ATI2016 Configuration of backup schemes disappeared suddenly, whilst the backup files and lastest backup remain on the disk
Hi everybody,
After several years of undisturbed usage of ATI 2016 I've encountered today the following problem.
The latest backup of one of the partitions was done today accordingly to the backup scheme.
But entering into Acronis True Image application I realized that the whole configuration of several backup schemes (of several partitions) DISAPPEARED suddenly.
Hopefully, the backup files .tib still remain on the backup drive.
1/ Did anyone encounter such a situation yet ? What can be a reason ?
2/ Where, in the ATI2016 menu is it possible to store the backup schemes' configuration to a file, that could be later loaded to retrieve the backup schemes in such a situation like this one ?
My configuration is:
- Windows 7 Professional Sevice Pack 1 compilation 7601
- the backup disk H: is an internal disk WDC WD20EFRX, that is only available to my computer
- The 4 backup schemes apply to 4 other partitions: C:, E:, F,: G: located on two other (SSD and HDD) physical disks, separated from the backup disk with partition H:
Thanks a lot for the response,
Krzysztof
Steve,
Thank you for the answer because I am desperate in this situation.
I should add more that after publishing this problem in the forum I tried to make backups with the newly created schemes (because all of the above were lost) - you can see them in the screenshots in the attachment. For almost all partitions on which I tried to run backups "now", I could not complete the processes because ATI suddenly stopped backups with the message attached. On the third attempt, I was able to make only one full healthy backup of the smallest partition G: with a capacity of 2.5 GB (because I thought it could be a problem with disk space).
And after such a crash ALL the GUI schemes have disappeared again, as in the bottom screenshot.
Backup files were created but were shorter than expected and corrupted, I assume.
I read an article in this forum, stating that for this "Failed to open data stream" error message, the backup folder should have the appropriate privileges for the SYSTEM user. I checked it and it has all the permissions as for the creator/owner/Administrator.
Please advise. Should I still restore backup files from the latest C: system partition as you said, or do you want to comment on it first? The latest incremental backup of C: was done the day before this crash, so it's actual. Should I use the longer / upper or short / lower process table in KB 566697 to stop those processes? Or both?
I'm waiting for your comment / attention on this topic before ATI schemes / database files retrieval.
Krzysztof
Krzysztof, my initial feeling here is that you should do a CHKDSK /F on all of the drives involved in your backup tasks to ensure there are no underlying file system issues at play here!
Have you opened the C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts folder to see what files are stored there? There should be one .tib.tis (XML data) file for each of your backup tasks in this folder. If you double-click on your latest good incremental backup for drive C: and look in the same folder location, you should see those same files there.
Steve,
Yes, before I posted the problem I double-checked all partitions with CHKDSK, no problems were found.
Yes, the actual folder C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts contains only those schemes that I defined again 3th of May, after loosing all schemes that I had before (but why were they lost anyway ?) BUT, despite they are in the folder, they are NOT visible in GUI of ATI2016, maybe because they failed when I tried to run them ? See next file with screenshots.
You may now look on the content of the folder C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts that is in the latest incremental backup of C:, v7, made on 2nd of May - the day before the fatal error. It seems that there are 5 schemes/scripts for successful backups that I used before.
Okey, so I will try to restore those scripts/schemes from the latest backup of C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts and will let you know:
- if they will become visible in GUI
- If so, then I will try to run backups "now", based on that scripts/schemes, will see if it will accomplish with health status
Soon I will let you know.
What about the Database folder - should I also retrieve/restore it ? What table of processes to use - vide my past question ?
Krzysztof
Krzysztof, for the Services and Processes, you need to first open the main Services.msc control panel and stop any Acronis services (shown in the lower table in KB56697) - this has to be done first or else the Processes will be restarted by any active Services. Once the Services are all stopped, then check and end any remaining active Processes. Then you can recover the Database folder back from your backup file.
If this problem persists, then I would recommend following the advice given in KB 60915: Acronis True Image: repairing program settings - (which includes doing the above for forcing a rebuild of the Database folder & files).
Steve,
What I did:
- Stopped all 4 services in KB56697
- Stopped two remaining processes (one listed in the table in KB56697, the other one related to Mouting not listed in the table in KB56697, but I killed it to, as it belonged to Acronis)
- For security reason I created folders named “Old” into Scripts and Database folders on C: and moved the contents of Scripts and Database folders to those folders, excepts two files in Database that couldn’t be moved: Archives.db-shm and Archives.db-wal. See the 2 screenshots for that. Probably the same problem I would have when trying to override / copy those files from backup to C: folder
- Anyway I continued and I copied the contents of Scripts and Database folders from the last incremental of C: (2nd of May), except those two files. I did it simply by Windows Explorer browsing into those backup folders and by copying / pasting them into the appropriate folders of C:, NOT by Acronis recovery tool – is it OK ?
- Restarted windows
- Checked if 4 Acronis processes are running; 3 processes were running except Acronis Sync Agent Service – I started it manually by double-click or it started itself after a while, I cannot be it for sure; so all 4 services were activated
- Then I started ATI2016 application
Results:
- ! Bingo: schemes / scripts were retrieved :) See the screenshot for that
- I restarted ATI2106 and scripts are still the same
- I tested / did full backups of the partition that failed and… it worked :) See the screenshot for that. Although for partition C: the full backup was done instead of incremental (as for backup v7_s7 there is no file v7_s1 with full backup that it was before, I defined one series for this drive) – this I don’t understand. Also for E: partition the file with a strange name “CO TYDZIEN HDD DATA_01 (E)_diff_b15_s3_v1-2.tib” was created. For F: even if it is incremental, the size is as for full partition backup. See the screenshot for that list of files. But it looks a little strange like it could lose the continuity with previous backups and it was done form the beginning (*) for C: and F:.
