSR 2013 R2 Desktop - service pack 3). I have tried the advanced creation after downloading and creating the tools from Microsoft. Still no luck. Any suggestions.

Using Windows 10 64 bit.

Will my old SSR 2013 non R2 recovery disk work.

I do have a valid license as I just purchased the 2013 R2 version.

r4784
Level 3

My win 10 did work, at least accept the license that i paid for, with cjm's instructions. But when I tried to create disc it failed. At that point I got tired of looking for work arounds for software that I PAID for and SHOULD have been win 10 ready as win10 was not just dropped on the world - it was one of the most widely promoted and tested OS's to come out recently. Symantec dropped the ball on this one and several others for that matter.

Why should I, the paying customer, have to spend hours scouring posts from other users to find a work around for THEIR problem? I am an old IT man that started in the 70's with computers and software so it is not like I am a newbie at this so I don't mind a little legwork to get something going but this is totally unacceptable.

Symantec, when it was Norton, used to mean something - not now.