Numerous recovery Issues

(1) This week I encountered several system issues and decided to restore using my earliest backup. I normally keep five generations of backups but when I went to my backup folder I saw 6 generations. The first generation started in 02/12/21, the next generation was 07/01/21. When I started TI and attempted to recover I did NOT see the 02/12/21 generation in the list. I was not able to determine how to add it to the list.

John, how are you doing the above?  When doing a recovery either in Windows or via the rescue media, you will be shown either a drop-down listing with dates/times to select from (Windows) or else a Calendar type panel with some dates emboldened, where again you would need to open the appropriate calendar page and select one of the highlighted dates / times (that correspond with backup times for files created).
Note: there may be slight differences in how the dates / times are shown due to time zone depending on what time zone the files were created in and what time zone is in play for the method being used.

(2) I ignored the 02/12/21 and attempted to recover using the 07/01/21 generation. I started TI in windows, selected the 07/21 file and it took between 10 and 15 minutes before I could start the recovery. In the past, it was much faster.

Any ideas as to why it was so slow?

Both ATI 2020 & 2021 seem to do a lot more up front preparation before starting either a backup or recovery!  There may also be delays while ATI walks back through an incremental chain if the date/time selected represents such a backup type.  Further there is an element of checking being performed for file system issues.  None of which is actually documented as far as I know so this may just be my own guesswork!

Acronis System Reports typically take some time to generate as they are collecting quite a wide range of data, including checking all connected disk drives etc.  They are also too large in 99.9% of times to be allowed to be uploaded to the forums which have a measly 3MB size limit! 

You can use the Feedback tool in the Windows ATI GUI > Help section to upload a system report zip file that it will create by using the option to include this data.  Otherwise, if you open a Support case with Acronis, they will provide FTP details when asking for such data.

If you want to share a system report here in the forums, then the best recommendation is to use a cloud file sharing service such as OneDrive, Dropbox etc.  In most cases that I deal with these reports, I would normally ask for the link to the zip file to be sent to me via a private message because the report does contain some personal information (minimal) that the user may not want shown in a public forum.

In essence, all the information in the system report can be viewed on your PC as you can see yourself by extracting the contents of the zip file.  This includes all the various logs, license information, event logs, a disks report etc.  The MVP Assistant tool can be used to view the logs in a more user friendly / readable format!

(5) In the past for recovery I have used an Acronis USB boot drive to restore. Tonight I could not get the darn PC to boot using it. It seemed to start OK but quickly got to the point where nothing seemed to be happening. After waiting for 10-15 minutes during four attempts I gave up.

If you are getting fully into the standalone ATI application from the USB boot media, and have booted this using the matching BIOS boot mode that your Windows OS uses, i.e. both UEFI boot, then you may simply need to wait longer than the 10-15 minutes stated above!

Unfortunately the boot media application is notorious for not showing any decent progress indications which can leave users thinking it is hung etc!

If you are not seeing the boot media get to the offline ATI application, then if you have another PC, test it on that one to see if it gives the same issue - if yes, then consider rebuilding the media.

Personally, I use the MVP Custom PE Builder tool for my own boot media and find that this will normally work fine on most of my PC's.  If not, then I try to build a set of media on that PC using the 'simple' option assuming I have ATI installed on it!

DAMN, I just clicked the wrong button and lost my reply!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

Ref "John, how are you doing the above?"

Currently, the only way I can attempt a rescue recovery is to run TI under Windows.

Ref "When doing a recovery either in Windows or via the rescue media, you will be shown either a drop-down listing with dates/times to select from (Windows) "

Yes, I do use the dropdown but there is one generation of BUs that TI does not display in the dropdown. I can see the files associated with this generation via my file manager (xplorer2). I'd like to add it to the TI list and possibly use it to recover my system.

The BUs that TI does not see, I refer to them as 02/16. The oldest BU that TI reports, I refer to as 07/01. There is a 5-month gap between the two generations and I'm not sure just what issues I will introduce if I go back that far, however, if the 07/01 recovery does not resolve my issue then I would like to try the 02/16 generation.

Ref "Both ATI 2020 & 2021 seem to do a lot more upfront preparation before starting either a backup or recovery! "

Last night again I attempted to restore via TI under Windows, after I selected the  BU file and clicked the button to proceed TI was in limbo for almost an hour. My PC is a bit old but it has a 6-core AMD processor and when I built it, the PC was among the top in performance. Today of course there are much faster PCs. I'd love to build a new PC but at this time of my life, it is hard for me to justify it. However, I may be pushed over the edge.

Ref "You can use the Feedback tool in the Windows ATI GUI > Help section to upload a system"

I just uploaded the report. I assume that you will have access to the report. If not then I will go the dropbox route.

Ref "In essence, all the information in the system report can be viewed on your PC as you can see yourself by extracting the contents of the zip file."

I did look at the contents of the ZIP file and immediately was in information overload not knowing what to look at.

Ref "If you are getting fully into the standalone ATI application from the USB boot media, and have booted this using the matching BIOS boot mode that your Windows OS uses, i.e. both UEFI boot, then you may simply need to wait longer than the 10-15 minutes stated above!"

In the past, I used the USB thumb drive and had no issues. I'll give it another try later today and let the system set for a much longer period of time.

Ref "If you are not seeing the boot media get to the offline ATI application, then if you have another PC, test it on that one to see if it gives the same issue - if yes, then consider rebuilding the media."

For sure I'm brain dead!!! Why did I not think of this!!!!

Ref "Personally, I use the MVP Custom PE Builder tool for my own boot media and find that this will normally work fine on most of my PC's.  If not, then I try to build a set of media on that PC using the 'simple' option assuming I have ATI installed on it!"

I'll give the MVP to a try. I assume you are referring to "Custom WinPE-based Media Builder" at  https://kb.acronis.com/content/59335. If not I'm about to go down the wrong path.

Good Progress

(1) last night I attempted to boot using the USB drive in another computer, the time was 1600 hours. This morning at 1000 hours still the system had not booted. I powered off the PC, removed the USB drive, and inserted the "Custom WinPE-based Media Builder" USB drive I created last night. Like magic, the system booted in less than a minute. Obviously, something is wrong with the USB drive I created about 2 years ago. 

As I get older I seem to be incapable of thinking things through correctly. OH well, it is what it is. Now to try on my main PC. Thanks for the help!!!!!