Does Acronis take account of deleted folders in differential backups?

[martinlest]

If I make a full image, and then at a later date I delete folders and files from my PC, will those deletions be taken into account when I make a differential backup?

In other words, given that my main backup contains these subsequently deleted files & folders, if I later I make a differential backup after they've been removed from my PC, will an Acronis restore, pointing to the differential tib file, contain these deleted folders or not?

Thank you,

Martin

[martinlest]

... I should have said that the reason I ask is that the deleted folders still show in the Acronis folder tree when I go through the restore process.

It's a bit worrying to think that I have spent hours working out files which need to be taken off my PC having made a umber of changes to its setup, and made a differential backup afterwards, but that all the junk I have got rid of would then be restored in any case. If this isn't the case, why are the deleted folders still shown in my differential backup? If it is the case, do I need to make a full backup then every time I delete a file or folder

Thanks again,

Martin

[Menorcaman]

-{ Quote: "If I make a full image, and then at a later date I delete folders and files from my PC, will those deletions be taken into account when I make a differential backup?

In other words, given that my main backup contains these subsequently deleted files & folders, if I later I make a differential backup after they've been removed from my PC, will an Acronis restore, pointing to the differential tib file, contain these deleted folders or not?

Thank you,

Martin" }-Hello Martin,

If you opt to restore from a differential (or incremental) image created after those files and folders had been deleted from your system then they will not be included in the restore.

Regards

[Menorcaman]

Hello again Martin,

-{ Quote: "... I should have said that the reason I ask is that the deleted folders still show in the Acronis folder tree when I go through the restore process." }-I guess you must have chosen the Files and Folder option to see the directory structure of the image?

-{ Quote: "It's a bit worrying to think that I have spent hours working out files which need to be taken off my PC having made a umber of changes to its setup, and made a differential backup afterwards, but that all the junk I have got rid of would then be restored in any case. If this isn't the case, why are the deleted folders still shown in my differential backup? If it is the case, do I need to make a full backup then every time I delete a file or folder" }-When you get to the point where you can choose the restore point by the date/time of each image, make sure that you pick the differential created after the folder/files deletion.

I've just tested this and the results are shown in the Screenshots below.

Regards

[martinlest]

Many thanks for the reply and the screenshots.

Both my original backup and the differential backup later, were both created using the file/folder option - mostly because the partition I'm backing up contains one folder with 25GBs of data, data that never changes and which I have on DVD-ROMs, so don't want to include in my .tib files - I don't see that I can exclude this folder with the full partition option.

I will check again, but I made a full backup a couple of days ago (folders/files option, as I say) and this morning a differential backup. I then went through a restore to get as far as the tree structure, pointing to the differential file - and the folders I had deleted were still there. Your screenshots suggest otherwise, so I am really mistified now! I'll double-check this, as I say.

Thanks again for the reply,

Martin

[martinlest]

Gone back and checked this - the folders I deleted last night definitely show up in the folder tree of the differential file I made this morning. I'll try deleting the differential and making a new one, though I can't see that that will help.

How come you get a different result in your screenshots? I am very anxious to sort this out, so that my Acronis backup reflects the true state of my PC.

Martin

[Menorcaman]

I was using the restore files and folders option option on Disk/Partition images, so there may be a difference. I will repeat the exercise for Files and Folders differential backups and report back.

Regards

[martinlest]

Repeated the exercise - the folders I deleted yesterday are still there in the differential image I made 5 minutes ago.

