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Inconsistent differential backups

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I have two systems using Acronis that are configured identically for daily differential backups. I've been having the worst time with the software in this sense: any change, such as switching routers, and sometimes no apparent change, results in the differential backups getting suddenly larger than can be accounted for by actual file changes.

For example, on my desktop, differentials jumped from about 10GB to 33Gb from one day to the next, without explanation. I didn't change 23GB worth of files, and so there's no rhyme or reason as to why the backups are so much larger.

For another example, my wife's notebook has started doing essentially full backups every day, because hers jumped from 4GB one day to 94GB the next. Now, the backup is essentially worthless because I don't have the storage to keep any number of days at 94GB.

Any ideas on why this keeps happening? I hate to abandon Acronis, especially given the money spent, but this is simply untenable.

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Acronis tracks disk sector changes as to what is included in the dif backup and the dif tracks changes from the last full backp so it is not just tracking prior day changes but is tracking all changes since the last full. If using any auto defrag, this can cause your sort of problem. Any defrag should be run just prior to a full backup.

Whether this explains your issues, I am not sure.

Is this true even for file level backup (not full disk imaging)? I should note that both machines in the examples use SSDs, and so defragging is turned off.