List of available backups
Hi
In my previous version of TI I could browse and add backups to my list and they would remain showing even if the external drives they were on were disconnected until I removed them from this list.
I cannot see such a facilty in TI 2016 and there is no reference to this function in the help files.
Is this facility no longer available in TI 2016? Do all the backups appear automatically if the relevant external drives are connected?
I have backups of USB thumb drives. They remain in my backup list when those thumb drives are not attached. However, the backup location where the backups reside, are always connected to my machine.
EricG,
Paragraph 4.4.5 of the user manual discusses adding existing backups to the list. The user manual states:
"Every time you start Acronis True Image, it scans your computer for such backups and adds them to the backup list automatically."
My experience is that this does not happen. Existing backups which are not on the list are not automatically added to the list. However, they can be added to the list. Picture1 below shows how to add an existing backup.
My experience is that once a backup is added to the list, it will show in the list, even if the drive is removed.
FtrPilot
Thanks for all your input but I still cannot get my copy of TI 2016 (on Windows 10 Home 64-bit) to show anything other than the latest backup. Even though there is a facility at the foot of the window (the + sign) to add backups this doesn't appear to work with on my computer.
I make complete fresh backups on a regular basis to two external USB HDDs in rotation and each backup is located in a separate folder on the HDDs. I keep only the last two backups on each HDD and delete the older ones as I make new fresh ones. I have used this system on all my Computers/Notebooks over the years I have been using TI in its various versions but have never had any difficulty, until now, in browsing a machine and importing the backup to TI.
I am sticking with TI 2014 on my Windows 7 Laptop which I find much easier to use than the 2016 Version on my Windows 10 machine.
As a matter of interest, I did a clean install of TI 2016 after purchasing an upgrade licence; not an update over an older version.
Eric,
Sorry to hear that. I'm not sure if it's a learning curve or an actual issue.
You will only ever see one version of a backup unless the names of the backup are unique. If not a unique name, you will only ever see the one instance that Acronis knows of in the console.
To see other versions of previous backups not originally created with that specific task, if the name is not unque, you would need to rename the old backup .tib files manually - MAKING sure the name is unique and consistent for every version of that backup in its chain (for instance add _old to each file in the old backup file in the same place. You can then import that backup with the + as mentioned above).
Alternatively, if the goal is to see what's in the old backup files, you don't have to necessarily bring them in the console. Instead, just double click the .tib file and it should open in Windows file explorer and you can navigate it. Alternative to that as well, you can right click a backup .tib file and "mount" it to view the contents in it. Again though, if the file name is not unique and matches a file name of a current backup that does already live in your console, the behavior may not be as expected.
Eric, just to be clear here, the + sign at the bottom of the task list panel will only add new tasks, not existing backups. To add an existing backup you need to click on the other icon at the bottom, looks like (V) where you will see an option to Add existing backup and can add your backup .TIB file.
Sorry Steve, I meant the V on the other side to the + sign.
Bobbo - I use my two USB HDDs for a number of things including my Acronis Backups. I have individual folders on each of these drives for various items including two dedicated to Acronis Backups for each of my two Notebooks.
Within these folders I create another folder for each full backup named as the date the backup was created; the unique backup is also given the date as the name. I always import any old Backups I wish to delete into Acronis TI and delete them from there; then I delete the relevant folder from the HDD in Explorer.
I always verify my backups and then mount them, usually from within Explorer, and make sure that I can open random files as a further check on the integrity of the backup. This system has always worked for me over the years and with the various versions of TI.
I have to say that so far I do not find the 2016 version of TI as intuitive to use as previous versions; I am a great believer in the saying " if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
However, I obviously need more study of the guide/help file and shall persevere with it for the time being.
Eric,
Sounds like you're doing everything right. 2016 is definitely a chance from 2014 and earlier. A lot of people in the forums have stated they dont' like the interface. I was one of them at first, but now I've grown used to it and think that overall, it's pretty good. The fancy stuff like ASRM and NSB, still need some work before I can recommend it, but it's getting there (slowly). That said, the general backup features are pretty good. Tthere are, of course, still features I want brought back and many of these are being voiced through the MVP program too (logging, customization of how existing backup are scanned and brought in or excluded from being brought in, etc). I am really looking forward to 2017 and hope that a lot of our feedback is implemented, but we won't know for a few more months. For any issues you come across, things you think could be improved, etc. please feel free to voice them in the forum, but be sure to submit feedback directly to Acronis through the app as well!!!
