No Response to Support Registration since 9/30

Out of desperation I am posting here because I am unable to communicate with anyone at Acronis Support. Unless one "Registers" first, a User can't send Acronis support emails nor post to their site forums.

Since Friday 9/29 I have "registered" 4 times and received 4 on-screen confirmations but no email confirmations. After googling a direct email address to Support on the web, I'm just getting automated messages that someone will get back to me. But When?

I'm wanting to place a problem report about how True-Image 9 (retail copy) has ERASED the Source drive's MBR record, several sectors of Track0, and partition tables on two separate XP Pro systems in quick succession. This happened when I used the HDD Cloning function to copy to brand new, unpartitioned external HDDs. On a third attempt, the Cloning function didn't corrupt the source drive's Track0; I suspect it was because I cloned to an external HDD which had been previously partitioned.

I suspect that the True-Image Cloning function may be going back to the Source drive AFTER cloning to "Reset the Active Partition" to "inactive" while it leaves the Destination drive set with an "active" partition.

However, unless I can overcome the short-sighted Acronis website "registration" failures I've got no way of posting this problem to them except through this public forum!

 

I feel your fustration with the product. I had the same issue, I ended up using Google to find a real phone number for Acronis and called them. I was finally able to get help to log in. Another pain is just doing updates from them so be prepared.

Its been 2 1/2 months so far since I have had Acronis 9 and it has yet to work as advertised. it will back up from my master to my slave drive and that is it. Which is no good if you want you back up protected from viruses.

What has not worked from day one was back up to CD or DVD and I have been in contact with Acronis email tech support about this from day one. I finally had it and asked the Acronis tech if the product would work if I purchased a external hard drive. I was told YES and I asked that questiuon more than once.

Well I plunked down $150 on a new Seagate external hard drive. I have it hooked up via firewire. Guess what? That does not work either. Look for my post on that subject.

Acronis does have pay for tech support (that has to be a joke) as the reqular tech support via has not solved a problem in over 2 1/2 months!

Be careful! Can you spell "CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT"!

John
Dimension 8200
XP Home
Service Pack 2
Zone Alarm Pro (latest build)
Lavasoft Ad-Aware /w Ad- Watch
Pest Patrol (latest)
SBC Yahoo using there Anti Virus

 

Hello escorial,

Backups to your internal secondary drive can be kept virus free if you create a secure zone on that drive to store your backup images.

You could probably overcome your external hard drive problem if you use its USB connection instead of fire- wire. There is no advantage in having the secure zone on an external drive.

Xpilot

 

Thanks for the tip ! I 'm still using USB 1 with a updated 2USB card so i will never get the true USB 2. I trus nothing that is why I first opted for the backup to be on CD or DVD but Acronis failed to do that and the techs are stumped.

As far as backing up anything in my computer I wish not to as I prefer to plug my external HD in back up my computer and then unplug the firewire. That way I should be totally safe.

I will try the USB next. I'm suprised that Acronis did not offer that info? Ok I tried using the boot disc and doing a back up from there using the USB. This time it recognised the I: external HD. But when I started the back up it said it would take 9 hours? Is that normal?

For not I just went back to my desk top and clicked on the Acronis Icon and started a back up to the external drive, it is now running. I will report back on how long it takes and if it works.

Is there any workaround to use the firewire? As I mentioned my Dimension 8200 was not set up for USB 2 from the factory. So all I could do is update the USB/Firewire card.

Thanks,
John

BTW I though you might enjoy this:
http://www.angelfire.com/il3/twins/Acronis_back_up_media.JPG

Its from Acronis manual, note how it states that it will work with CD,DVD,DVDRW USB 1 and 2 and firewire. Hmmmm sounds like pretty deceptive advertising as it does not work with firewire nor CD or DVD.

 

It would appear that your USB2/Firewire card has not been fully installed with the correct drivers. This would account for the apparent slow speed of the USB port and maybe also the firewire problem.

Normally USB 2 drivers are natively provided by Windows XP SP 2. I do not use firewire but I expect the same applies. I suppose it is possible that as USB2 was not provided originally on your computer they may not be there and will need to downloaded.

In device manager the USB controller should be described as "Enhanced" I suspect that it is not. While you are in device manager expand all the entries and look for any red crosses or yellow exclamation marks by any of you devices.

The first step would be to uninstall the card's drivers and then re-boot. If the drivers are there Windows will find them and install them.

So the first step is to sort out your hardware/driver problems and with them fixed it should be simple to get TI working correctly.

Xpilot

 

Hello Andrew,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please accept our apologies for the delay with the response.

The most probable reason why you did not receive any e-mails confirming your registration at Acronis web site is that they were blocked by the "spam" filter used by your internet provider or placed to the "junk mail" folder in your mailbox. The registration confirmation letter is an automated response, so sometimes it cannot pass these steps.

