System Image Frequencey
My computer expert was able to bring my desktop back to life with the Acronis system image I had created two months before the computer crashed.
I now realize that I must consider doing a system image more frequently. Is it possible to have incremental backups to the system image after doing a full image? I am familiar with backups and incremental backups which can be deleted automatically on a schedule. I just don't know if this can be done with a system image.
I do have backups for my data, but right now (as this is the first time I have had this problem), I am learning how to restore things like Word documents from the backup to the desktop. I use Genie Backup Manager 9 for this.
I probably was the cause for the error as I tried the Windows 10 troubleshooting program for network connections, which likely caused a driver problem. I have a Buffalo Terastation server which wasn't coming online, which is a known Windows problem. I now have a script as a backup to bring it online when the right click doesn't work.
Since my desktop is older, it would be wise to consider that I might have more problems in the future. The system image certainly saved the day for me.
Any help you can provide would be appreciated.
Lynnea
I guess my problem is terminology. Acronis documentation does refer to a "full image backup." Is this the same as a "full backup" or "backup the entire computer?"
If these terms are referring to the same thing, then I understand the options.
My other concern is that it takes 5 hours to do a full backup. During this time, I need to pause Genie Timeline and make sure that Genie Backup Manager isn't scheduled for backing up. This is all very doable for a one shot backup. I do think it will be a problem for scheduling a differential or incremental backups with Acronis.
Genie support recommends not having the two programs running at the same time. Does anyone have any experience with this issue?
If there is a conflict with two programs running, then I'm wondering how frequently should I do a stand alone full backup.
I am considering bi-weekly.
Lynnea, the term 'full image backup' will refer to all types of backups because they all have to have a full backup before any further incremental or differential backups can be created (based on the differences identified since that backup).
There are two specific types of backups:
- Disks & Partitions - this is needed to capture your Windows OS & applications etc.
This can be of selected individual disks or of your 'Entire PC'.
- Files & Folders - just to capture your user data such as documents, images, music etc.
Disks & Partitions backup tasks will use the Microsoft VSS service to capture snapshots of all your OS files and active programs.
You may need to check whether your Genie Backup application also uses VSS for its processing?
Thanks for replying. I do now know that both backup programs use VSS so it is not a good idea to run two backups at the same time.
So, I guess I am stuck with using Acronis for a full image to be scheduled on some regular basis.
Would this be a good backup plan?
I need to use Acronis along with Genie Backup Manager and Genie Timeline. I must start Acronis so there is no conflict the the Genie backups. Acronis takes five hours to backup. I am unable to schedule Acronis for backups and deletions.
I was thinking of doing a full backup every three weeks, keeping two backups on the external drive and deleting the oldest backup after the newest is completed.
The initial backup was very detailed with a date and time stamp. Will subsequent backups have this same information as I must manually delete the backups?
Will it be difficult to manually delete the full backup?
Thanks for any advice.
I was thinking of doing a full backup every three weeks, keeping two backups on the external drive and deleting the oldest backup after the newest is completed.
The initial backup was very detailed with a date and time stamp. Will subsequent backups have this same information as I must manually delete the backups?
Will it be difficult to manually delete the full backup?
I would strongly recommend not manually deleting any backup files outside of the tools provided by Acronis in the ATI GUI - doing this via Explorer is very likely to break your backups in ATI 2020 because of the additional dependencies now used.
The frequency for doing full (Disks & Partitions) backups really depend on the degree of change happening on your computer and how easy it would be for you to recover any data that might be lost in the interim period between backups if you had the Windows OS disk drive fail?
If you want to keep 2 backups on your external drive and then delete the oldest one when a further new backup is created, then use the 'Store no more than 2 recent version chains' option for the automatic cleanup rules for your backup task. This will do exactly what you need without needing to identify the oldest file(s) to be deleted or doing the delete manually.
Version chain is a set of a full backup and all incremental and differential backups, that depend on it--Acronis definition.
Version chain definition from the Acronis web site seems to me to imply that there are always incremental or differential backups.
I do no want to have any incremental or differential backups. Just two full backups. When the third full backup is finished, then I want to delete the oldest backup. So, no version chain per the definition.
Will you suggestion still work with my plan even though there are no incremental or differential backups?
Understanding definitions can be tricky.
Lynnea, a version chain can include incremental or differential files, but can also be a chain of just full backup files too.
