Test of recovery tool fails as backup tib files are not seen on the drive

Hopefully someone else can weigh in, I've never used secure zone.  

For me, and this is just my opinion, secure zone seems to be an extra layer of complexity that probably causes more trouble for some users than it does good.  As I've never used it, what I'm about to say is completely based off of my own assumptions... they are  just my personal beliefs and I have no factual data to back my statements up with.   Logically though, I think my reasoning makes sense.  

I don't see the benefit as you can create your own Windows parition if you want to segregate them from the rest of the disc, or just create a dedicated backup folder and keep it organized with subfolders for each backup job and use passwords (AES encryption) for each backup job.  Securezone as a name is a bit misleading.  It offers no protection from malware and is accessible from within Windows so is just as susceptible to malware and others with access to the partition.  

The one benefit I truly see is that secure zone is supposed to automatically groom backups to save space - OK , cool.  However, we can already do this without secure zone using cleanup rules in Acronis on a regularly formatted paritions.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronis_Secure_Zone

Overview[edit]

Backup applications typically use network storage for storing backup archives, but this can be problematic when such resources are not available. Acronis designed a solution to this problem by carving off part of the local disk as a proprietary partition, which they refer to as Acronis Secure Zone (ASZ). Since this partition is accessibly only by True Image and Backup & Recovery, it functions as a backup target safe from malware, user files, or other uses or corruption. ATI can only manage a single ASZ per computer but can restore data off other ASZs present too (e.g. when a portable hard drive is connected).

Technical Details[edit]

Although the Acronis Secure Zone has its own partition type, it is actually just a rebadged FAT32 partition labeled ACRONIS SZ, with "partition type" code set to 0xBC. Knowing these requirements, one can manually create and/or manage existing Acronis Secure Zone using any partition manager. Since the ASZ is actually just a modified FAT32 partition type, it is possible to gain direct access to this partition by changing its partition type code to 0x0B(FAT32 LBA).

ATI is designed to self-manage the backup archives stored to the ASZ. As such, all backup files will be stored with autogenerated names in the root folder. If there is not enough freespace for the next backup file, ATI will automatically delete the oldest image set (base+incremental/differential files) in order to create space for the new files.

Just done a test of this issue using ATIH 2017 and a spare 100GB external drive where I created a 40GB ASZ on the external drive then created a backup of my Windows OS partition to the same.

Note: When backing up, ASZ does not show as a choice until the option to Browse is taken, then it is one of several choices shown for the local PC.

I then booted from my USB Rescue Media with the external drive connected and was able to select to recover data from the ASZ on the external drive.

Further note: When clicking on Recover in the main GUI then selecting ASZ it showed a different backup image name to that which was shown via Windows Explorer - with the Rescue Media, the backup was just shown as 'Disk archive'.

Initially I didn't get any further than selecting the ASZ Disk archive, so I then used the top menu option for Recover and reselected the ASZ archive, selected Files & Folders and was able to successfully restore a selected folder & files.

My conclusion is that ASZ does work both on an external drive and with Rescue Media (I was using a 32-bit WinPE version of the Rescue Media on a 16GB USB stick).

Trub, when booting from the Rescue Media, if you have a Windows 8.1 / 10 system, please ensure that you have done a Restart and not a Shutdown then power on again, if you have Windows Fast Start enabled.  The reason here is that Restart does a full shutdown and restart whereas doing a Shutdown with Fast Start enabled puts the system into a hybrid sleep (aka hibernation) state and this is not a good place to start into the Rescue Media.

Next, if your backup files are written to the ASZ then they should not be showing on the L: drive as that is a separate partition to the ASZ.  You should click on the Browse button and look for Acronis Secure Zone as a separate option in the list shown.

Appreciate the comments/input from Bobbo and Steve.  I'm running Windows 7 Home and used the standard Acronis Bootable Media option, not the WinPE based media option.  I'll try the WinPE option to see if that is any better at recognizing the tib files on my L: drive and in ASZ.

Just to add to what Bobbo said and give you a little more to consider:

I advise against creating the Acronis Secure Zone. It's a sub-optimal method of backup intended for people who have no external target to which to backup. If your drive fails, you would lose your system, files, and your Secure Zone backups.

It's much better and safer to make backup images to an external hard drive.

Also, in the past there were occasional reports of the Secure Zone causing problems to the system. When I installed Secure Zone on one PC, it corrupted the hard drive causing data loss and rendering the system unbootable. Perhaps the latest versions of Secure Zone are improved, but that experience coupled with its inherent insecurity and lack of redundancy cause me to be wary of Secure Zone.