Cannot find version 1

Wayne, the issue here is caused because when you manually delete unwanted backup files outside of Acronis options, information about those deleted files is left behind in an internal database used by ATI and it is that generates the error message!

With ATI 2019 and later versions, Acronis has addressed this by providing a better tool for deleting unwanted files that does keep the database synchronised to avoid the error - this is the 'Clean up versions' tool in the context menu for each backup task.

The options to resolve the error are to run the validation and take either the Ignore or Cancel option for each missing file until all errors are dealt with, or else to force a rebuild of the database information by deleting all the current data held.

For the latter option, see KB 60915: Acronis True Image: repairing program settings - which has details of the steps needed.  Note: you will need to turn off Acronis Active Protection if this is enabled in ATI 2018 as will not allow the database files to be renamed or deleted!

Thank you for the instructions Steve.  I will give it a go.  But I still fail to understand why the programmers cannot feel responsibility to help a Full backup work around any pointless previous versions keeping it from working. Seems like they should be trying to make it work.

Wayne, things have got worse rather than better with ATI 2020/21 because of increased dependencies due to the use of metadata with the new backup .tibx files being used!

The only current method of creating truly fully independent full backup files is to either never create more than 1 file per backup task (or immediately move the first new full backup to another separate location) or else to create the backups using the Acronis rescue media in the offline environment where neither the database or metadata is used!

The programmers must somehow be proud of this feature, but I can't understand why it applies to a Full backup.  In my mind, any Full backup is obviously a version 1 itself, nothing about any older version can be of the slightest interest.  I would have thought the program should understand that. This is a bug to me, an obvious oversight.

If Validate can be clicked to instruct it to ignore the problem, obviously the program could provide the same solution to undo the interference and let a Full version work, automatically and silently. But  it doesn't.  Providing a reliable backup being the only purpose of the program seems a big deal.

If the program will reject use of the Full version without presence of some older Version 1, it could at least also warn us at creation time that our new attempted Full backup simply ain't gonna work.  Or much better, the program could simply help and fix things to make it be workable.  I hope the powers that be see this and give it another thought.

I do appreciate your instructions Steve, thank you.   It should make it usable.

Wayne

Wayne, just for reference or insomnia, see forum topic: Full Backups no independent entity where this has been discussed in some depth.

Thank you Steve, for the link.   Sounds like it is nearing Game Over now for my TrueImage years.  I have been creating frequent backups, none of which have any chance of ever working, and TrueImage never mentioned anything about it to me as a warning.

Curious if there is any information about what prior metadata could possibly be that is necessary to restore a later Full backup?  What this metadata could possibly contain and do that any Full backup cannot do?   My notion is it must only be about Incremental backups instead, and they locked themselves into something without leaving a way out.

Am I correct that if all prior backup files are removed from the working backup directory (to be empty), that then creating a new Full backup file in that empty directory will then be compatible, i.e., it will necessarily be Version 1 and it and any following versions will actually function as a working backup?  I see that it validates, but will it actually restore anything?

But otherwise, in the crisis when that new file is not possible, Trueimage sure needs an added menu to :   Make my latest existing Full backup file actually be functional to be able to do an actual restore, regardless of no older file presence.  I cannot imagine why that would not be possible to add.  Any Full backup has always had everything needed or applicable.

And I understand you to have said that booting on the CD Linux version to restore would also do it. Is that still true of current program versions?  I sure don't understand why the Windows version could not do the same.

Another try:  What if the current Single Version Scheme were used, where only one file is retained present (I assume the same as the empty directory method).   And then that one file were copied to an archive directory where some older ones like it were present.   Wouldn't any of those Single Version files be usable?  This seems an easier workaround to get something usable.

Wayne

Wayne, Acronis have not published any detailed information about the use of metadata but the linked topic about the dependencies is focussed primarily on ATI 2020 & 2021, so doesn't apply to your older ATI 2018 version. 

With older versions such as 2018, you should always be able to recover your full backup files regardless of the missing version 1 errors reported by the Windows ATI GUI application if you use the Acronis Rescue Media environment where the internal database information is not used by the recovery process and there are no actual missing files involved.

Wayne,  agree with your comments, what happens when you have a hard system crash and have to reinstall windows...  in my case an endless cannot find version 1  scenario..  After 15 years of true image, time to look elsewhere me thinks....