The 'Store no more than 2 recent version chains' option for automatic cleanup works with all version chains.
OK. Just saying a chain of full backups files is confusing. These makes me think that the full backups are linked, but I think of the full backup files as being totally independent from one another. I would just have two backups more as a security blanket concept. If the most recent backup cannot be restored, then I could try the older one. With this plan, I figure whatever might be a problem with the most recent backup to cause it to fail to be restored, then since the one before is older, the same problem might not exist and so it would be restored.
Let me see if I understand you correctly.
I have already created and restored one full backup.
Today I could create a second full backup and then include "Store no more than 2 recent version chains" option.
Three weeks later I would create a third full backup. Acronis would then delete the first full backup per the "Store no more than 2 recent chains" option as soon as the third full backup is completed.
Is that correct?
Just saying a chain of full backups files is confusing. These makes me think that the full backups are linked, but I think of the full backup files as being totally independent from one another.
That used to be the case in ATI 2019 and previous versions but is no longer true for ATI 2020 & beyond! Full backups created by the same task are linked and dependent on each other!
See forum topic: Full Backups no independent entity where this has been discussed in some depth.
Let me see if I understand you correctly.
I have already created and restored one full backup.
Today I could create a second full backup and then include "Store no more than 2 recent version chains" option.
Three weeks later I would create a third full backup. Acronis would then delete the first full backup per the "Store no more than 2 recent chains" option as soon as the third full backup is completed.
Is that correct?
If you leave all the full backup files alone and let ATI do any cleanup of unwanted files, then yes, that is correct. If you delete any backup files outside of ATI then the whole chain is broken!
See forum topic: Suddenly unable to access any of my full backups of my Drive C (other drives fine) - where another user found this out today the hard way!
See the following KB documents published by Acronis with regards to .tibx files.
KB 63518: Acronis True Image 2020: do not delete first tibx file
KB 63227: Acronis True Image: Do not delete .TIB or .TIBX files outside of Acronis True Image
KB 63498: Acronis True Image 2020: new tibx backup format FAQ
KB 63425: Acronis True Image 2020: Limitations of tibx backups
KB 63445: Acronis True Image 2020: how to view and manage backup versions in new backup format
KB 63444: Acronis True Image 2020: tibx backups in local destinations
KB 63613: Acronis True Image: local backups are not available for recovery if "metadata" file appears in the backup destination - if you see metadata file(s).
Gosh, a whole bunch of information to digest. I will read all this.
But, a quick question. If I need to restore from the most recent backup, is there now a special procedure for that given that Acronis has a "chain" of full backups? If this is spelled out in the documents, then I can read it and ask if I still not understand.
Or, does Acronis know exactly what to delete and what not to delete, so I don't have to be worried about this and the restore is done per the original restore, but done on the most recent full backup. I actually did not do the restore, so I guess I have to read about that.
If you commit to your backup scheme and keep all the files being created without moving or deleting any outside of the options provided by the ATI GUI, then recovery is no problem and you will be shown recovery points corresponding to the available files.
The dependencies are not documented in the user guide that I am aware of, hence why users are being caught out by it!
If you do need to remove / delete any backup files, then use the Clean up versions tool in the GUI for your backup task and this will take care of any dependencies to preserve the integrity of the backup version chain.
I am moving forward, but I discovered a problem. Under Activities I saw that an incremental backup had failed, but another incremental backup was successful.
It was not my intent to have incremental backups. I have set the option to no schedule now.
Also, reading the documentation for Custom Schemes, I see under the The first backup scheme option that when this box is checked, the program will create two initial full backups. I only have one full backup and now the incremental backup.
Will this be a problem? Can I delete the incremental backup somehow?
I have included a screen shot of my backups.
Lynnea, your document shows that you have continued an existing backup task that was originally started back in March.
The image above is showing the content from your backup image file, so if you are seeing an incremental listed in the Activity page for this task, it is for the backup done on June 23rd whereas the original full backup was on March 10th.
All backup tasks start with a Full backup image, but thereafter the type of Backup Scheme chosen determines what further files are created and of what type.
Turning off the schedule does not change the backup type or scheme.
You should not delete any files unless using the Clean up versions tool in the ATI GUI for the task that created the files.
