Never had a problem using Acronis before, I'm Stumped!
Been using Acronis for years, worked great till today when I tried to make a backup of the same computer I always backup.
I prefer to use the bootable CD when I back up. I made it with ATIH 14.0.6868, the same CD I have used for a year on at least 10 successful backups.
I am running xp, sp3 and a 750gb HD. I back up to a usb external HD.
Before backing up I always follow the same procedure which has worked perfectly in the past.
1. I remove all storage files to make the image smaller.
2. I run antivirus, spybot, malware checker,clean the registry and defrag.
3. This gives me a HD with approx 15gb used space and 678gb unused free space. The boot disk shows the same space values before I start the backup.
4. I always choose the full disk backup method, a new one with a new name each time. Normal compression, nothing special, normal defaults.
5 The resulting back up is 15gb in size and takes about 15 or 20 min to complete and restores perfectly.
Yesterday was the same until I clicked proceed. It took all night long and created a backup that was 698gb in size instead of the 15gb it should have been. It now will only back up the entire disk with all the free space included. Before it would automatically backup only the USED space.
I do not want or need that large of a tib file. Something has changed and I can't figure out what it is. I have tried the process 5 times, canceling after I see it's still doing the 698gb.
Anyone have an idea whats wrong? Thanks in advance.
Hi walter,
The huge backup Tib file could have been caused if somehow a sector by sector full disk image had been selected instead of a normal backup.
I suggest that you create a fresh rescue CD by down loading the necessary from you account at the Acronis web site. Even better would be to create a bootable USB memory stick as your rescue media. This gadget is normally faster to load than the traditional rescue CD and it would also eliminate any possible glitches on your original rescue CD or CD drive.
Thanks to both of you for the help.
xpilot, I forgot to state I was not using sector by sector, I thought of that myself, too bad though as that would be an easy fix! I will take your advice on making a bootable USB memory stick as my rescue media as soon as I sort out this problem. Optical drives are quickly going the way of floppy drives.
GroverH, I think you hit the nail on the head. I suspected HD problems but I am kind of in denial on that. I was hoping there was something else simple I was missing. I have been having problems for almost a year. OS locking up, failing to load and crashes. I have always got it working again by replacing OS files that were missing, running sfc/scannow or reverting to a Acronis backup. This sometime worked for months. I have tried to run scandisk and tried WD's diagnostic program but never found any errors. A month ago I installed a backup and it lasted till now with freezes and finally blue screen. I ran checkdisk (not r or f) from a Hiren boot CD (mini xp) and no errors found. I reinstalled the same Acronis backup from a month ago, updated bookmarks, and newer files, windows updates etc. I was actually planning on switching to another HD now but wanted to use the latest updated backup on it which is why I tried to backup again for a final time yesterday. I could go to the new HD with older backup (1 month and 15gb) but I was trying to keep from going thru all the last month updates etc. Long story and I hope not too confusing!
One thing different I noticed preparing for yesterdays backup. I use Distrix for my defragger which has a graphical circle representation of the disk showing sectors etc. As the defragger got close to the end it kept moving a handful of files around and around the graphical disk. I finally had to manually stop the process. This has never happened before. May be due to HD problem?
Anyway, I guess I should try checkdisk on this HD before I give up on it. If I run the R switch will I loose the data on the disk?
One thing I'm confused about is how well the computer works after installing a backup on it. The last one lasted a month and the one I did a couple days ago is working perfectly. If the HD has bad sectors/other problems why does it take so long for problems to start?
If the disk has bad sectors, it will attempt to move the data to other sectors. If it cannot read all the data, it cannot transfer the data so yes, there is the possibility of losing some data. That risk may not be any worse then the unable to read now. Hopefully your old backups can compensate for any loss.
A backup program will not cause your disk to go bad but increased usage of the disk increases the wear factor--thus a shortened life. I have multiple disks with years of backup use and the wear factor has never been a factor.
Shut your system down properly each time and do occasional disk checks for errors has worked for me.
Walter doing
chkdsk c: /r
before attempting a defrag is a must. In addition, any time you have any sort of shutdown problem with your PC (e.g. it freezes/won't respond and you pull-the-plug) or any BSOD you should always do a chkdsk again.
Your hard drive might be fine, but if you have driver or other PC hw problems, it can mess-up the filesystem and LOOK LIKE a hard drive problem. And if you make a backup of a drive with a corrupt filesystem the corruption will be restored (I'm quite certain of this).
Thanks for your input tomf.
Gotcha on the restored corruption, I just hate to have to reinstall windows. Been using this XP install since 2008 and have so much on it I would have to install/tweak. Thats what I love about Acronis!
When I ran an Avast boot scan before trying to back up this time it reported the CRC,s shown in the attachment.
I wish I knew which of the possibles discussed in this thread is actually responsible for the large tib complaint I didn't have a month ago when I backed up?
This could also be a memory issue. Check this link.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/4131
Let the memcheck run overnight. If you have multiple sticks, maybe on some of them are bad--if any.
Thanks for your input tomf.
Gotcha on the restored corruption, I just hate to have to reinstall windows. Been using this XP install since 2008 and have so much on it I would have to install/tweak. Thats what I love about Acronis!When I ran an Avast boot scan before trying to back up this time it reported the CRC,s shown in the attachment.
I wish I knew which of the possibles discussed in this thread is actually responsible for the large tib complaint I didn't have a month ago when I backed up?
I hear you about reinstalling Windows--FWIW I believe that almost every Windows problem can be repaired, if you have enough time, and the patience.
Also FWIW--I don't think the file problems shown in your attachment have any bearing on the issues you're experiencing. I believe they are "offline" from Windows' operation. A thorough hardware check as GroverH suggested is in order. Next I suppose I'd do a 'sfc /scannow' to make sure all the system files are OK.
Full HD surface scan took 3 hours and found no errors.
Ran Memtest v4.20 all night and no errors (memtest claims passing pretty much means the CPU is OK)
Ran sfc/scannow
Anyone think of something else to check?
Ok spoke too soon. Ran scandisk and scannow again and the problem was gone, the back up tib was 19gb now and took 10 min. I am going to try the tib on a different HD and see if problems occur. If they do I would assume it would mean the OS is corrupted. I will report back. Thanks for everyone's help!
I'd replace the hdisk at the first opportunity -- plus keep as many backups as you can, if one of the newer ones is wonky do to disk error, then you'll be glad to ahave an older one on hand.