Acronis 2014 doesn't recognize valid image of system drive
I have Acronis 2014 installed on a Windows 8.1 computer. The system drive is a 64 gig SSD. The backup images created by Acronis 2014 are stored on a secondary 500 gig hard drive (not SSD). The backups are validated when they are created; they are also full system drive backups, not incremental.
When I tried to recover the system by restoring an image file (I have several on the second hard drive), Acronis indicates that there is an error and that backup image(s) can not be restored. The error comes with an option to "try again".
Right now this software is pretty worthless if it won't restore it's back images when the system drive became extremely unstable. I am asking Acronis to restore an image while I am logged on to Windows (rather than using boot media) since Acronis is otherwise behaving normally in Windows.
I should add that when I back up the system drive, I ensure that the backup image is validated by Acronis. They always are checked and are shown to be valid. So...why can't Acronis restore an image to my system drive...what the heck is the problem?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Chick
Thank you.
In past versions of Acronis, I was able to begin the recovery in Windows, and then at some point in the process Acronis would restart the computer and restore the image before Windows booted. Presently, I am getting an error that acronis can't find version 1. That happens when there is only one version (i.e. when the option to make on full backup without periodic updates), and it was made and validated just 5 minutes ago (as a test of Acronis). The error message means nothing...it's useless.
I would think that if the problem was that I was accessing the system image from Windows, I would get another error indicating so (that I need to boot Acronis from the rescue disk). Instead, the error message is nonsense and not at all helpful. Additionally Acronis, while being viewed in Windows, has a 1) "Recover" backup button and, 2) if you tweek the little gear icon next to that Recover button, the drop down menu also offers an option to Recover backup. From these links, one would think that clicking on Recover backup would do just that (and would then initiate the reboot to do it). Why do I consistently get an error message saying "can't find version 1" (when that's the only version and it was validated). With True Image 2011, staring a Recovery of a system backup from Windows was no problem. TI 2014 is (it seems) ALL problem.
Today, while trying to create a system backup, when the process was practically completed, a popup error message appeared during the backup process stating (in bold red type) "Failed" unable to locate ASUS_Backup_9-18-16". There is no backup anymore with that name. If I clicked "Cancel" when that error appeared, my newly created and currently running backup stopped abruptly and was marked "FAILED". In other words, it is no longer possible to backup the system because the program requires a backup (ASUS_Backup_9-18-16) that no longer exists. It was deleted months ago (and why would I need it to create an unrelated backup???). And that brings up another issue: Beginning when the program was first installed, when selecting "Delete backup" within Acronis, Acronis' "Deleting..." message appears in a small window...BUT it never goes away (for hours...) and the entire program is locked and must be forced to close via task manager. I 've hated to delete old backups using Acronis because it's such an arduous process, having to close and restart Acronis multiple times. As I stated, this problem was present the day I installed Acronis, in 2014.
Because of all the problems...I decided to uninstall the program and reinstall it. Interestingly, the program does not appear in Windows list of installed programs, so there was no option to uninstall it that way. (Why not?)
As I said, this program has been trouble in one way or the other from the beginning. I have tried to work around all the flaws, but it's been a great source of frustration, being progressively more unstable and less useful lately. I tried to return the software after I bought it but was told it is not returnable (it was 30 days since the purchase that I discovered the first few problems and called Acronis, but Acronis rep told be "Sorry. No refund, no return. Bye.")
None of these unhappy experiences occured with TI 2011 (which I used quite happily for a few years). That software was definitely more user friendly, considerably more stable and much more reliable. It worked exactly as expected (including being able to start the Recovery of a system backup using the Windows interface).
Right now Acronis is pretty useless for me. I am working on figuring out how to uninstall it, since it is not uninstallable from the Windows program list. I will probably try the cleanup utility. If I succeed, I MAY, with some trepidation, try reinstalling it and tip toe quite caustiously around the computer when trying to back up or recover an image. If it's still a bust, goodbye Acronis 2014. There are other options available from competitors.
Thank you for your advice. I know you were sincerely trying to be helpful and reassuring. And I truly appreciated that.
Chick
PS Sorry for any typos
Hi chick, it sounds like something is wrong with your install, there should be an uninstall in control panel. Normally you should be able to rerun the installer and repair the install. You can give it a go. However since it also sounds like there are ghost jobs, you would also want to run task zap from schedule manager and then update the existing backup jobs.
Based on what sounds like install issues, I'd recommend you start clean making sure to use the cleanup tool and following these instructions: https://forum.acronis.com/forum/126092#comment-391779
I'm typing via phone so it's a bit difficult. Here's the schedule manager I you try the repair instead. I'd run schedule manager task zap and then repair if you opt to not go for a full clean and fresh install
And for the locate the last volume prompt, you can try this fix too.. if you don't do either the clean or repair
Chick, doing the clean install would probably be the best way to get a totally clean start from this problem, though from the information you have provided, it sounds as if you are manually deleting old backup files and not using the automatic cleanup rules within the application to manage these.
Doing manual deletions will leave behind information in the Acronis Database which stores details of your backup history, and may be why you are seeing the missing file messages.
You may wish to try forcing a rebuild of the Acronis Database by doing the following steps:
- Stop all Acronis Services and Processes - starting with the Services first (else these will cause programs to be restarted), then end all the Acronis programs via Windows Task Manager.
- In Explorer, navigate to C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\ and rename or delete the Database folder you see there - rename to Database.OLD if renaming.
- Launch the main Acronis True Image application which will restart all the stopped items and build a new Database folder and files.
When performing any recovery for the OS partition, then it is very strongly recommended that this should only be done when using the Acronis bootable Rescue Media (on CD or USB stick) and not be started from within Windows. Using the Rescue Media also does not use the Acronis Database so these missing files messages would not be shown either.
You say that the backups are stored on a secondary 500 gig hard drive. Is that an internal or external drive (e.g. USB)?