If a validation of a backup fails can the backup somehow be used in a pinch (other than merely) copying files?
I like others have been plagued by the
"Error while checking the metadata integrity of points in time in the archive" menace
and shall try swapping memory modules or running them at a lower speed based on its SPD information. I do have some slower but trusty Crucial sticks laying around.
But this does beg the question that I have encountered in the past with ATI backups and that is when it fails to validate, ATI does not let me restore from the backup, I can only browse and copy; Is there a way around this, enabling me to use the backup and then deal with anything that I need to straighten out?
In the past I have even had what were initially validated backups turn out not to be valid later either when I wanted to use it or when I would occasionally run a validation just to check on the backups status, being fearful of this very issue (I have used THI since the 2010 edition and each version seems to have a validation issue).
Afterall, the idea of a backup is to able to use it when you need it and that is the very reason that we validate our backups!
If the memory swap or lowering my memory speed works I shall do a followup post in this thread. If it doesn't then I will also as I cry out for help.
Thank you for any help or insight that you can give to me.
So, pardon my comment, as no disrespect to Acronis is really meant, but is the verification process just some sort of iffy thing - sometimes it works and some times (for reasons unknown to mankind) it doesn't work? I do like to know that my backup is going to work when I need it (and that is the reason I run the validation, for peace of mind). Without validation the alternative might be for me to buy a bunch of drives and partition them into separate drives and then clone my drives individually to my new master backup drive thingy; I do have a ProBox 4 bay USB3 drive enclosure. Not exactly an elegant solution and definitely it could get complicated with multiple computers and several different OSes but then it should be much, much quicker. And it seems to me that clones seem to just work; although I haven't really tried out doing multiple separate clones on a single partitioned disk. And I would lose the idea of incremental backups but I could still restore individual files. Any differing opinions on this?
I am still swapping out one more set of memory sticks but I have also hooked up my better UPS to this computer (the one I experiment on and run different OSes on by switching around drive power cables. So my last tries are to be done tonight most likely.
Michael, please see forum topic: Error 0x101f6: Error while checking the metadata integrity of points in time (PITs) in the archive
There are a number of potential causes for this type of issue, failing memory, overclocking, disk issues, cables, power and use of RAM drives among some of the known ones.
I put in new data cables for my 2 drives, I moved my drives to the built-in SATA ports from my SATA III add-in card; swapped out many different sets of memory and ran Windows Memory Diagnosis in extended mode (all but one set passed), I ran all sets of memory at detected SPD; I did a ATI backup at bootup using the Rescue Media (Linux version as it detects and uses USB3 while the Windows 7 version does not). I did each and every backup with validation enabled and each and every time the backup failed during the validation process. I used 5 sets of matched memory from 4 different manufacturers (Crucial, Kingston, OCZ and Patriot [the one that failed the memory test]). My system is a Windows 7 on a SSD with the Users data saved to a hard drive (a setup that has served me quite well on several different setups over these many years. I have also re-burned my Rescue Media and did one attempt to a different backup drive! Oh, of course, I did the SFC thing with the repair option as I always do before backing up.
I am going to try using TI on a Windows 10 installation that I never use (self-respect, you know) that is using the same hardware (I just swap out the power cables from the Windows 7 setup to the Windows 10). But none-the-less, one would assume that Acronis should have worked as designed to, in at least one backup attempt. I am not going to try using USB2 to do the backup. That is my last try but I am no longer anticipating doing so as it seems to be more wasted time but I guess I do need to do it just to eliminate it.
Well, I did a backup of my Windows 10 installation and ran validation and it passed, yeah. It is a small installation on a separate drive in the same computer and the backup is saved to the same backup drive in a different folder. As I stated before, when I switch OSes I merely switch a power cable connection that I have rigged up. So everything, absolutely everything except for the specific drive is the same.
Well, I then updated the Windows 10 and it did not do well and so I decided to use my backup and do a restore. My restoration did not work and my drive would not boot. I then checked the backup copy by doing a validation again and it said the backup was corrupt. My backup now has "found" files .0001 and the like. So I am forced to do a clean install of Windows from my downloaded ISO and then scour my backup for data and re-unite the lost. Supposedly I can re-activate Windows just by the hardware IDs and I do not need a license code. I can only hope.
I shall have to ponder this further and do some trial and error backups and recoveries on some old drive laying about.
If anyone ever figures this out let me know. I know there was a version of TI in the past that was in my opinion quite iffy and it led me to try other software and then a little later I came back and TI was great again. That was like around 2014; maybe this is like that. One would hope not. I have used TI since 2010 and other than that one version (and perhaps this one) TI has been hands down the best backup/recovery software that I have encountered. All of the other versions have been stellar.