By Keith Weisshar - 6 September 2023 4:02 PM
My computer went into BSOD boot loop with Phase1 Initialization Failed after clicking "Use host driver" and then "Do not copy drivers" and then clicking OK in that order in Rescue Media Builder advanced menu and then rebooting. When I clicked "Use host driver" and then "Do not copy drivers" and then clicked OK it deleted the entire C:\Windows\Inf folder and I can no longer boot Windows after reboot and I had to clean install Windows since I did not have a previous backup of Windows at that moment. I had to reinstall Windows and then reinstall Macrium Reflect but it registered OK because it's on the same computer. This is a serious issue that needs to be fixed. I need the attention of Macrium Support to look into this issue. In the meantime, please do not click "Use host driver" and then "Do not copy drivers" before clicking OK as this will delete the C:\Windows\Inf folder as soon as OK is clicked and then render the computer unbootable on the next reboot. This is a serious bug that needs to be fixed because it can brick the computer and will require either reinstalling Windows or booting from rescue media and restoring from most recent Macrium image.
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By JoeA - 7 September 2023 9:35 AM
Hi @Keith Weisshar,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we are looking into this to see if this is an issue within the software or the user machine. To make sure the steps I have to replicate this are correct can you please confirm the following:
1. Launch rescue media builder and open advanced
2. Set any driver to use the host (without clicking okay) and then select do not copy driver and then click ok.
3. Restart
4. Machine BSODs
Update:
This has been replicated and we are investigating with the developers
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By Keith Weisshar - 7 September 2023 11:12 AM
When I checked the INF folder between step 2 and step 3 in post #2 it was missing. I made a full backup after clean installing Windows and then replicated the issue and it happens again and I had to restore from that backup created before I replicated this issue.
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By JoeA - 7 September 2023 11:19 AM
Hi @Keith Weisshar,
This is what we also found during our testing,
From our findings so far, this only seems to happen when you select use host drivers and then do not copy drivers.
I have made the developers aware of this issue and they are looking into it.
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By JoeA - 7 September 2023 1:37 PM
Hi @Keith Weisshar,
An update on this situation,
We've both fixed the underlying issue and taken steps to ensure the Advanced Drivers dialogue can't do anything like this again.
The fix for this will be available in the next update of the software.
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By Phillipus - 8 September 2023 9:23 AM
"It deleted the entire C:\Windows\Inf folder and I can no longer boot Windows after reboot"
"This is a serious bug that needs to be fixed because it can brick the computer and will require either reinstalling Windows or booting from rescue media and restoring from most recent Macrium image."
Wow, that is serious. I was about to experiment with different settings today and came across this post. Thanks for the heads up.
"The fix for this will be available in the next update of the software."
Presumably the update will be available very soon considering the seriousness of this issue?
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By GertG - 8 September 2023 3:38 PM
+xPresumably the update will be available very soon considering the seriousness of this issue?
This would be welcome because when the error occurs it is too late.
So Macrium where is an update
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By Drac144 - 8 September 2023 6:03 PM
Am I missing something here???
While this issue may be serious, it seems it can be easily avoided by not doing the one thing that will cause it. Unless one creates rescue media frequently, it should not be encountered very often. More importantly: don't request host drivers be copied then not copy them. Now that the cause of the issue has been determined, a little attention to what one is doing should prevent the issue until a new version is released. So what is the urgency?
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By Phillipus - 8 September 2023 6:37 PM
+xAm I missing something here??? While this issue may be serious, it seems it can be easily avoided by not doing the one thing that will cause it. Unless one creates rescue media frequently, it should not be encountered very often. More importantly: don't request host drivers be copied then not copy them. Now that the cause of the issue has been determined, a little attention to what one is doing should prevent the issue until a new version is released. So what is the urgency?
Yes, you are missing something here:
"It deleted the entire C:\Windows\Inf folder and I can no longer boot Windows after reboot"
To destroy a user's data is not a good look for a company who's slogan is "It's our business to protect your data".
You say "it can be easily avoided by not doing the one thing that will cause it". Not every user reads this forum and this post, so it's possible that some users may end up with their Windows installations destroyed by using Macrium software. This is not good. It happened to @Keith Weisshar and it could happen again to others.
I look forward to a new version of the software with the fix released sooner rather than later.
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By Drac144 - 9 September 2023 6:31 PM
Phillipus,
Thank you for the clarification. As you say, a program created to protect one's computer content should not destroy it.
Having acknowledged that point, it still seems that in all the time V8 has been available (I don't know how long this error has been in Reflect so I will not assume it was in previous versions) it has never come up before (to my knowledge). So while the error is serious the probability of it happening seems rather low. That, I think, does somewhat reduce the urgency of a fix. Of course it did not happen to me. Had it happened to me, I MIGHT have a different perception of its urgency.
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By DanDanz - 9 September 2023 7:23 PM
Permit to offer a brief observation: The sin, in my view, is that Reflect should NEVER DELETE a source of data for it's operation. If the option Do Not Copy Driver has been set, then it should just not copy the driver from an INF file, NOT delete the INF file, and NEVER delete the Windows INF folder or any other folder containing an unwanted driver unless said folder was created by Reflect and/or is under the control/purview of Reflect.
