Acronis looking for old backups on replacement drive

Darkkhelmet, if you are using your backup tasks that were configured to work with your old WD 3 TB drive and have now pointed these tasks to the Seagate 5TB drive, then this is why you are seeing the warnings about not being able to find the old backup version files.

The Acronis Database stores information for each backup task that includes the unique drive identifier UUID for each backup drive plus the files stored on the drive.

If you have moved all your old backup files from the WD to the Seagate drive and they can be found on that drive, then you will need to run a Validation for each backup task involved and when you get each missing file pop-up message, point to the new location.  This can be tedious if you have a lot of backup files!

The alternative to this is to use the option for each task to 'Clone task settings' and then configure the cloned task to point to the new drive but don't run it straight away.  Go back to the old task and remove the task settings, leaving the backup files on their original backup drive.

You can then rename the cloned task to remove the extra (1) prefix to the task name, and run this to the new drive.

Thanks Steve. I removed the old drive from the system in the hope it would correct the black screen problem. I followed your advice and cloned the backup task but the computer still black screened early in the backup. I'm running out of options. Another backup task for files on a second disc to a different backup disc works.

I am not aware of any black screen problems with ATIH 2016 and the Windows 10 Anniversary Update - I have been running that for quite a few months as have many other users.

What build of ATIH 2016 do you have?  The latest build is #6581 which came out some months ago.

If this is only the one backup task that gives this problem, then I would suggest creating a whole new task to do the same backup of source data but pointing to a new folder on the backup drive and check that this will work correctly.

Download the MVP Log Viewer app (link below) and use this to check for any messages in the task log files.

I don't believe it's Acronis. As an experiment I attempted an image backup using the Windows backup and it too black screened. I never had this problem before installing g the Windows anniversary release. I also ran chkdsk and no errors were found on the boot drive. I may have to restore ffom a previous backup.

Have you tried running SFC /SCANNOW (as Administrator) from the CMD prompt?

Steve, thanks, I never knew about sfc and am running it now. I can tell you that even though the machine black screened early into the Windows backup the backup appears to have completed. I checked the destination disc (the Seagate) and the Windows backup is just under 500GB, what the program estimated it would be. I'm not sure that's a good thing though because it's still a defective OS. The black screen, by the way, only seems to effect keyboard and mouse I/O. Even the Acronis backups seemed to work if I let the computer run until the disc LED stops flashing but the date of the last backup never gets updated in Acronis.

sfc completed and no errors were found.

The other area to look at is the system event logs to see what these show for the times when the backups are running.  To get to this information, type Event Viewer at the search prompt then click on the option for this when shown.  Check both the Windows and Application events.

Steve thanks for the info. At the time of the black screen Acronis generated the following error.

Faulting application name: mms_mini.exe, version: 12.0.0.29, time stamp: 0x55ca0442
Faulting module name: ti_managers.dll, version: 19.0.0.6581, time stamp: 0x5800d3bb
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x001e6833
Faulting process id: 0xb2c
Faulting application start time: 0x01d2b923a27f5c8a
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Acronis\Infrastructure\mms_mini.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\TrueImageHome\ti_managers.dll
Report Id: 060fd167-7965-4d09-aa17-7459a0a0bebc
Faulting package full name: 
Faulting package-relative application ID: 

Whether it caused the error or is a result of the error is unknown to me. I am not well versed in the internals of the Windows OS.

Two other errors occurred a few seconds before the Acronis error and they are both the same:

Enumerating user sessions to generate filter pools failed.

Details:
    (HRESULT : 0x80040210) (0x80040210)
 

Two other errors that occurred about an hour earlier, both were the same:

Cryptographic Services failed while processing the OnIdentity() call in the System Writer Object.

Details:
AddLegacyDriverFiles: Unable to back up image of binary Microsoft Link-Layer Discovery Protocol.

System Error:
Access is denied.
 

Thanks for the further information from the event logs, I too am unsure whether these are really relevant or not to the black screen being seen.

I can only suggest trying a Repair install of ATIH 2016 build 6581 to see if that makes any difference to how Acronis works or not?  A Repair install is simply reinstalling the same product over the top of the existing one, so that it repairs any file associations, DLL registrations etc.  You can download the latest installer program from your Acronis Account.

Steve, thanks, I will try that after the current backup completes or black screens. I can tell you the black screen coincided with the time in the event log for the Acronis issue.

Well, it black screened but no Acronis error this time. It now only black screens during a backup however. The backup was about 15 minutes in.

One further option here, create the Acronis bootable Rescue Media and boot from this to create a fully offline backup of your computer if you are unsure whether the black screen is preventing Acronis from closing the backup make in Windows correctly.

How can I determine what version of Acronis in on my PC? Help -> About does not have the build information as far as I can see.

