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Backup & Encryption... I can have one or the other but not both?

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I'm running Windows 10 Pro ( Version = 1703, Build = 15063.483) and ATI 2017 New Gen.

 

When I try to run a Files & Folder backup of an unlocked, Bitlocker drive (not the OS drive) I get an error (see below) on every folder (except the folder that contains Documents, Downloads, Pictures, etc...).

Failed to back up file or folder [folder path].
It may be blocked by another application.

Looking around the forums it seems that I can have encrypted data (regardless to whether it's unlocked) or I can have data I can backup frequently but I cannot have both?  Is this correct? ATI does not support backing up files from an unlocked Bitlocker drive?  If it's not correct, how do I get ATI to backup files and folders off an unlocked Bitlocker drive?

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Welcome to these user forums. 

As far as I am aware you should be able to backup your files & folders from the BitLocker drive provided it is unlocked to the user running the Acronis backup to allow the application to access the data. 

I don't use BitLocker so cannot test this myself. Are you running the backup task manually or as a scheduled task?

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

It's a scheduled task.  Everything was fine (back ups went fine for over a week) until I encrypted the drive, then the error.  Something to do with Windows, ATI and Bitlocker but what that is, is not immediately apparent to me.

Have you tried to run the backup manually since introducing the encryption?

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

Yeah.  I get the exact same error but I think I've figured out what's up.

It appears (but I haven't rigorously tested it) that if you don't unlock the drive before the first time ATI runs then it will never be able to do the backup.

The reason I believe this is that if I restart my machine and immediately unlock the Bitlocker drive then the backup runs successfully.  Previously it would be minutes after startup before I got around to unlocking the drive.

Not sure if I understand correctly the sequence of events. Is it correct that you created the backup task before you did the encryption? If so I would try creating a new backup task and see if it still happens.

I get the impression that the PC is booting up to perform a scheduled backup, and I would have thought that bitlocker would be "activated" to allow access. You mention a delay. Could it be that the problem is overcome if you have delay before the backup runs after the PC boots up?

All speculation on my part - could be completely off track

Ian

Put simply, Acronis cannot backup an encrypted drive unless it has been unlocked prior to starting the backup task.

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

No, the PC is not booting up to do the backup.

The sequence that I believe is generating the error is as follows (all of this is manual, no scripts, no Windows Tasks):

  1. Machine boots up.  There are two hard drives an SSD which contains OS and Apps (unencrypted) and a platter drive which contains my files and is encrypted with Bitlocker.  Bitlocker is not configured to auto unlock, the password has to be entered after every startup.
  2. Login to Windows.
  3. Do not unlock Bitlocker volume.
  4. ATI starts automatically.  I have a backup task of the encrypted drive which runs every hour.
  5. ATI attempts to do a backup and can't because the drive is encrypted.  I get the error message.
  6. Unlock the drive.
  7. For reasons unknown ATI still thinks it cannot backup the files/folders listed in the backup task and so continually throws the error every time it tries to backup those files/folders.

To make the error go away, #3 is changed to "Immediately unlock Bitlocker volume".  With that change ATI seems to run just fine and is able to backup the files/folders of the encrypted drive.

The same statement applies - the encrypted drive must be unlocked before the backup runs.  Acronis has no ability to unlock the drive and will not wait for it to be unlocked.