True Image Home 2009: differential backups act like incremental
Hi,
I have a nightly differential backup scheduled. If i I move one of the differential backups to a new folder and then try to open the most recent file in the string I get prompted to locate the backup file I moved (i.e. its acting like incremental, not differential). How do I get differential backups to work? I'm running Vista Home Premium 64. I've tried deleting and recreating the backup task several times.
Thanks,
-g>.
"During the creation and management of the differential backups, all must be kept in the same folder. If you want copies, either copy manually or check the 2009 options to see if it has the auto creation to another folder option."
So if I were to do a restore and one of the differential backups is missing (i.e. corrupt or whatever) but the full backup is there plus the one differential that I wish to restore from is there it will still work?
"Your wanting more flexibility is why Chain2Gen was created."
I'm not necessarily looking for more felxibility I just thought it was odd that it a differential backup would act that way (asking for all differentials to be available). It just seemed like that's how the incremental option would be but I don't know as I haven't actually had to do a restore from a differential file (just from full backup).
"Also, the new 2011 version has improved flexability in file retention as compared to 2009."
Improved how?
So if I were to do a restore and one of the differential backups is missing (i.e. corrupt or whatever) but the full backup is there plus the one differential that I wish to restore from is there it will still work?
Yes, it is supposed to and it has worked in the past. For your own peace of mind, you might want to test it. This "quirk" might be corrected in future builds, but for now a missing diff inside the folder has been reported to have caused validation to fail--but not a restore.
Improved how?
In my testing of the last build and the approaching build, the new version follows its rules of file retention and does the proper deletes and keeps the proper new backups. In my testing, the 2011 has fixes to many of the problems associated with the 2009 abnd 2010 version as it relates to backup file retention and consolidation. You should perform your own testing and not take my word for it.
One of the many things I lke about Chain2Gen is that each new chain of backups is placed in its own folder so one folder only contains one full chain.
Does 2011 still fail validation if one of the differential backups is missing?
Does Chain2Gen work with 2011? Or is it even needed if 2011 now follows the retention/deletion policy?
You can validate the full backup by itself and the validation will be successful. However, if you want to validate the most recent differential and a preceding differential is missing, then the validation will refuse to begin without the missing file.
Whether you need or prefer to use Chain2Gen depends upon your needs and personal preferences. C2G has many features which TIH does not have. I am not aware of any C2G users who have stopped using C2G and have reverted to TIH exclusively. It is possible that some have, but none have reported doing so.
The only point of comparison might be that in a simple file retention of chains. Keeping x and overwriting X. Chain2Gen has proven it works as promised. With TIH, the new upcoming release has many bug fixes and it appears that many of the conolidation problems have been fixed. Users will decide for themselves. Not too many users return to the forum and indicate the software does perform as expected or promised. They simply just don't return. The ones that do return are mostly those with actual issues or often a misunderstanding as to what the program can do.
More iinfo about what validation actual is can be found here in a posting by SeekForever.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/3274#comment-1761
Ok I got chain2Gen working as desired on one of my computers but on the other it hangs at 0% every time the task starts (manually or automatically at the time it is supposed to). I've attached the only log entry I get as a result of this.
The !_USER_SPECIFIED_PARAMS_FOR_ACRONIS.bat files are identical on the two computers except for the destination network share. And the scheduled backup tasks are identical (including what they backup....Docs, Pics, Music, Video folders) except for the start times (so they aren't my NAS at the same time). Both computers are Vista Home Premium 64 and both computers have Acronis 2009 build 9809 (the latest last time I checked). I've tried deleting and recreating the task. Only way to get it to work on the troublesome computer is to stop Acronis_PreProcessing_task.bat from executing before the backup.
Thanks,
-g>.
This sounds similar to a Windows security issue which has appeared on some installations. This is covered in
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/5940?page=1#comment-19314
The Chain2Gen download file includes this pdf file. Refer Appendix C, page 23
!readme_chain2gen_v2.6.pdf
Or, if you additionally downloaded this pdf from my Guides index, item 5-A
!TIH_&_C2G_HelpGuide-March2.pdf, page 1
Go the control folder where the C2G files are stored for the problem computer.
Right click on a few of the bat files and vbs files and see if the files need to be unblocked.
Sure enough all but one bat/vbs file was blocked. I re-downloaded the zip file and unblocked it then editted the params again (making sure changes made were same as before) and deleted and re-created my shedule. Will see how it goes during next scheduled backup. Funny thing is the other PC has these files blocked and it is still working.
Thanks,
-g>.