How can I find out the difference of a differential to a full backup
Hi,
I would like to know if there was a way to find out what the difference was that was stored in my last differential backup.
I'm having the problem that my differential backups seems unlikely large. The same is that case if i use incremental. Every day it is at least 16gb or more, even if I didn't do anything that day (maybe read a bunch of emails).
Now, my pagefile is exactly 16gb in size, but it should be excluded from the backup.
Hence, I would like to find out what True Image thinks has changed on my computer over night, that's worth 16gb of additional backup.
I tried incremental as well, seems to do the same thing. Therefore I think it's probably the logic that looks at 'what's changed' that probably dodgy.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Enchantech,
thanks for the link. I'm not sure you understood my question. I know very well what the differences between the different types of backups are.
What I would like to know is if I can somehow find out what the difference in content is. I.e. when I run an incremental or differential backup, which files does TI think have changed and therefore saved in the new backup?
Or, as an example, if I have
backup_full_b1_s1_v1.tib and backup_diff_b1_s2_v1.tib
how can I find out which files are different in the differential backup?
I hope this explains my question better.
There is no way using the True Image application to find out what you are asking. Since the backup files are a compressed propritary format I do not know of any 3rd party tools which could do so either.
Thanks again for your answer.
That's a shame. Is there any other way to find out? I had a look through the log files, but as far as I can tell it doesn't say in there either what files where backed up.
The way it is right now, it is flooding my backup drive with (what I think is) unnecessary data, because I think there might be a bug in the 'what do I need to back up' logic. But it's impossible for me to find out where it's going wrong.
Would be nice if it was a bit more 'open' about what its doing.
You should be able to use Windows Explorer to open a backup file by double clicking on the file or by right clicking and choosing Mount. You can manually look at the contents this way.
Here is a link on were to find the log files in the app:
https://kb.acronis.com/content/49484
You can download the handy log viewer app at the link below for easy log file viewing.
Thing is, that even if I open a differential backup file, it shows me the contents of the entire backup (i.e. diff backup + full backup)
BUT: What I did find in there is the pagefile.sys although it is excluded in my backup settings. I think I found the problem.
Now, where would I file a bug report?
Thanks!
You would use the Feedback option in the Help section (Open Book icon) found in the application GUI. Pagefile.sys should not be included in a default backup.
Great, thaks a lot. Will do.
Chris, one reason why files such as pagefile.sys may be included in your backup is if the backup is performed using sector-by-sector - this is an option that can be chosen, but it is also an option that ATIH can default to using if your backup source data includes Linux EXT4 partition(s).
See forum post: https://forum.acronis.com/forum/121537#comment-380786
Chris,
If you find a commercial off the shelf (COTS) backup product that lists every single file change between backups at a similar price point, let me know - I'd try it out. There's not a single one I've used that does this (not Windows backup, Acronis, Macrium, EASUS, Paragon, AOMEI, Retrospect, Crashplan, or any of the other competing tools out there).
There are literally thousands of changes a day that take place on a system in the registry, OS (System folders) and user profile... just when you log off and log on, launch an application, or install an update of some type. Not only would it be time consuming for the application to reocrd and log every change (slowing down the application and making less appealing to other faster products), but the constantly changing database would be I/O intensive and could require a fair amount of space to hold such a database. You might find this in more expensive Enterprise or Server backup solutions, but you generally pay a lot more too (thousands of $ vs $30 per license).
Most of these products don't care what the actual file changes are - they only search for changed blocks at the physical level and write those changes to the new backup.
Hi Steve,
thanks for the pointer. It's not the case with me though, I'm afraid. I'm looking at a bread and butter Windows disk with its usual partitions.
In fact, this very backup worked fine for two months and after I updated to Windows 10 (from 7) it became unhinged. Suddenly the naming of the individual backup files became seemingly random to a pont where even the recovery option itself couldn't identify what was what anymore.
So I thought 'Let's start from scratch' and deleted the old backup (settings and files) and set it up from scatch. And ever since it's been doing what I described in this thread. I'm a little disappointed, tbh. I had True Image ever since it came out and it saved me or rather my files) a lot of times in the past. But I'm beginning to loose faith in it now. :(
Maybe a reinstall will do...
Hi Bobbo,
thanks for the explanation. This makes a lot of sense. Seems like I found the culprit without being able to see what goes into each individual backup.
Chris, if you are considering doing a reinstall, then I would suggest doing a clean install by using the Acronis Cleanup Tool, which will completely remove all Acronis products from your system to give you a full clean start.
Perform a clean install of ATIH 2016
First uninstall the program via the Control Panel (or use an uninstaller such as Revo).
Run the Acronis Cleanup Tool (link in my signature below), then restart the computer.
Note: The KB document for the Cleanup Tool refers to checking for entries in the Windows registry - I have ignored this step on the occasions I have used it with no detriment, though if making changes to the registry, I strongly advise either exporting the registry before the change(s), or create a System Restore point, or image the drive for protection.
Reinstall the ATIH software (download a fresh copy from your Acronis Account if needed or if you don't have the latest build version installer). Run the install as an Administrator (right-click on the installer to take this option).
It is also recommended to suspend your security programs (antivirus, anti-malware etc) during the install as these programs can cause Access Denied errors for the Acronis installer program.
Note 1: If you have purchased an Upgrade version of ATIH 2016 you will be asked for two serial numbers during the install - one for 2016 and one for the previous version that the upgrade is based on, i.e. 2015.
Note 2: The cleanup tool will remove all your backup tasks and task history. If you want to protect this information, then open C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\ in Windows Explorer - this may be hidden on some systems - if so, go to the Folder option in the View pane and enable hidden files & folders).
Save a copy of the Database and Scripts folders to another location to restore back later.
Note 3: In order to restore the above folders & contents, you must stop all Acronis Services & Programs else you will encounter locked files in the Database folder.