Additional full backup created instead of incremental
I am using Acronis 10 Home with Windows 7, backing up to an internal hard drive. I create a new full image at the beginning of each month, and have Acronis scheduled to create an incremental image every four days. However, after I have created the full image, Acronis proceeds to create another full image at the next opportunity. (See attachment.) This takes up more space on the 200-GB drive than I would like.
There is a note in the user manual about something like this happening, but I don't understand how to prevent it.
Yes, 2010. I guess I'll have to reread the naming instructions. Thanks.
Phillip,
Consider an alternate solution. Check out Chain2Gen listed in my signature below. It can help you to achieve your retention goals.
I'm having exactly the same problem since I upgraded from TI Home 2009 to 2010. Nothing seems to work right. I've read the instructions, naming instructions, everything, multiple times and am as confused as ever. I think I'm doing exactly what the help says to do, but it doesn't work. What are the exact settings I need to use to create an incremental backup? I have full backups already. I just want to do incremental backups.
Hello all,
Same problem here!
@Oleg: your suggestion to "recreate a task from the scratch" does not work for me!
How can I ever select the folders to be backed-up if I should
quote
not touch the task to check the settings, i.e. don't try to edit or update it even without implementing any changes
unquote
???
Marc,
What Oleg is saying is to
know what settings you want in the task and create the task the with those setting as part of the original creation. . The selection of files/partitions to be included in the backup image is part of the initial task creation and occurs before the task is saved. Once you save the task do NOT make any changes to that task and do not simulate any changes to the task.
Additional:
Note: the task must be executed by a scheduled start; or manually started from within the TIHome program.
The task must NOT initially be started from a desktop shortcut or Windows Schedule task. If using either of these two techniques, an incremental backup cannot be created until the task is run at least once using a schedule or a manual start from within the program.
Hello all,
Thank you for posting.
Grover,
Thank you very much for your post, I couldn't explain it better.
Please do not hesitate to ask additional questions if the provided information is not clear or you need a further assistance.
Thank you.
@Grover & @Oleg
Thanks for your very clarifying reply!
Will give it a try.
I am also having the same problem. I've been working on this for days. I have over 1TB of data to backup, and at an average of 24 hours for a full backup, this is getting frustrating. I followed your instructions, but it still doesn't help. Can you give ANY other suggestions please. I'm getting desperate!
Thank you
R Brown,
Which Windows operating system are you using?
Which version and build of TrueImage are you using?
How is the task setup? How many incrementals,etc is wanted and how many is incrementals are being created?
what name is being assigned to the initial base full backup?
Is this task being run from a scheduled time or manually from inside the TrueImage program?
I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate, True Image Home 2010 Build 7046. The task is set to create an incremental backup every evening. It won't create any incrementals. It had worked for me for some time previously. I've done a complete uninstall using the Acronis Cleanup Utility, reinstalled, creating a backup using the method in this thread... still no luck. The backup filename is 'DataBackup'. Can you help?
Windows 7 has automatic defrag. You will need to disable this Win7 option and run the defrag manually which should be needed very infrequently.
My best recommendation would be for you to consider using Chain2Gen and its many features. My signature link below provides links to that solution--item 3A and 3B.
Alternately, I will try to help you with TrueImage options but whether I can provide you an Acronis solution is unknown.
If you are wanting to create an incremental backup, it first needs a full backup as its base.
How many incrementals are you trying to create before a new full backup must be created?
What/where is your backup target?
This may be of interest as a starter:
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/3733#comment-3652
I turned off the defrag. Still doesn't work. I successfully created a full backup, it just insists on creating another full backup every time. Since the backup file is over 1TB that is obviously a problem. I downloaded a trial copy of Genie-Softs product, and it is working fine. I'll wait a few more days to see if Acronis comes up with a fix, since this is a known issue. If not, I'll probably be switching.
Acronis Moderator, will this be fixed soon?
Thank you.
Questions asked in post #13. Answers to these might help to determine why the problem is yours and not everyones's.
1. How many incrementals are you trying to create before another new full backup must be created?
2. What/where is your backup target?
3. New: is your Win 7 Ultimate a 32bit or 64?
Q1: At this time, I'm only trying to get 1 incremental backup to work. I normally have it set for 14 backups.
Q2: The backup target is an internal drive.
Q3: 64-bit
note: This was working fine for several months and just stopped working.
Thank you R Brown.
If it were me, these are the steps I would take in troubleshooting this issue.
1. Check both the source and target for disk errors. This could run overnight.
chkdsk X: /R (change x to actual drive letter)
2. Create a new scheduled task but change the name of the storage folder and name of the backup file name. Remember. Both the base full backup and the expected incrementals must all be in the same folder. Do not edit the scheduled task.
Two more questions.
a. You mention 14 backups. Are you saying you have the option set for 14 incrementals? If yes, I would consider a smaller number because of the risk factor that one bad chain can cause the whole chain of incrementals to be bad-- as I mentioned in a prior link above.
b. Is the type of backup a "Disk & Partitions" backup; or is this data files backup only?
