Image says its not the last volume or corrupted when trying to restore or mount

Try to do the restore from the recovery CD.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

By 'recovery CD' I assume you mean the 'Create Bootable Media' option in the program?

I created a Linux based CD - booted from it and got the same warning/error messages as within the main program :(
On selecting the restore option - in the file window in the right pane 'not the last volume'
On trying to validate - 'not acronis file/corrupted'

What else can I try?
Don't you have an app that can scan/read backup/image files and report problems with them?

Thanks,

It is possible that your achive is corrupted. Corruption can occur for several reasons, but remains rare. A simple copy from one place to another can corrupt the file.

The recourse options are limited:
- you can try to move the backup file to another disk,
- you can try to mount the image from the recovery CD.

If none of these work, you are pretty much out of luck.

You can use ATI to validate the archive files after the backup, and/or on a regular basis. Validation can be scheduled or done manually. The fact that an archive validates tells you that the data in the file is coherent. It doesn't tell you that you can restore the data: other things can happen to prevent restoration, aside from a corrupted archive. But validating archives verifies your backup is not corrupted.

Well thats pretty much rubbish & useless for a backup/image software - you're better off not having it at all and save yourself the hair pulling and stress.

As I have said before, when I completed the backup image, it was to a new hdd AND I verified it afterwards AND I mounted it to check. All worked fine and since then the image has just sat on the same hdd without being moved or copied and the hdd hasn't even been defragmented.
So unless I have an IT ghost who comes in the night and messes with my laptop and hdd's, I must be the 0.01% of PC users who experience a mysterious corruption.
I would understand if I had copied the backup image across different hdd's or to another computer or had been messing around resizing partitions, but I haven't done any of these things.

Acronis claims to be a specialist in 'disaster recovery and data protection' HA! my ar@e for the following reasons;

1. An image which just 'corrupts' all by itself for no reason - is the most useless thing in the world
2. Not having an application which can AS A MINIMUM scan a backup image reported as being corrupted to report what the corruption might be.
3. Not a good marketing strategy for a users first backup with Acronis software to mysteriously corrupt and become unreadable.

I'm glad we don't have any Acronis products in our organisation...

Thanks.

Tony76,
Your case is rare.

1- Run a chkdsk /r on the backup disk to make sure that the file system is OK. Do this fix this issue?

2- Do you have a chain of backups or a single file? If you have a chain, do all the backups in the chain produce the same error? If no, the chain is probably corrupted at one point only.

3- If all the backups in the chain produce the same error or you have a single file, copy this file to another disk. Can you now validate?

Pat L wrote:

Tony76,
Your case is rare.

1- Run a chkdsk /r on the backup disk to make sure that the file system is OK. Do this fix this issue?

2- Do you have a chain of backups or a single file? If you have a chain, do all the backups in the chain produce the same error? If no, the chain is probably corrupted at one point only.

3- If all the backups in the chain produce the same error or you have a single file, copy this file to another disk. Can you now validate?

1 - Made no difference, TI gives same error as before.

2 - This is a single file.

3 - No, TI still gives the same errors.

Rare? Hardly! I'm facing the same issue and am baffled by the claim that this is a quality program. I purchased this program after several online venues rated it very high. I spent what seems hours with L-1 support only to be referred to L-2, but only after I submitted a report file (that wouldn't generate by the way) and waited 48-hours. Wow!

This is a totally different experience than I had when I fist purchased the program years ago and an English speaking tech from Russia assisted me with setup. Nice chap with full understanding of the program. Not so today.

I backed up my partition every Monday with no hint that anything was amiss. No error message. Everything kosher and validated. Only to find the same result as the original writer above. Right now I'm just venting -- I've got no recourse in recovering 15-years of work and my trust in this program is completly lost.

I'll be storing (encrypted) in the cloud from now on.

RMB,

What are your symptoms? Can you mount? If you cannot mount, that could be software/driver issues.
If you cannot mount, try the recovery CD. Make sure the version is at least the same or more recent than the version/build that produced the backups.
Try to validate. Let us know the results.

Rare? Hardly .... I have had the same problem. This is latest saga ...

I created a drive image on an external HDD used specifically for Acronis backups. I validate it, everything apparently goes well.... Let's call this backup A.

