Actual HD data GBs versus GB of "data selected"? Why the big difference?

Also, why are the "exclusionary" files excluded by default? Shouldn't 2017 and its upload to the Acronis Cloud represent a mirror image of my HD?

Various Windows files are excluded by default, as they are temporary in nature and not normally needed in backups. These include such things as Hiberfil.sys and paging file.

Also, the ATI backup is likely compressed. (I can't say for certain as I'm not using Cloud backup, but other typs of ATI backup use compression to save space.)

Tuttle:

Thanks for your response...

all my various browser files are excluded, but my question remains: why the big difference between what Acronis 2017 shows and my actual amount of GBs of data on my HD. Are you suggesting that the excluded files are the difference?  If not, why the difference?

Also, I should note that I do not run programs such as CCcleaner or delete my "temporary" files or cache. I have saved many sessions on Mozilla over the last several years as an example, some of them qujite extensive.

Howard, please click on Options for your Cloud backup task and then on the Exclusions page tab where you will see a full listing of all the default items that ATIH will not backup - for your browser data, you can select the appropriate line then click on the [-] button to remove that specific exclusion item.

See KB document: 58297: Acronis True Image 2017: Archiving Exclusions for a full list of excluded files.

Note that one of the default excluded items is System Volume Information which is where Windows stores System Protection information for System Restore points, this can again be a significant size if included, assuming that you have System Protection enabled on your system.

Removing the default setting on the "exclusion" files has apparently corrected my problem. I now show 2017 backing up 256.54 GBs to the ACronis Cloud, which is the correct size. However, the Total Size shown in the upper right hand corner of the console only shows 215.5 GB. Not sure why the difference exists.

Howard, don't forget that ATIH should be expected to achieve a compression ratio of between 20% and 30% depending on the file types you have stored on your source drive.

Steve:

If I remove the default setting across all the "excluded" files types, does this mean 20017 actually captures my OS? I purchased 2017 with the understanding that it would capture my entire HD, including my OS, but a response to some other question on this forum seemed to imply that one's OS was not captured. What is the correct answeer?

Thanks.

Howard, the excluded files are those files which are not essential to the running of the system when it is restored from the backup, such as the system pagefile.sys, hiberfil.sys and swapfile.sys, all of which can add up to many gigabytes and which Windows will automatically rebuild new versions of if not present.

Any 'entire' disk & partitions backup of your Windows OS drive will definitely include your Windows OS - this is one of the primary purposes of this application.  The only time that the OS is not included / captured is if you choose a drive with no OS installed, or if you choose a 'Files & Folders' type backup.

If you are looking for an identical copy of your physical HDD containing your Windows OS, then you can boot from the Acronis Rescue Media and create a backup from outside of Windows - the offline backups have minimal exclusions set.  Also when using the Rescue Media it is possible to create a 'Clone' of your HDD onto a second HDD drive (of equal or greater capacity) where the result would be 2 physical drives with identical content.

Thanks Steve...

You answered my one question about the OS being copied as well as most of my other questions.

The one issue I sm still a little confused about is exactly how you would download from the Acronis cloud if your hard drive crashed...completely preventing you from starting in safe mode. I have an "all-in-one" HP 24" i7 which I assume is replaceable with a new HD, or I could purchase a new computer. Utilizing a recovery disk set or using the installed new OS, Can I assume that going to the Acronis web site and typing in my serial number would give me access to my upload?

I have read the knowledgebase article on this issue and it deosn't seem very clear to me.

Steve:

My other remaining question (sorry, I probably have a couple more) is this:  when working with Acronis support on these issues, why does the FTP server require me to log in, yet rejects my password even though my password is correct. Support staff feels this doesn't happen even though I have sent them screen shots showing them that it does. They still don't believe me.

Howard

Howard wrote:

 The one issue I am still a little confused about is exactly how you would download from the Acronis cloud if your hard drive crashed...completely preventing you from starting in safe mode. I have an "all-in-one" HP 24" i7 which I assume isn't replaceable with a new HD. I would need to purchase a new computer. Can I assume that typing in my serial number would give me access to my upload?

Howard, do a quick search on Google  for 'HP AIO HDD replacement' and you will find lots of hits for how to do this including a YouTube video, so it must be possble to replace a failed HDD should it become necessary.

In terms of your question about recovering your system from the Acronis Cloud, you would need to approach this as follows:

First, you would need a copy of the Acronis bootable Rescue media on CD/DVD or USB stick (the latter is recommended) - and be able to boot your failed HP AIO desktop system from this media - this is something that should be tested long before you ever get to the point of needing to do this in anger!

