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Erroneous deletion of backups using Windows File Explorer

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Beginner
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I have been making weekly Entire PC backups to an external drive since purchasing Acronis True Image 2016 in October 2015, and have been innocently deleting all those backups which have been superseded by date, using Windows File Explorer.

I have now discovered to my horror that, according to the user manual, this will result in errors when the program tries to perform operations on the backups that no longer exist.

I am about to upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, and would like to correct this situation before I proceed. I am a computer neophyte, and would appreciate any simple straightforward directions as to how to rectify it, if at all possible.

Might the best solution be to delete all, uninstall the program and download it again in order to start over? Or might this create new problems?

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One option would be to manually run the valdation as per this link. Respond "ignore" each time you are prompted and you should be prompted multiple times-basically one prompt for each backup deleted.

/system/files/users/6816/2016-task-edits.gif

Or, another option would be to uninstall the program and run the TI cleanup utility to remove all residue of the history file.  The tib bacfups would remain untouched.

After you get Win 10 installed, then install a new copy of 2016 and start a new backup task.

The old backup can be accessed at any time for recovery of a file. Because you will have updated to 10, the only value of the old backup

would be to recover some personal files; or possible to go back completely to your prior OS before 10

 

 

Beginner
Posts: 1
Comments: 2

I have read that I should make a backup of my computer before I upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. I'm not sure what the purpose of this is, though. Maybe the backup will only be needed if the upgrade somehow fails to transfer data successfully or something. Perhaps somebody can elaborate on this.

Anyway, I get the distinct impression, upon reading the Acronis True Image 2016 user manual, that the single backup I am left with right now, after my having made an error in deleting all the previous ones using Windows Explorer, may not be complete in itself due to its nature. It would therefore be of no use as a backup if a disaster occurs as a result of the upgrade to Windows 10.

How about installing a new copy of 2016 and starting a new backup task now before upgrading to Windows 10 rather than after? Will some traces of the old deleted backups perhaps remain, and therefore still cause the errors that the manual warns about but fails to specify?

Unfortunately I am not sufficiently computer savvy to fully understand your options, and would be extremely hesitant to take the plunge. Hopefully, though,  some simple alternative can be found, while still avoiding those errors that Acronis threatens me with.

 

Currently,  you can boot from the user created TI REcovery CD and perform a full disk image backup of your entire computer.

This would be just as good as one created from within Windows.

Beginner
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Comments: 2

I've successfully followed the procedure for creating a Rescue Media Builder CD on a blank CD, assuming that this is what you are referring to as a TI Recovery CD.

However, it seems it cannot be read, as I receive the following message upon inserting it in my CD drive: "Couldn't Mount File. Virtual hard disk files can't be mounted from image files, or from removable media that isn't formatted with NTFS file system".  I am totally baffled by this.

Assuming that I can overcome this problem somehow, I'm unsure about performing a full disk image of my entire computer, as you suggest. Does the Rescue Media Builder CD already contain it, or is this a separate step that is required in order to add it to the CD?

Spend some time with the user manual at this link.

http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/ATI2016/#22735.html

Yes, the TI Recovery/Rescue Media Builder can be created via the left margin TOOLS menu (REscue Media Bulder)

The Rescue Medial Builder is a bootable CD which is used to boot your computer into the CD TrueImage Backup program.

Your computer boot sequence may need to be adjusted in order to boot into the CD rather than booting into Windows.

The CD is a backup program which is used to make a copy of your computer with the backup being stored on an external USB disk of a size larger than the computer itself.  The backup file created will be about 70% of your used space including ALL PARTITIONS.