Several weeks later I return to make another drive image and again, validate it and that appears to go well..... Backup B

When return a week later Backup B is still showing as green and recoverable, but backup A is now signed as corrupt!!!

This is now the third time this has happened to me. At first I put it down to upgrading to the latest version of ATIH 2012, but now I know this not to be the case. For some reason Acronis is marking previously verified backups as corrupt.

Not at all comforting when relying on software for an emergency as I am no longer confident that Acronis won't let me down.

I'm not technically minded so don't understand what is meant by "mounting an image"

All I know is that Acronis appears to be unreliable.

I did not have any problem with ATIH 2010. This issue has arisen since I started using 2012.

Snookie,

I maintain that files rarely change by themselves. If a backup validates once, but doesn't any longer, something common has changed or there is an intermittent hardware issue that prevents the validation process to execute normally and wrongly reports a corruption.

Something common include:
- change in a backup drive letter/IP address for a server backup, or other reason why the destination has changed in the eyes of ATI,
- manual change of TIB file name, manual deletion of part of backup chain.

Sometimes, we have the actual rare case of an actual corruption of one TIB file because of poor media, or even because of a minor corruption during a simple OS file copy.

What is puzzling, is that NOTHING has changed. the drive letter for my external hard drive is the same. the drive letter for my internal hard drive, which is being backed up, is the same. File names have not been changed.

The other weird thing is that the more recent backup is still listed as verified and fine, whilst its predecessor is now corrupt! If there was a hardware problem surely ALL Backups would show as corrupt?

With a previous version of Acronis, there was a problem with the calendar failing to remember previous backups which were older than a month or two. I was told at the time that this was a known bug which would be fixed by a future update. Now it appears that Acronis is now regarding these older backups as corrupt!

I only use this particular external HDD for Acronis backups. I find the whole thing rather worrying as I can no longer rely on Acronis. :-(

Snookie,

How do you validate the older backup chains? Do you start from within ATI? Or do you right click on the TIB to validate? Does any approach make a difference in the behavior?
When you boot from the recovery CD and use this to validate, do you get different results?

The fact that only the older backups are deemed corrupts does indeed tend to take out the possibility of coincidental hardware failure if the pattern is consistent.

Hi Pat,

When I create a drive image (Tib file) once the file has been created I then validate it using Acronis.
Everything runs through without a hitch. As I have said I am not a technical expert and have not discovered any other ways to validate yet.

What I find strange is that the marking of the tiib as corrupt comes out of the blue. I do crank up Acronis to check all is well between creating a new tib file and things remain tickety boo for a while, then wham bam for no apparent reason a tib is maked as corrupt. It has not been touched as it is sitting on an external HDD which is disconnected when not needed.

When I upgraded to the most recent version on Acronis, all previous backups were deemed corrupt so I had to start over. I really do not understand it. :-(

The other odd thing is that the system backups I made using Windows 7 in 2009 are still ticked with a green tick.

It is a shame to see a tried, tested and trusted bit of software effectively going down the pan.

I have old Acronis backups from years ago, some even recovered from hard drives with damaged FAT using file recovery software & routines AND on a fresh install of the software, the backups still read and recover fine.

Using the latest version of Acronis I make 1 backup, which validates and then a short while later (once I've formatted the laptop it was a a backup of) it is suddenly corrupt. Perhaps its a characteristic of the software to corrupt itself and loose customer loyalty in 7 seconds.

Its a shame really as the old versions of Acronis were robust and reliable and my first choice. This is no longer the case and reading the posts in this thread it doesn't sound to me like corruption is 'pretty rare' as previously stated. I'm off to the EASEUS website.

Good luck guys.

Tony,
I have seen this type error when attempting to use an older version CD to restore a newer version backup. May not be applicable here but if you have tried to download and create a bootable CD from the downloadable ISO file, it might be something to consider.

This may have been covered in prior posts but I thought it worth mentioning again.

Snookie, Tony76,

I am still not clear on what happens. Can you describe the type of backup you are doing (full, incremental or differential) and indicate how you run the validation (s) (the one that works and the ones that results in a "image corrupted" result), and where you see the backup being marked corrupt (in the UI, in the log, or in a dialog window at the end of the validation).

