Failed to write data to the archive file

I've been having nothing but trouble since I reinstalled TI. (I had to reinstall Windows due to corruption, so I had to reinstall all my applications.) I have TI Home 10.0, Build 4942. I'm running Windows XP, SP3. I'm trying to back up to an external USB drive. I get this "Failed to write data to the archive file" message. I actually bought another external drive, foolishly believing the error message that I had poor media quality. However, I get the same error with the new drive as well as on another computer. I have caching turned on. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing TI and nothing works. I'd be very grateful if anybody can help.

Paul

 

Some thoughts (sounds better than guesses):

Run chkdsk X: /r on all your partitions. Replace the X with the drive letter of the partition being tested. Reboot likely required for C.

You said you had a corruption, is your PC solid now?

Is the USB drive plugged into a rear USB port. Sometimes the extra wire associated with the front ones can be a problem.

Try turning the caching off. I fixed a "Delayed Write" problem by doing this once.

If TI10 has a disk writing speed control in the options, try reducing the write-speed and see if it helps.

Try creating the archive using the TI rescue CD instead of in Windows.

Try the Trial version of TI2009.

 

Hello PaulZ,

Thank you for using Acronis True Image 10.0 Home

Can you please clarify the following:

- Are you trying to perfrom disk/partition or file/folder backup?
- Do you use schedule tasks or pefrom backup manually?

Please attach log file of the error message to your next reply:

- Start Acronis True Image;
- Select Tools -> Show log;
- Choose the log entry which contains errors;
- Click on the diskette icon, choose the location (folder) and save there;
- Send us the log.

I may recommend you update SnapAPI drivers using the following KB article and see if the issue persists.

Best regards,
--
Dmitry Nikolaev

 

I'm doing folder backup, manually.

Log attached.

After installing SnapAPI and rebooting I tried a manual backup. Seeing no progress after an inordinate amount of time, I tried to cancel the backup, to no avail. I finally had to power cycle the computer. I then uninstalled SnapAPI, reinstalled it and rebooted again. I then tried another manual backup which resulted in "Error writing the file - E00040003."

I appreciate your looking into this as I am still unable to do a backup. Thanks.

 

Hello PaulZ,

Thank you for using Acronis True Image 10.0 Home

Have you tried workarounds suggested by seekforever? Did you use chkdsk utility and have you tried trial version of Acronis True Image Home 2009?

If the issue persists switch your external hard drive to "Optimize for performance" mode:

a. Right-click the My Computer icon and then click Manage.
b. Click the Device Manager icon.
c. Click the plus (+) sign next to Disk Drives.
d. Double-click the USB hard drive string.
e. Click the Policies button then click Optimize for performance and mark all checkboxes.

As workaround you may also try to use another USB port and USB cable if possible.

Best regards,
--
Dmitry Nikolaev

 

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I will try seekforever's workarounds. However, do I need to do chkdsk on my copy-from partitions or just the copy-to partitions since it is the write that is giving me the error message?

Also, seekforever suggests turning caching off and Acronis Support suggests turning caching on. I guess I'll try turning it off since turning it on did not solve the problem.

As I have had persistent problems since reinstalling TI10 with backups using a front USB port, a back USB port and 2 different external USB drives, including a new one, I will start with the suggested actions that don't relate to the USB port and the goodness of the drive.

To answer seekforever's question, my computer has been solid since reinstalling with the notable exception of TI10.

Thanks again to both of you for your help.

 

Hello PaulZ,

Thank you for using Acronis True Image

To localize the issue could you please create a backup archive and place the file to your internal hard drive? Also, what is the size and amount of the source folders?

Acronis True Image may run out of system resources on the machine when backing up thousands of files.

Thank you.

--
Oleg Lee

 

I was successful in creating an archive on an internal drive and verifying it.

When I had errors creating an archive on an external HD, I was only attempting to backup a partition with 330MB of used space, so size wasn't an issue.

When I ran chkdsk on my (new) external HD, I had an error that couldn't be recovered, so I seem to have had bad luck with my new HD which is well past warranty.

 

Hello PaulZ,

Thank you for using Acronis True Image 10.0 Home

Have you tried to format the drive? Let us know the results.

Best regards,
--
Dmitry Nikolaev

 

Formatting the drive failed. I downloaded diagnostic software from Western Digital and several tests passed until I finally stumbled onto one that failed. I'm getting a replacement drive. It seemed like a very unlikely situation that the new drive I bought because of error messages trying to archive on an old drive also had problems, but that was the case. I consider this issue closed, the resolution being the drive really was bad. Thanks for all your help.