2013 still blocks shutdown/restart

I am not quite sure - but if you have an AV-Program running, that may cause the trouble........just a thought........

Hello David,

Thank you for posting this question.

I checked your account and saw that you have an older Acronis True Image Home version. The problem with the message during the shutdown of the machine is resolved in one of the following versions. Please note, however, that no more updates for older versions are developed. The current version is True Image 2013 by Acronis.

You can find more information about it in this article from our knowledge base.

Please let me know if you have additional questions.

Thank you.

I must confess I too am very dissapointed with this product. I installed it on a very stable Windows 7 x64 setup, no problems at all, slightly overclocked, running very cool.
Though I have an older copy if True Image, it was deinstalled eventually as it did not work at that time with my raid setup. I now use an SSD as a cache for a single fast C drive, plus 9 terrabytes of storeage, two external drives used as backup.
I did not go for a trial copy, but instead bought a licence as the spec seemed good, which in hindsight was a bit rash.
I installed it seemingly OK, and left the box ticked for the program to start up as I clicked on the finish box.
It did not start up, so after leaving it alone for about 20 minutes I tried a restart of the PC, but it hung on shutdown, never had a previous problem with that!
Left it for 30 minutes, then pressed hardware reset button. It came up and seemed OK, so I selected a drive, then rightclicked and selected Acronis backup from the submenu, but again it did not start, so again I reset, and again had to use the hardware reset button.
On restarting, I did some maintenace on my PC as I was worried that using the hardware reset button had caused possible disk errors, but they were OK.
I then restarted the PC a few times OK, then clicked on the start icon for True Image, and it came up OK. I then did a few test backups of files, which seemed to work, but I setup no scheduling, no cloud useage, nothing, just the file backups, but when I came to reset, shutdown problems.
I then decided, after another hardware reset, to create a startup flash drive. This seemed to work, and I restarted the system, this time OK, and booted into the flash drive, but selecting a system report took an age and my screen eventually timed out so I hit enter which caused the PC to restart. I then tried the start Acronis option, and found the mouse would not work, so getting a tad fed up, I simply restarted the machine back into windows 7.
On completing the boot process, my machine seemed unstable, taking a long time to boot, and a number of icons missing on my screen when it eventually came up. I rebooted into safe mode, then restarted again and that seemed OK. But on simply starting up Acronis and then closing the program, I again had the shutdown problem.
After reading some of the other problems on this forum, I have now uninstalled the product, and will wait to see if fixes come out, as I do not wish to run software that creates instabilty on an otherwise stable PC as this is not a beta, and I will continue to use my existing backup software which, though old, does not cause me any problems.

I work for a top-10 software company. If we forced customers to upgrade to get fixes for serious problems, we'd be out of business.

Hello Brian and Quatrix,

Thank you for posting.

I checked your accounts and both, Brian and Quatrix have valid support. In your case, I recommend to contact Acronis Support for investigation to solve your issue. You will find more information in our Customer Handbook.

If there is anything else, we can do for you, please let me know.

Thank you.

Peter, I do have older ATI home versions and have tried every release since I last purchased -- they have exhibited this problem, so I haven't upgraded. My comment in this forum thread is specific to the downloaded trial of TrueImage 2013 which I wanted very much to give another chance because I'm rebuilding my machine anyway (reasons not worth going into here).

So, in my admittedly brief experience trying TrueImage 2013 for about a day using a demo license, this problem of it blocking shutdown/restart persists. I scoured the user manual and user interface looking for any hint that I could turn off this critically undesirable behavior, to no avail. I'm willing to try again if you think I missed a setting that would help.

Hello David,

Thank you for your reply.

I am not aware of any setting that can cause this problem. Please note that Windows Update can thus cause a behavior. Therefore, I asked you to contact our support.

Please let me know if you have additional questions.

Thank you.

Thanks, Peter, but this isn't Windows Update. When you select "Shutdown and install updates," Windows Update places onto the shutdown screen a very specific message stating how many things are being updated and updating the percent complete. No updates were pending, and I have never seen this generic "Operations" message except when True Image was running a backup.

