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Backup pst file while it is in use or Microsoft Outlook is open.

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Is Acronis True Image 2016 able to perform file backup for pst file while it is in use, and Microsoft Outlook program is open? Anyone able to confirm? 

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The answer is yes and no.  Acronis can backup open files if the changes are saved to the disk via VSS (Micorosft Volume Shadow Service) - as long as the Outlook changes are being saved to disk, they will be included in the backup.  However, many applications save files temporarily in memory and do not write the changes to disk unil you hit the save button within the application - this is how Microsoft Office works by default.  

Basically, you need to make sure that your Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook etc), are configured for automatic saving at intervals of your choosing.  That way, when Acronis backups run, they will capture the file as it exists from the last Office save.  

Automatically save and recover Office files

 

The below url indicate that VSS support (consistent backup of applications) is NO for Acronis True Image 2016.
Is that mean Acronis True Image 2016 is unable to file backup my PST file while is in use, when Microsoft Outlook program is open ?
 

https://kb.acronis.com/content/56613
56613: Difference between Acronis Backup Service, Acronis Backup (Advanced) 11.5 and Acronis True Image 2016

 

Kelvin - Acronis does use VSS - it can backup your PST while in use, but only those files that have been saved already because Micriosoft applications use memory for changes until autosave or manual save have been completed - at that point it moves the files out of memory and commits them to the hard drive file (.pst on the disk).  If you have turned on autosave in outlook, then Acronis will use VSS to backup the last saved point of Outlook.  

For instance, lets say you have your .PST open 24/7.  You have followed the link posted above and turned on autosave in Outlook to save every 10 minutes.  You OUltook autosave runs at 12:00PM.  You receive 3 emails at 12:05PM.  You start a backup at 12:07PM.  Your backup will include all emails up to 12:00PM since that is when the last Outlook autosave ran.  Those last 3 emails will not be in that particular backup, but will be included in the next backup.

If you are super worried about emails not being saved, you should consider using IMAP connection in OUtlook and not POP.  iMAP will allow you to also keep a version of the email on the original mail server.

  

Kevin,

The VSS support described in the link you provided is for Servers, such as Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft SQL server.

ATI 2016 if fully capable of performing any type of backup (disk, partition, file/folder) with programs running and files open.  The issue is "what data is actually stored in the backup?"  ATI does not backup any data that is stored in memory, only data that has been written to the disk.  For this reason, a lot of people schedule their backup tasks to run late at night when the day's activities are complete. 

So, if you are running a backup, and in the middle of the backup, Microsoft Outlook downloads a bunch of e-mails, those e-mails will not be backed up until the next backup is run.