Scheduler

The scheduler on 2014 cannot be changed at all. Mine is set to make a full back up weekly on Monday at 2:26 Pm and nothing I do will change that. I can't turn it off, set it to monthly, or even change the day and time. Telling windows not to run Acronis Schedule is the only way to control it. But then in order to make a back up, I have to turn it back on in windows. After the back up I must again turn it off. 2014 sucks.

Turn off a scheduled backup.

http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/turn-off-scheduler.jpg

Enable or change a scheduled time to a different time .

http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/turn-on-or-change-scheduler.jpg

when you want a new backup file to be created, you have two quick options.
1. You can click a shortcut on your desktop and the backup will start without you even having to open the program.
http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/create_desktop_shortcut.jpg

2. Or, you can open the program and click inside the task to the "Backup Now" option iwhich will cause the new backup to begin.

Hello Grover, I have changed both those settings as you recommend but neither of them stick. When I exit the program it goes back to monday weekly backup. I have not even been able to change the time. I thought if I could just set it for a time when the computer is shut off it would prevent the backup. But even that small change does not stick. I have made the changes and then made a backup, thinking that might cause the changes to stick but no luck. I have no problem making a backup and the options on where to back up and to make a full backup will hold between backups. But the schedule changes go back to the same settings no matter what I do.

John,

It looks like some installation issue or access right issue. Are you running the software as administrator? If yes, can you turn off your antivirus and check if it makes any difference? Finally, did you try to uninstall and reinstall with your antivirus off?

Regarding the malfunctining task. Is this a task created new in 2014 or a carryover. If a carryover, stop using and create a new task.

Has the scheduler been a problem on all tasks or just a specific task?

MVP Pat L asks if you have tried to uninstall or reinstall. That is certainnly a valid opiton. If you do that, I would suggest that you use the TI cleanup utility (link 4 below) so the residue from any old TI installs is also removed. The utility will remove all Acronins products. After the new re-install, create a new backup task and start over.

Note: if the Acronis scheduler does not work for you, it is possible for you to use the Windows scheduler and run the TI backup task via the Windows scheduler. An example of how to do this is availble by clicking link 1 below and looking at index item 3-A inside link 1.

This is a new computer and never had any other Acronis product on it. I will try to uninstall reinstall to see if that makes a difference. I am not interested at all in scheduling backups, I want to make backups manually only.

Well that went very badly. I turned off the virus checker (it makes me very nervous to do that) and it made no difference. I still have no control at all over the schedule settings. I then tried to uninstall the program. It started to uninstall and then gave me some sort of message that it would not uninstall. The uninstall then quit. The computer then locked up and will not do anything. It will not reboot. It is stuck. I am on another computer now wondering what to do next. I am very frustrated with Acronis 2014. I want to just get rid of it and go back to 2012 if that is possible.

Hopefully acronis will format and restore my computer from the last backup I made.

Try restoring a prior backup --C over C.
Link 3 below, item 3 inside that link--Restoring C.

I managed to restart the computer and to uninstall 2014. I then reinstalled, virus program off, and made a full backup. Before starting the back up I turned the scheduler off. But as before, the scheduler turns itself back on and insists on doing a weekly backup. I think I will just continue to control the program with windows services by turning off all acronis entries and then turning them back on when I wish to make a back up. When I get brave I will attempt to remove 2014 and go back to 2012 which worked fine. Very annoying.

Thank you for trying to help. I appreciate it.

A month later I too have the same bug in my copy of TI 2014. There seems no way I can permanently change the settings on the Scheduler. After completing a backup it constantly reverts to some original setting taking no notice of the 'Do not schedule' link in the settings made before the backup. Surely Acronis can fix this bug or at least provide a means of setting/unsetting without having to pull the app off the Windows start menu.

Can one of the Acronis software engineers take a look at the code please?

William,
Here are some prior links on this topic.

http://forum.acronis.com/forum/48158
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/50465

I would agree that the 2014 of scheduler enabled is not the preference of many of us as we are used to having the setting to be "not enabled".

However, all we are talking about is a setting which can be changed during the creation of any new backup task.
If you want to create a task with the setting to be "do not schedule", that "not scheduled options" setting will remain with that specific task and when you want to create backups using that task, you will need to do so manually via the "Backup now" option found on the extreme upper right corner of that specific task.

For all future task creation, the scheduler will revert back to its default of a weeky setting but that change of setting has no bearing on how the prior created tasks performs and any future tasks can still be changed to "do not schedule" so the actual task is not forced to be a scheduled task.

I agree that the enabled setting is a nuisance but it is nothing more than a nuisance. The default setting of enabled can be overruled for any specific task. If a specific task is set to "do not schedule", the schedule will not run for that task. I too hope they will change the setting for future releases but the fact that the setting is enabled as the default does not control the final setting for that task as the user can overrule that setting for that specific task.

Their selection of enabled causes each of us a little more work but we can undo the enabled on each task we create so their change does not force us to use scheduled tasks if we do not want the task to be scheduled. I believe this is just Acronis attempting to "nudge" us into making more or more frequent backups.