Perhaps you can answer another question. I have been getting upgrade offers for the 2017 version but I am hesitant to take advantage because of a couple of things. Some of the offers imply the upgrade is more of a lease and will need to be renewed in one year. Others seem to support the outright purchase of the product (which is what I want). Finally, I have had many issues with Acronis over time and am concerned upgrading will just be a waste of money. I want to make sure any upgrade I do is an outright purchase and not a lease. Thanks.

The build version of ATIH is shown on the Account page of the GUI - see the icon that looks like a head and shoulders.

With ATIH 2017 there are different product versions - you can still get the Standard / Perpetual license where you pay once and use for as long as it will continue to work.  There are also Subscription versions of the Standard product with varying amounts of Acronis Cloud storage included in the annual cost.  Finally, ATIH 2017 introduced the New Generation version which is a Subscription only product, again with an amount of Cloud storage but which also includes extra functionality for such as Acronis Active Protection (from Ransomware), Notary etc.

My personal preference is to remain with the Standard / Perpetual license model, I do not really use Acronis Cloud for backups as this is only as good as the upload speeds I get from my ISP which isn't good enough to do full disk backups to the Cloud, so perpetual with my own NAS and other backup options is my choice.

The main advantage of the 2017 product is support for newer hardware devices plus ongoing new builds to resolve any new / identified issues that arise but if your 2016 does all you need it to do....!

Sigh, I ran the install I downloaded and now have a new problem. When I start a backup it tells me the previous backup failed and it can not make an image. I can't find any way to get past that.

It may be time to cut your losses and go for a full clean install of the product then start a new set of backup tasks from that clean start.

To do a clean install, first uninstall the current product normally via the Control Panel.

Next, download the Acronis Cleanup Tool and run this as Administrator followed by doing a computer restart to complete the cleanup.  Link to the Cleanup Tool in my signature below.

Finally, install the product and create your backup tasks.

What about the existing license? Will that automatically activate and not use one of my other available licenses when I reinstall?

There should be no issue with your license as this is keyed to the hardware signature of the computer where you have activated it, and that will remain the same.

Thank you so much for all your help. Is there no other way to clear this issue and try another backup?

So I have been agonizing about removing and reinstalling Acronis or perhaps trying to roll back the anniversary release to a new drive. My 9 AM scheduled backup started this morning and for the first time since I installed the anniversary update it completed. Perhaps the Acronis repair I did yesterday made the difference but I really don't know. I hate PC magic and phantoms :) especially since the backup refused to start yesterday do to a previously failed backup.

Thanks for the update, sounds like it may be worth leaving alone for a few days and see how it all looks then before going for any further actions.

It's been several days now and the computer is much more stable. The backups are proceding normally and there has only been one black screen and it was not backup related. I can only assume the Acronis repair I performed and perhaps some behind the scenes driver updates by Microsoft have helped correct the issue. If not then I guess I have benevolent gnomes at work here. Thanks again for all the support Steve.

Good to hear that all is looking more stable, hope it stays that way for you.

Another issue crops up :(  Acronis just did a update to version 6589. Besides the black screen it no longer recognizes any of the incremantal backups for the past week. Is there a way to have Acronis scan the backup media and rebuild the internal database?

The new build #6589 was only released today and just fixes compatibility issues with the Windows 10 Creators Update according to the Release Notes so shouldn't have any effect on your incremental backups.

When you say that it no longer recognises any of the incremental backups for the past week, what exactly do you mean?

It is possible to force the Acronis Database to be rebuilt but this will do so for all backup tasks and will lose your backup history information until your tasks are run again.

To force a rebuild of the Database, you will first need to stop all Acronis Services and then end all Acronis Programs (in that order!).

Once everything is stopped / ended, then rename the C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Database folder to Database.OLD (or delete it).

Relaunch the main Acronis application and this will restart the stopped services and programs.

When I look at the incremantal backup task it says "never performed". When I look at the disk I see the original full backup and 4 incrementals. The file backup task shows today as the last backup. Lots of files in that folder. If I don't rebuild the database what will happen when the next scheduled incremental runs?

If the backup task shows as 'never performed' then this would suggest that there is a problem with the database as this is where that information is stored.  Rebuilding the database won't affect your existing backup files on your drive but it could trigger a new full backup unless it is able to recognise the status of your current incremental version chain.

So the backup completed today and picked up where it left off creating the 4th incremental in the series - BUT the Acronis control panel still shows the last backup as never performed. The control panel also shows the next backup is scheduled for tomorrow. This is a sample of why I hesitate to invest in the upgrade. The older versions of the software gave you much more control over the backups and it seems every release dumbs down the software. Sometimes Acronis confounds me.

Mixed news for this situation if the incremental backup ran correctly but the GUI shows incorrect information to suggest the backup has not been run.

I would still suggest trying to force a rebuild of the Database files as per the process outlined previously.