You see, when you validate a backup, ATI validates the last full and all the partials until the one you selected. In this case "older backups become corrupt" would mean that you somehow run another validation on another part of the same backup chain, or on a previous chain...

Thanks for your reply but I have already tried the CD version from the ISO.

Pat L wrote:

Snookie, Tony76,

I am still not clear on what happens. Can you describe the type of backup you are doing (full, incremental or differential) and indicate how you run the validation (s) (the one that works and the ones that results in a "image corrupted" result), and where you see the backup being marked corrupt (in the UI, in the log, or in a dialog window at the end of the validation).

You see, when you validate a backup, ATI validates the last full and all the partials until the one you selected. In this case "older backups become corrupt" would mean that you somehow run another validation on another part of the same backup chain, or on a previous chain...

No, I'm done going through it again and finished with Acronis.

It's illogical to have created a single backup which has validated after being created and when it comes to restoring it the software that created it decided its a multi-file backup job then states its corrupt.

This is not software development but more like regressing functionality.

Hi GroverH,

Like Tony I have been a very satisfied user of Acronis for years and not experienced any corrupt backup problems until I installed the 2012 version. It does rather make me suspect that Acronis itself has a bug.

Each time I have updated Acronis, I have created a new Rescue bootable CD which has been put safely away.

I have not tried to restore my backups. I dare not!! They are classed as corrupt when I launch Acronis, so could not use them to restore.

I really don't understand why a tib file which has validated on one day, then shows as being corrupt when nothing else has changed.

With previous versions of Acronis I have had several drive images stored without this happening. Acronis 2012 appears to be unable to do this . Totally frustrating!!

Hi Pat,

The back up I am doing is the drive image. not incremental. I guess it's what you call a full back up of the hard disk. Once created, I then validate it using Acronis. The validation shows as fine. Green tick, everything is fine.

Go forward a week or two, I launch Acronis and look at the window displaying completed backups and one which had previously shown it was validated, perfect, had no problems is now marked as corrupt and there is a red cross on the date on the calendar display.

I don't understand what you mean by backup chain. Each backup I create is a separate event, with it's own tib file. It is not incremental.

It strikes me that Acronis itself has a bug. I can think of no other reason for something which has been passed as fine, suddenly being classed as corrupt when it has not been changed.

Each time I launch Acronis, there is also a red strip across the bottom of the window telling me my online backup subscription has expired. I have never used the Acronis online backup so this message is pointless.

Snookie,

A few thoughts.

1. If you are not using Synce and/or online backup, lets stop both services and change them from automatic to manual. Also, double check along the top menus of the program and make sure you are not "logged in" to the sync option.

To access Services, here is one way:
Using the "Run" program option, copy and paste this next command line into the Run Window. and presss Enter.

%SystemRoot%\system32\services.msc /s

Locate and double click on the
Acronis Non-stop Backup Service
a. Click the Stop Service button and
b. Change the Startup type from Automatic to Manaul.
c. Click OK to save the changes.

Locate and double click on the
Acronis Sync Agent Service
a. Click the Stop Service button and
b. Change the Startup type from Automatic to Manaul.
c. Click OK to save the changes.
Exit services

2. When you look at the backup calendar and it shows red, there can be multiple reasons for this. Hawe you checked the Backup log files for that date?
Select the correct backup task and RIGHT click on the "Edit backup settings" and choose the open log files option and there could be several entries for that date. Any error of any type for that date would prevent the green from showing.

3. If one of the messages relates to "not last volume, etc", if there is a browse option on the window, go ahead and click the browse button and browse to the storage folder and actually select the last full backup for that specific date. If necessary, use the "add to backup list" if that is your only option for that window. If all you are doing is full backups, each full backup is a single chain or a "version" as referenced by TrueImage.

4. Here is an Acronis link on troubleshooting corrupt backups--if truly corrupt.
http://kb.acronis.com/content/1517

5. If you have not checked your both your source & target disk for disk errors anytime fairly recently, I would suggest you do. It's a pain I know but things you have to check.

From a command prompt
CHKDSK X: /R (where x is the drive letter being checked.)
A reboot will be required to begin and this could take several hours per partition.
Results can be found in the event logs under applications with the same date and time.