However, when you wrote, "You can find more information about it in this article from our knowledge base," "it" seemed to refer to True Image 2013 in general, so I hadn't looked at that article. The article actually talks about this shutdown behavior which is now supposed to be interrupted by default -- there is a setting -- but didn't work that way for me. I will give it another try. (You did not ask *me* to contact support, just Brian and Quatrix.)

The linked article on the shutdown blocking "feature" links to an article on collecting process monitor logs. That page (http://kb.acronis.com/content/2295) says to save the log after reproducing the problem. This is of course impossible for a problem that exhibits itself at shutdown. I think you must mean to save the log directly before shutting down so you can see what else is running?

No luck; the article to which Peter referred, http://kb.acronis.com/content/19016, shows screen captures and options for Acronis Backup and Recover 11, not True Image 2013. There does not appear to be any setting in True Image corresponding to the "Stop running tasks and shut down" setting available there in Machine Options. Too bad; this does seem to be exactly what True Image needs to be usable for me.

(I might be willing pay the cost to upgrade to AB&R 11, except that it doesn't offer continuous backup.)

For what it's worth, I ran the current atih_cleanup_tool_s_e.exe before reinstalling TI2013. Rebooted after install, even though it didn't seem to need it. I then scheduled a backup of my system drive a few minutes into the future. Let it run for a while; used Resource Monitor to ensure it really was TI2013 causing all the activity, and then shut down. Or tried to. As before, shutdown was blocked for several more minutes while the backup completed.

I suppose it's possible that the backup was stopped sooner than it would have if I hadn't shut down -- the backup takes only 33GB while I have about 90GB on the HDD. There isn't anything in the log about the backup being incomplete. Even if you do stop early, the lack of information about when the system will actually shutdown/restart is unacceptable.

(Backup is from a SSD to an eSATA 7200RPM drive, so 9 minutes for 33GB is easily achievable... vaguely around 60MB/sec and while this drive can write almost at 100MB/s [per Atto Bench32] with a large transfer size, the difference would allow some significant CPU overhead to do the compression. With 16GB of RAM, if you skip the pagefile.sys and hiberfile.sys, you'll save ~27G right there. I guess ~2:1 isn't an unreasonable compression ratio.)

This issue is well documented here on the forums. It is a shame that Acronis fails to see how important an orderly shutdown of Windows is.
I have battery backups (UPS) in place and are monitored by software within Windows. When there is a power failure and the battery life becomes critical, a Windows shutdown is scheduled to occur. When Acronis is backing up or validating, the system can not shut down correctly and the system will power off incorrectly when the batteries become exhausted. I have documented this and posted about it a few times. I have tested other backup software, as well as Windows own backup utility, and find that most (but not all I have tested) will allow Windows to stop the processes and shut down smoothly.
I have had my system shutdown incorrectly due to power outages during an Acronis backup. When I scanned my backup destination drive, there were file system errors reported because of the file writes that were taking place during the power failure. This was easily corrected, but makes me nervous that a write error could be allowed to happen (becasue of Acronis not allowing its processes to be stopped by Windows shutdown) on my backup destination drive. It would truly be a shame to lose data on the destination drive because of this issue.

Thanks, James F. It's particularly galling that they *do* seem to see how important it is... but only for the Backup and Restore 11 product.

Peter Vigoureux wrote:

Hello Brian and Quatrix,

Thank you for posting.

I checked your accounts and both, Brian and Quatrix have valid support.

I don't have a problem, as I don't use automatic validation. I was just commenting on the suggestion to upgrade to get critical fixes.

Hello to Everyone,

Thank you for your input.

Please understand, that you should contact Acronis support in every case you have valid support program. This is the fastest way to address problems in the product and to get them solved. Posting in forum is not the official way to address such problems. In forum, I only can present you solutions or workarounds that already exist. See also the Acronis Forums Terms of Use (TOU).