Next, you would need to connect the HP system to your internet router by an ethernet cable to give the most reliable network connection over which the Cloud data would be transferred.  The Acronis Rescue Media will attempt to connect to the Acronis Cloud servers via your internet connection.

The key point to consider at this point is the amount of data that would need to be transferred from the Cloud if you are only using that method of recovery - this can be of a significant size and take an extended time to recover.  For this reason, it is recommended to also make local backups to either an external USB drive or to a network / NAS drive, so that you can effect a far faster recovery of the base system.  You can still use the Cloud backup to recover any additional data or changes captured in the Cloud after recovering the system from the local drive.  With Cloud restores, a delta is used to only restore changed data, so minimises the amount of data that needs to be downloaded.

If you did purchase a new computer, then you will be facing a different challenge in terms of recovering your backup data (from either the Cloud or a local drive) as you are then entering the realm of restoring to different hardware and needing to use the Acronis Universal Restore program, unless you are only wanting to recover user data.

Howard Miller wrote:

My other remaining question (sorry, I probably have a couple more) is this:  when working with Acronis support on these issues, why does the FTP server require me to log in, yet rejects my password even though my password is correct. Support staff feels this doesn't happen even though I have sent them screen shots showing them that it does. They still don't believe me.

I know you directed this questions to Steve, but I'll give it a shot by asking a few questions of my own.

What are you using as an FTP client?  Are specifying both userid and password in the FTP url, or are you letting the Acronis FTP server prompt?  (If you are doing the latter, your client may have tried an anonymous FTP connection.)  Is it possible your client is trying to do something like SFTP instead of FTP by default?  (WinSCP does that.)  Are you using the userid and password exactly as stated in the email from Acronis?  (Copy and paste is best.)

Sorry if these seem like "Is it plugged in?" kind of questions.

Howard Miller wrote:

Steve:

My other remaining question (sorry, I probably have a couple more) is this:  when working with Acronis support on these issues, why does the FTP server require me to log in, yet rejects my password even though my password is correct. Support staff feels this doesn't happen even though I have sent them screen shots showing them that it does. They still don't believe me.

Howard

Howard, sorry I missed your question above which must have crossed with my reply above.  If you are working with Acronis support, then the FTP server credentials are those they provide for you to use to upload data which exceeds the limits for the forum, or includes confidential data etc.  These FTP credentials, in particular, the password is case sensitive, so you must type it exactly as advised.  If they show the credentials as 'ftpuser:ftppassword' then you drop the middle colon : character to separate the user name and password when entering these into a FTP client such as Filezilla.

Recovery from the cloud appears to compare the files on the PC to those present at the recovery date, and only download files that are different, and deletes unique files on the PC. If there is a serious issue, you can delete all partioon on the system disk with a disk managment utility, and then download the all files at the recovery date. How long this takes depends on the amount of data. I did this a few days back at it took several hours to download (I think it was about 40 gig). Tine taken will depend on the download/upload speeds that you have. I have a 100Mbs/2Mbs cable plan.

You should treat the Cloud as a secondary backup; you should also do regular "local" backups to USB drive or NAS. If therer is very critical data, I would also have an off-sie physical backup (USB disk). 

Ian

8:25 AM CST, Nebraska...12/23/2016

Steve:

Glad you have found the time to respond to my questions about the FTP server issue. Certainly the support staff have included a unique username and password for uploading onto the FTP server, but they sure never explained it like you have done so. Perhaps it is the "English" thing.

The user name and password are tucked way down on the email without any explanation that I can see ( and I am looking at the meail(s) right now). I guess they assumed I would know that I would have to use them somewhere.

My problem still REMAINS HOWEVER.

If I click on the link above the provded user name and password, I get a page that is unworkable regardless of what I do, and a 553 error. If I click on the 1st link, I get a log in console that does not work.

Since you have answered almost all of my questions, I don't see the need to really pursue this issue. Glad for your help.

++++++Acronis Email to me after I sent screenshots via MS Outlook...++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I request you to check the Datacenter Speed by opening the following link on your internet browser and capture a screenshot: https://cloud-wr-us2.acronis.com/speedtest/index.html

You informed that the Acronis True Image console is showing 69.6 GB of data selected, however you are currently uploading 500GB of data to Cloud. I suspect the Acronis True Image is showing an incorrect value of the size of data selected, hence you can check the total source size on the top of Acronis True Image console "Total Size".

I would also request you to share Acronis System report from your computer so that I can check the logs and see if there are any conflicts while performing Cloud Backup.

To collect Acronis System report, please refer the following article:https://kb.acronis.com/content/58820

Please upload the screenhots and Acronis System report in the following FTP Link:

Link to the FTP account:      

KB article on how to upload files: http://kb.acronis.com/content/5991

Direct upload/download link (for FTP clients):

Username    fdyh9bcnyc

Password:   gtaioqehek

Please let us know if this resolves the issue. Feel free to get back to us should you have any further questions. I look forward to your response.