I can't tell precisely what the forthcoming fix will do when confronted with the same confusing instructions from a user. @JoeA Could you confirm that the forthcoming fix complies with those thoughts so we all can breathe easier.
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By JoeA - 11 September 2023 1:41 PM
Hi All,
We've conducted a more in-depth investigation into this issue and determined that it originally entered the software during an early version of v8.0. This bug wasn't introduced with v8.1.7638. The nature of the option selections required to trigger this problem has made it elude our detection until now, and there are no reports of other users encountering it.
While we concur that the severity of this issue is significant, it's worth noting that @Keith Weisshar only recently uncovered it. This suggests that the likelihood of another user encountering the same problem before the patch is applied is quite low.
We're actively working on a solution for this issue, currently in the testing phase within our internal environment. Once we're confident that this issue won't reoccur, we'll promptly release the fix to ensure a seamless experience for our users.
The nature of the option selections required to trigger this problem is selecting Use Host Drivers and then selecting Do Not Copy Host Drivers when the status is Driver already present in Drivers folder and applying the changes to the rescue media builder.
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By Keith Weisshar - 18 September 2023 11:29 AM
When will the next update be released as selecting "Use host driver" and then selecting "Do not copy drivers" with "Driver already present in Drivers folder" status and then applying the changes will result in unrecoverable catastrophic failure of the Windows operating system that will require a clean reinstallation of the operating system?
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By Phillipus - 18 September 2023 12:51 PM
+xWhen will the next update be released as selecting "Use host driver" and then selecting "Do not copy drivers" with "Driver already present in Drivers folder" status and then applying the changes will result in unrecoverable catastrophic failure of the Windows operating system that will require a clean reinstallation of the operating system?
"Promptly", apparently:
"...we'll promptly release the fix to ensure a seamless experience for our users."
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By Keith Weisshar - 28 September 2023 7:51 AM
Is there a way to prevent malicious exploiting of this destructive bug if I share the computer with other users or use remote access software?
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By Phillipus - 28 September 2023 9:45 AM
+xIs there a way to prevent malicious exploiting of this destructive bug if I share the computer with other users or use remote access software?
Macrium said "we'll promptly release the fix to ensure a seamless experience for our users."
Did they release an update yet?
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By dbminter - 28 September 2023 1:49 PM
The last update was released on September 4th. So, it hasn't been addressed yet.
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By pokeefe - 28 September 2023 5:14 PM
+xPermit to offer a brief observation: The sin, in my view, is that Reflect should NEVER DELETE a source of data for it's operation. If the option Do Not Copy Driver has been set, then it should just not copy the driver from an INF file, NOT delete the INF file, and NEVER delete the Windows INF folder or any other folder containing an unwanted driver unless said folder was created by Reflect and/or is under the control/purview of Reflect. I have no idea what goes on in the minds of the developers, but I suspect all of them would agree with you. It's almost certain they did not intend to delete any system folders from Windows. I would bet that they intended either to delete a copy of the folder that they had made or to perform some action other than "delete". It's a bug, not an intentional action. Testing should catch errors like this, but this bug requires an unusual combination of options not covered in the tests. (I bet there's a new testing scheme that covers all unusual combinations of options in Rescue Media Builder.)
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By Drac144 - 28 September 2023 5:46 PM
Keith,
Are you sharing your computer with hackers or people who want to do harm to you? If not, why are they even going to access Reflect? You can password protect Reflect if needed (via 3rd party software). That would be a good idea anyway even when this bug IS fixed if you think these other people are going to try to mess up your computer. And if that is their intention there are easier ways to do it then to use Reflect (they can easily reformat your HDD).
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By Phillipus - 2 October 2023 9:40 AM
+xThe last update was released on September 4th. So, it hasn't been addressed yet.
So it seems.
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By Keith Weisshar - 2 October 2023 5:28 PM
My computer sometimes get shared with another member of the household. It's a desktop computer located in the den.
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By Phillipus - 5 October 2023 10:26 AM
"We'll promptly release the fix to ensure a seamless experience for our users." OK...
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By JoeA - 5 October 2023 1:21 PM
Hi All,
We are currently testing a build version of the software in-house to make sure that this matter is addressed, we will release this when we are certain we have resolved the issues addressed within the upcoming update.
As stated in my previous post:
While we concur that the severity of this issue is significant, it's worth noting that @Keith Weisshar only recently uncovered it. This suggests that the likelihood of another user encountering the same problem before the patch is applied is quite low.
This is still the case and have had no reports on the forums or through our help desk regarding this issue. The update will be released shortly with a fix for this issue and others.
We thank you for your patience and understanding with this matter.
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By dbminter - 5 October 2023 1:43 PM
+x"We'll promptly release the fix to ensure a seamless experience for our users." OK...
I think the intent of that reply is once the update is created, it will be promptly released to the address the issue. It is severe enough to warrant a prompt release, but creating the fix is an indeterminate process. Plus, you'd want to make sure the fix doesn't break anything else or cause any other known issues before releasing. So, it has to go through in house beta testing.
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By JoeA - 9 October 2023 3:38 PM
Hi All,
An update has just been released which addresses this issue. Update the software's latest version (8.1.7675) to apply this patch.
Thank you @Keith Weisshar for bringing this to our attention and for your patience regarding this issue.
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