Martin

[Menorcaman]

O.K. Martin, here's how I see restoring from Files and Folders differentials working:

1. Create a Files and Folders full baseline image.
2. Create the 1st Files and Folders differential image.
3. Delete some files and/or folders (in my case folder 2006-04-24) and create a 2nd Files and Folders differential image.
4. Commence the restore process and select any one of the above 3 Files and Folder images.
5. In the Archive Date Selection window, select the 1st differential image (Screenshot 1).
6. In the Contents Selection window, directory tree Local Disk (C:) contains the contents of the full baseline image whilst Local Disk (C:\) contains the contents of the C: partition as it was when the 1st differential was created (Screenshot 2).
7. To restore the C: partition to the state that it was at the time the 1st Differential was created you need to untick the checkbox at the root of the directory tree and tick the Local Disk (C:\) checkbox. Expanding this tree shows the presence of folder 2006-04-24 (Screenshot 3).
8. To restore the C: partition to the state it was at the time the 2nd differential was created i.e. after deleting folder 2006-04-24, proceed through steps 3 to 7 but this time, at step 5, select the 2nd differential image instead of the 1st. Now when you expand the Local Disk (C:\) tree the 2006-04-24 folder doesn't appear (Screenshot 4).

Appols for the somewhat longwinded explanation but I felt it was the only way to make it clear.

Regards

[martinlest]

Bit pushed for time right now. I'm going to save this thread to my hard drive and digest it a bit later. Will post back of course. Thank you...

M.

[martinlest]

Hi again. I have gone through your step-by-step instructions with the screenshots, for which many thanks, and I pretty quickly come up against a problem....

I created a new folder on my C drive and put two subfolders into it, then made a main backup of that folder using the folders/files option (of course!). I added a third subfolder and made a 1st. differential backup. I then deleted folder No.1, leaving 2 & 3, and made a 2nd. differential backup. So far so good.

When I come to restore, in the Archive Selection window I pick any of the 3 images - here the last differential I made. In the Archive Date Selection window I select the first differential. I move on to the Contents Selection window - and now things do not look like they do in your screenshot 2. At the top of my tree is my 2nd. differential, Backup3.tib, as I have just chosen in the Archive Selection window. It doesn't matter which backup I chose in the Archive Date Selection window, I always get a tree for the file I select in the Archive Selection window.

Below Backup3.tib, whereas you seem to have three entries (screenshot 2 - your line No.6), I do not. I have one entry only 'Local Disc (C)', not one for each backup as you seem to have. Expanding the tree for that one entry takes me to my original backed up folder with the three subfolders in it - and there are three in there, as per my 1st. differential.

I hope you are following this OK!! :-)

If I then go back to the Archive selection window and choose my full backup, not one of the subsequent differentials, then when I get to the tree view, my original subfolders show, 1 & 2. Fine. Choosing my 1st. differential in the Archive selection window shows subfolders 1, 2 & 3 in the tree, again as it should. But if I choose my last differential, I still get all 3 subfolders showing in the tree, not just 2 & 3 as I would have expected. Doesn't make any difference at all what I choose in the Archive Date Selection window - in fact this window in my setup seems to serve no purpose at all. And I nver see more than one entry in the Contents Selection window. (My 3 .tib files are all in the same place of course).

I hope that is clear. Have you I got the right version of Acronis (9 Build 2337)? Hope you can continue to help here, because as it is I clearly cannot
use Acronis to make reliable backups - at least not unless I make full backups every time.

Many thanks,

Martin :(

[martinlest]

Something else - sorry this is getting long!!! I am beginning to suspect that my Acronis is not making differential backups at all. I made a 3rd. differential backup after posting the above. Then I deleted my 1st. and 2nd. differentials, leaving the full backup and the last one. Now Acronis won't restore at all - I get an error window ("Warning: W0004001 Please insert the media marked "Volume 3"). If I cancel I get the same window asking for voume 2. Isn't this what happens with an incremental backup? I am definitely choosing differential!!

And when I select Backup4.tib (my 3rd. differential) in Archive Selection, the pane on the right shows: 'This is volume 4 of a multivolume file archive Backup.tib'

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear ...

Martin

[Menorcaman]

-{ Quote: "Have you I got the right version of Acronis (9 Build 2337)?" }-Hi again Martin,

Please log into your account at acronis.com and download Build 3567 of TI 9.0 Home. Uninstall Build 2337 via Windows Control Panel's "Add or Remove Programs" before installing the new build.

