Can't Get Incremental Backups to Work

If you download and run FTRPilot's logviewer app, it may shed some more light on the problem.  You can upload a couple of your service logs here for some additional review too.  

The backup dates show that it is backing up almost daily.  The -1, -2, -3, at the end of the name, which is the exact same name in every instance (***_full_b1_s1_v1-1) suggests that the backup is not actually completing all the way as it is attempting to do the same exact backup and appending a number to the end because that name is already in use.  Normally, your next full backup would be ***_full_b2_s1_v1.

I can only speculate as to the cause at the moment, but it could be because:

01) your source or destination disk has bad sectors that are unreadable (or writeable) so the backup is choking at some point because of a disk issue.

02) If you have validation turned on immediately after the backup, turn it off and see if it completes without it and then manually run a validation after that. 

03) Your system is going to sleep during the backup and preventing it from completing (since this appears to be after hours)

04) Related to #3, your power settings may be kicking in if there is no physical input after a period of time while the backup is running (you can check advanced power settings and make sure to turn of USB suspend and also prevent hard drive suspend which are normally set as on to save power).  You also want to go to computer management >>> device manager and make sure to turn off power saving for disks and usb there as well. 

As the current backup is probably not usalbe for a full disk restore (I'm sure data is OK), you may want to consider creating a brand new backup task from scratch and seeing if the same behavior occurs while you monitor the backup as it is happening.  

FYI... cleanup will not occur after 7 days.  It will occur 7 days after the backup chain is complete.  In your case, once the backup is working correctly, a full chain would equal, 1 full + 5 incrementals = 6 months.  The cleanup would then start 7 days after the next chain starts -one month later-(which is triggered by the completion of the next successful full) and would occur 7 days after that. 

Thank you, Bobbo, for your in-depth comments. I'm going to delete all the defective backups and start from scratch -- this time, once a day to speed up the process so I can analyze it. I'm also going to start backing up another of my drives also, to see if the same problems occur.

Response to 01): I'm going to set the backup to a different external drive, just to rule out a bad destination drive.

Response to 02: I don't have Validation turned on.

Response to 03 and 04: I have no power settings in play. My computer stays completely awake constantly.

And, you're right! I see now that the backups are completely unusable. Acronis doesn't even recognize them!

I'll get back to you in a week or so!

LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS NOT A GOOD PLAN. As you've probably guessed, I'm not a computer guru. :)

Peg

I think it's a good place to start.  Perhaps, keep one backup file - even if corrupted - just in case.  I'm not sure what you mean that acronis doesn't even recgonize them?  What happens if you double click on an existing .tib backup file?  Or what happens if you right click and "mount" it - anything at all, nothing, system unresponsive, etc.

Go ahead and delete all but the most recent if you need to free up space, then create a new backup task to the new drive and let it run while you're watching it for the first run and see what happens. 

If you can post some service logs, there may be more info to the mystery.

Oops, Bobbo! I deleted them already without saving the most recent. :(

What I meant by "Acronis doesn't recognize them" is that there was no "Restore" button when I tried to restore a file. And when I double-clicked on the .TIB file, it gave me some sort of message saying it was corrupt.

by the way, AVG Antivirus kept deleting the "setup.exe" file every time I would download it. So I added it as an Exception.

I'm attaching the log file (it goes back to February when, I think, it was actually working, but was still creating backups until the backup drive was filled up.

Hope I've done this right!

Peg

Peg, where are you storing these backup image files?  From the log file you provided, it is telling you that the disk is full but it also looks like you may be storing the files on the same drive as you are backing up?

id=7;  date/time=21/07/2016 04:01:30;  message=Create Backup Archive 
From: G:\  To file: G Drive Incremental (Weekly)_inc_b2_s3_v1.tib Compression: Normal 
id=8;  date/time=21/07/2016 04:05:14;  message=Writing incremental version to file: G Drive Incremental (Weekly)_inc_b2_s3_v1-2.tib
id=9;  date/time=21/07/2016 04:05:14;  message=The disk is full.

In the To file: section above, it shows no path information which suggests it is using either the same path as the source (From: G:\) or your system drive?

The destination drive for your backups should be different to the source being backed up.

Well, if you're looking at a log file from today (the past couple of months), the disk has been full all that time. It apparently filled up some time in April, because it was doing full backups every day until it was too full to take any more.

Don't look at today's log file, because I've deleted everything and am now starting from scratch.

I'm backing up my C Drive to this folder: P:\My Backups\C Drive Incremental.

Peg

Is the P:\ partition on the same physical disk as the C: drive, or is it it's own seperate physical disk?  Preferably, you want your backup images to go to a differnet physical disk than where the OS resides.  That way, if the disk fails, you don't lose the OS and all backups along with it.