The Case Number for your reference is 02827252.

Pat:

I agree that "cutting and pasting" is the only way to go with the Acronis password. Before the chat rep changed it for me, I tried several tiems by typing and it wouldn't take it.

As to the FTP server issue, I am simply using the link that the Acronis rep provided me by email. Neither one works for me, and the rep has no other explanation that he has provided me to resolve the issue other than it works for him.

I still can't log in to the Acronis FTP srever, regardless of what I do, but Steve has answered almost all my questions, so at this time it is somewhat of an irrelevant issue.

9:45 CST Nebraska, 11/23/16

Steve:

Thanks. I did see the YouTube videos of removing the hard drive on some of HP's all-in-one computers. Mine is a little bit different, so I will need to explore how to do it further if I need to do it some day.

From what you have said:

#1 task --- make a recovery disc via Acronis and/or HP (HP allows only 1 such copy) with a USB stick (I assume 64 GBs would be sufficently larege enough.). Any recommendations for the USB stick?

#2 task ---   I am on TW cable at 30 Mbps download and 5-6 Mbps upload, which is relatively consistent. The TW tech rep installed it so I have no control over what he did or did not do.

#3 task ---   Make a local backup.

In regards to task #3, do I do a "clone" or do I do "back up".

Also, in terms of task #3, I have considered purchasing the Samsung T3, portable, SSD hard drive, 500 GBs. Any other recommendations?

Thanks.

Howard

Howard, for any bootable USB media (memory stick) then the maximum size should not exceed 32GB, but for the purposes of the Acronis Rescue Media then 1GB is sufficient size to use.  When you speak about making HP recovery media, then again if you want to be able to boot from such media then it should not be larger than 32GB, but would suspect that either 8GB or 16GB would be large enough, based on Windows 10 being supplied on DVD at less than 5GB (and earlier versions being smaller in size).  See KB document: 58108: Acronis Software: Using USB Sticks with More than 32GB Capacity

Download and upload speeds are always very different, so your 30 Mbps down and 5-6 Mbps up sound reasonable but will take some time to upload a full system image to the Acronis Cloud servers, though less time to bring back down again.  The key here is to ensure you have selected your closest geographic server location. See KB document: 4350: Acronis Backup to Cloud Access Ports and Hostnames for where the Cloud servers are located.

For you local backup question, I would recommend doing backups rather than clone.   
See KB document: 1540: Difference between Backup and Disk Clone which explains the key differences in these processes, but the bottom line is that backups can be done regularly from within Windows, and multiple backups can be stored on your backup drive, whereas clones have to be performed offline from Windows, using the Acronis Rescue Media to boot the system.  By definition, a clone is an identical copy of one drive to another, therefore you can only have one clone on a backup drive which will use the whole drive.

The choice of a backup hard drive has to be yours, but if going for a portable drive, consider the power requirements if the drive is powered directly from your USB ports.  The newer USB 3.0 drives require more power than the older USB 2.0 drives and may draw more power than available on an older system if plugged into a USB 2.0 port.  My preference are to go for powered USB drives (with their own power supply) - I have several WD MyBook type drives ranging from 500GB - 1TB and 2TB in size, plus a 3TB Synology NAS (2 x 3TB in RAID configuration) that I use for backups.  I also have several portable 2.5" drives that I have made up using disk caddies and spare laptop drives, which are good for carrying in my laptop bag.

Steve:

Thanks. I will need some time to digest all of this, but one question does pop up immediately. Why do you recommend limiting the USB stick to 32GBs?

Steve:

I did read the knowledge base article on 32 GBs USB sticks. I now understand why I need to limit it to that size or smaller.

Thanks.

Howard Miller wrote:

As to the FTP server issue, I am simply using the link that the Acronis rep provided me by email

Ah, but simply using that link where?  If you are just clicking on it in a browser, that browser has to support FTP uploads.  Not all browsers do.  For instance, Firefox does not without a plugin.  Pasting the url (link) into the Windows File Explorer should work.  (I didn't even know that ws a possibility until reading the Acronis upload instructions.  They are handy for more than just Acronis problems. :-) )

Even if Steve answered your questions and you no longer need Acronis support for this problem, learning how access the Acronis FTP server  is time well spent.  It will speed things up the next time your need to send doc to the Acronis support team.  And you may learn things helpful in other contexts.

And if you no longer need help from the Acronis support team, make sure you tell them they can close the ticket.

On the FTP question / issue, I use the free FileZilla FTP Client for when I need to upload data to the Acronis FTP Servers.  This worked first time with the credentials / connection information Howard posted above.  See screen shot.

