Restore from incremental backup fails

There have been some old postings about changing the Secure Zone partition type to make it readable temporarily.

Maybe you can do some searching of the forum and the Wilders forum for these old postings.

This is one of the old links:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/archive/index.php/t-245975.html

Thanks for your input GroverH.
I downloaded a partition management tool and was able to explore the Acronis Secure Zone. Because of the FAT 32 size limitation there are two or three files for each backup in the Acronis Secure Zone. The numbering is different than the incremental backups I made on my external drive. Even if I could copy from the secure zone to the external drive I'm not sure I would be able to restore from my 4/22/11 incremental backup. I need tier 2 support to tell me what options I have. I spoke with chat support and the person did not have the depth of knowledge required to answer most of my questions. I'm hoping I get a response here from someone who knows the details of what I can and can't do with my incremental backup from 4/22/11. It would be good if I could at least copy files from it and place them back into my windows environment.
Thanks,
Fred

Fred,
I will request that support look at this thread.

It would seem to me that if the same backup files exist today which existed when the 4/22 was created, then all of the files involved are restorable but would need to have all files in one folder.

If you can use the info from my prior link (or other means) and get copies into one folder, you could then try a restore to a test disk.

Hello all,

Thank you for posting I appreciate your help Grover.

Fred, let me provide you with additional assistance please.

I would recommend to try Grover's suggestion and move all the backup files to one folder. This should fix the issue.

Would you be kind enough to clarify which program you are using please. According to the chat session you are running Acronis True Image 11 Home build 8022 which had a couple of known issues with backup/restore operations.

Please let us know if you have additional questions.

Thank you.

Hello Grover and Anton,
The program is Acronis True Image 11 Home build 8022. I have some questions about copying the files from the Acronis Secure Zone. From one of the links mentioned earlier there was mention of changing the partition ID to make it NTFS from FAT 32. I know how to do this but am worried I'll lose or destroy data in the ASZ. The files which I can explore at a high level are labeled:
AAA1.tib - AAA7.tib. I have 4 backups there but because of the FAT 32 size limitation (4GB I think) you have 2 files with the same dates. I can provide more details of dates and size if needed. We made an attempt to restore the missing backups from the secure zone on 5/24/11 and I think I should delete those files from the ext. drive. I have full backups on the external drive now that have dates of 5/23/11 and 5/25/11 and don't plan to do incremental backups from this point on.
Should I change the ASZ partition ID to 0x07 NTFS from 0xbc FAT 32 to allow copying the files to the external drive?
Should I change the partition back to FAT 32 after copying?
Should I copy the entire group of secure zone files or just the *.tib files?
The full backups I've done recently have been verified/validated but I'm afraid to restore from them in case there is an unknown
problem. I've continued to modify my current C: drive with new or missing programs and should do another full backup to the external and try doing a restore from it. There is risk in doing this and I'm thinking I may need to use a different external drive.
The AAA1.tib numbering scheme is different than the incrementals on my external drive and I'm not confident your suggestion will work. Can you give me another way to copy files from the ASZ or is what I have what is recommended? Is there anything else I can do to recover files only from my failed incremental backup on my external drive?
Thanks,
Fred

RE; Secure zone, TI version 11, build 8022

My apologies for my lack of response. I cannot give any conclusive answers but I will try to offer some suggestions. I have not troubleshooted the Secure zone and any response from me lacks any experience to your question.

1. If you wish to be a little safer, then include the Secure Zone inside one of your backups so the secure zone could be restored intact should there be a need.

2. I don't see why it should be necessary to change the SZ from FAT32 to NTFS. You are not copying anything into the SZ, you are wanting to make copies of the *.tib backup files. You will need to change the partition type so it is visible and can be accessed. After copying, then return the partition type back to its original type.

3. There is no need to copy all the contents of the SZ--only the *.tib files.

4. Make a new folder on the external disk and copy (Windows copy & paste) the *.tib files from the SZ into the new folder.

5. I would get a new disk so that after the files are copied into the new folder, you can then boot from the TI Rescue CD and restore the backup files within the new folder to the new test disk. What you are trying to achieve at this point is a new data disk with all your old files so you can then make whatever copies you want of the data that was restored.

