Differential backups
Used to get diff backups of 2/3 gigs per day. Now they are 70/80 gigs per day. Running a diff scan creating a full and a diff for 6 daysl. I keep 3 version chains. It is also supposed to shut computer down which does not happen. Have run virus scan. Only had 1 pup. This seemed to have occurred after Win10 update that said current version. will not be supported. Any help appreciated.
I recall the shutdown issue being brought up before.
With a differential backup, the size will probably not get smaller for a single chain. If something caused it to get big it will continue with big diffs until the next chain is started. Are you seeing this problem with multiple chains or just one?
Has there been any changes to the backup task itself?
This seemed to have occurred after Win10 update that said current version.
A differential is all changes since the last full. Each Differential will contain all the changes since the full (not since the last backup) - I think you know that already, but just making sure because of the next part.
Windows 10 feature updates are large - they modify the disk partitions each time because of the need to create a new Windows Recovery Partition (in almost all occasions). This changes all of the data on disk at the block level, triggering backup programs to see all of the data as changed because of the shift in where the data has been moved to accommodate the partition change. Additionally, you'll also have more data on disk, as old files are kept in a folder on the root of the hard drive in a folder called "windows.old" that now takes up a good chunk of space too.
Other things like manually modifying partitions, or running tools like defrag, can have the same effect - triggering all of the blocks of data to appear as "changed" and needing to be backed up.
Basically, your diffs will continue to be large until the next full and then should return to normal size again... at least until the next big Windows feature update.
Not sure about the reboot not working at the end. If it still isn't doing that after the next full is run, I'd start a new backup script as a test and see if it behaves as intended, or not and go from there.
I tried as u suggested but it exceeded 6 diffs and eventually ran out of disk space. Full = 177,635.055, Diff = 88,650,000 to 93,450,00 kb. Backup was from SSD 256(gb) to Disk 999(gb).
Started new plan yesterday SSD to SSD. Full = 80,460,00 kb, Diff this morning = 573,000 kb. This seems to be what it has been in the past. It ran into problems. Errors on first try and successful completion on second. Was not able to find anything on computer for Shadow Box or Portable Base Layer.
Although it says shutdown successful, it was still on when i checked on it this afternoon.
Running current ver 2020 Confused!!
Matthew, have you tried this backup task without using the Post Command to see if that has any bearing on the shutdown action at the end?
No, it had always worked in the past. I enabled "Stop all current operations in Shutdown box". Will see if this has any effect. The post operation executed a script file that creates a restore point. The full that i ran yesterday completed every thing. Will let u know.
I think acronis may have a problem. I ran acronis with post and pre command but none of the 4 runs generated a restore point. Yet when i run the test in acronis dialogue to see if it works, it runs successfully. See attached logs. Any ideas would be appreciated. Computer did shut down on all runs. I removed all exclusions from logs.
Matthew, if the problem here is that the pre or post command does not generate a restore point when run within an Acronis task then this is not really an Acronis issue.
The key here is that your backup images are created successfully and that you are able to validate these when required.
It is interesting it creates the restore point during the test, but not as part of the automated script though.
I wonder if this is being called on as a .bat or .cmd... seeing as how .bat seems to work best.
The other thing that may be an issue is how the script is coded. There are multiple ways to try it. For example, here are 2 different methods
https://winaero.com/blog/create-a-restore-point-in-windows-10-with-one-click/
https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/create-system-restore-point-script-windows-10-8-7-vista-xp/
Also, and perhaps an easier way to tackle this, would be to use a scheduled task to create the restore point at a set time. Assuming your backup runs on a schedule (usually), you could create restore points at a set time of day (or multiple times a day) with task scheduler in Windows and run the backup on its own.
Another approach that people have taken in these forums is to create a .bat script that does whatever you want it to (pre or post backup) and then run the backup task directly from the script too. Then, you can create a shortcut of the script and manually run it when you want, or call it as a scheduled task from Windows.
Just throwing out a couple of different ideas to consider.
Matthew said he started a new plan a week ago. Why are the logs showing .tib files instead of .tibx?