6. As you are looking inside the log file, observe the data and times as to whether the date and times are correct. One past problem for some was occasional rogue tasks running unexpected validation.

Thanks for that comprehensive reply. I will need time to study it. Thunder storms possible today so am wary about cranking up ...

GroverH
Thanks very much for that reply. I have done as you suggested and stopped the Non-Stop Backup and Sync Agent.

For the life of me I now cannot find the calendar, but thankfully my previous backups are still showing as OK.

I am wondering if, in my ignorance, I have not set-up the creation of the backups correctly to match with my requirements. Which are to create a single, complete image manually, every few weeks.

I noticed today that the Backup Scheme was showing as "Incremental". This is what I have been using with Schedule showing as "off". What scheme should I choose? Your advice would be appreciated as I find it all rather bewildering.

The external hard drive the backups are saved to is only connected to my PC when I am ready to create the next backup.

If I launch Acronis TI 2012 without this external Hard Drive being connected to my PC, would this cause previously validated backups to read as corrupt, when I later launch Acronis with the drive connected?

Appreciate your help in this

This link may help. If you only want full complete backups, then you should choose the Full backup scheme--not the incremental.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/31355#comment-97507

Whether the external is connected or not connected, my opinion is that it should not cause a change if validation--but that is my opinion--not fact. Why not try validating in both situations.

If possible, try a different usb cable and if a desktop, connect the cable to a rear connector.

I make a practice of making sure the target is powered up and seen by Windows before I start TrueImage.
There is also a backup option inside the advance settings whereby you can slow the write speed.

Calendar should show up when looking at the log files.

Let us know the results.

Thank you I found the link with the screen capture of the Disk Backup options extremely helpful.

Backup completed and validated.

This backup was created in the MyBackups folder alongside the two previous ones (so far still showing as OK)

I'm a bit confused, should I create another MyBackups folder, with a different name of course, for the next backup to be stored in?

Now that I have set up Acronis to perform the Full Backups correctly, should I delete the two previous ones which were incremental, or will Acronis delete them as I have set for it to keep 3 previous Full Backups.

Even though I have set the Sync and online backup to Manual, I still got the red strap warning message across the bottom of the screen when I first start Acronis ... "Your subscription to Acronis Online Backup has expired. All operations except recovery are unavailable. All online backups will be deleted in -1 days. Update subscription"

I have just discovered how to Log out of the Sync option 8-) By chance clicked my Email address at the top of the page and there was an option to Log Off........ phew!

Finally when I had previously checked the calendar, I was surprised to see there was a red cross for today's entry despite the backup and validation going to plan. Screen shot attached.

In case anybody else has the same problem, I have just checked again since discovering how to Log out of the Sync option, and all the red crosses have gone. ............ learn something new every day!!!

Snookie,

It is possible that you have a rogue task trying to run everyday. Download the schedule manager here and ZAP all your tasks (follow the instructions).
http://kb.acronis.com/content/1859

Snookie,

I'm a bit confused, should I create another MyBackups folder, with a different name of course, for the next backup to be stored in?

Now that I have set up Acronis to perform the Full Backups correctly, should I delete the two previous ones which were incremental, or will Acronis delete them as I have set for it to keep 3 previous Full Backups.

Anytime you create a new task, it can be directed to the "My Backups " folder but create a new sub-folder(task1) inside the "my backups" folder and direct the backup files to the sub-folder such as f:\my backups\task1\task1-backup-.tib

The next new task could be directed to a new sub-folder 2 named task2 such as
f:\my backups\task2\task2-backup-.tib
Of course, use any names you wish for sub-folder names and backup file names.

The point here is that each task gets its own sub-folder so there is no mixing of backup files from other tasks. All backup files created by one task stay together.

As backups accumulate inside each sub-folder, based on your retention rules, the older backups are expected to be deleted by the rules.

Once you have created the backup task, your configuration rules inside the backup scheme will determine how many files are kept. The actual backups will be created either by the schedule or by user clicking the "backup now" inside that specific task.

Check this link. While it was not written for you, much of it is applicable or informative.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/31355#comment-97507

Gosh Pat, Scrolling down the page on that link the Acronis Schedule Manager looks rather daunting and something not to be undertaken unless you really understand what you are doing!