6. Any future backups should be fresh backups starting with a full backup which has no dependance upon the prior secure zone. After you have finished with the need for the secure zone, I would use TrueImage and delete the secure zone and reassign the space back to your drive C. If you like using the secures zone, then after its deletion, you can start over again with a new secure zone. As you found out, you need duplicate backups which are not part of the secure zone so you can restore from either plan or at have at least one alternative as to your safety valve. Remember, if your disk becomes faulty, you have no access to the secure zone or its contents.

7. Once you have the contents in the new folder, then try to validate and see what response you get from the program. You indicate you have an incremental outside the SZ, then copy an extra copy into the new folder and let that be the beginning part of the validation.

8. Other than what you are attempting to do, I do not know of any method to retrieve files from an Acronis backup other than using the Acronis program which created the files in the first place.

9. I don't know what your results will be and unless someone else has actually done what you are attempting to do, you probably will have to do your own testing.

Fred:

I'm confused. What ID do you see assigned to your Acronis Secure Zone partition? For TI 11, the hex ID in the partition table for a Secure Zone partition should be BC (Acronis Secure Zone).

To make the Secure Zone partition visible to Windows, you want to change the ID to 0C (zero C) (FAT32). Do not change it to 07 (NTFS) because the Secure Zone partition is formatted as FAT32; not NTFS.

Once you've changed the hex ID, reboot. The Secure Zone partition should then be visible in Windows, and you can copy your .tib files out of the Secure Zone and place them somewhere else. You only need the .tib files; you don't need anything else from the partition. After you're done copying files from the Secure Zone, change the hex ID in the partition table back to BC.

If you don't want to risk a restore yet, just mount the appropriate .tib file and see if it contains the files that you're looking for. Or, double-click on the .tib file and explore the backup to see if the files you want are there.

Hi Grover,
I was able to copy the files from the SZ to my external drive. There were 7 tib files.
I still have the same problem with opening and seeing anything in my 4/22/11 backup
or any other partial backup that was originally placed on my external drive. It may have
to do with sequence numbers being incorrect but all the original files from the secure zone
and the partials are now in the same folder on my external drive. When you drill down into
the backup file with dates you see the C drive and it is empty. If I do this on a full backup
I see the contents. If it worked I was going to restore the files from 4/22/11 and then pick
through them to recover important ones over the last year. Please check with Anton to see
if he has other ideas.
Thanks,
Fred

Hi Mark, Grover,
I appreciate your suggestions and help. I looked closely at the properties and one of my original incremental backups
.....3.tib says it was created on sept xx, 2010 but it was modified on may 24, 2011. I don't know if this is the problem or not
and can't figure out how to change it back to its' original state.
To get the files from the secure zone I changed the partition ID to 0x0B. I didn't reboot but Acronis let me copy the files which were now shown as partition E:. I copied all 7 files one at a time and based on their size and the fact I can explore them I believe they are in tact. Can you think of anything else I can do to recover files from 4/22/11? None of the incremental backups will validate/verify and you get the volume 1 message this whole thing started with.
Thanks,
Fred

If ATI asks you for a volume number and you cannot pass the message by browsing to any file you have, your backup is compromised. You can try to open the TIB file (double click) and see if you can find some files in there...

Fred:

You mentioned in an earlier reply that your incremental backups got out of sequence. If this happened, the names of the .tib files may be out of order also. I've seen cases where all you had to do was fix the file names to get TI to recognize the incremental chain.

Could you post a screenshot from Windows Explorer that shows the 7 files, their names, and their dates?

Mark,
I tried renumbering my incremental desktop.....03 to 08 but it didn't help.
I've attached a screenshot and think if you increase size to 150% you can read
the filenames. I'm worried that somehow the file desktop....03 was modified and
needs to be fixed before a recover of desktop....07 can be made.
Thanks,
Fred

Fred,
Would you mind copying the 4-22 incremental into the same folder with the files from the secure zone and repost your screen image. Be careful not to overwrite an existing file.

Is the backup type "files and folders". Based on the size of the Nov 26 full, it would appear than none of the secure zone files are partition type backups.

