Active protection needs to be optional
Once again I update my backup software and it's all turned on again and my PC runs like crap. I really am one step away form a new backup product. All I want is my backups protected, im quite happy protecting my pc myself with another product of my choice.
It is not difficult to do this which means it is programmed and desired behaviour.on the part of Acronis at update. I don't want my backup software to be my antivirus software. Please make this a fully untickable and removable option during install. Protect my backups from encryption yes please... great idea... wonderful... but thats it.
One more update and if it switches it back on then i'm off to another product!
Thanks for your reply Steve.
It seems it cannot really be turned off then without the product becoming unstable or not working at all.
They really must address this.
Acronis is a superb backup program and I would be loathed to drop it but if this cannot be resolved it will have to go. Unfortunately from the posts i can see its been going on for ages and they are just not interested.
Do they read this stuff?
I will feedback BTW
Hello all,
At this point and after quite a long period of customer complaints about the forced antimalware that cannot be disabled, I am beginning to wonder if the Acronis Corp. heads have an alternative motive for forcing this software on millions of computers. I am no longer running a version that contains this forced malware protection because I do not want it loaded on my systems.
We shall see what the future holds for Acronis but for now, I am going to use an alternate backup/restore software that does not include any kind of malware protection bundled with the programs..
Steve F.
I agree with the sentiments of this thread. I don't want a jack-of-all-trades, I want a master of one! Acronis is a very good backup system and should stick with what it is good at. I have my preferred anti-virus solution, which actually is also starting to annoy me by branching out into other areas.
I can see for the total newbie if acronis is offering this extra protection to avoid needing other products, but absolultely this should be totally optional and easy to disable.
It actually straight up breaks some of my software even when I have it turned off. For example, I can 100% reproduce a crash in World of Warcraft every time I log out of the game even with the service disabled in the app. This then results in corrupted files and I lose anything I've configured and sometimes it even corrupts the game files. I found the solution to this was to go into my Windows services and straight up forcefully disable the service. Even then it still would load these services in the background (again, mind you I have them turned off in the app). I had to resort to actually renaming the filename of the services themselves so that they couldn't ever turn back on automatically. I wish that when I selected the option to disable this anti malware/ransomware stuff that it actually disabled it and didn't keep the services running in the background. I found this solution on another forum thread here.
I had to rename "adp-agent.exe", "adp-rest-util.exe", "bckp_amgr.exe" as well as "cyber-protect-service.exe" to keep them from constantly turning back on even with the services set to disabled via windows (and again, in the app itself). If I update, I have to go through this whole process again otherwise certain apps crash and I lose data.
Jeff, AlanS, if you don't already have an open Support Case each for this issue, then I would strongly encourage you to raise one, and point support at this forum topic.
In addition, you are welcome to reference support case 04838315 that I have open to complain about the constant logging and scanning / updating that is being performed by Acronis Protection services when they supposedly are 'turned off permanently'!
Users should not need to actively disable & rename Acronis processes & services in order to have a usable system!
My experience shows that Acronis is evolving from a recovery to a cyber solution. Various regular customers were not taken seriously, terse answers to feedbacks. Regular customers on subscription products like me will now say goodbye. All the best to you and thank you for your support during this time.
This is tragic. A company that actually beyond just not listening to it's customers, provides a product which does not include the basic right to customise the install. Backup and cyber protection are not the same thing and as a business if Acronis want to get in to the protection market then good luck to them but at least allow us to have one, the other or both. Protecting my backups from encryption is a great feature buts that all i ever wanted. I can only assume we are not the type of customers they care about.
Sad to see they have even turned you Steve. How can they ignore someone who has supported them for so long... I just don't get it. I understand the step back to older product which makes sense but actually i really can't be bothered to do it.
I am looking around now for a simple reliable backup with files and imaging plus cloud options. Probably not the best place to discuss it.
I received a short questionnaire today by email asking what I thought of the protection system. I was happy to tell them. If enough of us do, maybe they will get the message.
I would post a link but the URL is so long that I suspect there is a UID in there that shows it was sent to me so they probaby wouldn't count multiple responses! So check your emails and junk folders for "How we can improve protection in Acronis True Image?"
Alan, I did the same survey and told them exactly what I thought!! Ditto about the URL for the survey being personalised so cannot be shared!
The other option is to post comments to @Acronis on Twitter to balance out all the sales blurb!
I truly regret that I had to uninstall Acronis and move to Paragon hard disk manager. Paragon is very similar to Acronis. But, Paragon does not do 'cyber protection'.
I have a very powerful developer laptop, and Acronis Cyber Protection brought my system to a crawl. For example, opening a Windows Command prompt took more than 5 minutes. It was running so slow that I had to resort to 'clean boot' in order to even uninstall Acronis! I guess Cyber Protection protects one's system by making it unusable.
That actually looks like a good alternate. I think I'll give it a shot and cancel my Acronis subscription if it works out. Thanks for the tip!
I have also uninstalled 2 copies of Acronis and gone with another backup solution that does not forcibly install any cyber protection. I just do not understand why they would want to compete for customers in the cyber security world unless they have a hidden worldwide agenda. I have tested and tested my alternative backup solution and am super happy.
I have enjoyed being with Acronis since 2010 but the company is changing into a corp. with a new agenda that did not fit my needs.
I received the survey too and told them what I thought.
I am now trying a couple of different products one of which is Paragon and it looks pretty good to me. Barring any miracles from Acronis I feel my subscription will be cancelled and new software in use within a few days.
What a shame!
See my latest update in topic: Can anti-malware now be turned off?
Thanks for the update Steve. They are not interested and think we are all stupid.
I feel i have made my decision and I am working through it all today/tomorrow with my backup regimes, but I am switching to EaseUS Todo. It does everyting i need (as did Acronis), it does it quickly (as did Acronis) and it doesn't install any other software as far as I can see (unlike Acronis). Paragon was nice but too slow for my liking.
What a mess and what a shame!
Liam, fully understand your frustration and desire to move on! I am running Macrium Reflect Home alongside ATI and find it just works quickly and efficiently once set up as needed. It has something they call Macrium Image Guardian which is similar to Active Protection but seems to be totally unobtrusive plus is focused only on a set of about 4 file types used by MR instead of wanting to be a total security dictator!
Several recent threads (including this one) mention alternative products that frustrated users have begun turning to as an alternative to ATI. It would be great if we could discuss our experiences with the pros/cons of the various alternatives in one location. Thus, I have created a new discussion thread specifically for this purpose. I hope that some of you will join me there and share your experiences:
Steve Smith wrote:Liam, fully understand your frustration and desire to move on! I am running Macrium Reflect Home alongside ATI and find it just works quickly and efficiently once set up as needed. It has something they call Macrium Image Guardian which is similar to Active Protection but seems to be totally unobtrusive plus is focused only on a set of about 4 file types used by MR instead of wanting to be a total security dictator!
+1