Size of Archive Exceeds Problem

I think you're about 100 MB shy of enough space. You need enough for double what you wnat to keep. consolidation basically happens after a new backup is made, otherwise, if something went wrong, you'd end up removing all your backups.

Scott,

I changed the "Size of Archive exceeds" to 300MB. Now my backup folder is at 829MB, and Acronis didn't consolidate anything.

After the early problems with Acronis requiring me to install 2 different SnapApi's, I'm coming to the conclusion that ATI is a piece of junk.
You would think someone would have tested the backup consolidation before releasing the product...

Darn Curious to say the least. I wonder if the size limit is applied to individual backup file rather than the backup location. Anyone searched this out and can confirm either way?

Here is a picture of the error. Of course there is no info WHY the consolidation failed.

Charles, do the backups pass a validation?

bin, Apparently it does pass the validation, see attached.

Hello all!

Thank you for your comments!

Scott, bin, thank you for your help!

Dear Charlestek! Thank you for finding time to report about the issue and share your concerns with us. I entirely understand how inconvenient the situation is and will do my best to help you.

There can be several causes of the issue, so in order to solve the issue we need to localise one. Could you please provide us with the following data? 

1. Acronis System Report from the machine in question
2. Exact sequence of steps performed
3. Screenshots of the backup settings
4. Screenshot of the backup location

I will forward it to the Development team for investigation and reproducing the issue.

Meanwhile I would appreciate if you could test the latest version Acronis True Image Home 2011 and see whether it works. It will help us to llocalise the issue as well.

Should you need anything else or have any further questions - feel free to contact us at your earliest convenience, we will be happy to help you!

Thank you!

Yana,

I take it you want me to post my System Report as an attachment to this forum thread??? That would be somewhat a security risk. I am attaching it anyway

There are no "steps" in the process. I just have the consolidate settings set for 300MB, and the automatic backup fails to consolidate. I get the error shown in my previous thread.

Hello charlestek,

Thanks for providing us with diagnostic information. I've downloaded the reports and will forward them to the Development team. Reports has been removed from public access so you do not need to worry about it now.

We would also appreciate if you could test new Acronis True Image 2011 Home version and see if it has the same behavior in your environment. Trial version can be downloaded here.

Please get back to us with testing results and I am sure will be able to come up with a solution for you.

Thanks,

Andrey.

Andrey,

Thanks. However if I install the Trial Acronis TI 2011, what will happen when I have to reinstall 2010 and use my activation key? I have a feeling I won't be able to reinstall it. I think I should also be able to expect ATI 2010 to have advertised functionality that works without having to buy/install a later version.

You can always reinstall and older version if you still have the key.

charlestek

It always a wise safety precaution to make a full disk backup (all partitions) before moving to a new or test version. Having such a backup gives you the capability of putting your system back prior to any changes. This is also a wise move to have such a backup before installing anyi major software or Windows updates.

I have the key for Acronis, however, I wonder if it allows reinstallation. In any case, I don't see what advantage testing 2011 gets me, since if it works all it means that I have to pay again for a new product because the old one does not work as advertised. I'm leaning toward stopping wasting my time and energy with Acronis and going with Norton Ghost 15, which I own, but have not tried.

And Grover, you're asking me if I have a backup when I have over 700 GB in my Acronis backup folder because it will not consolidate to 300GB?
I'm not sure I even trust my backups. Maybe I will ghost the drive to be sure :-)

charlestek,
Have you considered using Chain2Gen (C2G) which is a helper program for TrueImageHome (TIH). C2G was written by forum contributor MVP Oracledba

TrueImage runs the tasks which does the scheduling and creates the backups, whereas, C2G provides the controls on when the full backup should be created. or how many to be retained. C2G offers many choices.