Let us know how the newly conifgured backup task (make a new one) goes now that the old backups are deleted.  Dont' worry about deleting all of the old ones, it was just "in case" but oh well now - just keep moving forward and try to get a good working backup sooner than later.

There are others reporting their AV is blocking the install of ACronis as well - whitelisting it is a good idea.  We've also recommended that you temporarily disable AV when installing Acronis because it needs to gain access to some of the default Windows services to integrate itself into the system and that's what may be flagging it as a potential virus.  I always recommend that you install by right clicking the installer and "run as administrator" too to make sure it has the highest privilieges possible, even if already logged in with an admin account. 

No, Bobbo, my P Drive is a completely separate external drive.

I started my first C Drive Backup last night at 7:21 pm. (My C Drive contains 177GB.) This time I used another external drive, H Drive, as the destination. P is  out of the picture for now.

Acronis made some kind of "full" backup between 7:21 pm and 11:50 pm last night. This backup contained 6,230,016 KB. THEN it started another full backup at 11:50 pm which is STILL RUNNING now at 4:30 pm the next day! It's been stuck on 51,412,992 KB for the last several hours. :(

(But now that I look at my log file, it seems to indicate that the backup has finished -- "with errors". The Acronis program itself shows that the backup is still running as I'm typing this.)

I'm thinking about stopping it, because it's slowing down my computer, and I have work to do! Is it okay to do that?

I'm attaching a screen shot of my Backup Folder and (once again) my log file. Only the last 2-3 logs will probably apply, since I was messing around with Acronis before that.

Peg

Peg, thanks for the screen shot and log file.

The file names in the screen shot indicate that the initial backup failed and was continued in the second backup as shown by the -2 suffix in the file name.

The log file shows that you are hitting an error on your source drive:

id=6;  date/time=23/07/2016 03:15:48;  message=Create Backup Archive From: C:\  
To file: C Drive Incremental (Monthly)_full_b1_s1_v1.tib Compression: Normal 
id=7;  date/time=23/07/2016 03:16:20;  message=Writing full version to file: C Drive Incremental (Monthly)_full_b1_s1_v1-2.tib
id=8;  date/time=23/07/2016 04:29:22;  message=Failed to back up file or folder 'C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\VS Revo Group\Revo Uninstaller Pro\Logs\Backblaze'. An error occurred while reading a file. The backed up file in the backup may be corrupted and will not be recovered correctly.: None
id=9;  date/time=23/07/2016 04:39:23;  message=Error occurred while backing up.;  
id=10;  date/time=23/07/2016 04:39:23;  message=Error occurred while writing the file.; 
id=11;  date/time=23/07/2016 04:39:23;  message=Error occurred while writing the file.; 
id=12;  date/time=23/07/2016 04:39:23;  message=Error occurred while reading the file.; 
id=13;  date/time=23/07/2016 04:39:23;  message=The specified file does not exist.; 
id=14;  date/time=23/07/2016 04:39:23;  message=The system cannot find the file specified;  
id=15;  date/time=23/07/2016 04:39:35;  message=Operation has completed with errors.;  

I would recommend doing a CHKDSK /F on your C: drive to see if this finds and resolves any issues with either the files or the indexes to files on the drive.

Hi, Steve! I ran CHKDSK /F, but but it ended when I wasn't looking, so I don't know what the outcome was. With luck, it fixed some things.
Then I ran Seagate Seatools. It found nothing wrong.

At this moment, Acronis is running its FOURTH "Full Backup" (it keeps trying!). But it could be the first one since I ran CHKDSK. So I'm waiting to see if it might agree to be a legitimate backup. Oddly enough, this time it's actually showing me the size and amount of time left (see attachment). It hasn't shown me that information during any of the previous backups.

If not, I'm thinking about clearing the previous corrupted backups off the computer and try again (from scratch) tonight to start a new Incremental chain. Do you think it would help if I excluded the "C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\VS Revo Group\Revo Uninstaller Pro\Logs\Backblaze" folder from the backup?

Peg

If that file continues to be an issue, an exclusion might be warranted.  Alternatively, you can try an offline backup with the bootable recovery media and see if it can get past that file outside of Windows.  My guess is that log file is actively running/in use and for some reason, Windows VSS is not able to lock that file via snapshot - why, I'm not sure though.  The log file shouldn't be very important for a full recovery though if it's only this one that's preventing the backup from completing. 