Also, ensure that you work with the latest available build of your product.

If there is anything else, we can do for you, please let me know.

Thank you.

 Hello all,

Thank you for your reports.

David, 

Do you experience the issue from time to time, or do you experience it at every system shut down?

Thank you.

Oleg, Hi.

The shutdown block occurred only when ATI2013 was working on a scheduled backup task. Other shutdowns/restarts -- such as the one I did to ensure that ATI2013 was properly installed (even though it didn't ask) and after uninstalling it -- were unaffected. I had the trial version of ATI2013 installed only long enough to reproduce the problem.

While I would prefer the single-solution convenience that True Image attempts to offer, this shutdown/restart issue is important enough to me that I'm instead using a combination of Windows Backup, Task Scheduler, batch files, and Robocopy for nightly backups --- along with Genie Timeline for continuous backup. They all are polite enough to get out of the way.

Peter does seem to have been on to something when he referenced http://kb.acronis.com/content/19016 which describes exactly this problem in your Acronis Backup and Recovery 11 product. (Interestingly, the article says the default is now to shut down immediately; perhaps you recognized how poor an implementation of a "safety valve" it is.) Unfortunately, you don't seem to have made those "Machine Options" settings available in the True Image product.

The article claims to apply to "All Acronis backup software" so if there *is* a way to set this machine option on True Image, please let me know. I'd be happy to edit the registry or hack a config file. I still have two weeks on the Genie Timeline Pro 2012 trial before I buy that upgrade and re-commit to that solution.

 Hello David,

Thank you for your response.

The option "Stop running tasks and shut down " is not available for True Image Home, and a hack can't be applied also. This option should be implemented for the product, and it is a separate feature request.  I've submitted a case in our internal database, the number is ATIHXOXIII-4685. Probably, this option will be implemented for the future releases. 

Thank you.

And here we are, YEARS LATER, Acronis 2014 still has this problem!!!

Will Acronis ever do something to fix this? If not, I am also switching to another backup solution, there isn't a shortage of them you know...

Still not fixed in ATI2015 - RIDICULOUS !

Apparantly, Acronis is simply unable to cope with the amount of bugs in their software. Even in the brutally truncated version 2015 there are still tons of them, many of which have been known for years. This is leaving me speechless.

I am a long time ATI customer (since 2006), but I am switching to Macrium or (free) EaseUS todo backup 4.0.0.2 on my customers machines now.

VERY DISAPPOINTING.

Thanks for your report, Computerix. I also have given up on ATI and am using a combination of Genie Timeline for continuous backup plus EaseUS Todo Home for imaging.

Interestingly, I still prefer Acronis Disk Director for that sort of partition management thing. I've tried several; EaseUS was perhaps the most disappointing as it required a reboot just to clone one USB flash drive to another.

I guess each company has its strong points.

I see that Acronis is currently offering ADD 12 free with ATI 2015, so if anyone finds this thread while suffering buyer's remorse for ATI, perhaps they can take some solace that the bundle may have made it worthwhile.

I see there's now a 2016 version. Anyone know if this version will finally be the one to let your computer shut down when you tell it to?

David,

The only way you will find out if it will work on your computer is to try the free test version. It offers 30 days for you to find out.

Do be sure and take a full disk image backup of the ENTIRE DISK before you upgrade to any new version. Better safe than sorry.

If the computer refuses to shutdown following a backup, that is an easy workaround for that.
Use a batch file to shut the system down following a backup rather than using the inccluded shutdown command.
This link shows how which I created some time ago.
https://forum.acronis.com/forum/38609

I am sorry to tell you that the same problem is present in ATI 2016!! Windows 10 (up to date), x64

In about 75% of my shutdowns, ATI 2016 says basically "We will close your system in 2 minutes" and it never does. The only way IO can shut it down is power it off - not nice at all.

Grumble.

Tasilee,

If you do not use the "non-stop" backup, or the "sync" option,

try stoppiing the Windows SERVICES on those two items, plus changing the service start method to "disabled".

