Demon Data Swap files..Help!
Hello:
Anna Trifonova has attempted to help but so far no reply from her in a while. Unfortunately I believe I have had this problem from the beginning, but didn't notice it, or didn't realize the cause was Acronis until support expired on 6-28-14. I am extremely disappointed in Acronis for not giving direct support because I could not conclude in time that demon data files were the result of Acronis. I had just purchased the program a few months prior to June!
Problem: Windows 7 64 bit. Acronis 2014 home. When running Acronis in manual mode doing back ups, Demon Data Swap files accumulate very quickly in my C-drive Temp folder. Even after I close Acronis, the files continue to accumulate! If I try to delete the files, my PC says they are in use and I have to completely re-start my PC in order to delete them. It's not unusual to accumulate 10-15 gigs within a hour or two. Interestingly enough, when Acronis is started automatically by the scheduler, this does not happen.
I have the schedule set to start 2 minutes after my PC starts every day. The demon data files do not show up when Acronis is started by the scheduler. But if I manually start Acronis the demon data files start accumulating immediately.
I have even replaced my old SSD with a newer larger SSD and did a complete re-install with windows 7 plus all the SP updates and the demon data files are back.
I do not have my PC connected to the internet. This is a PC for recording studio so I keep it off line.
I have used Process Explorer, and yes...Process Explorer says it is TrueImage.exe for every single demon data file I have tried. So the problem is with Acronis, not another application. It's apparent that Acronis is not shutting down. When I go to the task manager>processes there are still 3 "True Image" files open with relatively large numbers. Also when I go to shut down my PC it says it has to first close a program which I believe is Acronis.
I have done a search for Demon data swap files here and the only suggestion is to use Process Explorer which says the problem is Acronis.
Any help would be appreciated!
Greg
Thank you for your reply.
To answer your questions: I'm pretty sure it says something like "please wait" and then you get a "forced shutdown" option which I choose. Otherwise I think it would eventually shut down on its own but takes a bit longer. I will see if the message "operations in progress" is shown and report back to you.
To my knowledge the Acronis operations never finish. How long should I wait? I'm never forced to do a hard shutdown via the power button on the PC. I always shut down using the normal windows 7 shut down button. It is when I do this that I get the message that Windows needs to close a program and I get the option of "forced shut down" or another option which I believe is "wait?" To be sure I could easily run these scenarios soon and let you know. At no time to my knowledge has any of these files ever been automatically deleted unless perhaps when doing the scheduled back up. When I re-boot Windows 7 those files are still there however since I have re-booted I can delete them...unlike prior to re-booting when it says a program is using these files and it won't let me delete them.
No, I am not doing a manual back up while the scheduled backup is running.
I have the scheduler start a couple minutes after the PC has started and it does it only once a day. Usually the automatic back ups don't take longer than just a few minutes. But later on, if I want to back something up and do a manual back up...that is when these demon data files accumulate. They do not accumulate when the scheduled back up is occurring...or if they do show up they are immediately deleted once the scheduled backup is complete. Maybe I should watch the temp folder when a scheduled back up is happening to see?
This problem occurs after the backup has finished. I almost always let a manual back up complete itself...but even when it is complete....those demon data swap files continue to accumulate. I can go to the temp folder and even watch them appear because they build up very quickly. As I mentioned several gigs in an hour or 2 is common. I think...if I open the task manger, go to the tab processes, highlight and click end process...then it will have really shut down and I can delete the demon data files. I could verify this for you soon.
Attached is a shot of the task manager showing True Image running (I think) after I have supposedly closed True Image. And note the continuing demon data swap files still accumulate at a very fast pace even though I have closed Acronis True Image. I am using 4 monitors in my studio so you will have to magnify.
Thank you for your help.
Greg
Greg,
Sounds like the message that you see at shutdown is the normal Windows message that appears when a shutdown request is initiated by the user while a process is still running. The "operations in progress" message I referred to is something some users see when a TI process, usually a backup, is still running and the user initiates shutdown. This does not appear to be the problem in your case even though I think the two are closely related.
Having said that then, it would appear that it is some other process that is running other than a TI process that is at issue here. As I stated in my first post I do not profess to have a solution for you however I have been curious why some users experience the "operations in progress" message while others do not. TI uses Windows VSS (Volume Shadow copy Service) to create a snapshot of data on a disk once a user starts a backup task. Knowing this has brought the Windows VSS service into my suspect list of possible reasons that users get the "operations in progress" message.
In researching this I have found that the symptoms users report such as the seemingly runaway accumulation of tmp files in the system temp folder among many others is not unique to those using TI and can and do occur when TI is not in the equation.