Edited: Addendum:
If the internal target drive is one that is rotated using a disk caddie, etc., then task sees the replacement drive as not being a part of the original backup set--thus a new backup is performed. If disk is being rotated, then a new task will work until the disk is switched again.
Thanks for all your help in trying to figure this out. As was stated by the "Acronis Moderator" in this thread on 5/5, this seems to be a known issue with Acronis' software that will need to be fixed in the next build (hopefully soon!) Having said that, I have tried to follow your suggestions. No errors on disks reported. Name/Folder changes did not help.
With regards to your questions:
Q1: Yes, I was setting it to 14 incremental back ups. Your point is well taken. If I ever get this to create at least 1 incremental backup again, I will adjust my strategy.
Q2: The backup that I am having problems with is a data files backup.
Thought 1: Could it be that the backup file size has somehow exceeded an internal limit of the software? The full backup file size is about 1.2TB. Is the software not capable of creating an incremental backup on a file this large, and therefore creates a full backup instead? I question this because I've tested with smaller data files without any problem. I would hope that is not the case.
Thought 2: GroverH is being very helpful. Where is the Acronis Tech support? Why aren't they commenting?
A bit more detail on my theory that the size of the archive could be a problem.
The source that I am backing up contains:
Total size: 1.19TB
Files: 599,674
Folders: 75,905
Could this be causing an issue?
Can somebody help me? Please!
R Brown,
Regretfully, I have no other suggestion as to how to fix this issue. I have requested that Acronis support look at this thread.
As I understand your issue:
You can make successful backups and the archive size is about 1.2T. But, when an incremental is due, you get another full backup. Type of backup being performed is a "Files" backup (not a partition backup). You have uninstalled TI, run the cleanup utility and reinstalled. Also, both the source drive and internal target drive has been checked for errors.
Win7 Ultimate 64; TrueImage 2010-7046
Data being backed up=Total size: 1.19TB; Files: 599,674; Folders: 75,905
If the used space on the source is 1.19T, I would expect normal compression would create a backup archive which would be about 35% smaller in size. Is your backup options set for a sector by sector backup? If yes, have your tried another which is not sector by sector. Or, are is compression set to no compression?
You indicated prior successful incremental backups. Were the successful incremental backups also Files only (not partition) type backups and the amount of data to be backed up about the same(1.2T)?
Thank you for all your trouble. Hopefully Tech Support will have a fix. Based on other threads it appears that they are sometime VERY slow to response. As I've researched trying to fix this, it appears to be a problem for many. The typical Acronis response is turn of defrag, which I have done. Oleg commented in this thread on 5/5 that it is a known issue and that it will ultimately require a software fix. As prevalent as this issue is, the fact that it still isn't remedied makes me wonder if it is a more fundamental software architecture conflict. I hope not. I've been using Acronis products for a long time, and until this I was a big fan. Not so much of a fan that I can put the security of my backups at risk, however. Until I get a fix, I've switched to Genie-Soft trial version.
I'm NOT doing a sector by sector backup. I'm using NORMAL compression. I also ran a validation on the full backup and it passed. Interestingly, when I attempted to convert to convert the TI backup to a Windows backup, I get an "invalid archive..." message. I must have recreated the full backup and attempted incrementals, uninstalled/reinstalled, reformatted disks, over a dozen times so far. The amount of data that I back up is roughly the same (never more than a +/- 10GB difference), but obviously it trends upward.
Well it's been 2 weeks now, and not a word from Acronis support. Have they shut down operations, but left the site up? Makes me too nervous that they won't be there if I needed to recover critical data. This is, unfortunately not just my experience, but also the experience of many users as can be seen in the forums. Overall I liked their product (when it worked), but data backup and recovery is WAY too important to trust to a company that doesn't even seem to exist. I switched over to Norton Ghost for now, because it works! Poor product engineering and support = dead company!
I can assure you Acronis have not shut down, far from it. I understand your frustation and will endeavour to seek a reply for you
Hello all,
Thank you so much for all your help.
R. Brown,
Please accept my apologies for the delayed response, I will certainly do my best to help you with this issue. If I can quote Oleg from his 5/5 post, "Most probably, you met a known issue." At the moment, we do not have a known issue of such sort present in build 7046, I have checked with our Quality Assurance team and they confirmed this.
The best way to resolve this problem is to submit a support request with the following information:
1. Step by step screenshots of the backup task creation steps.
2. AcronisInfo report from the machine.
I am very confident that our experienced support engineers will resolve this for you.
Once again, I am very sorry for the delay with the response, but, if I may quote our Terms of use, which are available here:
- Understand that Acronis only Moderates the forum and does not have a commitment for answering all questions posted on the forum. If you are looking for certified Acronis Technical Support that you should submit a case by going to http://www.acronis.com/support/ and clicking on Start Here. Otherwise use the forum with the understanding that it is a community effort.
I would really appreciate if you can get back to me in case you have additional questions or any other issues.
Thank you.