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How does the "Backup Schema" really work?

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I'm doing a backup scenario which calls for 7 incremental backups and then a full backup.  It seems to be working ok, but I have not yet gotten to or past the 7-th incremental backup.

Regardless, I'm a bit curious how it works is certain situations:

  1. PC is on, but no one is logged on at the scheduled time.  Will it do it's backup?
  2. A non-administrator is logged on at the scheduled time?  Will it do it's backup?
  3. It is in the middle of an incremental backup when the PC is rebooted.  Will it restart the backup?
  4. The PC is on but the external hard drive is not attached.  Will it do the backup the next time it detects the external drive, regardless of the scheduled time?
  5. The PC was not on that the scheduled time.  Will it do the backup the next time the PC is started?

I'm sure there will be other situation, but this covers those that come to mind.

Thanks....RDK

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RDK asked:

Regardless, I'm a bit curious how it works is certain situations:

  1. PC is on, but no one is logged on at the scheduled time.  Will it do it's backup?
  2. A non-administrator is logged on at the scheduled time?  Will it do it's backup?
  3. It is in the middle of an incremental backup when the PC is rebooted.  Will it restart the backup?
  4. The PC is on but the external hard drive is not attached.  Will it do the backup the next time it detects the external drive, regardless of the scheduled time?
  5. The PC was not on that the scheduled time.  Will it do the backup the next time the PC is started?

My responses to your questions:

  1. I have never tested this scenario but if the task was created by an Administrator account, then I would expect that the backup should run at the scheduled time in the background.
  2. Similar answer to 1. - not a scenario I have tested.
  3. Depends on what you have configured for Error Handling in the task?
  4. Same as for 3. also see the Advanced Schedule page settings in this area.
  5. Same as for 3. & 4.

I would suggest trying out your scenarios for yourself if you have some time to do so, then you will know for certain.

Steve....OK, from your comments about 3-5, I gather that Acronis is setting this back up scenario as a Windows Scheduled Task?

I've looked at the Task Scheduler and I don't immediately see anything which looks to have been initiated by Acronis?  Can you elaborate a bit?

Thanks....RDK

RDK, sorry, no - not as a Windows Scheduled Task - Acronis uses its own scheduler for these tasks which run via the background Acronis Scheduler services.  See the Acronis Scheduler Manager link in my signature if you want to get more detail.

Steve.....OK, I'll research this idea.....RDK

Quick update: just received an email notification for my wife's laptop that was booted but with no-one logged in showing that the Acronis backup will still be run on schedule as per your question 1. in the initial topic post.

OK, I had a "MS Update Automatic Restart" the other day and now looking at the backups on the External drive I see two for that day.  So I guess the backup scheduler does restart the backup?

However, for #4:

"The PC is on but the external hard drive is not attached.  Will it do the backup the next time it detects the external drive, regardless of the scheduled time?"

I've had no success.  I missed connecting my laptop to the external drive the other day.  I have my options as shown in the attached JPG's.  Based on what I have read, it should have started after the next reboot, but it did not??

Any thoughts?......RDK

Fichier attaché Taille
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449853-147161.PNG 32.94 Ko

RDK, the options look like they should do what you are looking for, i.e. trigger the backup task when you reconnect the backup drive or run after a reboot with your delay of 15 minutes, so if this is not happening you need to check the logs to see if there any indications there for why not?

Steve.....OK, but where are the logs?  I seem to recall that they were in a LOGS folder in the programfiles/Acronis folders.  But I don't see that folder there.  Where did it get moved to?

Thanks....RDK

RDK, download the MVP Log Viewer tool from the Community Tools link in my signature and this will give you quick access to all the different logs available in ATI - this works with ATI 2015 upwards.

Steve...Hmmm, Acronis is working just fine for my Office PC and my wife's laptop, but mine seems to be a problem.  I left the external drive plugged into my laptop today as we were going to be out&about.  The backup did not start, but the same thing did work with my office PC, ie PC on but no one logged on.

So I opened True Image 2018, re-checked the options (they were the same as my jpg's) and then told it to "start backup".  It did and the backup part took at most 3 minutes, but the validation part is still going after over 30 minutes.   

What is going on?....RDK

Validation should walk the complete backup version chain which can include many more .tib files than just your backup that took about 3 minutes.  There would be no point validating a single incremental file if that file did not connect via the prior incrementals to the original full backup for that version chain.

OK, thanks.....RDK

Steve....Well, I'm having very mixed results with Acronis "automatic" backups.  My options screens are as I shared with you previously. 

My office PC is working perfectly (as long as it is on :-) ) regardless of whether I'm logged on or not. 

My laptop and my wife's are not working like that "PERIOD". I plug in the external drive (I have separate external drives for each unit) and then turn them on.  Usually nothing happens at the scheduled times.  If I log on and fire up Acronis it says "queued" just above the progress bar at the bottom of the display and the button says "Stop".  I have left it like that for hours and no change.  If I restart the LT and return to Acronis, it now has a information note that the previous backup was stopped by user and below the progress bar that next one is scheduled for the next day and time.  When I click the "backup now" button it starts and completes normally.

I have just setup this process on my Wife's PC, so no data yet.

Also, the full backup after 7 incremental backups is working correctly on all units.

Your thoughts?....

ps...By the way, thanks again for your analysis to the long verify times after a very short backup time.  Makes 100% sense.... 

RDK wrote:

I plug in the external drive (I have separate external drives for each unit) and then turn them on.  Usually nothing happens at the scheduled times.  If I log on and fire up Acronis it says "queued" just above the progress bar at the bottom of the display and the button says "Stop".  I have left it like that for hours and no change. 

Have you checked the backup task log using the MVP Log viewer in the above scenario?

Are you using the exact same external drive for the backup task each time, not swapping drives at all?

Does the external drive get given the same drive letter as configured originally for the backup task, and is it accessible for browsing the contents in Windows Explorer?

Please also check the Schedul2 log for the times of the backup task, this may also offer some insight for why the task is put to being queued.

Steve...Each computer has its own external backup drive.  All are configured to always boot up as Q.  It is always shown in the file explorer and the backup directory is always populated with the last backups.

I will check the log files the nest time the units are scheduled to backup, assuming the symptoms are the sama as I reported above.

Thanks for the ideas.....RDK