Incremental BU not working in 2011 5519

Is anybody from Acronis reading the forum or are we totally on our own?

Hi again jgt1942,

I am trying to test something similar to this. Can you confirm some of the following. Use the Cancel option once you find the information you want about the task.

Please simulate editing the task and confirm the settings are as you describe. No, I am not doubting your word but I want to make sure Acronis actually saved your settiings as you describe above.

1. Is this a files or partition backup?
2. Is the backup directed to an external or network storage?
3. Is the " Do not delete the first version" checked or unchecked?

Thank you.
Grover

Added: Note attachment. Yours looks the same except maybe for the "do not delete the first vesion" may be unchecked.

Grover - big thanks for the reply. Let me see if I can answer your questions.
1) I did check the settings and they were as I reported (when I reported I was looking at the actual screens). The process continued to add more incremental files and I was up to 1.5 TB and with other application utilization on the drive (other applications also use this drive) I did not have enough space for a full backup so I deleted the backup that was consuming all of the space and created a new incremental backup with the following settings:
1) My source is my boot drive which includes the "System Reserve" and "Local Disk (C)", there are no other partitions on this drive. I'm running Win7 Ultimate x64. On Sept 07, 2011 I created a new system build by formatting the drive and reinstalling everything.
2) The Disk Backup configuration image is attached (Acronis Disk Backup Config 11-02-2010 18-18-57.png)
My destination is "D:\BU\Acronis", the D drive is an external 2TB SATA drive connected to an eSATA port on my Lenovo W700
3) Schedule is Daily at 0200
4) Scheme is Custom
5) Backup name is "W700_Total (C)"
Now when I look at my backup drive I do see a new total backup (created yesterday) and one new incremental (created this AM) but it is NOT the filename I specified. See the attached image ( Acronis Disk Backup Results 11-02-2010 18-18-57.png). Thus the question why? I specified "W700_Total (C)" and the filename is "Partition_backup_System_Reserved_C", the new incremental that ran last night is "Partition_backup_System_Reserved_C2".

Now back to your questions:
1. Is this a files or partition backup? Partition, the entire C drive which includes the "System Reserve" and "Local Disk (C)". With Win7 when you install it automatically creates two partitions.
2. Is the backup directed to an external or network storage? eSATA drive connected to an eSATA port (external storage). My system is a Lenovo W700 laptop and I have it in a dock which has four USB 2 ports and one eSATA port. I'm using the eSATA port because it is much faster than USB 2. BTW when I ran the new incremental BU which as a first backup will create a full BU it took about 10 1/2 hours to make the BU. In my initial test of 2011 the full BU took less than an hour. This long length of time my be due to my AV (Kaspersky Internet Security Suite 2011), lately I've noticed that it has created some rather sever performance issues and this is another issue I'm working on. The incremental BU that ran last night took only 11 minutes.
3. Is the " Do not delete the first version" checked or unchecked? I cannot state for sure what it was with the previous BU but with the newly created incremental BU it is NOT checked (see the attachment Acronis Disk Backup Options 11-02-2010 18-18-57.png)

To my knowledge the new incremental setup is the same as the original except I've specified to create a full version after every 5 (in the other I think I specified 6) incremental version.

Thank you for taking the time to show me your setup. It helps me to better understand. A picture is worth a 1000 words.

Do you have multiple tasks pointing to this one folder? I am not aware of TI using different names. Can you look at your MyBackups listing of tasks and see if you can find anything showing the names actually used. If the configuration image is supposed to be the backup name, I cannot account for the other names so other tasks seem to be the answer. We know the task name and backup file name are one and the same.

The items in the results image seems to show that a new full backup was created and then a new incremental. The absence of a (x) number would imply that a new series has started.

BAsed on the date, the first item in the results image looks like a consolidation and I have no clue as to where the full is for the first group of items.

Based on the different names, there appears to be multiple tasks pointing into this one folder.

As TrueImage uses the parenthesis () for its own purposes and removes any user parenthesis, I would suggest you cease to use the () and use the brackets [ ] instead.