Build 3567 is a BIG improvement on previous builds, incorporating a completely new imaging engine, a number of bug fixes (although there are still a few minor ones remaining) and some worthwhile additional features. So, repeat the above exercise with the new build and let us know how you got on. With luck it will have sorted out this particular problem.

Regards

[martinlest]

Good morning. That was a quick reply!!

The build I have came form the link given to me by Acronis when I bought v.9 just a couple of weeks back. I told them that I could not install the normal downloaded version as the laptop on which I wanted to install it has no internet connection - I always got to a registration section which would abort the installation when I couldn't connect to their website.

I'll try to find the latest build and try to install it, and post back.

All the best,

Martin

[martinlest]

Installed the new build OK - but the problem is exactly as before.

I have e-mailed Acronis Support, with a copy of their report.exe file, but would still much appreciate any further ideas you might have.

Martin :-\

[Menorcaman]

-{ Quote: "Installed the new build OK - but the problem is exactly as before.

I have e-mailed Acronis Support, with a copy of their report.exe file, but would still much appreciate any further ideas you might have.

Martin :-\" }-Please confirm that you recreated all the Files and Folder images (full and differentials) using Build 3567? If you did, then I'm stumped ???.

Perhaps one of our other forum members could repeat the exercise I posted in #9 above and report back their results? Who knows, my interpretation of Files and Folders differential restore may well be incorrect :P.

Regards

[martinlest]

Yes, I started from scratch. The crux of the problem seems to be that I don't get subfolders in my folder tree showing the different images I have made, original + differentials: I only ever get the one, and only ever shows additions (for instance, if I add a fourth subfolder and make yet another differential, that will show in the Acronis folder tree at a restore). No matter what I delete however, it stays put in the Acronis tree.

I've made fresh full backups of my partitions now and will have to do this in future until this is sorted out. It is a pain, because I back them up onto DVD and onto an external firewire drive, so it takes me quite a time all in all.

Very, VERY odd that I get this problem and you clearly do not....

Thanks again for all the input. If I get any solution throgh Acronis I'll surely let you know.

Martin

[Menorcaman]

-{ Quote: "Yes, I started from scratch. The crux of the problem seems to be that I don't get subfolders in my folder tree showing the different images I have made, original + differentials: I only ever get the one, and only ever shows additions (for instance, if I add a fourth subfolder and make yet another differential, that will show in the Acronis folder tree at a restore). No matter what I delete however, it stays put in the Acronis tree.

I've made fresh full backups of my partitions now and will have to do this in future until this is sorted out. It is a pain, because I back them up onto DVD and onto an external firewire drive, so it takes me quite a time all in all.

Very, VERY odd that I get this problem and you clearly do not...." }-Hmm, I've been pondering over this for a while and the thought struck me that maybe the fact that my "baseline" F&F image was created using Build 2337, whilst the two differentials were created with Build 3567, had some bearing on the matter. So..., I decided to start again, this time using Build 3567 to create the baseline F&F image and the two F&F differentials. Guess what? Now when I open the 2nd differential for a F&F restore I only have the single Local Disk (C:\) folder and the 2006-04-24 folder is still there (see screenshot) - which is exactly the same problem that you reported :wacko: :P.

I'm aware that the structure of image files has changed between Build 2337 and Build 3567 but why it should throw up the two different results is difficult to explain. Perhaps Build 3567 recognised that the original baseline F&F image was created in the old format and, instead of creating new differentials, rejected the old baseline and created new full F&F images instead. This would account for why the 2006-04-24 folder didn't appear in what was supposed to be 2nd differential but was, in fact, an additional full F&F image.

Anyway, the bottom line is, the Build 3567 files and folders restore function from Files and Folders differential images isn't working as we would expect i.e. no way should a deleted file or folder appear in a differential image created after the file/folder was deleted. Hopefully Acronis Support can throw a little light on this soon.

