Please stop hanging PCs with "Operations are in progress..."
When shutting down or restarting PCs while an Acronis task is in progress Acronis hangs the PC with the message "Operations are in progress...".
According to http://kb.acronis.com/content/19016 this is a by design.
This design decision is unacceptable. Instead TI should pause at shutdown and resume later.
While delaying a shutdown for some seconds is OK, hijacking the machine for as long as backup may take is totally unacceptable. I many situations this forces users to do a hard reset, risking the very data the are trying to protect by backup.
This problem is worsened by the Acronis schedulers "wake from sleep" not being robust causing backups scheduled nightly starting at the first login instead.
Just a few thoughts about your problem
- I doubt that it would be wise do pause a backup and continue it after a reboot. My guess is that there is too much that could go wrong.
- Edit your backup settings so backups won't start when you usually want to shut down your system.
- Simply cancel the backup if you really have to shut down your system.
- There is a setting to tell TI to begin backups with a certain delay after a system restart.
- If you can, use separate hard drives for your data and backup locations; tends to be much faster.
- ...
This issue was fixed in a later build of 2013. BUT, I have experienced it once with the latest build of 2014 now. I'm like you. No need to not kill the processes if you're shutting down. Since I may never know when or if I need to shutdown, it should be by default to kill the tasks upon shutdown by Acronis. My guess is it's a fixable issue as they did in 2013. I haven't used or come across the issue but the one time with the 2014 and assumed it was a one off, but hopefully it has not returned.
Just to be clear: I was not talking about killing processes during a running backup. This should only be considered as a last resort because it could result in corrupt backup files which might or might not be detected. I was talking about canceling the backup so TI has a chance to abort it gracefully.
You might want to think about improving the time your backup jobs take. And in case that is not possible, you should avoid using schedules and manually start your backups when you have the time.
I like to schedule backups. That's one feature I like in a paid product. So, I would like to say I have the same issue. Sometimes I forget that a backup is scheduled or occurring. A windows update, or a program change happens and like the person above says, the computer is "hijacked" for a restart. I can't wait an hour or two to get back to a functioning computer, so, whatever image is being backed up, is messed up.
Perhaps a warning first from the Acronis 2014 program, instead of after the restart command was entered? I really want to like this program, but it's a lot of things similar to this that have my satisfaction delayed.
I like to schedule backups. That's one feature I like in a paid product. So, I would like to say I have the same issue. Sometimes I forget that a backup is scheduled or occurring. A windows update, or a program change happens and like the person above says, the computer is "hijacked" for a restart. I can't wait an hour or two to get back to a functioning computer, so, whatever image is being backed up, is messed up.
Perhaps a warning first from the Acronis 2014 program, instead of after the restart command was entered? I really want to like this program, but it's a lot of things similar to this that have my satisfaction delayed.
Well, it should already be possible to issue a warning before a backup is started. Open the backup settings, then select "Backup scheme" and open the tab "Advanced" to select "Pre/Post Commands". When you check "Use custom commands" you can select/edit the command that should be executed just before the backup starts. Finally check "Abort the operation if the user command fails".
Although I didn't test this, it seems to me that all you need is a program/script that fails if you choose not to do the backup.
Note: when MS does a Windows update some require a restart. I do not know in advance which ones will in fact cause a restart and when they will happen. Last night MS installed some updates and restarted the computer which then hung the computer because some backup was probably in progress. High probability for that as I use a NAS and have lots to backup even though I have broken it up into several smaller jobs. There really does need to be some fix for this problem. I often access my computer remotely when I travel. Having it hang cuts off my ability to do anything useful on it which is a serious problem. I guess I could uninstall acronis each time before I travel but that seems like an ugly solution.
I am using the latest build #6614
Probably not what you want to read but I can think of two options, but they aren't ideal.
1. As it is wise to make sure there is a complete disk image before installing MS updates (they have been known to soemtimes crash a system), is to set MS updates to manual, so you remote in and set them off, this also allows for updates to be selected which is where MS tell you if that update requires a reboot.
2. Time the task so it runs before MS post their updates which is early Tuesday US time I believe.
I am trying to think if MS Scheduler can be used or possibly a CMD file that netstops the Acronis Service and restarts after a reboot.