Addendum:
Video added.

http://screencast.com/t/o7CemZSs

I respectfully disagree that the non working scheduler is simply a nuisance. It is a serious bug in the software and eliminates the option of opting out of the forced backups, filling up the hard drive with unwanted backups. It also eliminates the option of at least making the forced backups at a time when the computer is idle.

I returned to my 2012 and it works perfectly. Therefore if 2012 works just fine, then 2014 has a serious bug and it should be fixed by Acronis. I will not be upgrading my software, and I will be advising others not to upgrade to the buggy software. And that is revenue lost by the company. If they wish to be a non profit corporation, then by all means, they can continue the buggy software.

Unfortunately for Acronis, their lack of free support means they will not be made aware of this bug.

William,
As the old saying, a picture is worth a 1000 words. This video may help to clarify. What I wrote still stands. The video clearly shows that non-scheduled backup tasks are possible and the schedule can be turned on and off. This has been possible in all versions of 2014.

http://screencast.com/t/o7CemZSs

Note that all examples are non-scheduled. As long as the task schedule reads "Turn on" (task is non scheduled), there will be NO backups produced by the program for that task. If you want a backup, you will need to go inside that task and click the "Backup Now" option as illustrated in the video where I started and cancelled the sample task.

John,
Your problem baffles me as it is not the norm. We can still be friends and disagree on this issue.
Grover

I agree about being friends Grover. I appreciate all the help you dispense here. I wish what I describe was not the case. The schedule feature in my 2012 and 2013 are fine and can be adjusted or turned off just as you say.

Thanks John for your continued support on this schedule issue. I didn't come into this Acronis TI program until the 2012 build had been overtaken by the 2014 so I have no option revert. Maybe I should re-activate my Paragon software which I have used for years until I was advised that ACRONIS was better!

I am sure that Grover must have a program copy that is different from ours and therefore he can not simulate the problem we have. Maybe he doesn't understand what is happening. I do my week-end housekeeping either on a Saturday or Sunday depending what I need my PC for. I do a full Norton virus scan, clean up with CC and a Uniblue registry scan and then with an empty temp folder start up my full back up. I don't want to have ATI start up and clog up my external disk or slow up my Windows 7 reading and creating a disk image on Mondays or any other time!
Sure I can stop the thing in its tracks by closing the program from the Task Bar but then I have to reopen ATI (Which seems to take an age) and wipe out the embreo backup stuff.

Surely Acronis must keep an eye on the forums and pick up on problems?!

William,
Would you consider posting a screen capture of your main screen which pictures the task which is not operating correctly?

The version I am using is the most current version of 2014 build 6614 Premium.

My attachment has the information

William, that is exactly what I experienced. And I have allowed the back up to complete. I also attempted to simply change the automatic back time and that too was over ridden upon the next start of the program. I tried repeatedly to alter or stop the automatic backups but without fail, on Thursday, I would find a backup file on my hard drive.

William,
Thanks you for the attachment, that was informative.

I am willing to spend my time in an attempt to help determine the cause but it will involve several postings.. If you are equally willing to invest your time, we can proceed.

It would still be helpful if you were to post a screen capture of your main screen which pictures the task which is not operating correctly? I am not able to identify from your existing attachment whether the tasks shown are new or old. A capure of your main screen would provide several bits of info about the tasks.

The screen that I am asking is this example. Note that all my tasks are "Non scheduled."

Thanks for reading my message. I can save time by assuring you that the mainscreen-sample you refer to is so very like mine.

The sequence of events is the same as yours, namely: when I check the "Do not schedule" and "OK" I get a an entry screen just like your Blue Disk Backup showing the blue "Turn On" message. Indicating that my instruction not to schedule was accepted. I select in the top right box "Back up now" and valid image is faithfully recorded. Neither you nor I have any problems whatever at this point.

However, once the program has completed the back-up and I have turned the program (and usually my PC) off, nothing happens until the default date/time arrives when the program goes into action on its own! Both John and I have tried going back into the program resetting the "Do not schedule" and at the next screen (your main-screen-sample) but not proceeding with a backup and then immediately closing the program it continues to default at the scheduled date/time.

Hope this helps.

For John Clendenning

Thanks for staying with us! You must be sick of it by now.

That was even more helpful. If I am understanding correctly, all the tasks on your TI desktop are appear as "Turn on" and that no tasks on your desktop have a scheduled time.

There is an Acronis folder named "scripts"
On my Win7 machine, this folder is stored in c:\programdata\ACronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts.
would you zip the contents of that folder into a zip file so I can use Notepad to see the internals of those scripts.

Also, there is a folder named DATABASE with a Win 7 path of
c:\programdata\ACronis\TrueImageHome\database
Would you ziip the archives.xml file into a zip file so I can use Notepad to see the internals of that file.

you can attach the zip files as an attachement to these postings or attach the zip file to a private message to me.

