[Resolved] Acronis True Image Home v11
I have a customer running Vista Business w/latest service packs on two computers.
Both are running Acronis TIH v.11 (NOT 2011). Both machines are setup to backup to different "Backup Locations" in two different folders on a shared external USB hard disk drive using the differential method to backup the entire disk drive. Both were working fine until about a month ago, when one of the computers started making full backups instead of differentials. I have checked and can find no reason for this to be happening. I have turned off disk defrag, scheduled AV scans etc. to prevent the sectors on the drive from being changed. The backups do run on schedule, but are true full backups, not large differentials. I have completely uninstalled TIH v.11, and and ran the Acronis cleanup utility on the affected computer, installed v.11 and the updated Scheduler 2, recreated the folder on the USB drive, created the "Backup location"(No limits for Disk size, No. of backups, No. of Days), created a task pointing to the "Backup Location" using the differential method (creating a full backup after every 14 differentials), and set the backup to run Mon-Fri @ 9:00pm. These are the exact same settings for both computers with the exception of the "Backup Location". The computer with the problem does a full backup every time, and the other computer follows the task settings properly, creating a full backup after every 14 differentials. I know this is an older version of the software, but has worked well in this office for several years on both computers. Any help would be appreciated. Please do not respond to this thread if you do not know what "Backup Locations" are, or have not used v.11, as instructions/suggestions for newer versions will not apply to this problem. My next step is a planned upgrade to ATIH 2011, not ATIH 2012, if I can not resolve this problem for my client.
Thanks Grover. I reviewed the information in the link you provided. Sure wish I had that information back in 2007 when I first was trying to use v10 and didn't have a clue about "Backup Locations". I am very familiar with them now, and the backups ARE self naming and ARE being sent to a "Backup Location". Only issue is with the software not doing differentials, but doing fulls instead. The day I was at the customer site, after installing as per my original post, and rebooting, I made a temporary "Backup Location" and set up a small file backup to test both the differential rules as well as whether or not the software was following the limits/rules set up for the "Backup Location" I had created. All worked as planned. I created the task (file backup to "Backup Location, only limit was max of 10 backups, create a new full after every 4 differentials), and ran it over and over again. 1st backup - full, next 4 backups - differential, next backup - full, followed by 4 more differentials, next backup - full, and then the "Backup Location rule of - limit of 10 backups - kicked in and Acronis recreated the full and one differential, and deleted the correct number of old backup files for a total of 10 files left in the "Backup Location" just as it should have. I thought "great", works like it should. Then I deleted the task, and backup location, and the folder on the external USB drive that I had set up for testing, and closed Acronis. I then created a new folder on the USB drive, opened Acronis, and created a new "Backup Location" with NO limits, and created a new Disk backup task using the differential method just as I did with the test backup. Scheduled it to run Mon-Fri, and left it to run that evening as the full backup is about 30 gigs compressed in a .tib file, and I did not have time to sit through the full backup and then start the task again to see if it indeed did a differential backup on the next run. After several daily calls to the customer, ALL backups were Full backups and not differentials. I'm still at a loss here. Some additional clarification: both of the computers in this office have the identical software load, and are identical hardware. One system is working without a hiccup, and the other is just trying to get me to throw it out of the office windows. The good news is it is indeed DOING a backup, just not the way I told it to.
Thank you for taking time to read and research this for me.
I re-read V11-chapter 8 as it has been so long since I have used that version and the backup locations option. I don't have any way of testing your issue so only theorize.
Is the computer that is failing the first or last to have access to the external? Has the size of the full backups or diff backups changed much from when both were working correctly? It may not be relevant but if you have Windows System Restore still working, I would set a size limit as to its always using a fixed amount of space.
If last, perhaps there is an issue of unequal disk space. If both computers has unlimited quota on the same storage disk, perhaps one is having some forced limitations. If both using the same disk for storage, have you considered setting quota limits so that each computer has equal storage space which is 50% of available space or whatever limits that need to be assigned.
If assigned space not an issue, then
Try comparing the actual script and actual log file from both computers to see if there are differing instructions.
Wish I could be of more help--just throwing arrows at a dart board.
Should you choose to switch to 2012 (and this is not a recommendation that you do), here is what you can expect.
The program will not delete the oldest backup until a new replacement has been created. This means you must allow space on each computer storage folder for 1 more full backup than what you intend to retain.
You can change the 6 and 4 examples to fit your needs but must include the allowance for extra temporary space needed during backup creation. The program has options based on x number of elapsed days or x amount of storage space but these never have worked as trouble free as the option to keep x number of recent version chains--which is this illustration.
Should you decide to switch, make sure the last backup you do with v11 is a full backup on both computers so you have a safety valve to return to v11 should 2012 not perform to your needs or expectations.
Thanks again Grover for your suggestions. I am going to the client location Monday morning to take another look for myself. Your suggestions about looking at the logs and scripts sounds like a great idea. I'm not sure were the scripts are located or even if they are created as separate files in v.11. I will definitely take a look see. I will also run some of the Acronis utility reports on the two machines to see if I can pinpoint the differences between them. I am aware of the 2012 backup software and it's features, as I currently run it on three systems (XP, Vista x64, Win 7 x64). I also have extensive experience with v.9, v.10, v.2009, v.2010, and v.2011, due to personal and client installs. I hope I can resolve this because the customer as well as myself find v.11 to work very well on XP and Vista boxes, and is easy to use. If I have to move my client to a newer version, I am not sure that I want to tackle another v.2012 install on two Vista machines. I would rather have the customer pay for an upgrade and install v.2011 instead. ATIH v.2012 works fine on some computers, but those that have USB flash drive problems with v.2012 are out for now. This customer is planning to replace the two Vista desktops next Spring with new laptops. I hope v2012 is stable by then.
