Restoring an image generates thousands of duplicate files.
Hi,
This is an old problem that has been reported the first time about 10 years ago but it is still there in ATIH 2018. I recently had to restore my system disk after a software crash. I used my latest incremental backup created with ATIH 2018. This was done by booting from the ATI CD. After the restoration, the PC could no longer boot (BOOTMGR missing) but I have been able to fix this myself.
However, I discovered that my disk contained thousands (about 7000) of duplicate files named after the original with an extension looking like this : *.*~XXXXXXXX (X being either an uppercase letter or a digit). These duplicates were created everywhere in system folders and under Appdata and ProgramData.
Eliminating them was a nightmare :
1. Finding them is not as easy as one could think because the simple pattern that has been already suggested ( *.*~* ) will also match system files that should not be deleted (especially in Windows 10 where many system files have a tilde in their name). Deleting them can cause a lot of trouble. In order to find the duplicates created by ATI, one should use a search tool that is able to use regular expressions to match the filename (e.g. the search module of the TreeSize utility). The regular expression that should be used is as follows :
.*\..*~[A-Z0-9]{8}$
This will only select the files having an extension that terminates with a tilde followed by a sequence of 8 uppercase letters or digits.
2. Also, a part of these duplicates are created in folders normally not accessible to the users, even if you are an administrator. Taking ownership of the containing folders might be necessary. The permissions settings should be modified with care. Doing this requires a good knowledge of the Windows permission settings.
The whole operation should have lasted less than an hour but I spent almost two days getting back an healthy system. Well, a backup tool that generates so much trouble is rather questionable. I already had this problem twice and this is not the first time that after a restore, the PC can no longer boot.
Time to fix this or I'll have to find a more reliable tool.
I'd suggest a second recovery to see if the results are the same or not. This is definitely not a common occurrence and rarely seen in the forums. No idea why it resulted this way in your case, but also suspect the recovery was interrupted or failed for some reason.
Also, have you tried WinRE rescue media vs the default linux recovery to compare results as well?
Bobbo,
I call Bull. I just did a full partition restore after disk failure. Then had to apply my incremental back ups and it is STILL happening in TI2018. Over 200,000 Duplicates. The whole process had errors, inability to set options like under the older version (TI2013, the last one that I know really worked).
Please stop being and Acronis apologist and dismissing the 10 year issue that has NOT been resolved. It doesn't matter the frequency it matters that it STILL fails. MS standard backup is now superior to Acronis TI.
Probably not in the Forums because those with a brain drop the product and move on. Fighting these battles with developers that won't listen isn't worth our time! I have had the product for 12 years and this is my first time posting in the Forum. I HAD to challenge your incorrect presumptions. It is NOT OUR FAULT.
After having this product since 2007 it now sucks. It is in decline. Too much attention to the latest fads and revenue streams, Cloud and Cyber security. The move from Germany probably contributed too. Lost all the dedicate developers that KNEW the product well.
I am cleaning up duplicates at 11:00 PM because I have no choice. The Acronis TI 2018 FAILED ME. Time to switch. To think I put all this money into this company over the years to get such a bad product.
I just did a full partition restore after disk failure. Then had to apply my incremental back ups
Was the full and incremental from the same version chain here?
If yes, then there was no need to do the full restore as just doing the incremental restore would pick up all incrementals and the full in the same restore process.
As for the main issue here, as stated before, I have never encountered such an issue with the thousands of duplicate files personally, and only have heard of this with interrupted recoveries here in the forum. I too have been using ATI since version 9.0
I suggest you use easy duplicate finder to find duplicate files it's an easy tool it helps you free up tons of disk space and organize your documents etc.