Alternatively, you can try disabling VSS for your backup and seeing if the Acronis proprietary backup method handles this file better:

https://forum.acronis.com/forum/45832#comment-346558

1) open the folder where your backups settings are saved: C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts  (this is a hidden folder)

2) each file there stores settings for particular backup job. Open files one-by-one in Notepad, or open latest modified file (if you have just modified your task), until you find the one that has backup name on 5th line, e.g. MyBackups

3) click Edit - Replace and replace use_vss="true" with use_vss="false"

4) save changes and close the file

I finally ticked "Ignore bad sectors" in ERROR HANDLING, and it seemed to have solved the problem (for now, at least). It finally did a backup! (Of course, I had to do a "Disk and Partition Backup" instead of a "Folder Backup" -- but it worked.)

I've run both Dell Diagnostics and Seagate Tools on the drive, and they both say it's a perfectly good drive. I hate to assume that I have a bad drive just because Acronis refuses back it up.

Am I making a mistake?

Peg

pegasus wrote:

I finally ticked "Ignore bad sectors" in ERROR HANDLING, and it seemed to have solved the problem (for now, at least). It finally did a backup! (Of course, I had to do a "Disk and Partition Backup" instead of a "Folder Backup" -- but it worked.)

I've run both Dell Diagnostics and Seagate Tools on the drive, and they both say it's a perfectly good drive. I hate to assume that I have a bad drive just because Acronis refuses back it up.  Am I making a mistake?

Peg, if selecting to ignore bad sectors allowed the backup to complete, then the first place I would check is the log file for the backup task to see what it reports about any sectors that were ignored?  Download the Log File Viewer app from the link in my signature below - this can help you to access the log files.  You are welcome to post a copy of the log to the forum for help in reading it.

Unfortunately, bad sectors are a valid concern for any disk drive and should not be ignored in the longer term as may indicate a failing drive.  The normal recommendation is to run CHKDSK /F /R but it is important first to identify which drive / partition the error is being reported for, as it could be on a hidden system partition depending on what exactly you are including in your source data content.

I'm attaching my "Error Handling" ticks and the logfile, Bobbo. I'm afraid I'm not log-file literate.

Peg

Peg, the task log file doesn't show any errors - do you have an earlier log file from when you did not have the option ticked to ignore bad sectors?

At this point, I would suggest running CHKDSK H: /F /R on your source drive.

Yikes, Bobbo! I'm sorry! I sent you the wrong log file (that was my yesterday's backup of Drive H). Here's the Drive C: backup done on the 15th. It's the ONLY backup I've done since ticking "Ignore Bad Sectors". Does it tell you anything?

log uuid=F181644F-EC26-4735-9501-ECA09A00CBD7;  product=True Image;  version=19.0;  build=6571;  task=60700E47-9506-4F8C-A6DA-FB04EA51059B;  task_name=C Drive Incremental (3rd Mon)
Start= 8/15/2016 10:59:04 PM
id=1;  level=2;  module=100;  code=0;  date/time=8/15/2016 10:59:04 PM
          message=Backup reserve copy attributes: format tib; need_reserve_backup_copy false
id=2;  level=2;  module=100;  code=2;  date/time=8/15/2016 10:59:06 PM
          message=Operation C Drive Incremental (3rd Mon) started by schedule.
id=3;  level=2;  module=100;  code=0;  date/time=8/15/2016 10:59:24 PM
          message=Backup reserve copy attributes: format tib; need_reserve_backup_copy false
id=4;  level=2;  module=316;  code=0;  date/time=8/15/2016 10:59:24 PM
          message=Operation: Backup
id=5;  level=2;  module=100;  code=11;  date/time=8/15/2016 10:59:24 PM
          message=Priority changed to Low.
id=6;  level=2;  module=11;  code=1008;  date/time=8/15/2016 10:59:25 PM
          message=Create Backup Archive From: NTFS (C:) To file: H:\Acronis Backups\C Drive Full\C Drive Incremental (3rd Mon).tib Compression: Normal Exclude: Files matching mask Match criterion:
          hiberfil.sys
          pagefile.sys
          $Recycle.Bin
          swapfile.sys
          System Volume Information
          *.tib
          *.tib.metadata
          *.~
          *.tmp
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Temp
          C:\Users\LogMeInRemoteUser\AppData\Local\Temp
          C:\Users\NeroMediaHomeUser.4\AppData\Local\Temp
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files
          C:\Users\LogMeInRemoteUser\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files
          C:\Users\NeroMediaHomeUser.4\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Opera Software
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Opera Software
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Opera Software
          C:\Users\PEG\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
          C:\Windows\CSC
id=7;  level=2;  module=1;  code=504;  date/time=8/15/2016 10:59:25 PM
          message=Pending operation 172 started: 'Creating partition image'.
id=8;  level=2;  module=100;  code=0;  date/time=8/15/2016 11:06:42 PM
          message=Writing full version to file: C Drive Incremental (3rd Mon)_full_b1_s1_v1.tib
id=9;  level=2;  module=1;  code=504;  date/time=8/15/2016 11:20:49 PM
          message=Pending operation 172 started: 'Creating partition image'.
id=10;  level=2;  module=100;  code=0;  date/time=8/15/2016 11:20:49 PM
          message=The following backups have been successfully created: H:\Acronis Backups\C Drive Full\C Drive Incremental (3rd Mon)_full_b1_s1_v1.tib
id=11;  level=2;  module=316;  code=6;  date/time=8/15/2016 11:20:51 PM
          message=Operation has succeeded.
Start= 8/15/2016 10:59:04 PM
Finish= 8/15/2016 11:20:51 PM
Total Time= 00:21:47

