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COM Surrogate error stops me from deleting old images.

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I was trying to clean up years of Image bkups scattered on many external HD's over the years.  Some in the last 3 years did not go well if they no longer showed up in the Acronis window.  I manually tried to delete them in Windows exployer but got "The action can't be completed because the folder is open in COM Surrogate".  I even rebooted the computer and went straight to Win Exployer 1st... but same message.  I even hooked the HD up to a win 8.1 computer... same problem.

How can I manually delete old Bkup's off my external HD?

Win 7, Win 8.1

 

Marv.

 

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Marv, please see old forum post: 12723: Can't Delete Old Image Files which raised this same issue and offers a solution that looks to have worked for some users.

See also: 101505: Can't Delete File Because Folder is Open In Com Surrogate for some alternative suggestions.

Thanks Steve...

Reformating the drive was not an option in my case.

What a nightmare... took over an hour.  Tried everything above... nothing worked.  Finally pulled all the plugs and figured out how to boot in safe mode in Win 8.1... (not easy) and then stopped/end task the "com.Surogate".   Even then I got an error "Can't be completed because the folder or file is open in another Program".  (You gotta be kidding... nothing is running except the OS).   So I keep hitting the Delete key over about 3 minutes in desperation as i think what I missed... nothing.  So I think a few words not fit to write, and hit it once more before giving up and presto... it deletes.  Time to quit.. long day.

Is the latest Acronis version any better?

Marv, sorry to hear that this issue took some effort to get to being able to delete your old backups.  I suspect that this is more of an issue from your Windows OS than from Acronis 2015.  It is not one that I have encountered personally though I have come across other types of files & folders that have been very resistant to being deleted!

What I normally do in this type of situation is to boot the computer from either a bootable USB stick, or a Live CD/DVD so that I am working outside of Windows and then can delete any of these stubborn files.

If you were to go to ATIH 2017, then you could also use the MVP version of the Windows PE Acronis Rescue Media (see forum post: 127281: MVP Tool - CUSTOM ATI WINPE BUILDER) which can include a standalone file manager, web browser and various utilities, which could be used for the same purpose.  Note: this Win PE media can only be built with the latest ATIH 2016 or the 2017 product - it doesn't work with older versions.

Steve... I'm a little in the dark... so is this  MVP version included with TI 2017 or is it a seperate program?

Also... I only do complete IMAGE backups... however I might consitter doing auto file bkups to my MEDIA work station.   I do this for several reasons... the big one is I got tired of the "Operations In Progress"  when I wanted to shut down & leave.  Is that msg still going on with 2017?  (I DO NOT use Cloud).

Marv, the MVP version uses the integrated Rescue Media Builder in ATIH 2016 / 2017 but then enhances this to provide the additional functionality.

With ATIH 2017 (2016) there are two different license versions, one is a perpetual license, buy once and use for as long as it will work; the second is a subscription license which includes the Acronis Cloud element but which can only be used while the subscription is active.

The problem with operations in progress on shutdown is a known issue and has been resolved in the latest builds for ATIH 2016, and in the 2017 version.

Steve... To clearify... is the MVP version Included in 2017?  I ask because I don't see it on the website.

Marv, no it is not included in 2017 - it has to be created by using the Script file in the link provided earlier (or found in my signature below) but it uses the integrate Rescue Media Builder tool.

This is the Windows PE version of the Rescue Media so cannot be downloaded from the Acronis website.  You can only download the Linux version of the Acronis Rescue Media (as an .ISO file) from the website.

Boy... that's a mouth full Steve.   It's starting to make some sense... I'm not a teck per say... but I do have a little experience.   And after downloading everything and taking a look at it, I think I will have my Teckie friend help me get everything set up right.

Many thanks for all your helpful help and answering my questions.  

So when I do the 2017 install... should I just install... or completely uninstall the old first?

 

Marv, glad to be able to help.

My personal preference would be to uninstall and do a clean install of the new 2017 version, but you can just install this and upgrade your older 2015 version.  If you have had any earlier versions of ATIH installed on this machine that you have previously upgraded to the current 2015 version, then again I would recommend uninstalling first.

See the Acronis True Image 2017 FAQ document in the Useful Links section on the left of the forum pages which will give you more information in this area.