Cannot open backup file
I have a problem using ATIH 2011, which responds "Cannot open backup file" when I try to restore or explore a file backup. I know it can open the file, since I just backed up successfully. I closed and restarted ACIH, and now it comes up searching for Version 7 of the version chain - but file manager says I am on version 3 of chain9 of the backups.
I am using Win7 Home Premium 64bit, backing up across a network to a Synology Diskstation 214play NAS.
Now the confession - I recently deleted some copies of chain 6 and the full backup of chain 7, but that should not stop me accessing chain 9, I would have thought. The file listing is attached.
Finally, I am tempted to upgrade to ATIH 2015 using the current offer, which I think is €29.95 for 2 licences (I have another PC using ATIH 2010), but am reluctant to change something else if it is unlikely to solve this issue.
Any help would be appreciated.
Chris
Thanks for your comments. I will work through them tomorrow.
What drives you to say avoid 2015? (having just bought it, but not installed it)
In my defence, I did not intend to delete the files! I was just cleaning up rubbish after (successfully) moving the backups from one NAS to a newer NAS. I just hit the delete button with focus on the wrong window in Windows Explorer.
There has been some pretty serious backlash from the Acronis customer base regarding 2015 ... a great deal of functionality has been removed that people consider a downgrade of the software. Also there are issues with the Rescue Media being able to see USB3 drives, which obviously means it won't be able to restore backups from them. Have a look at the thread on the 2015 forum that has been running since the beginning of December regarding that issue ... lots of unhappy folks (162 posts and counting).
A couple of key items that are missing
1) Try & Decide
2) log files (technically they still exist in 2015, but you need a degree in computer science to find them)
Daniel
Thanks for the heads up. While I did not use Try and Decide, I am shocked at the lack of log files, that I use regularly on many applications when I am unsure of what has gone on.
I'll try your ideas, and if I run into trouble I will just recreate the backup task from scratch, and restore files manually if the worst comes to the worst.
Thanks - I am back up again now. I removed the old backup from the list, moved the files elsewhere to act as a fallback in case I need them, recreated the backup from scratch and now, in one month, I will be back where I should have been.
I do think ATI is a bit fragile in this respect, however.
The problem has resurfaced, and this time I have not deleted any files. I cannot open either my file backup nor my disk backup, whereas when I established the backup, ACI could see the backup and I successfully did a test restore.
Windows can see the backups, and can look at the files inside them. ACI, however, reports "cannot open the backup file. View log". The log, however, has no entry relating to this error. Both backups reported completing successfully.
Anyone have an idea where I should look for the solution?
See the link below for recovery of specific files and folders. Expand the links below the Solutions heading for steps required for recovery and exploring. Hopefully this will help.
Enchantech.
Thanks. Basically, the first of these options (restore via ATIH2011) is the process I had been using all along (since 2011) to backup and test restore, and the process I used for my successful test restore on 2 April. It is also the method that failed yesterday.
Following my post yesterday, my routine file backup yesterday evening failed citing “unknown username or bad password”, even though Windows was successfully connected to the network share in question. A repeat attempt failed the same way.
My log of tests today:
1 I tried to recover using the Windows rightclick>archive>restore method. This method launched ATI and I tried to restore a single file. ATI froze when “calculating” and I terminated it after over 10 mins.
2 I restarted ATI normally and tried to redo the backup that failed twice last night. This time it ran OK.
3 Then, I tried to do a single file recovery directly from ATI. ATI could not open the backup file.
4 Closed ATI and tried a recovery from Windows (per item 1). Failed - could not open the file.
5 Repeated #4 and this time successfully recovered a single file.
6 From Windows, I went back to the full partition backup taken on 1 April and tried to recover two files. This time it worked.
So, I have got back up and achieved the recoveries I wanted, but only after several attempts that should have succeeded had failed. ATI is proving very fragile, and for a backup regimen that should be left to run automatically that is extremely worrying. (I have also been following thread 76154 that I know you have been contributing to.)
I have asked myself what has changed since 2 April, since when this last fandango raised its head, and I can think of nothing, which makes me think the problem might be incipient. I have been running ATI with few problems since 2011.
There was an earlier change in my setup, that just might give a lead. In early Feb 2015 I changed the target of my backups from and old ReadyNAS to the current Synology Disksation 214play. The transfer of backups went pretty well, but I hit one roadbump. The old NAS did not have any user or password credentials set up for the backup share; the 214Play does. Credentials are provided automatically on connection by Windows. I had some problems with ATI asking for credentials which ultimately seem to have been sorted out using Windows to log onto the NAS. I am reluctant to experiment here at present for fear of messing up my backups again.
I am really worried about ATI’s reliability.
