Backup & Encryption... I can have one or the other but not both?
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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In reply to Welcome to these user forums… 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.
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Have you tried to run the backup manually since introducing the encryption?
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In reply to Have you tried to run the… 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.
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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
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Put simply, Acronis cannot backup an encrypted drive unless it has been unlocked prior to starting the backup task.
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In reply to Not sure if I understand… 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):
- 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.
- Login to Windows.
- Do not unlock Bitlocker volume.
- ATI starts automatically. I have a backup task of the encrypted drive which runs every hour.
- ATI attempts to do a backup and can't because the drive is encrypted. I get the error message.
- Unlock the drive.
- 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.
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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.
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