Thanks for your willingness so you and I can attempt to find its cause.
what you are experienciing is not the norm.

William,
After rethinking my prior posting, I believe the instruction that would be offered by Acronis would be to run the TI cleanup (signature link 4 below) utility and then re-install the program.

Is that something you would consider doing?? Doing both the above would most likely sollve your problem as what you are experiencing is not normal operation for the program.

If you decide to so this, when re-installing the program, right click on the install progra and choose the "run as administrator"option.

I'll read along with you guys. Out of curiosity if nothing else. I ran the TI cleanup and re-installed the program to no avail, but it sure wouldn't hurt to give that a try William.

Thank you GroverH and John. I will follow the first of the steps and send the data to you GroverH and see if you can see what may have gone wrong and perhaps put that right. Then if the problem persists to wipe the prog and reinstall. I guess that step is the pink item link marked 4.

The forum pages are beginning to get a bit crowded so I have gone back to this forum page in answer to you request GroverH I have used the free 7z to compress the files you asked for. I haven't used a zip program for years but found in buried on my PC - hope you can extract the files from it.

7z asked for an encryption password and there seemed no way to compress files with out it. I used the password acronis all lower case.

I look forward to your views.

In post #22, you indicated your main menu screen looks line mine which shows ALL backup tasks schedule read "Turn on" which indicates the task is not scheduled.

One thing I did notice in your attachment word docx. When working in the "do not schedule" screen,

When you click the OK button, you are authorizing the task to perform backup as per schedule.

If you want the "do not schedule" to be in effect, click ONCE on the "do not schedule" button and you are finished--no more clicks. There is no clicking of the ok button. The clicking of the ok button cancels out the "do not schedule" option.

William wrote:

I clicked on “Do not Schedule” and “OK”.

This launched the backup process with the green strip indicating progress and the time before completion.

As I didn’t need the backup or to spend the time waiting for it to complete, I canceled it*, closed the program and shut down the computer.

The starting of the backup could have been avoided.
The clicking of the "OK" should not have occurred.

After a review of all your material, I believe your starting of unwanted backups could have been avoided by a change of procedures. Review the attached PDF which illustrates the changes I suggest.

I am hopeful you will give me the benefit of the doubt long enough to create a new test backup task but follow EXACTLY the creation steps as outlined in the pdf. While creating the new task, before stating on the Scheduler settings, you will need to complete the destination, backup scheme, etc so the scheduler changes is the last thing done as per pdf. I expect the result to be a task which does not create unwanted backups. I believe this procedure issue was also the problem John was having with the 2014 version.

These creation steps are necessary for users of 2014 wanting to create non-scheduled backups but these special steps not needed in prior version as the scheduler was never enabled in recent prior versions.

PDF: How to create a non-scheduled backup task using version 2014 (without creating unwanted backups.)
http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/non-scheduled_backup_task-creatio…
To view. RIGHT CLICK on the file name and choose the "SAVE LINK AS" option and save to your own desktop and then review. or,
Alternatly, you can also double click on the attachment link at bottom of this screen and view online without the save to desktop.

How to turn off a scheduled task or change it from "scheduled" to "non-scheduled" (picture)

http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/turn-off-scheduler.jpg

How to change a non-scheduled task into a scheduled task or change the schedule on an existing scheduled task.(picture)
http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/turn-on-or-change-scheduler.jpg

Hi Grover,
Interesting. I tried turning off the scheduler in the screen where I set the backup parameters. The screen I saw just before the middle screen shot in your jpg. I don't remember seeing anything about schedule in the screen where I can see the backups. The screen behind the schedule box. It is not there on my 2012. And of course I am not going to re-install 2014 just to look. Ha ha.

When I clicked the do not schedule button, I tried both ways to exit, simply closing the program or running a back up. There is no "OK" to click or anything to confirm the setting. But at any rate, either way did not prevent the auto backups.

But the schedule box you are showing and pointing to on the actual backup screen might be the clue. As I say, I don't remember seeing that.

Hi John,
Thanks for the comments. I really do believe the problems you had could have been avoided by a change of procedures as outlined in the pdf I created in post 28 which has been my posting theme from the beginning.. Maybe you have a friend who has 2014 installed in which I could review in "real time" my pdf illustrations. If you have the time, maybe look again at the video in post #14. It is another illustrations of a complete task creation in version 2014. The only difference I am aware of in the scheduler between 2012 and the 2014 version is that 2012 and 2013 version had the scheduler not enabled so the user had to turn the scheduler on. Whereas, in the 2014 version, the scheduler is enabled and the user must turn the scheduler off themselves in order to prevent a task from being scheduled. Maybe at some point in the future when I have the time, I will reinstall 2012 and make a side by side comparisons. Thanks for your comments.

I looked at the PDF and I see now what you are talking about. It will be very interesting to hear William's outcome when he follows those instructions. Hopefully it will work. If so, I will save my copy of 2014 for the next computer I buy. :)
Thanks Grover.