Chris,
After reading your last post and your comments I believe that your issue is with you network not True Image. Your comment about having to attempt recovery from Windows twice to gain access gives me this clue. If your network is setup properly then this should not happen.
Do you have a firewall running on your computer, this includes Windows built in firewall? If you do you need to allow applications access through the firewall so that functions involving access work.
Do you have a router in your network? If yes you should log in to that router and find out what IP address range it is managing. Commonly this is IP addresses from 192.168.1.2 through 192.168.10.254. You should be able to specify this entire range of address within your firewall so that your devices can communicate with your computer. You would need to do this on each computer on your network.
I am going to take a chance here and assume you are using Windows built in Firewall. Below is a link that describes how to set a complete IP address range for exception through the firewall in Windows built in firewall.
http://superuser.com/questions/231358/allowing-ip-range-in-windows-fire…
Post back with your results or other information.
Enchantech
Not that, I am afraid. I use Zonealarm, and it is set to allow the whole network IP range 192.168.1.xxx (correct for my router) and always has been.
The automated file backup ran fine last night. Also, I have another client on the network using ATIH2010 and otherwise the same setup and that ran fine last night as well. I have not had any failed backups on that setup.
Chris,
Ok, when you say that True Image failed how so? I understand that the app could not open a backup archive at one point in your description but most times you would see an error message or some other behavior like the app unexpectedly closing or just stop responding. Can you provide more detail and if error messages are displayed what do they say?
I would not totally rule out the network at this point either. It may not be your firewall settings but may be something else. DNS issues are another notorious reason for networked issues. Can you successfully ping your NAS and other computers on the network and can other computers do the same to your problem machine without any problems, timeouts, packet loss, long delays? Does your NAS have a static IP address? If not it should, check and make sure.
For checking ping open a command prompt on each computer and type IPCONFIG to determine each machines IP address then from another machine type ping and the IP address of another machine or device ( ping 192.168.1.XXX). To check for static IP addresses a look at your router GUI should reveal this information along with IP addresses of attached devices. When running ping tests do so more than once to each device as sometimes if problems exist they may be intermittent so ping may pass a time or two and then fail. Another thing to look at is the possibility that your NIC in your problem machine might be in need of a driver update. You can determine driver version using Windows Device Manager then check the manufacturer support site for newer versions. Do not rely on Windows driver search as that often fails to find newer versions. Another thing to check is router firmware versions. That can usually be done from the router GUI and is another source of problems at times.
If the above checks out good then it is possible that your backup script or the database has gone corrupt but you should be getting error messages in that event. It is also possible that you have some other hardware related problem.
Enchantech
Taking the questions in turn:
1 when you say that True Image failed how so? Per para 2 of post #8 above: failed citing “unknown username or bad password”. This appeared in the green bar under the relevant job in the ATI backup jobs page. See backup on 22 April in the log attached.
2 Could not open an archive…Can you provide more detail and if error messages are displayed what do they say? Per para 2 of post #6 above: Windows can see the backups, and can look at the files inside them. ATI, however, reports "cannot open the backup file. View log". The log, however, has no entry relating to this error. Both backups reported completing successfully.
3 Attached is a screen shot of the log – unexpanded tasks completed successfully. (Doesn’t this emphasise how misguided Acronis was to remove accessible logs from ATI 2015!)
4 I can see the NAS and other clients on the network, and access their hard drives both ways. Pings are good – Client A (the one with the ATI problem) to NAS 2ms; Client A to Client B 5ms; Client B to Client A 4ms, with first ping at 168ms.
5 NAS has static address, as does Client A, but not Client B.
6 Router firmware is up to date, and the router is a modern advanced router.
I really do not think it is my network setup, since I use the network fairly heavily (10-20 devices on it) and it has been stable for many years. There are no other connectivity problems on the network or with the ATI-issue computer.
It appears to me that you have a user authentication issue. You must be logged on to the problem machine as an administrator which I would think you are. I would suggest that you try to reestablish the connection to the NAS from the application. If you used a computer name (NAS name) in the destination path to the NAS you might try changing it to the NAS IP address instead. That is a workaround for DNS errors.
Yes I ran into that issue when I first set up the 214Play NAS and sorted it. I only open the NAS in normal use (ATI or any other application) as a client. The only time I log on as administrator is on the rare occasions I need to access the NAS control panel. In any case, if that were the problem, surely ATI would fail every time, not just occasionally.
ATI really does not like me to use an IP address as the target. I cannot edit the path, and it does not allow me to type the path in manually.
Currently, backups are working; recovery from the main screen cannot open the backup file (the log reports "An error occurs when checking for updates"); recovering from the rightclick menu in Windows accesses the file OK.