Acronis True Image 2016 is deleting restore points as each backup is created
Has anyone else had the problem of Acronis True Image 2016 (build 6589) deleting restore points each time you create a backup? Sometimes it will delete all my restore points (10 or more) and sometimes it just leaves the most recent restore point.
I'm running Windows 10 Home 64-bit version 1703 build 15063.296 on a Samsung Solid State Drive 850 EVO 500 GB and am backing up to a 3TB external hard drive.
Stu
Stuart, check your configuration for system protection (Control Panel -> System -> System protection, Configure...). If there is a defined limit and not enough room for the backup to create a shadow copy, then it will delete restore points to make room. Options are to configure unlimited space for protection, or change the backup to not use VSS as Steve suggested.
FYI, I have a support case for a related issue with ATI 2017 and VSS. I always use Acronis snapshot to avoid the issues.
Stuart, please be aware that there is a specific Acronis True Image 2016 Forum where you can post any questions etc for your ATIH 2016 product rather than posting in this forum which is for older / obsolete products (ATIH 2014 and earlier).
There have been some reports in these forums of similar behaviour with regards to restore points being deleted but as far as I remember this was mainly attributed to the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) doing this rather than Acronis itself. ATIH 2015 & above use VSS under the covers to create snapshots of data being backed up to overcome issues of locks on files etc.
If you wish to pursue this then please open a Support Case directly with Acronis Support - all 2016 & 2017 users now have upto 2 years of free support (via chat or email) from the date of purchase.
If you want to test that this is directly related to the use of VSS, then you can change your backup task not to use VSS but instead to go back to the older Acronis snapshot method as used in 2014 and earlier products. See post: https://forum.acronis.com/forum/45832#comment-346558 for how to do this on a per task basis.
Steve,
Thank you, thank you, thank you! You pointed me in the right direction and it resolved my issue.
I do want to apologize for posting in the wrong forum, which makes me appreciate your response even more.
Just as an FYI, the solution presented at the link you suggested will work until I create a new Acronis True Image backup plan. Then I will have to remember to apply that fix again. To get around having to remember to do that, I will be experimenting with using a BAT file to launch Acronis True Image 2016 that first disables VSS, then runs Acronis True Image, and then enables VSS again. If that works as planned, I will never have this issue again.
Thanks again for all your help. It's very much appreciated.
Stu
Stuart, check your configuration for system protection (Control Panel -> System -> System protection, Configure...). If there is a defined limit and not enough room for the backup to create a shadow copy, then it will delete restore points to make room. Options are to configure unlimited space for protection, or change the backup to not use VSS as Steve suggested.
FYI, I have a support case for a related issue with ATI 2017 and VSS. I always use Acronis snapshot to avoid the issues.
Hi Bruno,
Thank you for responding to my question. I'm using about 10% of the space available for restore points and was still getting all restore points deleted except for any on the same day as I ran Acronis True Image 2016. The solution was what Steve Smith suggested above.
Stu
Stu, for information mainly, but in ATIH 2017 this is now an option on the Advanced options settings page so that there is no need to have to go edit your Scripts .tib.tis files.
See KB 59440: Acronis True Image 2017: 'Snapshot for backup' option overview
Stuart, I found that when Windows deleted old restore points, it really looked from the reported usage that there was plenty of unused space so I do not understand its algorithm. Under the System Protection configuration I shrank the configured space from Unbounded to 20GB when I had less than 1 GB supposedly used and it still wiped out the restore points. I've tried to read and understand what I can about VSS but it is still a rather big mystery. Hence, I don't let Acronis use it and my restore points are there. Sometime I think maybe I should just turn off protection and then let Acronis use VSS. Then it is fine.
Stuart, I found that when Windows deleted old restore points, it really looked from the reported usage that there was plenty of unused space so I do not understand its algorithm. Under the System Protection configuration I shrank the configured space from Unbounded to 20GB when I had less than 1 GB supposedly used and it still wiped out the restore points. I've tried to read and understand what I can about VSS but it is still a rather big mystery. Hence, I don't let Acronis use it and my restore points are there. Sometime I think maybe I should just turn off protection and then let Acronis use VSS. Then it is fine.
Bruno,
You are quite correct that restore point deletion is a big mystery. That's why I use the free Restore Point Creator (https://www.toms-world.org/blog/restore_point_creator) which I have set to create a restore point once a day and the algorithm to delete restore points is now completely under my control. It just bugged me that everytime I ran an Acronis True Image 2016 backup all restore points were deleted except those created, if any, on the day of the backup.
Stu
Stu, for information mainly, but in ATIH 2017 this is now an option on the Advanced options settings page so that there is no need to have to go edit your Scripts .tib.tis files.