Regards

[martinlest]

I did build the baseline image with the new build, so I don't think that that is the problem. Amazing (but consoling!!) that suddenly you get the same thing as I do!! Bear in mind though I have had this problem with both builds.

I have now made new baseline images and written them to DVDs and copied them to my external drives so I am OK to date. It would be good to get this sorted though in time for when I want to make a differential backup next, in a couple of weeks maybe.

I'll wait and see what Acronis support says,

Martin

[Menorcaman]

-{ Quote: "I did build the baseline image with the new build, so I don't think that that is the problem. Amazing (but consoling!!) that suddenly you get the same thing as I do!! Bear in mind though I have had this problem with both builds." }-Some confusion here I'm afraid Martin. The point I tried to make was, that, the reason I didn't see the problem initially was probably because my "baseline" Files and Folders image was created with the old build (2337) whilst the subsequent differentials were generated by the new (3567). As soon as the baseline and associated differentials were created by the same build (as in your case) the problem reared its ugly head. My theory for why I didn't experience the problem initially is that Build 3567 somehow got confused by the old Files and Folders baseline and therefore ended up creating full images each time instead of differentials. Hence reason for the two Local Disk directory trees (C: and C:\) and why the deleted folder didn't appear in the, so called, 2nd differential as demonstrated in Post #9 above.

Yes, it will be interesting to hear what Acronis Support have to say about Build 3567's inability to exclude previously deleted files or folders from subsequent Files and Folders differential images.

Regards

[martinlest]

My fault - I didn't read your message closely enough!

M. :)

[Brian R]

Menorcaman,

You mentioned above that Build 3567 has "a number of bug fixes (although there are still a few minor ones remaining)". I was wondering is there a list anywhere of the outstanding minor bugs? I've been running TI very happily for a year now and upgraded to 3567 today, so I'd be very interested to know of any issues I need to be careful of.

I hope this post is not considered to be butting in. If so, my apologies and please treat it with the contempt it deserves.

Regards,
Brian.

[martinlest]

You are more than welcome to join us Brian!! I'll leave Menorcaman to answer your question though..

Martin 8)

[Brian R]

Thanks, Martin!

[Menorcaman]

-{ Quote: "Menorcaman,

You mentioned above that Build 3567 has "a number of bug fixes (although there are still a few minor ones remaining)". I was wondering is there a list anywhere of the outstanding minor bugs? I've been running TI very happily for a year now and upgraded to 3567 today, so I'd be very interested to know of any issues I need to be careful of." }-Hi Brian,

Well, apart from this one obviously (for which we are still awaiting Acronis Support comments), here are some other relevant links:

* <Restore just boot.ini> (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=129052). No comment yet from Acronis Support.
* <Build 3567 - Unnecessary Verification?> (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=128907).
* <Build 3567: Apparent debris in registry from earlier builds> (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=128651).
* <Build 3567: Acronis TI Backup Image Explorer> (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=128264).
* <Problem with Differential Backups> (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=121005).

This is probably not a definitive list of general bugs as I, for one, haven't carried out a full systematic test of the new build (too busy getting ready for our summer visitors :P). However, I guess it will do to be getting on with ;D.

Regards

[Brian R]

Menorcaman,

Many thanks for that list. In my experience, all non-trivial software has issues of one kind or another and it can save users much time and effort (not to mention grief) to know what they are.

