MFT Bitmap corrupted error and failure to backup

System Basics:

Windows XP Professional w/SP3 and all patches
Acronis True Image v11.0.0.8053
Boot disk C: 250Gb internal Seagate SATA (5 months old); just one partition
Backup disk D: internal WD 250 Gb P-IDE (1 month old); just one partition
1 Gb DDR PC3200 RAM
AMD Athlon XP 3200
"Acronis Backup Location:" D:\Backups\Acronis\
New Acronis patched "scheduler2" files
Disabled TrkWks Service

The Issue:

I have schedules nightly incremental backups to my internal D drive, using these Backup Location parameters:

60 Gb limit
6 Backups maximum
365 days limit

Most of the time the backups start and finish properly. I have them validated also. Lately I find that a backup will initiate then quit, with errors. When I read the Acronis log I see the same error:

Partition Error. Some of the selected partitions have the following error: MFT bitmap corrupted. module="7"
Operation with partition "0-0" was terminated. Details: MFT bitmap corrupted (0x7001 Tag = 0x89D94B01B483E13C

Normally I would suspect that my new D drive must have crosslinked files, or a corrupted FAT, so I reboot and run Chkdsk /p, or /r. After returning to Windows the backups run normally once or twice, then the MFT Bitmap errors return.

Today I tried something different. First, I ran the backup task manually and it failed with the MFT error. I spent about 20 minutes searching this forum for similar reports, closed three running applications (MailWasher Pro, Trillian, Windows Live Mail), then opened the Acronis interface and ran the task again. This time it completed the backup and validation just fine! What gives? How can the Master Filing Table be corrupt one minute and readable a few minutes later, with no further disk maintenance?

Through all of the Acronis failures to record a backup, Windows Backups have been going on every night, virtually flawlessly. I say virtually, because for the last few nights they have failed to start due to the fact that the "Remote Storage Service" was not running! That service is set to Automatic and Started, upon bootup. It never stops running until the failed Acronis backup attempts, which take out that service! In an effort to stop Acronis from killing off the Remote Storage Service I have disabled the TrkWks Service, which was suggested in another post on this forum. We'll see if that solves the problem with the service.

Your input is requested!

 

Wiz:

Has chkdsk ever reported any MFT problems? Without rebooting you could run chkdsk c: in a Windows command prompt just to see the analysis report. If Windows reports MFT corruption and it can't be fixed with chkdsk /f at boot time, then the only solution that has ever worked for me is to reformat the partition.

This is timely - I just had to do this to my XP machine 2 days ago.

 

Chkdsk reports all is well on both drives. It seems to be an Acronis problem.

 

Hello Wizcrafts,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are sorry for delayed response.

Please download the latest version of Acronis drivers and install it with disabled logging.

If the issue persists, please collect some information to let us investigate it thoroughly:

- Reinstall Acronis drivers with enabled logging;
- Reproduce the issue and collect the log file without closing any application windows (including the error message windows if there are any). The log file will be created at C:\ . The name of the log file will be snapapi [date-time].log

Please create Acronis Report and Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

Please also collect the application log of the operation:
- run the program;
- select Show log on the toolbar or from the Tools menu;
- select the corresponding log;
- click "Save the log entry to file" (the diskette icon).

Then submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. We will do our best to investigate the problem and try to provide you with a solution.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

Marat;
I have downloaded and installed the new SnapApi driver, with logging disabled and will monitor the situation for a few days. If the condition persists I will file a support request and report as you described.