Large mp4 (h.264) files occasionally corrupt upon recovery from cloud folder backup.
I'm using Acronis True Image 2019 and Windows 10 with the latest updates. I have a large folder containing about 200GB of data (mostly personal pictures and video I don't ever want to lose). I regularly back up this folder to both the cloud and my own external drive.
The problem is the issue isn't easy to reproduce as it seems to occur at random. I saved an example of a large mp4 file I recovered from both the cloud and the external drive backup. Both files play, so the file header information is in tact. However, the file recovered from the cloud has periodic "glitches" (blocky segments where the playback suddenly cuts). The glitches occur at intervals of around 20 seconds. Oddly, the audio stream isn't effected, only the video. I saved the files and uploaded them to the support staff via ftp server. They viewed the files and confirmed that the file downloaded from the cloud was indeed corrupt. I have also confirmed that both the source file and the file recovered from my external drive are not corrupt.
Anyways, they asked me to create a completely new backup and I did. I haven't been able to reproduce the issue (to my knowledge). Sadly, looking for single corrupt video files in a 200 GB backup is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. It's a real nightmare. It isn't easy to reproduce the issue as it seems to occur at random. I have encountered it a total of 3 times in different incremental backups (though I only saved the files in the one instance). In every instance I noticed that the "Data Backed Up" on the activity tab was substantially smaller on the cloud backup compared to the physical drive backup. Support staff keep claiming that this is because cloud folder backups are compressed whereas local backups are not, yet it isn't consistent. Back when I was using the 2018 version I noticed the size was always exactly the same (physical and cloud "data backed up" on the activity tab were always the same).
The bottom line is now I don't trust Acronis's file compression. Support staff don't seem to believe me and aren't escalating the issue to people higher up. My subscription expires in May. I think I'm going to look for another cloud backup service if there's no resolution to this. My files are too important to me.
Anyways, any help appreciated. I mainly just want to know if I'm totally alone in this or if other people have encountered something similar. I'm at my wits end with the online support.


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Thanks. I'm really wondering if keeping my subscription is worth it. I decided to use the product entirely for the cloud backup. A fast system restore isn't really necessary. All I really care about is my important files. I don't use my personal PC for work or business so it isn't critical to have it back up and running instantly after a hard drive crash. Starting with a factory restore is good enough. Waiting for all the updates can be a pain but I'm usually back up within a couple days, and the system is cleaner and faster anyways. I have all my downloaded application installation files, product keys, online account info, etc... backed up in one convenient location so I just reinstall things as I need them.
For now I also have a copy of my backup folder on my OneDrive and set to online only. I know the OneDrive has it's own problems and files can get lost if the sync service goes haywire. It would really be nice to have another offsite backup, but I just don't know if Acronis is worth the cost just for the cloud, given that I don't trust their file compression system and there's no option to turn it off. I know it isn't easy to troubleshoot a bug that's difficult to reproduce, but I'm annoyed at how the support staff don't seem to be taking it seriously. It's almost like they don't believe me. At this point I feel like I'm better off just buying a second external HD and storing it at a friend's house. I've never ever had a problem getting my files back after just plopping an entire folder on an external HD. It's nice having older file versions saved, but it seems uncompressed is the cheapest and safest way.
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Yeah, that's a tough call. If it can't reliably recover these types of files without causing this behavior, can't say I'd blame you. Been using Acronis for nearly 10 years and it's saved my butt a ton of times. I can't stand to be down for hours or days and am basically able to get up and running in a matter of minutes with local backups and it's been awesome for that.
I have had really mixed results with everything cloud that I've tried. One Drive with the "auto save" feature enabled gets most of the data in a user profile and is pretty reliable, but yeah, it can have sync issues too, but is still nice to have. Between that and my local backups (and NAS backups), I feel pretty good about my recovery options/chances, but nothing is 100% full proof.
I wasn't impressed with other cloud backup apps either (I haven't tried them all and won't list the ones I have used, it's not the most in depth list in the world either). It just seems like something always happens eventually where a backup has to be recreated because it gets out of sync or starts acting "wonky" or has issues like you're seeing where recovering exactly ends up being problematic.
I don't think I'll ever trust Cloud as my primary backup option, but can handle it being a secondary or final recovery resort if I lose everything else locally. For the most part, you just have to try and diversify as much as possible (based on cost and ease of use) so that you have options when you need to recover.
For reference, this is what I go through for my own peace of mind. Everyone will have their own priorities, needs, and limitations based on time for managing, storage space and cost though :)
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- I backup my OS and profile data daily to an internal 4TB drive and a 4TB NAS using 4 different backup applications (Acronis being the primary). I stagger those backups by frequency, time and type (inc and diff) to diversify as much as possible.
- I use OneDrive for profile data offsite since it's a frequent sync
- I use Acronis Cloud for profile data offsite on a daily basis
- I take a weekly (sometimes monthly) offline backup of my OS and profile data to an external USB drive and keep it offline in a safe to avoid ransomware and hopefully protect against some disasters
- I take a weekly backup of my photos/home videos, music and software repository to the internal 4TB drive and again to my 4TB NAS on different schedules - all with Acronis.
- I take a monthly backup of my photos/home movies to an external USB hard drive that goes into the safe in hopes of protection from some disasters - all with Acronis.
- I used to use Acronis Cloud for the photos and videos, but it takes days (weeks sometimes) to upload it all (600GB) and since it got corrupted twice (over time), I gave up. It was too time consuming and frustrating when it failed although, if it had been strictly set and forget, would have been a great. Again, this isn't the only product I had issues with this happening though (2 others had similar issues). I may give it one more try, but am dreading the upload time it's going to take, especially since it prevents other Acronis jobs from running while it is active. It also puts a dent in my monthly Comcast upload usage, but has never taken me over my limit. I think I'll try it one more time though, but if it has any issues at all, that will be my very last attempt with it.
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