Having gone through each of your links (and their links!) I made a list of my understanding of the TI9 Build 3567 issues. I thought that this might be useful for others, so I've included it below. If you feel that it may cause problems by being over-simplified (or just plain wrong) please let me know and I'll delete it.
(1) This issue, i.e. restoring a Differential includes files and folders which were deleted after the Full backup but before the Differential Backup.
(2) Scheduling a Differential backup actually produces an Incremental one. This may be simply be the result of (3) below. For me, (2) and (3) seem to be the most dangerous of the current issues, e.g. produce a Full, then a Differential and then a second Differential. Deleting the first Differential means that the second one is now useless .
(3) When setting up the details of a Differential backup, the final confirmation screen sometims(?) shows that it's been changed to Incremental. The workaround is to step back through the set-up and re-enter that it's a Differential.
(4) Verifying a Differential requires the availability of all earlier Differentials based on that Differential's Full backup. (This is different from (2) and (3) above as there is no such problem with a Restore.)
(5) When upgrading from TI8 to TI9, two entries are shown in the "Acronis Devices" section in Device Manager. This doesn't appear to cause a problem , but getting rid of the extra entry requires Registry changes and/or complete TI uninstall and re-install.
(6) Verification happens twice when restoring the system partition from Windows. The effect of this is that the Restore takes significantly longer than from a boot CD.
(7) Can't restore individual hidden files (and folders?) using a boot CD. However, they are restored by a full restore. They are also available from within Windows.

(Aside to Acronis - It's World-Class service to customers to provide them with details of current issues. Hint: this is especially true of backup software. :) )

Again, many thanks,
Brian.

[martinlest]

Had a reply from Acronis. They asked me to go through my backup/differential & restore, making a screenshot of each step, which I did.

And, now isn't this just typical!, I can't get Acronis to 'misbehave' itself again, as it was doing yesterday. So much the better, but it's a bit embarrassing. Today, although the programme shows the deleted folders in the tree of the differential image, it does not restore them.

No idea what is going on and if differential backup restores weren't working properly yesterday, my confidence is slightly shaken that they will be OK tomorrow. Because of the type of data I am backing up with Acronis, if deleted (= obsolete, replaced with newer versions) files were restored in error, it would be a total disaster for my PC setup, which is why I was so alarmed at what happened yesterday.

I think in future, should I ever need to restore from Acronis, I will make a new image of my current setup or folders & files before I continue - just in case it all goes wrong. Better safe than (very!) sorry!

Maybe you could try again and see if your installation is working today?

Martin ???

[Menorcaman]

-{ Quote: " Today, although the programme shows the deleted folders in the tree of the differential image, it does not restore them." }-Well I'll be jiggered!! Just tried it and you are right. Whilst my deleted folder 2006-04-24 was present in the 2nd differential, and TI allowed me to select and restore it, once the restore process had completed the folder and its contents hadn't actually been restored :wacko:. In a way that's good news but nevertheless, in my view, the deleted folder should not have been visible in the 2nd differential in the first place!!

To Acronis Support

Hopefully the Acronis Development Team will get rid of this, what now transpires to be a cosmetic bug, in a future build.

Regards

[martinlest]

But yesterday my setup was actually restoring the files/folfers I had deleted, not just showing them in the tree!! It's beyond me. Maybe that was with the old build I had installed - can't recall exactly now.

M.

[Menorcaman]

<BUMP>

Hello Acronis Support,

Would appreciate your comments.

Kind Regards

[Acronis Support]

Hello Menorcaman, martinlest and everyone interested,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/).

We are very sorry for such a big delay with the response.

I've made some testing and it seems that the issue is that files and folders included into the initial full backup are always shown in the Restore Data Wizard even if they were actually deleted and differential image was then created. However, they are not being restored anyway.

Moreover, if some files\folders were added, i.e. differential image was created, after the intial full image was created then these files\folders were deleted and new differential image was created then these files\folders are properly appear\disappear in\from the corresponding differential images (restore points). That's what made this issue so difficult to catch :)

Whatever the case, I've forwarded this issue to both our Testing and Development Teams and they will take care of it as soon as possible. I'll certainly inform you about the results of their investigation. Thank you very much for all the provided information and sorry for your inconveniences.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

[Acronis Support]

Hello Brian R,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Disk Backup Software (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/).

The list of the known issues will probably be available in the future. However, the exact time frame for this is not decided yet.