Thanks for your further input. I have to say that having read the .pdf Guide for TI 2016 I don't find it easy to follow in some areas and it is definitely lacking with regard to deleting old backups, which I believe should not be deleted in explorer but within TI.
However, having purchased the upgrade to TI 2016, I will persevere with it hoping that things will become clearer with time.
I have been playing around with TI 2016 some more and now find that sometimes I can get it to recognise my backup and sometimes I get an error message to say that it cannot find the tib file despite correctly navigating to it. This erratic behavoir is worrying to say the least.
I may try to repair the installation to see whether that might cure the problems i am having.
Well, I downloaded a fresh copy of the latest version and used the repair option and now it appears to work as it should. I shall see how it goes for a week or two.
Glad to hear it. With all "major" software (I consider Acronis a major software since it has such low level access to Windows in order to be able to use VSS and backup all files as they are in use), I would always recommend running major version upgrades "cleanly" (remove old software first then install the newer version). Within version upgrades should be OK though. Acronis supports major version upgrades, but personal experience and these forums seem to dictate that a lot of headaches can be avoided by starting cleanly from time to time. For whatever reason, glad the repair sorted things out for you though! It does sound like you are an upgrader though? If so, next major revision, try the upgrade and see how it goes, but if issue pop-up, try the repair (if avaialble) or consider the clean install to get back on track. I'll be doing a clean install when 2017 comes up... perhaps not necessary, but then again, I generally don't run into other weirdness or progam issues (other than bugs), going this route either. To each their own though - just my 2 cents.
After I did the repair of TI 2016 I made a new recovery media on a USB Flash Drive and tested that. Apart from having a great deal of trouble accessing the BIOS to make the USB Device the first boot order device, I used it to look at the backups I had and chose one file to recover to my desktop.
When I then booted up into Windows, the copy of the recovered file wasn't there and all my desktop icons had changed in size. Naturally, my confidence in this new version has taken a tumble again.
Eric,
What did you recover and can you walk us through the exact steps you took with screenshots (digital camera or phone while offline).
Desktop icon size is probably not related to Acronis. I would guess you accidentally had control pressed and used the mouse scroll wheel. I have an HP netbook that is super sensitive on the touch pad and almost every time I try to drag an icon to a new location on the desktop, it detects a "pinch" and zoons in on my icons too, making them all tiny again.
As for the file not being restored, knowing what you were recovering, what options you selected and where you selected to recover it to would be useful. I would recommend that you always recover to a new or temp location like C:\RECOVERY so that the files go there first. Then copy or cut and paste to the final desired location... especially if you intend to overwrite or replace an existing file(s) with the same name(s).
As a matter of interest, this new HP Laptop is actually my wife's machine but I am the one who gets to maintain it. My own uses Windows 7 so Windows 10 is very new to me.
I thought I recovered a single image to my desktop. I wasn't aware that HP machines can alter the desktop icon size using control and mouse wheel and I thought these large icons were present on booting up into Windows.
Next time I am using the HP machine I will try the recovery media again and see if I can replicate the error. I must admit it took me by surprise so I wasn't prepared for recording anything.
I resolved the access to the boot menu - contrary to the guide for this machine I found out from the internet the correct keys to access the BIOS and boot menu.
I had another go at using the recovery media and this time it all worked as it should. I also had no problem with my desktop icons this time so I have no clue as to the reason for the previous glitch.
Glad to hear it's all working! I'm pretty sure the resizing is related to the scrollpad and either control + scroll or a some type of swipe (pinch / zoom). It happens to me on my HP quite a bit actually because it's so sensitive. I've had to restort to using a mouse when I need to type on that one very much. Not sure about the restore. Maybe it never actually completed, or got restored elsewhere accidentally - I can't say. At least we now know that it does work.
As you say, the desktop icon problem was probably unrelated to Acronis TI.
I have since found the files I previously thought I recovered to the desktop in a location I didn't know existed, namely the Public Desktop. I have never been aware through the use of the various versions of Windows I have used over the years that there were different desktops except if there were more than one user of the computer. We live and learn as they say