If interested, click on my signature index below (or my guides (index) listed under the Useful Links option along the left Window margin) and select items 3-B & 3-A within the index reference.
=================================================

Grover,

Thanks. I had read about it from your sticky before. I will consider using it, but first, I want the ATI to run its consolidation properly without erroring out. I haven't heard from Acronis, so I have no idea if they analyzed the problem or not. Considering that they have few resources reading the forums, I'm not even sure if they are going to get back to me in this thread.

Grover,

Thanks. I had read about it from your sticky before. I will consider using it, but first, I want the ATI to run its consolidation properly without erroring out. I paid for the software and expect it to run a consolidation. I haven't heard from Acronis, so I have no idea if they analyzed the problem or not. Considering that they have few resources reading the forums, I'm not even sure if they are going to get back to me in this thread.

charlestek,
Whether it works or does not work, it a mute point at this time as a new version 2011 is released and there is no more development or fixes for 2010--or at least the chance of that happening is "slim to none".

So, if you are interested in getting TI to work for you, the next step would be to see if the 2011 solves that issue for you If it does not, then Acronis can provide support, or whatever is required to make 2011 work as advertised.

Suggest you puirsue post #9 as they have indicated a willingness to solve your issues since Andrey wrote:
"Please get back to us with testing results and I am sure will be able to come up with a solution for you."

You can also contact support by sending them a private message to Anton or Yana which is available from any of their forum responses.

Grover,

I appreciate your intervention to try to get my software to work. As you can tell from my wording, I've reached the limit of my patience with my "evaluation" of Acronis' product. Please excuse my shortening temper.

Please reread the thread above, I have already sent them the testing results they asked for.

I write software for a living. If the project requirements state there is a consolidation feature, then there is a delivery of that feature and it is tested by QA. It doesn't go out the door unless it works. If it doesn't work and management decides, then the feature is removed and not advertised. Customer's don't like their software defective out the door. They are willing to tolerate some bugs, but in general if you don't deliver, no one will buy your software.

I really don't think you are putting yourself in the shoes of a customer.

It is not like 2010 advertised a consolidation feature "that may or may not work". Most ordinary people would not take the time I have to chase down a resolution. They would simply buy other software that works and use it. I have already purchased two copies of Norton Ghost 15, and I'm close to abandoning ATI because of the two SnapApi versions that I had to install to get it to run at all, and the consolidation problems. I spent hours with support to get the two SnapApi versions going. The first one did not work, but the second one, sort of.
I've really given Acronis second and third chances to deliver.
How many customers do you think Acronis would keep if they have to buy two versions just to have something that works?
I would be happy to try installing 2011, but I'm not sure what that gets me. If it works, I fork over the upgrade cost? I'd rather use my ghost.
Also, if I subsequently reinstall 2010, I'm going to have to clean out the SnapApi in the registry and its files from the 2011 version, because when I put 2010 in again, I have to install the last SnapApi I used.

Grover,
I installed ATI 2011 on top of 2010. There are no options for consolidation anymore, and the only options of version chaining do not allow space limits on the backup. Thus I have no idea why I was asked to try 2011, since they aren't even functionally the same.

I also looked at my archived backups. They start in August, then stop after September 9, then start again on Oct 3. This is really messed up.

You can set space limits using ati2011. When you configue the backup, select Custom for the backup scheme and then you can specify llimts for number of files and number fo backup sets (full with incs or diffs), total size of all the (backup) files, age of files, age of backup sets (a full with incs or diffs).

ati2011 takes more patience than prior versions to learn how to use the program, whether you are a novice to ATI or a veteran. where things are and where you might expect them to be can be very diff things. You def need to read the user guide or else give yourself some time to poke around and find things. Generally, ati2011 is more full featured than any prior version of ati, and it finally has a comprhensive task scheduler!

Patience is parmount. It can be confusing trying to understand how ati2011 organizes tib files in its list of backups (Mybackups screen), but you have to treat that like the double-slit experiment in quantum physics -- once you accept the oddity trying to understand it, you can ignore it for a while and learn other things about the program. Understanding the My Backups screen, though is currently on a par with finding a sound unified field theory. ;)