Grover,
The desktop_6_28_20107.tib acronis image is the 4-22 backup file. The folder labeled
files_4_22_11 is empty. The 4/22/2011 file is about 14.4GB. It can't be validated and
when I try to explore it I get to the C: drive and then it is empty. There must be files there
or it wouldn't be 14.4GB in size. The file is in the same fileder as the secure zone files.
Maybe I'm missing what you are telling me to do?
Thanks,
Fred

Fred,

The dates are not making any sense. Try one other thing. The backup dates and the backup numbers should both be the same sequential basis. Do this if you would.

Open Windows Explorer to your new folder.
Right click on one of the column headers and from the new window, click to add the "date created" to the listing of columns.
Now you should have two date columns listed.
Click on the "date created" header so the column will sort itself into sequence. (Clicking the header will toggle or reverse the sequence.
You can also click on the headers and drag the columns left or right. For example, you can click on the "date created" and drag the column to the left one or two columns.

Would you post a new capture of the entire folder as to how the backup numbers and date created now appear.

Thanks.

Grover,
Here is screen capture with date created. Same filename as before.
Deleted empty 422 files folder. Not sure if this is order you wanted to see.
Fred

Fred,
Thank you for the revised screen capture. I have posted the relevant parts below.

The new picture helped but it does appear that you may be missing some full backups.

Other than the below, I am not sure I can be of anymore assistance. I am not aware of any means of repairing a backup which has problems.

If you boot into v11 and select any of the backup files to be restored, the screen will show you any comments that you put into the file and it will identify the backup file number. I am not sure whether that number is just being read from the file name or from wihin the file. Either way, click on each of the files and look at what info is displayed. Perhaps there is something there that will give you more clues.

The 20107 4/22 makes no senses as being the next in line after AAA7. TrueImage does not number in that sequence. The 20102 and the 20101 ( or maybe 2010) and AAA (or maybe AAA1) all appear to be missing. Or, its possible that TI consolidated them. I have no clues either way.

One thing you might try would be to rename the files below. If I understood correctly, these were files that were created outside the secure zone but using the secure zone files as the foundation.
20103 rename to AAA8.TIB
20104 rename to AAA9.TIB
20105 rename to AAA10.TIB
20106 rename to AAA11.TIB
20107 rename to AAA12.TIB

If that fails, another possibility would be to rename 20107 to be AAA.tib and then try validating.

Your experience points to the need to have backups of your backups or backups stored in different areas using differing methods. The secure zone is great for its purpose but no help when you the contents are not usable and you have nothing else. Redundancy in backups is necessary because you are never sure of what odd circumstances that may befall your basic recovery plan.

I wish I had a magic wand to create a solution but it does not look promising. Keep me posted as to your finding.

Hi Grover,
Thanks again for your efforts. I'll give the renaming a try but don't think it will work.
I can't see any files inside the files that were made outside the secure zone except for
one. What I see inside desktop_6_28_20107.tib is shown in the attachment. If you explore
or dive down one more layer you get a C: drive but under it there is nothing. Apparently
when Acronis doesn't see the rest of the required files nothing is displayed. I'll bet the
files I would like to recover are there but some TI requirement prevents it.
I'm pretty close to giving up on this. As I said earlier only full backups from here on out
and as you suggest another external drive as belt and suspenders. Losing a years worth
of data, jpg's etc. is painful but at least I was able to get back to my July 2010 backup via
the secure zone.
Thanks,
Fred

Grover,
Renamed the files to fit the AAA8 through AAA12 sequence and it prevents them from being recognized.
You get an error and message that it is not an Acronis file. Changed back and it at least recognizes the
files as backups.
Fred

Fred,
When I explore a backup, it lists the
c:
d:
e:

If I double click on any of the drive letters, it opens up to display all the files normally stored on that drive.

I have exhausted my ideas. Maybe someone else can provide some assistance.

As for my backups, I start a new backup every month and have multiple disks so a new backup is actually being done every week on one disk or another. I also have copied family pictures, etc to DVD as well.

Good luck with your efforts.
Grover

Fred,

I'll try and look at this more tomorrow. Renaming the files won't fix the problem if that is the problem. The "split" is also saved inside the file -- both the "split" and the filename need to be correct for TI to see the set as valid.