Sorry, but BOTH are already disabled. I read and acted on that idea a few weeks back and it has made no difference. So scratch that. 

Thank you all for the updates. What I really liked about Acronis True Image was how it combined continuous backup with scripted backups. Turn off half the product wouldn't be an option for me, even if it worked.

So, on various machines, I'm using a mix of Genie Timeline Pro, EaseUS TODO Backup, and Windows (10) built-in backup options (file history, occasional images). Not as nice as ATI used to be before this issue, but it works.

I suppose I most object to the fact that

1. I paid for it and it predessors

2. Acronis surely must know of all the agro from the user community for years and yet nothing has changed, and

3. ATI doesn't even have a 'Check for updates' option, unlike any decent piece of software. There are no updates! Crazy in this day.

I have just sent Feedback to them with a system report so we will see if anything useful results.

Tasilee,

Good that you sent your feedback.

Are your backups initiated "on event" or scheduled or non-scheduled?

In the backups that you have created, are all targets attached to the system at time of shutdown?

just attempting to gain some gleams of information about your settings.

Which 2016 version? the basic without the cloud, or the cloud version (but maybe not used)?

I have two scheduled backups everyday - one image and one for files. If I didn't schedule, it wouldn't happen - I mean I would forget. Such an option is pretty basic.

Where is the target--internal, external usb, network?

What method are you using to shutdown your system? Are you initiating the shutdown command msnuslly or is the shutdown inside the TI backup task?

I am using the standard Windows 10 system 'Shut down or Sign out'. I never do a shutdown from inside ATI.

Taslee,

Where is the target--internal, external usb, network?

Are you 100% certain that there is no backup in progresss when shutdown is initiated?

If you always shutdown after a backup, you could consider trying the method shown in this link.

I realize & understand this is not a solution that should be needed, but it might be something you would try but I can offer no guarantee of success. Hopefully, the program will be fixed sooner than later bit this might be of assistance.  Good luck anyway. I wish I could have helped more.

http://forum.acronis.com/forum/38609

The Targets are one internal drive and a network drive on a NAS. There is definitely no backup running when shutting down. My ATI only takes 15 minutes all up at 5pm and I'm talking 9am etc.

I am heading away for a week and don't have time till December 7 to give your work-around a try. As you say, this should certainlu not be necessary.

I appreciate the thoughts here, but in case anyone from Acronis is reading, I would like to reiterate my initial concern as some of the other requests are a little different.

Simply, I must be the one in charge of when my computer shuts down. Not Acronis. When I shut down my computer and a backup is running, I expect one of the following behaviors :

1. The backup may immediately terminate, doing some minimal -- and fast -- amount of work to do so cleanly. ]Completely abandoning the current backup, leaving only the previous backup intact is perfectly acceptable.
2. The backup may block shutdown with a prompt (modal dialog) from which I can choose either to allow the backup to finish or shut down immediately (as with behavior #1). Office applications do something similar with unsaved work.

The current behavior, that ATI blocks shutdown until a potentially long-duration backup is complete is unacceptable because it removes user control. Implementing either of the above would require a deliberate change to the software.

Other scenarios, such as shutdown being blocked when no backup is running are defects in the software and should probably be addressed through bug reports rather than feature requests. Similarly, solutions that involve disabling substantial functionality of the software indicate a serious flaw in the software.

David,

Nice comments above. More user control would help.

Keep in mind that if a backup is stopped, the backup fails and would need a restart as there has never been a pause function with TrueImage.

Which version of Windows is now involved?

2013 version supports Windows 7 but not 8.1  or Windows 10

2014 version supoorts Windows7 and 8.1 but not Windows 10

2015 and 2016 is the only version to support Windows 10

Supported operating systems.
2016
http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/ATI2016/index.html#2…

2015
http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/ATI2015/index.html#2…

2014
https://kb.acronis.com/content/44112

2013
https://kb.acronis.com/content/34116