(**) I the meantime I realized that the problem with E: and F: (but why not G: ?) partition could be caused by the partition moving (F: and G) and size changing (E:) on the physical disk with MiniTool Partition Wizard Free 11.6, that I did by the end of March ? Could ATI2016 be sensitive for such operations on partitions ? If so, then why C: (which is on another physical disk and was unchanged) backup was also unsuccessful ?
So, maybe the next step should be now, for “healthy reasons” of (*) and (**):
- Deleting all schemas / scripts in GUI of ATI2016
- Stopping Acronis services and processes and deleting all files (except those Archives.db-shm and Archives.db-wal) in Scripts and Databse folders on C:
- Restart of Windows / Acronis processes
- Definition of new schemas / scripts as there were defined before or else
- Running the new backups from the beginning (preserving the old somewhere) ?
What do you think ?
If you want to make a clean start with ATI 2016 then do a normal uninstall via the Control Panel, then download the Acronis Cleanup Tool (link below) and run this as Administrator to remove all residual files for ATI.
Note: The Cleanup Tool will remove all installed Acronis applications, not just ATI.
Note 2: As you would be reinstalling, do not follow the steps to remove any Registry entries!
After using the cleanup tool, restart the computer then do a clean install of ATI 2016 then create new backup tasks.
The issue with changing sizes or moving partitions using tools such as MiniTool PW is that this also changes the partition GUID which ATI uses to track those partitions which would then require that you reselect the Source again for the task backing up those partitions.
Steve,
Thank you for your response and support. Do you really think that I should do the reinstallation + Cleanup Tool, as it is a little bit complicated with all those registry and other actions… ?
I have at least 4 possibilities:
1/ Delete manually all schemes/scripts in GUI and re-create them again, then do the backups from the beginning
2/ Stop Acronis Services and Processes, delete files in Scripts and Database folders (probably except those 2 files mentioned above: Archives.db-shm and Archives.db-wal), then re-create in GUI all the schemes/scripts needed again, then do the backups from the beginning
3/ Uninstall with Control Panel, then Install ATI2016 again, then re-create in GUI all the schemes/scripts needed again, then do the backups from the beginning
4/ Uninstall with Control Panel + use the Cleanup tool, then Install ATI2016 again, then re-create in GUI all the schemes/scripts needed again, then do the backups from the beginning
Which one do you strongly recommend in my situation ? Or any other ?
About your Note 2 – should I skip the registry removal operations during Cleanup tool or during the new Installation of ATI ?
BTW, where may I find the latest version of ATI2016 ? I have the original version of “AcronisTrueImage2016_web.exe” dated for 01/29/2016. Should I run this one and it will check and install automatically the latest patches/versions/builds ?
Krzysztof
Krzysztof, I will start from your last question as that is probably more important.
Sign in to your Acronis Account page then on the link to go to your Downloads page, where you should be able to download the final build version for ATI 2016 #6595.
Once you have the latest installer program, then the next check is that you have your license / serial number to use when installing ATI 2016.
My personal recommendation would be to use your option 4, to uninstall ATI 2016 via the Control Panel > Programs & Features option, then run the Acronis Cleanup tool as Administrator followed by restarting Windows.
Forget about the instructions in the documentation for the cleanup tool for going into the Windows Registry, you should not need to do these steps.
Once the above steps have been done, then do a clean install of ATI 2016 #6595 and start creating your backup tasks again.
Steve,
Thank you very much, and this time - shortly:
So, you mean that I should pass the step 5 in https://kb.acronis.com/content/48668#Windows0 instruction/documentation for the Cleanup application process for Windows:
You will be also asked to reboot the system to complete the uninstallation. Do not reboot the machine immediately (press "n"). Do the following first:…-> Registry actions
And is it the same reco for steps re deactivating Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and Acronis Secure Zone – should I skip it too ? I don’t remember if I installed those utilities – how to check it ?
As soon as you replay I will perform the process and let you know about results, thank you.
Krzysztof
Krzysztof, yes you should be able to ignore the steps in KB48668 about the Registry and for ASRM (which shows a F11 prompt on boot) and ASZ which would show in This PC in Explorer.
Hi Steve,
I did what you recommended and it was successful – new definitions and backup by ATI1026 are running now.
One more question re migration from Windows 7 do 10: should I uninstall ATI2016 from my computer with the current version on Windows 7 before I migrate it to Windows 10 soon ? E.g. for the licensing or technical reasons. If so, do the newly defined backup schemes/scripts will "survive" ? Or could I, after a new installation of ATI2016 on the newer version of Windows 10, discover somehow already defined schemes ? E.g. from the current backups files in folder (on Windows 7) ?
Thank you very much for your help,
Krzysztof
Krzysztof, you shouldn't need to uninstall ATI 2016 if upgrading to Windows 10 on the same computer, and ATI should continue to work for you with your existing backup tasks.
One caution: given that you will be upgrading your main C: OS drive, if you continue an existing backup of that drive, then the new backup will be very large because of both the upgrade bringing very large changes, plus also it will include the Windows.old folder containing files from the old OS too! I would recommend creating a new backup of the C: OS drive and leaving the old backup task with no schedule.