The screen shot I posted was to show how the Log looked before I discovered that I was still logged in to the Sync Option. So I guess all the errors were relating to that. I posted it in case anybody else was having a similar problem and explained that once I had found how to Log out of the Sync everything disappeared and the only events that showed up on the calendar was the green tick relating to the image I had created on that day.

So far so good everything is working as it should now that I have learned how to create a Full Backup properly thanks to GroverH :-)

GroverH Thanks for your patience ....

This is how I imagine the files will look if each individual Full Backup is treated as a single task and placed in its own folder

m:\My Backups\Task1\2012-04-28 Full Backup.tib
m:\My Backups\Task2\2012-04-20 Full Backup.tib
m:\My Backups\Task3\2012-04-15 Full Backup.tib
m:\My Backups\Task4\2012-04-10 Full Backup.tib

I do not intend to make Incremental Backups to any of the Full Backups, so I guess I am not creating a chain, so every Full Backup is a unique event so is the idea to create a folder inside My Backups for all the Full Backups like this

m:\My Backups\Full Backups\2012-04-28 Full Backup.tib
\2012-04-20 Full Backup.tib
\2012-04-15 Full Backup.tib
\2012-04-10 Full Backup.tib

As I have now set Acronis to store no more than 3 recent versions, will it automatically delete the Full Backups created before I made this setting choice, or will it only apply to the subsequent Full Backups created?

Therefore with the example above will the file 2012-04-10 Full Backup.tib be deleted automatically, or will I have to do this myself until Acronis recognises the older backups made since this setting was selected during the creation of the Full Backup on 2012-04-28? ............ phew that sounds a bit complicated!

I could still be getting muddled. Is each Full Backup a single task, or the fact that Acronis has been set to keep the three most recent Full Backups the single task?

Each full backup is one chain or called recent versions. All files created with the same base name is one task. The rules of your task is to keep 3 versions (chains). TrueImage will not delete the oldest until a replacement 4th has been successful completed. Your task will create 4 revolving files.

Think of your backup folder and your task as a 4 step escalator going UP.
The reason is a "4" step is that you want to keep 3 versions + newest temp being created.
4-10 is created and becomes step 1.
4-15 is created and becomes step 1. 4-10 moves up to step 2
4-20 is created and becomes step 1. 4-15, 4-10 move up one step each.
4-29 is created and becomes step 1. 4-20, 4-15, 4-10 move up one step each
May 5 will step on and 4-10 will drop off (automatic delete of 4-10)
May 12 will step on and 4-15 will drop off (automatic delete of 4-15)
May 19 will step on and 4-20 will drop off (automatic delete of 4-20)
etc repeating--always retaining the 3 most recent backups

When you first open TrueImage, it opens to a screen which displays each different task you have created. You may have only 1 task or you may have many tasks. Each task backup destination should be pointed to a different sub-folder.

Correct me if this is not your procedure.
I: Your backups are either created automatically by the task executing at the assigned date and time via the schedule; or created manually.

II: If backup created manually by the user:
1. For each backup, you open TrueImage program
2. Place the mouse pointer inside the appropriate task(task 1) and click "Backup now".
The "backup now" option is located in upper right corner of task1 (or whatever name). Create each successive backup by clicking "Backup now" inside the SAME task each time. Number of backup retained controlled by the user settings inside the backup scheme for that specific task.

Ah, I may have been doing it wrong all these years!

I create backups Manually.
By opening Acronis, and click Drive Image then choose a new name for each image I create to reflect what has recently happened with the date ... For example. 2012-04-10 iTunes fixed.tib
Then when I create the next backup, I click Drive Image, name the file .. 2012-04-15 Firefox updated.tib and so on.

From reading what you say, Acronis will not delete any of these as it will regard them as individual events, rather than counting to three events, creating the fourth, then delete the oldest.

Each drive image sits as a file, not contained within its own folder, inside My Backups folder.

I have never, placed the mouse pointer inside one of these tasks and clicked Backup Now, as I thought that would only create an incremental Backup.

What should I be doing to achieve the Full Backup scheme I plan to do?

Should I manually delete previous Backups and start over? Will need to free up some space on my external HDD.