Pat,

Thanks for your reply. In response to your comment, let me explain that I followed the instruction of the account rep to the letter and read and re-read the knowledge base article cited several times. Therefore, as instructed, I opened the link by cutting and pasting it into MS Explorer.

It simply requested I "log in" using my password. However, it rejected my password regadless of what I did. I sent a screen shot of the log in console, and the account rep still couldn't believe it because he could acess the Acronis FTP serve from his end.

Don't know what else to tell you other than I have been working with Acronis for about a month now, without much success, and if it wasn't for Steve I would still be in the dark.

Steve:

thanks for your response. I haven't tried the fileZilla approach simply because the Acronis rep instructed me to use MS Explorer, but I will do so over the weekend. I did check out your screenshot, so I will see if I can duplicate something like that when I try to access the FTP server.

I admit, I am somewhat  puzzled by the account rep's response to use the FTP sever even though he could see my screen shots. I assume it is just protocol.

Steve:

Tried it jsut now rather than wait. Didn't work for me. I guess I am doing something wrong.

Steve,

I followed the instructions in the knowldgebase regarding "filezilla" by cutting and pasting the link to the FTP account into Mozilla's search box. This opened a page with another link, which led me to another page, which was a dead end.

The so-called "direct upload/download link  (for FTP clients)" doesn't work either.

Howard, have you downloaded and installed the Filezilla FTP Client on your computer?

If so, then click on the top menu bar on File >> Site manager then click on the New site button in the lower left side of the Site manager window and give the site a name, i.e. Acronis FTP.

In the right panel, just type in cftp.acronis.com in the Host: entry box. and leave the Protocol set as FTP, the Encryption as 'Use explicit FTP over TLS if available', then ensure the Logon Type: = Normal.

All that then remains is to type in the User: and Password: credentials then click on the Connect button.  
See screen shot below from my own system using credentials that Acronis provided to me for the same purpose a while ago - you would just need to enter your own credentials as per your earlier post.

.

Direct upload/download link (for FTP clients):

Username    fdyh9bcnyc

Password:   gtaioqehek

[/quote]

Using those credentials I was able to get on the Acronis FTP server using the Windows 10 File Explorer, the WinSCP client, and (after a number of false starts) the Ncftp client.  I don't have FileZilla installed right now so haven't tried it.  But since I was able to use 3 different clients to access the Acronis FTP server, I think the problem is not on the Acronis side.

Steve,

Sorry for the delay getting back to you on some of my issues with 2017 and the acronis cloud...Wanted to thank you for all your help. Trevelling.

After some struggles on the FTP uplink, and a long chat seesion with an acronis rep, finally dsicovered that acronis does not accept my file format from Snag-it; acronis only accepts what they call"universal" file formats such as PNG and JPG. So, all I needed to do was to save the screen shot in snag-it, then save it in either JPG or PNG, and then cut and paste it into the.ftpquote page via MS Explorer.

I still think this approach is somewhat cumbersome, but just my opinion.

Als found out that I cannot change the compression level when I upload to the cloud, but can do so for my external hard drive. Any idea of what the compression level is when uploading to the cloud? The acronis rep didn't seem to understand this question.

Also, can I take my "clone" on one of my externa HDDs and upload that to the cloud along with my regular backup?

Thanks.

Howard, thanks for the feedback from your contact with support.

Backups to the Cloud work in a different way to local backups as once the initial full backup has been captured Acronis then does a delta comparison to detect changes and only backup those changes to the Cloud, again done differently to the way local backups work.

I am not sure that I understand the last question about taking your clone on one of the external drives and uploading to the cloud.  A clone is an identical copy of one disk drive created on a second drive, so unless you are meaning to make a backup of that second, cloned drive to the cloud, then you are mixing terminology and swapping clone for backup image.  Acronis would not normally store .TIB files in the cloud.

I am uncertain what if any com pression is done when uploading/downloading to Acronis Clould. The objective is, presumably, to maximise the upload speed/minimise time. Acroniks use a proprietary process to do this. I suspectg for some types of files pre-compression may not spped up the  process, whereas for others it might. As far as I can work out, it seems to do this one-file-at-a-time, which would negate many of the advantages of file compression. Just speculation on how it works.

The key variable in download and upload times is the upload/download speed of you internet connection. Aconis is designed so that part of the capacity is left for other programs that need access to the inernet: a sort of QoS. At one time Acronis were experimenting will allowing some user modification to this setting but it does not seem to hace been adopted in ATI 2017. You may be able to speed up the process in the QoS settings for your router, however there is unlikely to be a dedicated setting for uploading data to the Clould.

Not sure that this helps.

Ian