Validation failed due to bad disk
Hello!
I have True Image 2016 installed on a Windows 10 desktop PC. I have two disks installed, one for the OS, and one for local backup. The backup disk is relatively new, but it is going bad already. I had not powered on the PC for about two weeks. I powered it on the last night and True Image started backing up because it had fallen behind schedule. It did the backup first and then started validating the backup. The validation process failed.
Error occurred while reading the file.
A possible reason may be poor media quality. Please press Retry to continue with System_inc_b25_s6_v1.tib.tib or press Cancel to cancel the operation.More details:
More information about this error and solutions may be available online in the Acronis Knowledge Base.
To access the online resource manually, enter the event code at: http://kb.acronis.com/errorcode/
Event code: Event code: 0x00040001+0x00040001+0x0000FFF0+0x80070017
I retried but it failed again. I went on to search for that "event code" as instructed but I found nothing.
There is no information about this error available now. You can use the links below to search for any additional information that might be available.
I am not sure what I can expect to find by searching those "error codes" anyway? Those look like some random memory addresses. Unlike the Microsoft bugcheck codes, those Acronis codes are likely useless anyway? Or am I missing something (not too) obvious? I don't see how this is useful. It only makes me look dumb. It's like telling the customer to "count from 0 to 10, subtract 10, repeat until your problem is solved".
So where do I go from here? What does it mean that incremental backup file xyz.tib has failed the validation process? Is the entire backup now corrupted? If my system disk died and I purchased and installed a new disk and tried to restore the system from backup, would I be able to restore the system to some previous backup point, prior to the failed validation process? Can I rebuild or repair the backup despite the failed validation, or do I in fact have to start all over again with a brand new backup scheme now?
Hello again!
I have not used this computer since the last time I posted. I powered on today and got the same error code for backup 26. It was exactly the same code, which surprised me. So there may be something more to these codes than the eye can see. I still think is weird to tell users to go look for something that is not meant for them to find. I mean if this is meant for Acronis software people.
It's a WD drive and I used the WD diagnostic tool to check it. At first it failed to get the SMART info on it (it just placed a question mark). Then it got it and it passed the quick test. I have not done the extended test yet. Also, some Windows maintenance dialog box came up requesting a reboot to fix the drive.
Restart your PC to repair drive errors
Before restarting, save any open files and close all apps.
I have postponed it for now so that I may save what I can off the drive. But this does not look good, the drive is failing. I have never had a WD drive die on me this quicly before. But then again, they don't make them anymore like they used to. On top of that, it's one of the cheap green series.
I tried opening some of the TIB files. I got mixed results. I got a couple requests for password which is normal because I used password protection and encryption. On the last two backups I got a few prompts asking me to select the location of backump number1, backup number 2, backup number 3 and so on. It kept looping that around and finally got stuck in my Explorer window but did not crash Explorer. I could just close out of it. I tried opening the same archive again and got an error.
Archive Open Error
An error occurred while opening the backup archive.
Cannot continue the oepration because the backup is corrupted, or it is being used by another process, or you do not have enough permissions to perform the operation.
Then I opened it a third time and it worked, and I was able to copy some Windows media files off of it. So... what can be said? I think it's corrupted. Even if it's not I can no longer trust these last few backups. But what about those full backups that are made every now and then? Those should be OK, right?
Sameer, if your backup disk is going bad, then it is impossible to say whether any of the backups stored on it will be good or not.
I would strongly recommend making some new backups of your OS / source drive to a different external hard disk so that you are protected in case you encounter any problems with that drive. Some drive problems in a computer can be caused by other factors within the system such as a failing power supply, over heating etc.
I haven't had any drive failures for what seems a very long time personally, but I have had to repair very many systems for friends and family where drives have failed - having good backups can save a whole lot of time and heartache. No-one likes to lose valuable data, even if the value is purely personal with such as photos etc.
I rebooted now, Windows did its magic and everything is... fine? I don't think so but let's pretend.
Inside True Image again, trying to restart the backup:
The end of the file has been reached.
Click Retry to try to read from the same location. To create a new version according to the current backup scheme, click Ignore.
There was no Ignore button. I clicked another one called "Cancel". It just kept on repeating the same prompt and I kept hitting Cancel harder and harder. I restarted True Image.
The last backup failed. It will be restarted at hh:mm.
Cannot open the backup.