If you do not want to use Incremental files, then you need to change the Backup Scheme settings, or perhaps better to create a new task with the desired settings and scheme type.
So I should select and save a new scheme. Full backup, (automatic clean up rules) store no more than 2 versions, do no delete the first version (should be checked per the Acronis documentation). But the documentation also says that the first version can be deleted manually.
I can see per the 63445 ...how to view and manage backup versions in new backup format, that you can delete backups. "Method 2 cleanup versions."
But the same article also mentions how to delete individual incremental backups.
Should I delete the one incremental backup with the ATI program just to keep everything tidy?
Then configure a new backup scheme that doesn't include incremental backups, but only keeps 2 versions?
What about the statement that there if the do not delete the first version of the backup box? If that had been checked, does the documentation mean that two initial backups will be created? This is confusing as I have only one backup.
If I check that now (after the fact) will the first version not be automatically deleted?
Lynnea, I take the approach of K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple S....) which I find to be best and easiest to understand / manage.
If what you want to do is to create only Full backup images, keeping only 2 such backups then deleting anything older, then create a new backup task as follows:
- Select your Source data and Destination storage location.
- In Options, set the Schedule for how often you want to make a new Full Backup.
- Select Backup scheme = Custom scheme
Backup method = Full - Turn on automatic cleanup and select Store no more than 2 recent versions
- Leave the 'Do not delete the first version of the backup' not selected
- Setup your Notifications for the task if you to receive an email with status.
- Setup any Exclusions for the task.
- Leave the Advanced options as default unless there is a reason not to do so.
Note: If you select to 'not delete the first version of the backup' this counts as 1 or your 2 backups to be kept, therefore you would have the oldest and newest backup which after time would probably not be beneficial, especially if you have made a lot of changes since that first backup was created! If you want to keep a full backup then copy the first backup to another drive <before> you run this task for a second time.
Following your plan, will the initial backup and the one incremental backup be deleted by choosing Store no more than 2 recent versions?
Thanks so much for spelling this out for me. I did see the email notification option and I can do that.
If you are still using the same Backup task that created the existing files, then yes they will be deleted automatically once a third full backup is created to just leave two full backup images at any time.
If you will be creating a new Backup task, then no, you would need to take the Delete option for the older task (that created the backups in March & June) and select to 'Delete everything' which will delete the task and all associated files.
So, I can use the same Backup task that I had originally started with, but incorporate the steps you mentioned in the KISS procedure?
In other words, am I able to modify the original backup routine without incremental backups?
Yes, you can change the current backup task from being incremental to using only Full backups and the automatic cleanup settings will remove the oldest backup (including the incremental) when a third full backup is created.
Oh, how great. I will do that. Thanks so much. What a relief to have this information.
I had tried to use Acronis back in 2007 or so, and I just could not figure out the documentation. Perhaps there was no Forum at that time, at any rate, I just had the documentation. It was so difficult, I just gave up.
This is finally making sense for me.
A couple more questions if you have the time. I can use the same settings I have but make sure that I have no schedule and no incremental backups selected. If I want to keep the first full backup, then I should copy it to another location as the unchecked box "Do not delete the first version of the backup." will delete the first full backup.
What about Acronis documentation 63518 do not delete first tibx file.
"After the very first backup version is deleted, the .tibx backup file itself will not be deleted. Instead it will drastically reduce in size, ..." I think I finally get it. The unchecked box will delete the first version, and a much smaller tibx backup file will remain and is necessary for backup browsing. How do I use the backup browsing mechanism?
If I want to keep the first full backup, then I should copy it to another location as the unchecked box "Do not delete the first version of the backup." will delete the first full backup.
If your first backup is the only .tibx file for this task, then you can copy it to another location to keep separately.
If that first backup already has more than one .tibx file, then you must copy all the files or none as these are dependent on each other.
What about Acronis documentation 63518 do not delete first tibx file.
That warning is with reference to the small 12 KB .tibx file that is found for all backup tasks after automatic cleanup has run. That 12 KB file is a metadata container with linkages to all other files created for the task and should not be deleted else the whole backup chain is broken!
How do I use the backup browsing mechanism?
The easiest way is to double click on any of the .tibx files, then select the further files shown and repeat the process as you would with a normal drive to navigate folders.
Thank you once again for the backup procedure. I followed it, set up email notification, and successfully ran the second backup.
Your help was invaluable.