Additional info: Full backup sizes have not changed much, only grown slightly due to new data being entered daily. The external USB drive is connected to the computer that is working properly, it is shared from the working computer from the root of the external drive and has a drive letter mapped on the problem computer. I have set up the "Backup location" to use both the drive letter or the UNC path with the results being the same with either method of creating the "Backup Location". Also there are no size limitations in place for either user on the external drive. System restore has been turned off since the original install of v11 in 2008. Nothing has changed that I can tell, just the backup software decided to stop doing differentials for me when doing Disk based scheduled backups.
The scripts folder or logs folder should be easy to find using the Windows file search option. Whatever you find, I would be interested in the results. Both scripts and logs can be opened using Notepad.
Except for the usb issue, I find that the 2012 basic backup and restore functions to work without issues. I have services set to manual for "non-stop" backup and "Acronis sync agent" as I use neither of these and don't want them polluting my system.
I have finally resolved the issue on the computer that was doing full backups every time. All backups are working as setup in my task and "Backup Location". After downloading Acronis Info, Acronis Report, and Scheduler Manager, running each of the Info and Report programs and saving the results to two sets of files, one set for each of the two computers and comparing the results, I found some errors in the event log sections on the problem computer that seemed unrelated to Acronis, but researched the errors anyway. I was getting some errors related to "esent", which is a database engine from Microsoft. (from Wikipedia: Microsoft's Extensible Storage Engine. Its purpose is to allow applications to store and retrieve data via indexed and sequential access. Windows Mail and Desktop Search in the Windows Vista operating system also make use of ESE to store indexes and property information respectively.) Whew, what a mouth full... Anyway the error I was getting was due to a corrupt Windows Search database file. Because of this the Windows Search service and the "esent" service (database engine) were both refusing to run. Although I really didn't know if these errors had anything to with Acronis TIH v.11 not doing differential backups, and just doing full backups, I decided I needed to correct the "esent" errors along with the problem Windows Search service anyway. After MUCH searching on the internet for solutions ( I fell off the internet twice when I got to the ends :') ), I did get the problems resolved. After a reboot to see if the services started up properly (they did) and waiting a couple of hours for Vista to rebuild all of its search indexes, I started up Acronis TIH v.11 and told it to run my task. It then created a full backup as expected (I had deleted all the old backups except one that I had moved to another folder just in case!), and when it finished, I told it to run the task again, and to my great surprise it created a differential backup. I was hoping this wasn't a fluke, so I ran the task three more times in a row. All the additional backups were differentials as per my settings. Soooo... I guess Microsoft's ESE (esent service) database engine running properly and/or Windows Search running properly corrected the issue with Acronis TIH v.11 not being able to do Disk based backups using the differential method correctly. Tracking this problem down took quite a number of hours, as the computer that had the problem with not doing differential backups, had no other noticeable issues related to these "esent" errors, including being able to search from the start button and to search from within any folders. FYI: According to information posted by Microsoft and other online sources , ESENT is used by many databases in Windows, including Windows Update, Active Directory (NTDS), File Replication service (FRS), Windows Internet Name service (WINS), DHCP, Security Configuration Engine (SCE), Certificate Server, Terminal Services Session folder, Terminal Services Licensing service, Catalog database, Help and Support Services, Directory Synchronization service (MSDSS), Remote Storage (RSS), Phone Book service, Single Instance Store (SIS) Groveler, Windows NT Backup/Restore, Exchange store, Microsoft Exchange folder (SRS and DXA), Key Management service (KMS), Instant Messaging, Content Indexing, ...and the list keeps growing. I'm not sure if Acronis is using the ESENT API's in TIH v.11, but now that it is running/started, everthing seems to be back to normal.
James,
You are amazing. Very few would have been able or willing to spend the time to research the problem.
My congratulations.
Grover
Another quick update: I got a phone call from my customer with the two Vista systems this morning. To the delight of the office manger, both of the computers performed as expected and on schedule, creating differential backups and incrementing the auto generated file names in the correct sequence. I will need to monitor the backups for the next three weeks to see if the the rule (full backup after 14 diffs.) is followed. Now if I could only find a way to bill my customer for the "educational experience" and still keep them as a customer.!! Thanks Grover for your responses. I felt like I was swimming in a lake with no shoreline. It was nice to see that someone here on the forums took an interest in my problem considering the age of this product. I have many customers running Vista and XP that are still using v.10 and v.11 of ATIH and are very happy with the purchases they made years ago. I couldn't even tell you how many hard drives I have replaced, and restored full/diff. backups to, only to have delighted customers due to these versions being in place.
And ESENT rears it's ugly head again, but at least not in my case this time. See http://forum.acronis.com/forum/25558 for more on ESENT issues and advanced format drives.
Seeing the happy face of the computer owner or user brings a nice feeling when you have just solved their computer problem.
I have seen that look many times when I have used TI backups to create a new replacement disk so their "broken" computer is back to normal.
In my case, the owners or users is either my children or their children and "grandpa" pulled another rabbit out of the hat. They will remember long after I'm gone. I do regular backups on their computers and it is the first thing done on a new computer. I have a new Asus laptop which came with Win 7 but did not have the 1mb partition starting offset. I used my backup to correct the issue plus I have done many restore testing backups as part of my postings here. Sadly, too few ever test their backups to make sure their recovery plan works--before the problem arises.
For me, I am not a technician but just another user who has grown up with each version starting with version 8. Each version has had its share of issues but each new version brings new problems as the hardware is so much different as compared to now even just a couple years ago. These new larger hard drives plus the new advanced format drives brings issues the average user which they are not aware of which shortens the life of the older TI versions.
Thank James for posting your results and good luck in the future.
Groverr