I have never, placed the mouse pointer inside one of these tasks and clicked Backup Now, as I thought that would only create an incremental Backup.

Refer beginning part of backup scheme creation.
If backup scheme is Custom and backup method is Full, then clicking the "backup now" option will produce only Full type backups.

If Backup scheme is Custom and backup method is "Incremental or Differential", then clicking the backup now will produce a full and each subsequent click of "Backup now" will produce the smaller incremental or differential type backup. The number of backups created determined by the settings user set inside the backup scheme.

Should I manually delete previous Backups and start over? Will need to free up some space on my external HDD.

2. Never delete existing backups until absolutely necessary. I would suggest you manage your deletion in this manner.
..... Inside your "My Backups" folder, create a new sub-folder maybe named "OLD".
Then using the mouse pointer, drag all your existing *.tib backups from their current position into the new sub-folder named "Old". This should only take a few seconds as Windows will only need to relocate their path name. So the location of your current backup files will become such as
M:\My Backups\Old\2012-04-20 Full Backup.tib

You can delete each file later individually when you absolutely must have the space for the next upcoming new backup.

What should I be doing to achieve the Full Backup scheme I plan to do?

Your current procedure will produce valid backups but require manual deletion and maintenance. It is possible to achieve your goal but a few procedure changes needed. A suggested procedure to be posted somewhat later.

While waiting for my response, review post #8 in the attached link. I will be suggesting that you use the date example.

http://forum.acronis.com/forum/28705

None of your existing backup tasks are needed to retain 3 full backups. We will be creating one new task to retain 3 chains. When you wish to remove the old tasks, click on the "edit backup settings" and click the "remove from list" option. You will need to do this for the each task to be deleted.

1. Let's make sure we are both speaking the same language.
My interpretation of your "full backup" is that you are performing a "disk & partition" backup (not files only) and the type backup you are creating is a "disk mode" backup which is illustrated via figure 5 at this link below. A "disk mode" backup provides all the information needed to create a replacement bootable disk should one be needed.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/28705

2. Inside your "My Backups" folder, create a new sub-folder named "Full" which will become the destination for the new task.

3. Let's begin now to create a new task to retain 3 current version chains. We will be following the same basic steps as shown in the above link.

a. Open the TrueImage program and click on the "disk & partition" option in upper left corner of program.
b. Follow the figures 1 -5 inclusive selecting your system disk as to what is to be included within the backup.
c. Follow the figures 6-8 inclusive. In Figure 8, browse inside the left pane to the "Full" sub-folder inside the "My backups" folder. The destination target will be and assign the name of the backup to be
M:\My Backup\Full\Full-Backup-@date@_
program will add the ".tib" automatically.
Before you leave screen 8, the preceding backup name and path should be as described above before clicking the OK button to leave the screen

4. Next will be to click on the "Disk Backup options" located in lower left corner of main screen.
a. Adjust the settings so your backup scheme screen looks like "figure 11-full" except change the 4 recent version chains to 3 . Do NOT click the Ok button.
b. As per Figures 12-14, Click on the other column headers across the top such as in "advanced settings" (validation or passwords,etc) exclusions or notifications, etc.
Upon completion...Do NOT click the OK button.
c. Click on the Backup Scheme header. It should reflect your retention of 3 backups
d. Click on the OK button to leave the backup scheme.

5. As per figures 16-17, click on the Schedule and advance settings and make any desire changes. Normally, I recommend that "If missed, run at startup" to be unchecked but it is your choice. Click on the "do not schedule" option as I understand you intend to create all backups manually for this specific task.

6. From the main menu again, note the "Backup name" in lower left corner. This is the name assigned to the task--not the name of the backup file. You can change what you see to a task name of your own creation. A change here will not change the actual name of the *.tib file--only the name of the task.

7. At this point, all the setting should be in place so we can save all the settings by .
Clicking on the "Backup LATER" option in lower right corner.

8. Now, whenever you want this task to create a backup based on your setting, press the "Backup Now" option in upper right corner of the task just created. Always press the "Backup Now" option and no edits should be required. Backups will accumulate based on the 4 step escalator principle.