See KB 59440: Acronis True Image 2017: 'Snapshot for backup' option overview
Hi Steve,
I wasn't happy with the solution at https://forum.acronis.com/forum/45832#comment-346558 because everytime you create a new backup task you have to remember to edit the file. I'm sure I would forget and then lose my restore points. So I've come up with a BAT file (see below) that works perfectly so that I never have to perform that edit. Please feel free to give it to anyone that may need it.
Stu
:
: Created by Stu Berg 5/24/2017
:
: The purpose of this BAT file is to prevent the deletion of Windows restore points when an Acronis
: True Image backup is run. The behavior seen is that running a backup deletes all Windows restore
: points except any that were created on the same day as the backup. It's not Acronis True Image itself
: deleting the backups, but the use of the Volume Shadow Copy service (VSS) during the backup that
: causes the deletions. This is ONLY A PROBLEM for Acronis True Image 2015 and 2016. Versions
: before 2015 did not use VSS and version 2017 and later have an advanced option to NOT use VSS.
:
: This BAT file:
: 1. Disables the Volume Shadow Copy service
: 2. Starts Acronis True Image
: 3. Uses a delay loop to wait for TrueImage.exe to end
: 4. Enables the Volume Shadow Copy service
:
: Note 1: The best way to run this BAT file is to save it in a folder and create a Shortcut to run it.
: Make sure to set the shortcut to "Run as administrator" by doing this:
: A. Right click on shortcut.
: B. Choose "Properties".
: C. Click on the "Shortcut" tab.
: D. Click on the "Advanced" button.
: E. Check the "Run as administrator" box.
: F. Click "OK" and then "OK" again.
:
: Note 2: You have to understand that using this BAT file means that the backup created "sees" the
: Volume Shadow Copy service as "Disabled". That means that any full disk restore from that backup
: will restore that service to the "Disabled" state.
:
: Note 3: Since Acronis True Image uses the Volume Shadow Copy service as a way to allow the user to
: make changes WHILE the backup is running, it is recommended that you NOT make changes
: to your computer during a backup that uses this BAT file.
:
sc config VSS start= disabled
:
CD "C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\TrueImageHome\"
TrueImageLauncher.exe
:
:WAITLOOP
tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq TrueImage.exe" 2>NUL | find /I /N "TrueImage.exe">NUL
if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" goto RUNNING
goto NOTRUNNING
:RUNNING
ping 9.9
goto WAITLOOP
:NOTRUNNING
:
sc config VSS start= demand
Stu, thanks for sharing your batch script, there is a simple change that you can make if you wish, which is to launch the specific Acronis backup task from with the script directly instead of just launching the main ATIH GUI.
If you change the line for TrueImageLauncher.exe to:
TrueImageLauncher.exe /script:aaaa.... (using the script file name from the C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts folder for the file that matches your backup task - leaving off the file extension .tib.tis part) This will launch this backup task.
You could also put the sc config VSS start= disabled command in a short batch file as a Pre Command for the backup task, then do the same with the sc config VSS start= demand command to run as a Post Command for your backup task(s).
You could also put the sc config VSS start= disabled command in a short batch file as a Pre Command for the backup task, then do the same with the sc config VSS start= demand command to run as a Post Command for your backup task(s).
Steve,
OF COURSE!!! I should have thought of that, especially since I already use Pre and Post BAT files for all my backups! I use them to prevent hibernation from stopping the backup which was from the days before Acronis True Image had the ability to prevent hibernation. Although it has that capability now, I've always left them in each run.
I've already tried it and it works just fine. Of course simpler is better. I like it. At least I had fun writing the much more complicated BAT file.
Thank you so much,
Stu
Stu, glad to share in the brain-storming with you.
In reply to Stu, glad by truwrikodrorow…
Hi Steve,
I need to tell you that when I implemented the Acronis True Image 2016 Pre/Post commands to prevent the deletion of restore points, there were a couple of small issues to resolve: One was that changing Windows service settings requires the BAT file to "Run as administrator". The other was that, for some strange reason, when the Volume Shadow Copy service (VSS) is disabled in the Acronis Pre command, it is still running while it's disabled. So the Post command needed to stop the VSS service before it changes it back to "Manual".
For anyone that may see this in the future, below are my instructions for implementing this fix. It works perfectly.
Stu
1. Create a BAT file called VSS-Off.bat that only has these lines:
net stop "VSS"
sc config VSS start= disabled
2. Create a BAT file called VSS-On.bat that only has these lines:
net stop "VSS"
sc config VSS start= demand
net stop "VSS"
3. Create separate links to the above BAT files making each run as Administrator by right-clicking on each link and choosing Properties - Shortcut (tab) - Advanced… - Run as administrator.
4. Open Acronis - Options - Advanced - Pre/Post commands. For the Pre-command enter VSS-Off.lnk at the location where it’s located. For the Post-command enter VSS-On.lnk at the location where it’s located. Click the “Save as default” box and then click “OK”.
Stuart, thanks for coming back and sharing your Pre/Post Command batch / link solution for other users to find if needed.