Cannot delete old Acronis backup files from external drive
I need to create more space on my external USB drive but I cannot delete old Acronis Backup files. I get an error message as follows.... "You'll need to provide administrator permission to delete this folder"
Hi FtrPilot
I cant believe how much time I have wasted trying to solve this and your advice was soooooo correct and soooo simple, I feel embarrassed to admit it. Why this wasn't clearly communicated by Acronis I will never know. But you solved it and I am very thankful to you for it.
In reply to Hi FtrPilot… by truwrikodrorow…
How and where do I turn this off?
In reply to See KB 60190: Acronis True… by truwrikodrorow…
Hi Steve
thank you for answering this further query from another Acronis user. Much appreciated.
regards
Yes this is an issue with the software. I am having the same problem. I do not have privilege to delete a back set / file from my USB drive! Active protection is not on (never has been) version 2019 14690 really doesn't matter if Active protection is turned on or not the service is installed during a upgrade or possibility new install. Try sorting the task manager in Windows and stop the activeprotectionservice worked for me. You would think turning it of would include stopping the service.
I don't have protection active. In the 2021 version that I have you have to open acronis and delete the backups from the drop down menu of each one. There are also other options such as move the backup to a different HD, etc.
With the 2022 version (at least) running on W10, Task Manager may not be able to stop the process. It may not even be possible to dynamically stop the service from within the Windows Services console. One workaround is to disable the associated service from starting, rebooting, doing the deletes, etc., you wanted to, re-enabling the service and rebooting.
To wit, in all its gory detail:
<Do the following at your own risk.>
a. Within Acronis turn off the protection service, if it isn't off already.
b. Start the Windows Services console and Disable the AcronisActiveProtectionService
i. To do the former in W10, type "services" in the w10 search bar and hit return; the Services console will come up.
ii. To do the Disabling, double-click the AcronisActiveProtectionService (it may well be the first one in the alphabetical list of services). In the window that comes up, make a note of what the "Startup type:" is; then set it to: "Disabled". Apply the change, click OK, and close the Services window.
c. Reboot.
d. Delete files and folders to your heart's delight. BUT BE CAREFUL, there's nothing protecting ANY of your backup files anymore.
e. Go back to Services and reset the Startup type to what it was before. You made a note of it in step 'b.ii'. If you forgot to, set it to "Automatic", and you'll probably be fine.
f. Reboot
g. Start Acronis and set the protection service to whatever you want.
h. END.
NOTE: It SEEMS that Acronis will still work (without active protection) after step 'd.' That is, one can leave the active protection service disabled permanently, although it might not be a safe thing for one to do, depending on how one uses Acronis.
Acronis has worked great for me in the past. It's nothing but trouble now. Total waste of time. Other apps are simpler, quicker and more reliable. I've cancelled all renewal payment methods so my licenses will thankfully die off
RCL
I am backing up to an external WD drive, and it is giving me nothing but problems.
I cannot delete a corrupted backup file from my external drive, and it occupies 1.5 Gb of space that I cannot use for other purposes.
I originally deleted the backup from within Acronis, which removed the backup from the Backup pane, but the file was not deleted from the drive. Now I tried deleting from File Explorer after turnin goff Active Protection, but instead got an error message saying "an unexpected error prevents deleting the file".
I just can't be bothered going through the process that Augustus Uht describes above, so I hope there is another way of doing this.
Alternatively, I will stop using Acronis altogether and switch to a different product.
Thanks!
Background:
I have encrypted the drive and set a password, which means that I have to manually re-mount the drive everytime my computer has been to sleep. This seems to be a limitation with the WD Drive Unlock autorun app, which apparently only runs when the computer does a complete reboot.
The issue is, whenever my computer wakes from sleep and the external drive is not immediately mounted, Acronis loses connection to the backup location. Even when I Add Existing Backup, Acronis just creates a new backup file so I now have numerous backup files, which obviously take up a lot of space. But this also sometimes results in the files being corrupted.
Lars Hoffmann wrote:I am backing up to an external WD drive, and it is giving me nothing but problems.
I cannot delete a corrupted backup file from my external drive, and it occupies 1.5 Gb of space that I cannot use for other purposes.
I originally deleted the backup from within Acronis, which removed the backup from the Backup pane, but the file was not deleted from the drive. Now I tried deleting from File Explorer after turnin goff Active Protection, but instead got an error message saying "an unexpected error prevents deleting the file".
I just can't be bothered going through the process that Augustus Uht describes above, so I hope there is another way of doing this.
Alternatively, I will stop using Acronis altogether and switch to a different product.
Thanks!
Background:
I have encrypted the drive and set a password, which means that I have to manually re-mount the drive everytime my computer has been to sleep. This seems to be a limitation with the WD Drive Unlock autorun app, which apparently only runs when the computer does a complete reboot.
The issue is, whenever my computer wakes from sleep and the external drive is not immediately mounted, Acronis loses connection to the backup location. Even when I Add Existing Backup, Acronis just creates a new backup file so I now have numerous backup files, which obviously take up a lot of space. But this also sometimes results in the files being corrupted.
Hello Lars!
Hi Lars!
You can try the following options:
1- selecting the target file or folder and then press Shift + Delete keys on the keyboard.
2- delete it from the command line as the following example:
Step 1. Press Windows + R keys on the keyboard, then type “CMD” in the prompt command windows and run it as an administrator by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys.
Step 2. Now, you should input the command line and press the Enter button to delete the file.
The command line is like below:
del c:\users\pc\desktop\note.txt.
You should replace “c:\users\pc\desktop\note.txt” with the path of the file that you want to delete.
3- Try deleting the file in Safe Mode: Restart your computer and press F8 before the Windows logo appears to enter Safe Mode. From there, try to delete the file.
4- Please also check this guide: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/cannot-delete-fil…
5- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows… ( If none of these methods work, it's possible that the file system on your external drive is corrupted. In that case, you may need to use a disk repair tool like CHKDSK to fix the file system. )
As for the issue with Acronis losing connection to the backup location when your computer wakes from sleep, it sounds like a problem with the WD Drive Unlock autorun app. You may want to try disabling the autorun app and manually mounting the drive instead.
Let us know if that resolved the issue.
Thanks in advance!