If it were me, I would start over with a new task and point it the task to a new location--even if only a sub-folder in your existing storage location. Any backups you manually delete, TI will continue the parenthesis number series anyway. I would try to set up the task so it is maintenance free and let TI do its own deletion and consolidation.

For my own use, I continue to use Chain2Gen so I can have my chains in their own folders.

I will do some testing over the next couple days using your config. Some of the support people do suggest that you use incrmental in file backups and differentials for partiton backups.

jgt1942,
Here are the results of my successful test. I created 12 chains of a single partition backup. The first half of backups consisted of 1 full with 5 incremental retaining 7 chains. The target was an eSata drive. I used brackets (instead of parenthesis) as part of the backup file name. The use of parenthesis in a file name is confusing to TrueImage and it removes any parenthesis put there by the user. It is best for the user not to use parenthesis in the file name.

The second half consisted of a configuration edit and conntinued with group (7) with changes to 1 full with 6 incremental and 6 chains. The correct number of incrementals created plus the correct number of chains were created and retained.

My testing was done with the next probable release of an updated version 2011.

The attached PDF shows the settings and results.

GroverH - Let me try to answer some of your questions, also I'll try to follow-up in a day or so, currently I'm in over my head with work items, super tired and I'm confused by what I'm seeing in Acronis.

1) I've removed the parenthesis and replaced them with brackets as you suggested. When I did this one additional entry appeared on the "My Backups" screen (see the attached Acronis Disk Backup My Backups 11-05-2010 00-04-28.png)

2) You ask "Do you have multiple tasks pointing to this one folder?" yes I do but I think I'm going to delete everything and start over. I've reviewed your PDF and I need to review again before I take action and when I'm not so tired.

3) You stated "I am not aware of TI using different names. Can you look at your MyBackups listing of tasks and see if you can find anything showing the names actually used. If the configuration image is supposed to be the backup name, I cannot account for the other names so other tasks seem to be the answer. We know the task name and backup file name are one and the same." The attached image is of My Backups and you I originally specified "W700_Total (C)" but this has now been changed to "W700_Total [C]". Possibly the use of parenthesis confused Acronis. Tomorrow I'll just delete everything and start new and see what happens.

4) Chain2Gen - I'll have to look into this - my brain is in a state of overflow and I'm now confused by the incremental and chains concept (I need a much larger coloring box).

Thanks

As I look at your last attachment, I am of the belief that the backup name displayed was the name that was assigned to that task--at that particular time and each difference may be the result of a task edit. Then again, I could be completely wrong. Open your logs folder and your scripts folder and look at the contents. If you dbl click any of the log files, they should open in notepad or similar. With the script file, Right click on any of the scripts and choose the "open with" option and open with Notepad or Word. Both type files may provide some clues as to the names of the original backups.

As you look at the listing of backups inside the pdf file, the listing is simply a progression of successive backups. Once the number of incremental backups matched the configuration number, a new full backup was completed and the numbering inside the parenthesis incremented by one with each chain. As a new chain was completed, the oldest chain was deleted so the backup scheme configuration determines how many chains are retained in your storage folder. A chain is defined as one full and all incremental created before the next full backup. Each full backup is the start of a new chain. Likewise, if the file type is differential, a chain again is one full backup plus any single differential created before the next full backup. If you backups are exclusively all full backup, then each full backup is a standalone chain.

A new build for 2011 is expected very soon. If you create new tasks now using the 5519 build, you should be able to download the new build and use the repair option of the new download to get yourself updated. Your recently created tasks should carryover into the new version--at least I am expecting that to occur. Naturally, it is always wise to have a full backup before switching to any new build.

Perhaps some these links may provide some clarity to your understanding.

1536: Difference between Full, Incremental and Differential Backup
http://kb.acronis.com/content/1536

13656: Acronis True Image Home 2011: Backup Schemes
http://kb.acronis.com/content/13656#

13450: Acronis True Image Home 2011: Disk and partition backup
http://kb.acronis.com/content/13450#

13456: Acronis True Image Home 2011: File backup
http://kb.acronis.com/content/13456

13474: Difference between File Backups and Disk/Partition Images
http://kb.acronis.com/content/13474