Acronis 10 is such a let down...

This software is *so* unreliable, it's amazing!.

I created a backup image of drive C, and before starting the backup, I chose that the image file will be verified after its creation.

The backup file was created and verified correctly.

In order to make sure that the image backup file is 100% fine, I put it through *another* verification process, which again claimed that the backup image is 100% fine.

I then used this image backup file to restore my C drive, and "surprise, surprise!", after 96% of the restoration process, I got the message "the image file is corrupted".

I simply could not believe the words on the screen!. I tried to boot my computer but it didn't start the operation system, because Acronis destroyed the old one. So I needed to spend half a day to install my C drive from scratch.

~Off topic comment removed - Ron~ Without reliability you have *nothing*.

How could I ever trust Acronis again ?.

 

My experience has been the complete opposite. I have found Acronis to be very reliable. You weren't making and restoring from an external USB were you by any chance ?

 

Presumably you restored from the CD? Did you verify from the CD or from Windows ?

F.

 

This is exactly my experience with Acronis 10. My backups are on an external USB hard drive, and that arrangement works perfectly with Drive Image 7. I tried Acronis 10 because Drive Image does not have the ability to make incremental or differential backups. However, it has something that Acronis does not have: It's rock solid reliable! Backup software that cannot be counted on is worthless. I'm hoping that Acronis confronts this problem and offers an appropriate fix.

 

Nope.

I did *not* restore from the CD. I restored from Windows (I mean, the restoration process started from windows, but then Acronis automatically booted to DOS mode, in order to overwrite drive C).

I verified from windows, *twice*.

 

You should verify from the environment you are restoring from - in this case it was Linux. I would guess that if you had tried a verify from the Linux CD before you restored it would have failed. If this is all true then it sounds like a Linux driver issue.

If you wish to continue with TI you might find that TI booted from BartPE is a better alternative for restoring your system drive.

F.

 

With all due respect, this is unacceptable.

The Acronis 10 version I'm using, is a *Windows* software. I am restoring from Windows, and hence verifying from Windows.

The Windows verification process is definitely unreliable, and the image creation process is unreliable too (because the image created is corrupted, a thing that never happened to me in 10 years of using a competitors product).

 

I agree it is not good.

Not really, you might trigger the restoration from Windows, but the program which does the restoration does not run under Window when you are restoring a system partition.

The fact that it verifies from Windows indicates that the backup is most likely not corrupted. The most likely problem is that the Linux drivers cannot read your hardware reliably. Hence under Linux the image appears corrupt.

Not sure you are comparing apples with apples here. Which product were you using in 1997 which allowed you a) to do an image backup whilst running Windows, and b) allowed you to restore to a system partition which was in use at the time.

F.

 

Ok, the problem might be a linux/windows thing, but again, as an end customer I don't care, I am not suppose to care. And even if I do care, it's not like there's anything I can do about it, I can't program a better linux driver, right ?.

Regarding the competitors product I'm using for 10 years without a single corrupted image, well, of course in 1997 it didn't have all the feature that Acronis has today, but to tell the truth, I don't care for all those features if the software is unreliable.

 

Jonsy123 the question you now have to ask yourself is whether you want to get Acronis 10 to work or just to let off steam ?

Personaly I think Acronis 10 is worth the effort. It works for the vast majority out of the box. But that is of no importance to you as it doesn't work for you.
With a little trial and error though you might be able to discover where the conflict lies and how to resolve that conflict.

Its your call.

 

It is quite normal for the Linux drivers to lag the Windows ones. This is partly a consequence of the kernel Acronis uses, but also because of the nature of open source - so yes actually you program a more compatible driver if you wanted to. However I fully accept that there is an expectation that the product will work a certain way and it is not good for anyone when it doesn't.

Like I said, I think you made an unfair comparision, albeit you have traded reliability for a rich function set which can be unreliable - and I know which I would prefer too. Even so you were comparing apples and oranges.

It begs the question if a) your previous product was so reliable and does everything you need, and b) you don't care for many of the features in TI why did you even try TI?

On a positive note, you may like to know that the particular problem is common and can be resolved quite easily. This does not help if you have had your system wiped and you have had to do a reinstall - I would not be too chuffed either.

F.

 

Well, the single reason I switched to TI, is because the competitor product force me to boot from a CD when I want to restore a drive (they really don't give *any* other way). The entire process of booting from a CD is *long*, and I'm impatient (I restore drives about each two weeks).

TI, on the other hand, allow to restore without booting from a CD, and this makes thing much quicker, and so worth the change for me.

How ?.

 

The number 1 rule in testing a Backup program - when you want to test the Restore/Recovery process do it to a spare hard drive, not the one that you rely on for a functioning system. AFTER you are confident that the Restore works then you can take the chance to restore to your original drive.
And, yes, I agree that True Image gives too many false positives in it's verification process.

 

A two pronged attack.

1) raise a support request. They are slow, but they *will* help you resolve the issue. The most likely fix if it is a driver issue will be in one of the updates to Ti which are generally monthly.

2) In the meantime, forget about restoring from within you OS. Use the CD and try a verify. If that fails then you can boot using a CD in Windows using BartPE which will allow you to restore from Windows-proper, albeit not the from the Windows on your harddisk.