I may be missing something, but it seems unclear exactly which image files preceed the 4/22 Incremental. Are you sure the Full "base" image exists? Do you know what size it is or should be? Are you sure these are actually Incrementals and not Fulls?

It's possible that looking at the image file headers may help to determine the correct order and which goes with which. I wonder if you have interlinked Incrementals (more than one of each "split" level).

Hi MudCrab,
I think at least one full is the AAA1.TIB from the secure zone. I see copies of all the incrementals in the
desktop...07.tib and that was created on 4/22/11. I can try anything you recommend when you get time to look at it.
Thanks,
Fred

Fred,

I'm trying to understand the current state of the backups.

Is it correct that you can successfully open and restore from all of the AAA# image files? Including the last one (#7)?

When you created desktop_6_28_20103, where was #2? Where was the Full? Are you sure that #3 is an Incremental? The file size is much larger than the AAA images. TI wouldn't normally place a 3 without needing it.

You have the files named by date. 6_28_20103 says it was created 09-21-2010, but the date indicates 06-28 -- meaning the "base" image was older and possibly taken before the AAA7 image (07-01).

If you rename the 6_28_20103 image to something else (like "numberthree.tib") and try to open it, what does TI report (make sure the filename you use does not end with a number)?

Can you explain the large jump in image file size?

Also, when naming image files, please don't use numbers at the end. Use the _ character or a letter and then let TI add any numbers it requires. There have been cases where not doing this has caused problems. For example: use desktop_6_28_2010_ instead. This results in desktop_6_28_2010_2, etc. with the TI numbers clearly separated from the filename.

I haven't had time yet to peek at the file headers. Do you have a file hex editor program? There are free ones available if you don't.

MudCrab,
The restore of my PC currently was based on file AAA7.TIB (July 2010) when it was in the secure zone.
The person who assembled the PC built and did the first restore in the secure zone. I believe
it is AAA1.TIB from Feb 2010. When I started doing incremental backups I
did not know what I was doing (maybe still don't) or what the difference of an incremental and full backup meant.
When I started I think it was June 2010 and I named the file desktop_6_28_2010. I believe the
3 was appended by TIH. I must have done something around 6_28_2010 or wouldn't have labeled
with that date. Subsequent backups had TIH appending the next number at the end of the file name.
I will try to rename without a number appended and see if I can see or open down to files. I don't
currently have a hex editor but will download one. I have no problem with hex, bin, oct etc. I
can't explain the large jump in size. Is it possible they are full backups? If that is the case when I
validate it wouldn't ask for a volume number would it? There was work done on 5/24/11 to try and
recover and during that work something was added to the desktop_6_28_20103 file. It is marked
as created on 4/22/2011 but modified on 5/24/2011 and not sure if this is a problem or not.
Thanks,
Fred

MudCrab,
Renaming as you suggested gives an immediate error and says the backup file is corrupted.
" An error occurred when opening the backup archive: Cannot continue the operation due to either
the backup is corrupted or it is used by another process. I tried this in windows but will try it in
TIH. Same errors and says it is not an Acronis backup file. The *.tib links the file to TIH I guess.
Probably set in the OS.
Fred

Are the backups of a partition or are they the files & folders type? This may have been stated, but I didn't see it.

Are you still using build 8022?

What happens if you take the desktop_06_28_20103.tib file and place it into a folder by itself (no other TIB files)? What error does TI report when you try to open it? Run the same test with the #7 file.

If you have a hex editor, take a screenshot of the first 200 or so bytes of each of the AAA and desktop_6_28_2010 image files and then zip them up and attach them to a post (or send via PM).

MudCrab,
Partition backups.
Yes build 8022.
I'll give it a try and report back.
Thanks,
Fred

MudCrab,
Placed file in test folder and double click to open. Get same results.
The first double click shows the backups 5 or 6 of them and then the C:
drive symbol at the next double click. After opening the C: you see a
blank or no files. This happens on all the backup files except for one
in the desktop....03 file. That one has the files shown that are on the
C drive for that date. I think somehow this was done on 5/24/11 but
not sure.
Fred

this was a duplicate not sure how to delete.