9. Backups will be created with the date of backup as part of the file name assigned to the backup. Reminder. Date and time of the backup is always available from inside the Windows Explorer. To view date and time of file creation, Just browse inside Windows Explorer to the My backups folder and open the sub-folder named "Full". Click on the "View" Menu option at top and click on details.
------------------------------------

10. If you wish to create other additional backups such as file backups of your docs or pics, etc, follow the same basic procedure of creating a new task but choosing the "File Backup" under the "Other backup" header. Some user will create a special "Category" for their Itunes folder. Here is an Acronis link for creating file type backups.
http://www.acronis.com/support/documentation/ATIH2012/#7938.html
------------------------------------------

11. Reminder: It is the "Backup Now" option that is used to create you backup when executed manually. Editing a task is usually not necessary and to be avoided.
Backup deletion or retention is based on the rules set by the backup scheme for that specific single task. One task can create multiple backups via the "Backup Now" option and/or by scheduled backups or a mix of both manual and scheduled.

Thank you again for a most comprehensive and helpful reply.

Yes I have been using Disk and Partition Backup, but had not explored any of the further settings as I never understood what they meant. Thanks to your wonderful explanation sheet, I have discovered the Disk Mode!!

I Back up my personal files manually to removable drive and to Carbonite remote storage on the internet, the latter being done automatically. Acronis is used purely to make a drive image, in the event of a crisis that I need a complete restore.

Bear with me now as I print out all your notes and then work through them over the next few days ...

I really do appreciate all the time and trouble you have gone to. Am preparing a crib sheet from your notes so that I can follow through the correct precedure for my backups. There is one thing that still confuses me though ... "From the main menu again, note the Backup name in lower left corner. This is the name assigned to the task--not the name of the backup file."

How can I distinguish the Task name from the file name?

I take it the File Name is ... My Backups\Full\Backup Name-date.tib

Is the Task ... My Backups\Full\Backup Name-date.tib

And finally ... I hope ;-) ... Is the date inserted automatically by Acronis? Till now I have been naming the backup files with the date. The file name part is still a bit confusing, is @ a code that has to be entered to insert a date for example, or do I just type the date normally. What does the @ in the screen shots stand for?

Review an updated figure 18. I have supplemented the instructions there regarding the backup name.
The actual backup name will be what you see after you make any changes--as shown in lower left corner of figure 18.

Thanks very much for getting back so quickly ... :-)

I now understand that The Backup name is the Task name. Initially the name assigned to the Backup File (.tib) becomes the Task name which can be used as the default Task name or changed. A change here will not change the actual name of the *.tib file, only the name of the task............ phew!!

What do the "@" signs mean in the file name? Are they just used in the example or are they a code that should be inserted?

Note figure 8. There is a listing of an assortment of variable--each variable begins and ends with the @
Note the 5 red variable examples at the bottom of figure 8. These 5 show how to include the listed variables as part of the file name. Whatever used, if any, is a matter of personal choice. None are required.

As you editing any task can create problems,  you must automate the backup name so edits not needed.

"take it the File Name is ... My Backups\Full\Backup Name-date.tib"
If you want the date to be a integral part of the backup file name, when creating the backup file name, fig 8  should read
.. My Backups\Full\Backup Name-@date@-.tib
Note the dash before the period .tib Use a dish or underscore before the period for separation.

When the actual backups is created, the resulting backup name will read  (note the dash_)
 My Backups\Full\Backup Name-2012-05-04-.tib  (1st backup -first full )
 My Backups\Full\Backup Name-2012-05-11-2.tib  (2nd backup-1st incremental )
 My Backups\Full\Backup Name-2012-05-18-3.tib (3rd backup-2nd incremental )
 My Backups\Full\Backup Name-2012-05-25-4.tib (4th backu - 3rd incremental)

.. My Backups\Full\Backup Name_@date@_.tib
If underscore used instead of the dash, When the actual backups is created, the resulting backup name will read  
 My Backups\Full\Backup Name_2012-05-04_.tib
 My Backups\Full\Backup Name_2012-05-11_2.tib
 My Backups\Full\Backup Name_2012-05-18_3.tib
 My Backups\Full\Backup Name_2012-05-25_4.tib

May I just confirm that I have got this straight in my head now ...