Nope, looks like a successful backup, which is likely do to it ignoring the bad sector(s) and just skipping over it/them.  You can uncheck the ignore bad sectors option and run again and that might show where it's choking if the behavior can be reproduced after turning that item off. 

I was just checking the full thread again... are you only doing 1 incremental every 3 weeks - how often are your full backups spaced apart?  You might want to try and get a full to occur more frequently if you have the space.  A month between backups is a bit of time... especially when that time is only incorporating incrementals.  If you have an issue with an incremental in the chain, anything after that would be unusable as well and that could set you back to the original full.  

Perhaps something like: 

1 full the first Monday of every month + 3 incrementals that occur on a weelkly basis... and keep a couple of version chains (at least 2 if you have space).  The more frequently you can do a full backup, the better - I would recommend at least 1 full per month if you can swing it - maybe at least an offline full to a different UsB hard drive or something to be on the safe side?  Me personally, I do 1 full each week and daily incrementals (6 weekly) and keep 4 version chains (I actually have a couple variations of this using differentials and different storage locations as well to diversify not just the frequency, but also the type and the physical location of the backup data).  The incrementals are relatively small, but just concerned that over time, there is more chance for error to occur.  At least try to run an offline full backup with the recovery media once a month or as far back as you'd be willing to lose all of your changed data if you had to revert to such a backup in the event of hardware failure, corruption, malware, ransomware, theft, or catastrophy taking over.  I don't know how many times people beg and plead to get photos back after something happens to them, when they could have just been backing them up better to begin with to avoid being in that situation to begin with.  

Okay, Bobbo. I'm going to try your backup schedule. The reason I finally decided not to back up more often is that I'm backing up four drives (including my C: Drive), and before I know it, my backup drive is full (without my knowing it since Acronis doesn't announce when it's no longer backing up!). When the drive gets full, the backups stop, and I don't notice that they've stopped.

EVERY TIME I've tried frequent incremental backup chains, Acronis has never (in this version or any earlier versions) automatically deleted backup chains when requested. It's just kept piling them on. I'm going to set it exactly as you've suggested -- it seems like a good plan. I don't really trust Acronis to do it, but I'm going to try harder to keep any eye on what it's doing (I admit I get busy with other things!).

And I'm going let you know if Acronis follows through this time! I will be so happy, and I will learn to love Acronis!

Peg

Hi Pegasus,

**EDIT** Understood.  The important thing with the automatic cleanup is once you have your backup task created and running, don't modify it again. modifying it will reset the version chain. So, if you've completed 5 of 6 incrementals, make a change to the task and save, then it will need to do 6 incrementals again.  If you modify the task during that time, well, then it wants to do another 6 incrementals.  This can quickly result in a full drive with no cleanup ever taking place so is one of the main reasons we suggest not modifying a task and starting with a clean one if you need to.  You can modify a task, but you just need to be aware of this behavior with the version chain count.  

If you have different types of data, stored in different locations, you can do a different type of task for each one.

For example, I backup  my OS daily since it changes all the time and that's whay I want to recover with my main user data (profile) and OS settings as close to realtime as possible.  However, I also have a software repository on another disk and only back it up about once a month with a differential backup scheme, keeping 3 differentials before a full is run and I only keep one version chain of it since it's spread out over 4 months.  

Personally, I like spreading out my backup jobs with different tasks.  If any one task or backup has issus, I only have to fix that one.  It also gives some flexibility in setting up different schedules or backup types (inc, diff, or full) with the different types of data you want to backup.  It also can make restores a lot faster.  I keep my OS as small as possible and keep things like music, movies, software in their own folders on a different drive and back them up seperately.  That way, if I have ot recover the OS, the OS takes about 10 minutes to restore and I'm back up and running quickly.  If I only need to recover some videos, then I just recover those files and don't have to worry about ever touching the OS.  All personal prefernce, but something to consider.