I personally think that TI's real strength is in allowing the ability to backup whilst working. The fact that there are locks and constraints on the system partition mean that there is no way round having to reboot into a different system to do the restore.

F.

 

One generalized bash removed. Please feel free to start a thread addressing any particular support issues where help is needed.

Also, let us all please try to keep in mind that this is the Acronis support forum. Alternative software may (as always) be discussed in the "software & services" section of Wilders Security Forums.

 

I think TI should run a Linux hardware-compatibility check at installation time and warn the user if there is a problem.

 

I do not have TI 10, but tI 9, at least on my system, results in a BSOD if I try to restore a drive from within Windows.

I have to restore from the rescue CD.

THe BSOD seems to occur near the end of the restore, so the drive might aqctually be restored, but tI 9 is not playing noce with something or other.

 

To think of it, I can't even restore from a CD with Acronis, even if I want to.

I have an Asus P5B deluxe motherboard, with the Jmicron controller, which is incompatible with Acronis.

Acronis only boots when the Jmicron controller is off, but when it's off, my IDE drives (including the DVD/CD drives) are off.

 

Many of us have this same problem and are far from impressed with Acronis's response. You can restore essential functionality by building a Bart PE boot disk with your drivers on it. However nice features like snap restore and the secure zone functionality you will have to wait for Acronis to produce a fix for. If you haven't already then log a support issue with them.

Acronis's solution is to produce a Linux bootable CD that will allow you to backup and restore. Not ideal but it again gives basic functionality.

If none of these options is satisfactory then depending on where you live you could get a refund if you can show that the product is defective, or not fit for purpose, or not performing as described. In the EU you should have no problem. In the US the consumer protection law isn't as strong and I wouldn't be best placed to comment.

I am reluctantly sticking with the Bart PE option and occasionally post here asking when on Earth Intel 965 support is coming (by the way the USB drivers don't function either under either full or safe mode can't remember which).

Phasechange

 

Then if you wish to continue with TI and wait for a support solution, I suggest you look at BartPE or one of the the other related Windows BootCD environments. The problem is that one cannot restore a system partition whilst booted into a normal (i.e. harddisk based) Windows environment.

You can restore non-system partitions from Windows, but that is not much help if you need to rollback your OS installation to one backed up earler.

At the moment you do not have a DR solution using TI.

F.

 

I'd like to know why you ask this question. The back-up scenario on one of my PCs relies on an external USB drive. Acronis advertises that this is an acceptable scenario.

Am I setting myself up for failure? Do you know something that I should know before it's too late?

 

Sorry to cause any concern. If your USB works then fine. I have 6 externals from various companies and have had problems with only one (a Pika drive).

I have noticed, however, that a number of people complaining about verification failure can verify if the image is made to another partition but not to an external USB. Restore speeds have often been quoted as very slow from some USB devices. In my view USB has been a bit of a pain from the day it was introduced and will not be missed when replaced. In the meantime it is always a good idea to use shorter rather than longer cables, to use less devices rather than more.

Now that e-Sata is avaliable I can't see myself buying any more USB externals but those I have I will, of course, continue to use.

 

I agree that one must be cautious with USB. I always back up to my external USB drives (USB 2.0 enclosures with PATA drives installed) and always use the boot CD to accomplish this. Naturally, I verify after backup in the same environment, and then I subsequently reverify after booting to windows.

I recently was reorganizing partitions (using partitioning software) on one of these external drives, as it was originally used for other purposes and I (stupidly) did not repartition prior to starting to use ATI (9.0 Build 3677) on this external drive. My process included copying some of the image files to one of my internal hard disks temporarily. After each copy, I verified the copied image file. One of my image files (only a couple of Gigs) failed verification. Recopying solved the problem, so it was clear that the file that failed verification was not copied correctly. Naturally, I reverified all image files from the Boot CD as well.

Just a friendly caution.

Doug

 

Hello Jonsy123,

Thank you for purchasing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are sorry for the delayed response.

Please note that the standalone version of Acronis True Image 10.0 Home build 4871 does not provide support for Intel® 965 Chipset. However, please note that we are going to include the appropriate drivers into the future builds of Acronis True Image 10.0 Home. I'm sorry, but at the moment the exact time-frame for that is not decided yet.

At this moment I would recommend that you collect the information requested in this post and submit a request for technical support, attach all the collected files and information to your request and we will investigate the problem and create a special ISO image of the Acronis True Image Bootable CD that works on your particular hardware configuration, if needed.

Aslo possible workaround is to use a BartPE-based bootable CD created using Acronis True Image plug-in for BartPE and allowing one to boot the computer into a Windows-like environment loading the appropriate drivers for any hardware devices installed in the computer at startup.

Acronis True Image plug-in for BartPE comes with the Acronis True Image installation (you need to do custom or full installation) and can be found in the
\Program Files\Acronis\TrueImageHome\BartPE folder.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

Sometimes a backup validates in Win but not with the ATI Boot CD -- which means what seems a good backup is useful for restoring? Oy veh!

I've heard of others to whom this has happened on laptops. Apparently good backups are created, but when they needed to restore, all the image files read corrupt. I had recommended ATI to some of these folks. It's why I don't generally recommend ATI to most folks anymore. I only recommend it for those that can trial it and do a test restore. I still think it's better than the other stuff out there, all things considered. But I can't recommend a backup product with the possiblity that it won't come through when folks need it.