At the moment, you can find out whether some particular problem has already been fixed or not by submitting a request for technical support (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/my/support/) or posting your question on this forum.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

[Menorcaman]

Hello Alexey,

Many thanks for confirming that it wasn't just our imagination!! As you discovered for yourself, this non-critical (as it turned out) bug was a tricky little devil to pin down. I look forward to the fix sometime in the future.

Best regards

[martinlest]

Well, I am still 99% sure that my deleted files were being restored - but now they are not, so I cannot explain it! I've made new base images of my partitions, just in case!

Martin :)

[Menorcaman]

Hi Martin,

Changing the subject slightly. I can understand why you don't wish to backup your static data files but using TI's Files and Folders imaging/restoring feature is very, very slow compared to Disk and Partition imaging/restoring.

Is there any reason why you can't create a separate partition which you could then move your static data to? You could then use TI's Disk/Partition imaging and restoring feature for regularly backup of the original partition that now only holds your O/S, applications and dynamic data. If you don't have a non-destructive repartitioning utility then you could utilize a workaround that uses TI's Secure Zone (SZ) and Windows Disk Management as follows:

1. Use the Manage Acronis Secure Zone Wizard to create a temporary SZ that's big enough to accommodate your static data needs. Do NOT accept the default option to also activate the Acronis Startup Manager.
2. Right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage" > "Disk Management".
3. Right click on the SZ and select "Delete Logical Drive". When done, you will be left with unallocated free space equal to the size of the deleted SZ.
4. Right click on the "Free space", select "New Logical Drive" and follow the "New Partition Wizard" to create a new partition to hold your static data.

Regards

[martinlest]

Thanks for the thought. It's not quite that straightforwrad however. I use Acronis to back up my whole PC, but my most 'sensitive' data is my very highly personalised installation of MS Flight Simulator 2004. I have spent 2 years learning how to write programmes for it, tweak aircraft/airport/scenry files and so on, so that if I ever lost everything (unlikely, as I do back it up as if my life depended on it - sad, isn't it?!), I would never be able to rememebr how to reinstall everything as I have it now.

I used to just copy over the separate folders to an external drive, but in the end found Acronis much more convenient. My FS2004 setup has a 60GB partition all to itself (XP is elsewhere) and contains some very large data folders, like 25GBs plus) which, as I say, I don't need to back up as I have all the original installation CD-ROMs. The problem with the full partition backup is that I cannot choose to exclude individual folders, and by the time I have gone to the trouble of moving these somewhere else for the duration - well, I don't save any time. In any case, I find the folder/file backup option in Acronis very fast. It usually completes making the tib file from a 25GBs of data (excluding my large folders) in less than 15 minutes.

In the end, I think that as my FS2004 partition has no O/S on it, the files/folders option is fine for me - just wish my confidence hadn't been shaken by the past week's deleted folders episode!

All the best,

Martin

[Brian R]

Alexey

-{ Quote: "The list of the known issues will probably be available in the future." }-

Really good news, thank you. Take a bow, Acronis!

-{ Quote: "At the moment, you can find out whether some particular problem has already been fixed or not by submitting a request for technical support (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/my/support/) or posting your question on this forum." }-

Yes, I understand and value that. However, like a lot of other people, I need to be pretty sure that something isn't a "user problem" before bothering other people with it - especially the unpaid volunteers who give so much of their time to helping other people.

More importantly, the forums and Acronis support can only help me with problems that I already know that I have. There's the old saying that you only know your backup works when you (try to :-\ ) use it - ouch! A list of known issues is a powerful way of reducing uncertainty.


Thanks again,
Brian.

[musouka]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forums and to Acronis but have already fallen in love with what it can do. I am having one problem that is very similar to this thread however, and was wondering if anyone might be able to shed some light on it for me.

What I am trying to do is use Acronis to create three images for a system. The first, baseline, image would be a "tuned" image of the system. The second would be a differential image with the only change being that Norton AntiVirus has been installed, and the third would be another differential image with Norton Internet Security installed.