Due to my research I have come to suspect that it might be possible for the VSS service to contain corrupt or invalid Shadow Copies of disk Volumes on a given PC and that may be at root of the problem. I can neither confirm nor dismiss this suspicion at this point but the research I have done thus far does point in that direction.
I am going to attach a link to an article that discusses this anomaly and one of several I have found that lend credibility to my suspicion. The reason I am choosing this link above the others is that it offers a purposed solution to this problem if in fact it does exist and is as I suspect at root of the problem.
I must tell you however that performing the offered solution does have side effects which may not be acceptable and the procedure to perform the solution requires the use of an admin command prompt which you may not be comfortable with. I would completely understand if either or both of those factors apply to you. The side effect of this solution is this, the VSS stores copies of created Shadow copies for use with Windows System Restore Points per System Protection Policies set in the user configuration meaning that, if you at anytime have activated System Protection or created Windows Restore Points the solution offered will make unusable any Restore points previously created and any Windows Backup Service backups will become unrecoverable as a result as well due to the fact that the solution offered is going to delete any existing Shadow copies from the volume in question (think C: drive). If that is unacceptable for you then DO NOT perform the solution. Here is the link.
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/01436ec7-113f…
I would also point out here that backups you have created using TI would not be affected by this solution. TI uses the VSS in the creation of backups but does not rely on such copies for restoring backups thus the reason that the default behavior for TI is to delete these .tmp files once a backup tasks has completed.
In theory what will be accomplished using this procedure would be a flushing of the VSS cache of Shadow copies so to speak and thus remove any corrupt or invalid copies giving the VSS service a clean slate if you will from which to begin again.
If you choose to go forward here please post back your results.
Hello:
Yes it is the normal Windows 7 message when you shut it down but a process is still running.
You said you have found that the symptoms users report such as the seemingly runaway accumulation of tmp files in the system temp folder among many others is not unique to those using TI and can and do occur when TI is not in the equation. You do realize that I used the application "Process Explorer", and it points to TrueImage.exe for every single demon data file I have tried correct? Wouldn't this mean the issue is with Acronis True Image?
With your solution are you saying that it would not be possible for Windows to create system restore points in the future, or are you referring to restore points it has already created in the past?
Other than the possible solution you have mentioned, I could update to Acronis 2015 and then assuming the problem exists place the issue on their shoulders immediately for a solution. I could also pay that tech support fee and expect a solution. I would want to find out first if that fee is refundable if they don't provide a solution. What would you think about these two alternatives?
It's very frustrating Acronis support is for such a limited time, and that this problem I believe existed from the start. But I did not conclude the Demon Data Swap files were being created by Acronis within that short period of time.
I wish very much that once I had re-installed Windows 7 on my new C drive, and installed all the Windows updates, that I had then installed Acronis and perform tests along the way while re-installing my programs. This would eliminate any conflict with Acronis and any programs I had just installed. The audio programs I run are not very unique in the recording industry. As a matter of fact I know others using the same programs and Acronis works fine. I'm using a fairly common Gigabyte i7 mother board with 16Gigs of RAM, so I don't understand why my issue is so unique. But Googling Demon Data Swap files, it seems it's a very unusual problem.
These threads have similar problems.
https://forum.acronis.com/forum/9385
https://forum.acronis.com/forum/31380
Some posts there suggest using Process Explorer which I did, but don't offer any solutions either.
I do understand that you used the application "Process Explorer", and it points to TrueImage.exe for every single demon data file you have tried. Wouldn't this mean the issue is with Acronis True Image? My point here is that without TI in the equation what is happening on your machine occurs on other machines as well. The difference being the names of the created files are different. I have read references of this behavior with Adobe Acrobat for example and Norton Ghost. Essentially any application that uses Windows VSS is subject to create this scenario.
The solution I offered will not stop Windows from creating new system restore points in the future but any existing restore points would become unusable.
Your idea of upgrade to 2015 I think is a stretch. I will say that the aforementioned "Operations in Progress" does plague some users of 2015 and although I have no proof of it I do think there is a better than average chance that these 2 issues are related. So it is possible maybe even probable that the issues you have now will remain with 2015. The only way to find out of course is to purchase the 2015 version and give it try.
I would not think that other applications on your machine would be contributing to this problem except for possibly an application which uses the VSS service or an anti virus application.
I can offer 1 other thing you might try which will not change anything about your system except how the VSS services are run on your machine. In the search box from the start orb type services.msc, once this file is found click on it to open. Scroll through the resulting list and locate Volume Shadow Copy and Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Service. Right click on both these services and choose Properties, change the start option from Manual to Automatic. If by chance the TI app or any other that uses VSS does not or cannot start one of these services setting them to Auto should enable them to run. This is an unlikely possibility but might as well cover all the bases here.