To add a date that will automatically adjust itself to the current date as a backup is created, I should enter the file name ..
My Backups\Full\BackupName-@date@-.tib
Whereby the @ signs enclosing the word date, will turn that into the date .... 2012-05-05
The Task Name can be adjusted to read ... BackupName-

Yes. Your interpretation is correct.

Thanks very much indeed for all your help GroverH. Deeply appreciated, I now understand what I am doing!!

Your best training is to do a little testing on your own.

Create several new tasks and backup different things. let them be tests.
Just include a couple folder or even just a couple files inside the backup and experiment with the names, etc. You could set the schedule to run every few minutes or run it manually. Your tests can show you the results and add to your understanding of what TI can do. YOu could restore a few of the test to new test folders. You mostly learn by doing--not so much from reading.

This pdf file can help in restoring single files or folder. Also my signature index has lots of reading material.
http://forum.acronis.com/sites/default/files/mvp/user285/guides/2012_co…

Edit:
The three 2012 help files along left margin of this webpage can also be very helpful.

My trouble has been I have been doing, but not understanding what I have done. Now that I do understand how to do it I shall certainly put what I have learned into practice :-)

Have run the first Task and wonder whether I have spotted why previously created Backups were showing up as invalid/corrupt after a while.

As you know in the past I just clicked Disk & Partition Backup, selected the destination drive and folder and created a file name. Having worked though your instructions I see that under Disk Backup Options > Advanced you can change the validation options to meet requirements. When I did this the default tick was in "Validate Backup regularly: Once a month"

Now as this had not happened, I wonder if this is the reason the older backups were marked as invalid/corrupt?

In the Task I have created I set to "Validate Backup when it is created"

When the Task was complete, I noticed that there was no green band across the bottom of the entry where On previous Backups you can see the text "This backup is valid" to the left of the bar and "View log" to the right of the bar.

Is this normal for a Task which includes the setting "Validate Backup when it is created" ?

As I am unsure I have right clicked the Task and selected "Validate" to do it manually.

1. It is always a good practice to do a manual validation if you have indications a backup is corrupt or did not not validate.

2. My personal preference is a validation as part of the backup procedures. I prefer NOT to use the monthly validation as I want more control over when it runs.

3. A red x on your monthly calendar would indicate that one of the tasks that run on that day had issues. If you had monthly validation checked for any of your backups (new or old), you could have tasks running for the sole purpose of validation and if the task does not find the old backups, this error could prevent the green from appearing. You should open your log files and review some of assorted entries--especially for a date where a backup was run and no green appears.

4. If a backup is corrupt, it could be hardware issues such as bad memory or bad disk writes. This would be especially true if a backup once read as valid and now reads otherwise.

5. If validation ran manually, you should see that indication within the task on the main screen. If the validation ran as part of the designated task, you will need to look inside the log file for that particular task to see if validation was successful. A green indicator would also indicate a successful task--if you have validation checked following backup for that task.

View log file--Click cog wheel in upper right corner of main program is one of many ways to view the complete log file. Especially look for the red x.

1517: Troubleshooting Issues with Corrupt Backups
http://kb.acronis.com/content/1517

Thanks GroverH. I had selected to run validation as part of the backup process and was struggling to locate the Log files .... which I had previously accessed from the green bar. Now I know to look at the cog wheel, so will check there after I run the next "Backup now" on the task I created yesterday.

I guess the issue with previously validated backups then showing as invalid were caused by Acronis, unknown to me, trying to run the monthly validation whilst the external hard drive, upon which the backups are saved, was not connected. BIG hardware issue!!

When you first open TrueImage, all your tasks are listed in front of you. Hover the mouse pointer inside any of the individual tasks and to the right of "Backup Now" and the cog wheel will appear to access the log files.

Another method is start to edit a task by RIGHT clicking on Settings. The log file will be listed as one of the first options.

Thanks for all your help. Much appreciated :-)

This is not a rare occurance I have seen this in several versions of Acronis in fact the last three times I really needed to recover my laptop I was unable to beause it said backup was corrupted.   Including now with version 2016 True Image.   The last time I was able to restore successfully was with version 2009 all of the later versions have been totally useless when a restore was necessary and I have upgraded each year (I don't know why it has been a waste of money).