The problem that I am running into depends on which type of image I use. When I use the files and folders method for creating all of the images, then when I restore the baseline image over a pre-tuned image, it doesn't erase any of the junk files that I wanted it to get rid of. That is the same problem with the differential images using this method.

When I use the partition/disk image method it works perfectly for the baseline, and for the first differential, but when I restore the original baseline and create the second differential, it creates a file almost as large as my baseline image. I know this is because Acronis works on a sector basis and will restore all files that have been moved on the disk even if their contents have not changed at all.

So, I'm left wondering if there is any way that I will be able to perform the operations that I am wanting to do? Is there any way to use Acronis to create a baseline "tuned" image that will erase all the junk that is on a system as well as creating differential images which each have ONLY the files which have actually changed since the baseline was created, and not those that have simply been moved on the physical disk?

Any help with this would be highly appreciated.

Thank you.

[musouka]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I am wanting to do this using the boot CD and not from the installed software. It seems to work exactly the same way though.

[martinlest]

To be honest, I think you are going to spend a very long time indeed trying to get this to work - would not one of two options be better?

Either create three full images, one baseline, then one after each Norton installation? Depends how big your partitions are of course - if it's 45GBs each time, then that's not really an option.

Or, couldn't you just keep your baseline image and, if necessary, just restore the Norton from the original discs after restoring your basic Acronis image?

I've been some way down the road you are headed, and decided life was too short, I'm afraid!

Martin

[musouka]

Yes, both of your suggestions would work. The problem is that I am wanting to use this process on about 50 different systems in a corporate environment. So, as you might imagine, time and space are both somewhat limited.

I'm a bit frustrated with this problem because I asked Acronis support if the program would perform this task before purchasing it, and now I run into this issue. It's a great imaging program as-is, but I really need it to perform these functions. Is there any way to write a script file for it to perform the erasures that I need using the files and folders method?

[Acronis Support]

Hello musouka,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/).

-{ Quote: "
When I use the partition/disk image method it works perfectly for the baseline, and for the first differential, but when I restore the original baseline and create the second differential, it creates a file almost as large as my baseline image. I know this is because Acronis works on a sector basis and will restore all files that have been moved on the disk even if their contents have not changed at all." }-

When you restore sectors might not be restored to their original locations, meaning respective hard disk sectors before the backup and after the restoration do not match.
When incremental or differential image is created only the changed sectors are backed up, that's why your second differential is almost as large as the original backup.

As a workaround you can create an image with Norton AntiVirus installed, uninstall Norton AntiVirus, install Norton Internet Security and capture new differential image. It will be considerably smaller than the full backup.

Thank you.
--
Anton Sherkhonov

[musouka]

Yes, I am aware of the reasons for the problem, and I have been using the method you mentioned as a workaround for now. I would still like the ability to have the files and folders mode erase any junk files that were not present during the creation of the baseline image. Is there any way at all to achieve that?

[Acronis Support]

Hello musouka,

I've added the suggestion to the enhancements list.
I'm not sure there is an easy way to script it.

Thank you.
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Anton Sherkhonov

[Acronis Support]

Hello everyone,

Please accept our apologies for the current inconvenience.

I've just received a reply from our Development Team and they assured me that the issue with files and folders included into the initial full backup being always shown in the Restore Data Wizard even if they were actually deleted and differential image was then created is fixed. The fix is available in the current build (3677) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/my/support/) or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
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Alexey Popov

[martinlest]

Excellent. I installed the latest build yesterday.

[rpwt]

Musouka -

Perhaps another solution would be to set up a VMWare (or other virtualization) of your environment. These allow snapshots of the system including all disk/registry changes before and after major modifications.

I've tested several AV packages within a virtualized XP environment.

Maybe this is not what you need?

There are also packages that track all disk and registry changes while installing software. Don't remember specific ones, but I think Norton had such a beast.