Double Entries in Historical Backup List
Hi,
I updated my 2020 version of Acronis and it was also time to do a backup. I do a full system back up with a "full" and then 3 "differentials" and then a "full" again. It was time for a full, so I did that and then I looked in the pop up window menu (bottom acitivity bar by the system clock/date) and right clicked on the Acronis icon. All of my historical backups appeared and I noticed (for the first time) that each of my backup had "two" entries. The one I'd just done show just the "clock time", but with about a 20 minute difference beside the backup title where it also says the even was successfully created. Why the "double" entries ?
Since I use a USB drive for my backups, I only save the latest "full" and "3 differentials" and then delete all of them after I do the next "full" backup. I noticed and "X" beside each entry in the pop up menu; if I click on the "X" will that delete it from the back up history in the main SW when signed on to Acronis ?
Also, I noticed there were other entries in the menus list: Active Protection, The application was whitelisted: dillhost.exe and other entries with explorer.exe What do these mean ?
Thanks for any help and info you can give.
Steve, thanks for getting back to me. Obviously I've been doing things wrong for quite a while. I got my first version of Acronis back in 2011 when I had an XP machine. I've had to do a complete restore on the XP and some file restore on the current W-10 machine I have now. They all worked fine, but I need to do some proper "clean up" of my Acronis data. I've always deleted the old back up data by deleting it off the USB drive directly. So, it still is referenced on the Acronis SW all the way back to when I installed Acronis on my current machine in 2018. How do I clean up the GUI entries for all the past back ups ? Right now I could delete all but the last one which was a "full" back up. And, after I do the last of the 3 differentials and add the new 'full" backup, I can delete all of the olds ones back from there. Just need to know how to do it.
Please make if very "simple" in the instructions as to the deleting process. I also just did a boot up via my DVD and looked at everything on the latest "full" back up and it's all there if I need it. Thanks for all the help and I look forward to cleaning up this process on my PC. I will also use the "X" beside every old entries in the pop up menu to clean that up also if that's an acceptable solution. Also I don't know how to take a "screen shot" of the pop up menu screen showing the double entries of all my backups outside of being in my browser. If you still want to see that, tell me how to do it. Thanks again.
How do I clean up the GUI entries for all the past back ups ? Right now I could delete all but the last one which was a "full" back up. And, after I do the last of the 3 differentials and add the new 'full" backup, I can delete all of the olds ones back from there. Just need to know how to do it.
How many backup tasks do you have shown in the ATI GUI?
One option for cleaning up the GUI entries is to simply run a Validation for each backup task shown. When you do this it will post a pop up error message if any deleted / missing files are encountered, i.e. files that are still listed in the database but which you have deleted using Explorer. For each such pop up message, take the Ignore option if offered, or else click on Cancel. Repeat this as more messages are shown.
When you want to delete any old files, then use the method shown in KB 61844 referenced in my earlier post, using the 'Clean up versions' tool, which will also update the database information for the deleted files.
See webpage: Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots for help using the tools built in to Windows for this purpose.
Steve, thanks for getting back to me. I have 28 backup "tasks". But, there's only "one" data file on my USB drive for the last "full" back up I did. I tried doing the "clean up versions" option and when I clicked on it it showed "all" of my "tasks" with check marks beside them. So, I thought I'd found the fix. I clicked on "delete" and it did it's thing. But, then I got a message that the clean up failed as I didn't have the USB drive plugged in as I thought I didn't need to as the only data that was on it was the latest "full" back up I did. So, all of the tasks still show in the GUI and if I click on the "clean version" option the only thing that shows is the last "full" back up I did. If I try the "validate" option I know the SW will validate the "full" option on the USB drive, but when it goes to the next "deleted" file (on the USB) will it kick out right away as there's nothing to find ? Otherwise it would take forever to go through 28 validations of "nothing". Since I only have the "one" backup "name" for my Desktop PC, what would happen if I just deleted that "title name" from my backup list ? Would everything get cleaned up and I could just start over like it was my "first" time using Acronis and do a back up ? I really don't want to reinstall the SW but if that's my only choice I'll have to do that. I have the original SW stored on my PC dated 12-13-2019, then I'd have to install the updates. Or maybe there's a way for me to get the latest SW from Acronis since I'm a paid user ?
It's not as though the backup isn't functional as it still works fine; it's just all the clutter of all the old backup entries that I'd like to get rid of. Now that i know the correct way to delete old stuff, it won't happen again, but I need to get things cleaned up. I'll attach a snip shot of the pop up menu and the GUI menu, but it's just for info now. Looks like they are too big to upload.
Don, just to clarify here, based on your images, you only have one backup task for which you have lots of entries shown in the listing from the system tray notification pop-up information.
If the 'Clean up versions' tool only shows you the most recent backup file for that one task shown in the GUI, then all should be OK.
The Clean up versions tool does expect your backup drive to be connected, as the intent with the tool is to find and list all files associated with the task, so as to allow you to do any file deletions safely.
Running validation for your one backup task should run fairly quickly as if there is information held in the database about files that have been deleted, then this will trigger a pop up message for each deleted file that you can Ignore else Cancel to cause validation to move on to the next file to be checked.
If you want to make a clean start over, then yes, you can take the option to Delete the single backup task shown in the GUI, and take the further option to 'Delete everything' associated with that task, which would then remove all entries related to the task from the database.
When you create a new Backup task, give it a unique task name right at the beginning before the task is run for the first time. There is a Rename option in the task menu you can use to do this. Using unique task names avoids picking up anything related to any previous task that may have used the same name!
When creating a new Backup task, make sure that you configure the 'Automatic cleanup' rules on the Backup Scheme options page so that Acronis manages all files for you. This is where my own tasks are set to 'Store no more than 2 recent version chains' so that I always have a maximum of 2 sets of files I can go back to if needed. You need to have enough free space on the backup drive to store 2 version chains plus 1 further full backup file for this to work correctly - this is because Acronis take a cautious approach and do not delete the oldest backup chain until after a new full backup is created successfully!
If ATI 2020 is working for you then there is no real advantage of upgrading to the later ATI 2021 version - you would have to purchase the upgrade as it will not be free if you bought the current version back in late 2019. Free upgrades are only offered to users who purchased the software within 30 days of a new version being made available!
Don,
If you haven't deleted your exiting backup file yet, give the following a try:
- Looking to the right of backup task in the GUI you will see a "v". Click on that to reveal a menu.
- Find in the menu Delete.
- Click on Delete, then select Remove. This will remove the task from the GUI but will not remove the backup file itself.
- Now that the task is removed, look to the bottom of the task column and find Add new backup. Looking to the right of that you will see another "v". Click that to reveal "Add existing backup"
- Click on the Add existing backup and File Explorer type menu will appear. Navigate to the location of your backup file, click to select it, then click on the Add or OK button on the bottom.
- This will action will rebuild the task based on the backup file and return the task into the GUI. You will see that the right pane bottom right will display a button titled Reconfigure. Click that and verify that Source data, backup file destination, and all backup options are correct. After your first selection your screen will become blurred as the app recalculates the values of your task. After that you will see the task appear in the GUI again as described above. Just run through and verify everything is like you want it.
- Once you are happy with what you see click on the Back up now button to run and save the task.
The above should clean things up for you.