Check for a solution.https://kb.acronis.com/errorcode/bookmark/0x000B03E9_0x0004000F_0x00040…
The link came up empty. No solution!
I see a lot of room for improvement in this program. For starters, mentioned buttons should exist and operate as expected. Oh well, I will just upgrade to the latest and greatest version. Maybe... it just may be that they have managed to get it right in that version.
Back in True Image again trying to get the backup started:
Failed to run the scheduled task: The task is already waiting.
More information about this error and solutions may be available online in the Acronis Knowledge Base.
To access the online resource manually, enter the event code at: http://kb.acronis.com/errorcode/
Event code: 0x006400C8+0x0064023B+0x00900012+0x0009006F
Now the Ignore button exists! Of course I clicked that now.
The following information will be sent via the Internet. Click OK to confirm.
Parameter name Value
Platform type Windows
Platform architecture 10.0.14393
...
I said ignore! Where did this come from??? I didn't click on OK or Cancel here before the same old message appeared again:
The end of the file has been reached.
Click Retry to try to read from the same location. To create a new version according to the current backup scheme, click Ignore.
Again, no Ignore button on this one.
Exception handling is exceptionally bad in this program.
I can only wish that the sinister error codes could be translated into English. Well... at least web crawlers will have something to do now. That way we can do a search and find this page, even though the information is not very useful.
I will bring out my external Seagate drive the next morning and backup this PC until I can replace my internal backup drive. I usually backup to the internal first, then to a local fileserver. I no longer trust the local backup now that it has been contaminated with corrupted versions. The full versions may or may not be OK, I don't want to take chances.
I deleted all the TIB files except the first initial full backup TIB file. I chose the option to keep the first full backup when I created the backup scheme. I'm glad I did that, because it's the only one that I feel comfident in using. I copied it to an external drive, removed the old one from the failing disk, removed the settings for it in True Image, then added it to True Image from the external drive. I did the validation process and it passed. I now have a new incremental backup scheme set up on the external drive. I have zero filled the failing disk and I will be decomissioning it shortly and then order a new one.
During boot up I could see a "SMART event logged" message right under the failing disk drive line. Then it disappeared but I can still see the drive in Windows and in BIOS. I can also format it and use it. But I can no longer trust it with anything important. I installed Acronis Drive Monitor and got a surprising number of drive error events. Over 1200 errors. These were all logged by Windows. Most of them are event ID 7, and some are ID 55.
Event code: 7
The device, \Device\Harddisk1\DR1, has a bad block.
Event code: 55
A corruption was discovered in the file system structure on volume D:. A bad cluster was discovered while accessing file data. The file reference number is 0x6000000000006. The name of the file is "". The extent containing the bad cluster is located at Vcn 0x1c8e, Lcn 0xbf0e1.
Event code: 55
A corruption was discovered in the file system structure on volume D:. The exact nature of the corruption is unknown. The file system structures need to be scanned and fixed offline.
So there you have it, the drive has certainly failed.
What surprised me the most is how little you can reuse of the old True Image backup files. So to anyone reading this I recommended that you select the option to keep the initial full backup of your system when you're setting it up, as any subsequent full backup, as part of an incremental or differential version chain will almost certainly be worthless to you later on if or rather when your drive fails.
To be clear, e.g. Disk_Image_full_b1_s1_v1.tib has a better chance of surviving and being helthy after a failed incremental or differential version chain than Disk_Image_full_b2_s1_v1.tib does. Notice the b1 vs. b2 in the name. The b1 is done only once and kept that way, and it's not part of the version chain, the b2 is.
The option for this can be found under Backup scheme tab in True Image 2016.
The next best thing is to always just use full backups, never use incremental or differential backups. This is good for small amounts of data and with fast drives and data buses and links.
The full backups as part of a version chain should not be a problem if you think of the conceptual idea behind it. But concept and theory sometimes fails to stand up to a reality check. For one or another reason it seems like the full backups that are part of a version chain are dependent on the consecutive incremental or differential versions that follow. When those are damaged, then so is the full backup. I tried to reuse as many of the old TIB files as I could, but True Image kept checking and prompting for consecutive versions. Even when I went very far back in time before the backup disk started to show signs of failure. Maybe it's a bug maybe it's by design, who knows? I Just don't trust full backups that are part of a version chain, incremental or differential. I just don't trust version chain backups, period. Single full backups are the best if you can afford them timewise, storagewise and considering everything else.