Backup Image File Naming Problems
I have been running True Image Home 2010 for a couple of years, running nightly full backups on a couple of disks/directory paths, doing full image backups and overwriting the previous image.
Last April I bought the 2013 version, because of the feature that would let me restore an image to different hardware. I was thinking about building a new system, but I did not get around to doing that then, and I never installed the new version that I purchased.
I recently bought the new hardware, and am prepping to migrate over from my current system. So, as part of getting ready, I finally installed True Image 2013. I ran into a number of problems.
First of all, the software would not upgrade itself, but instead required me to uninstall the previous version first. I expected that my settings in the old software would be preserved, especially those having to do with my scheduled nightly backup tasks, but I found that nothing was preserved, and I had to redefine those from scratch (and the new interface for doing that is definitely not intuitive).
I then found that Acronis insisted on appending strings like "_full_b1_s1_v1" and "_full_b2_s1_v1" to the names that I had specified for my backups, creating a new one each night instead of overwriting the previous one. Since the backup images sizes are upwards of 60 gigabytes and the drive that I am backing up to is a bit space constrained (one of the reasons for the upgrade) this will not work well. I cannot tell from the interface or the help documentation how to make the software respect my choice to just name the .tib file what I said, and not do anything else with it.
Finally, I discovered that since I had purchased the software more than 30 days ago, even though I have not installed or activated it yet, I was only entitled to 30 days of tech support, which had long expired. So I would have to pay you to help me get the software that I had paid for working the way it did before I upgraded. Not exactly the kind of customer support that I was expecting.
So, how do I get my scheduled tasks to backup to a single full image each night, to the file name I want, overwriting the prior image each time?
If you can't help with that, then I will just use the 2013 version to migrate, and the go back to the 2010 version for routine use, and certainly not upgrade again to the 2014 version.
Thanks,
Barry
I had found and set the option to limit the number of versions to store. However, for one of the backup jobs, the job is set to store no more than 1 version, but Acronis continues to create multiple versions, filling up the drive (each one is 60GB). How do I get the software to pay attention to the setting that is visible on the screen:
Has it always been set to 1? or was it set to some other figure and changed to 1?
One of the rules I practice is no edits allowed to the configuration once is has been created.
If task edited, the program may catch up but it can take a very long time and even then, the correction may not be as expected.
Either way, it is not working or not yet.
Stop using this task. You can change it to non-scheduled or you can use the "Remove from list" optoin.
Create a new identical task. You can use the "clone task" feature if desired except edit the clone copy and change the storage folder name. I believe in no mixing of backup tib files.
What should begin to happen would that beginning with the 2nd and subsequent run of the task, a new replacement full would be created and afterwards, the old full would be deleted.
This link may be of interest.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/54475
I re-created new instances of the jobs and set the value for the number of versions to keep to 1. The job now runs and deletes the prior version. Why the software gives you the ability to change the setting for the number of versions but does not honor it I can't imagine.
However, the software continues to change the name of the backup image file every night. I DO NOT WANT IT TO DO THAT! I have another process that copies the latest backup image to a network drive, and that expects to only be storing the most recent image there. I checked this morning and the network drive was almost full with 1 TB of daily backup images for 2 jobs accumulating since I "upgraded" to the 2013 version.
I want the file naming behavior to be like it was in the 2010 version of True Image Home. Once I use 2013 to restore my system disk image to the new hardware I am going to uninstall it, and revert back to the 2010 version while I look around for a replacement imaging program from another vendor.
I really, really, really, really, really am completely fed up with Acronis, and the poor quality and lack of support. Suggest that anyone else looking for drive imaging look elsewhere.
Barry
Barry,
In order for Acronis to see your posting, suggest you post in the Wish List and refer to your comments here;'or repost your comments directly into the wishlist.
Currently, there is no opton to avoid the 2014 naming scheme.
If I understand correctly, you are always copying the most recent into a folder on the network and you want the copy to overwrite the existing. I believe (not 100% sure) the free program Karen's Replicator would do that for you but you would neet to set specific options inside Replicator to accomplish that.
I really don't care if Acronis sees the comment or not; if they were interested they would give me a way to contact them about the product I paid them for without having to post it in a public forum, or pay them again for the privilege.
And I don't need suggestions about how to rename a file; but I should not have to rework my whole backup process just because I updated the Acronis software to take advantage of a new feature, only to find that the regular stuff worked completely differently than it had in the past.
Aside from venting, my only point in posting is to present a data point from a longtime Acronis user who is fed up, just in case someone who is considering purchasing the software happens to see this forum, and then thinks twice.