If there are no confirmation e-mail in the "junk mail" folder of your mailbox, please send us a Private Message containing the e-mail address that you used for registration. We'll send you your login credentials (i.e. your registration e-mail and password) manually. You will be able to change your password later.

As for the delay with the response to the e-mail that you sent directly to the support e-mail address, could you please let us know your Acronis request # (e.g. [Acronis #123456]) which was sent to you in the autoreply to your letter? We will find out the reason for the delay. If you have not received an autoreply, please send us a Private Message containing the e-mail address you sent your letter from. Please also let us know what exact e-mail address you sent your letter to.

What concerns the problem with disk cloning, please note that, unless you have selected the corresponding option, Acronis True Image do nothing to the source hard drive other than reading and therefore should not affect it's contents in any way. We'll provide you with the further information on how to troubleshoot this problem as soon as problems with the registration and your request being not answered will be solved.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

Hello escorial,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please accept our apologies for the delay with the response.

First of all, please make sure you use the latest build (3677) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home which is available for downloading in the Product Updates section of your account at Acronis web site.

You can find the full version name and build number by going to Help -> About... menu in the main program window.

To get access to updates you should create an account then log in and use your serial number to register the software.

Please uninstall the previously installed build by following Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs -> Acronis True Image prior to installing build 3677.

Note that you should create a new Bootable Rescue CD after installing the update.

If any of the problems that you experience still persists with the latest build (3677) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home then please do the following:

Regarding the issue with the inability to save backups to both CDs and DVDs:

- Make sure you use blank unformatted CDs\DVDs.

Please take a look at this Acronis True Image 9.0 Home FAQ Article for more information on how to save backups to DVD(s).

- Try updating the third-party CD\DVD-writing software installed on the computer (if any) to the latest version available for free at the respective web-site.

If the above does not help, please provide us with the following information:

- Create Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post;

- Do you receive any error, warning or informational messages upon the attempt to save backups to CD\DVD?

- What type and brand of CDs\DVDs do you use?

- Let us know the exact vendor and model of your CD\DVD burning device.

Please also do the following:

- Go to Start -> Run and issue the 'regedit' command;

- Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Acronis\DebugLogs registry key;

If this is the first time when this log is being issued, then the folder DebugLogs has to be created first;

- Add cdrecord value (Type: DWORD; Data: 1)

- Reproduce the problem and collect the cdrecord.log file created in Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Acronis\DebugLogs folder.

Then please submit a request for technical support. Provide the files and information collected in 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 investigate the problem and try to provide you with a solution.

As for the issue with saving backups to the external USB\FireWire hard drive, please do the following:

- Try updating the drivers for your USB\FireWire hard drive (if any) to the latest version available for free at the respective vendor web site.

- If your external USB\FireWire hard drive is connected to the computer through a HUB, please try connecting it directly.

- Try using different USB\FireWire port.

If nothing of the above helps, please clarify what you mean exactly when saying that saving backups to the external FireWire hard drive "does not work":

- Do you receive any error, warning or informational messages upon the attempt to save backups to the external hard drive connected to the computer via FireWire?

- Does the problem appear both when the latest build (3677) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home is running within Windows and when your computer is booted from the Bootable Rescue CD created with the latest build (3677) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home?

As for the speed problems that appear when you try to save backups to the external hard drive connected to the computer via USB, I'd like to divide them into two parts:

I. When the latest build (3677) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home is being used within Windows:

In this case, Acronis True Image 9.0 Home utilizes the standard Windows drivers and therefore should work with almost any storage device detected by Windows. We therefore recommend that you try copying\moving large files (e.g. disk\partition images created with Acronis True Image) from the internal hard drive to the external USB disk using Windows Explorer or any other file manager and see the result.

If the problem still persists and the speed is still low then the issue is not related to Acronis True Image, but to some peculiarities of your hardware configuration.

If the problem is gone, please collect the following information:

- Create Acronis Report and Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post;

Please keep your external USB disk connected while creating Acronis Report and Windows System Information.

- Let us know the exact vendor and model of your external USB disk;

- What is the exact size of the backed up data?

- How much time does it take exactly to create a backup?

Then please submit a request for technical support. Provide the files and information collected in 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 investigate the problem and try to provide you with a solution.

II. When the latest build (3677) of Acronis True Image 9.0 Home is operating in Linux-based Acronis Rescue Environment, i.e. when your computer is booted from the Bootable Rescue CD or Acronis Startup Recovery Manager is used. In this case, please follow the instructions provided in this previous post of mine.

P.S. Please also let us know your Acronis request number(s) (e.g. [Acronis #123456]) which can be found in the subjects of the letters that you received from Acronis Support Team. We will look through the correspondence and find out why your issue(s) is\are still not resolved.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

Alexy,
Yes Yes and yes and no it does not work with firewire or DVD. I have been in contact with your tech support and still am. Currently Konstantin is handeling my case and I just sent him anothe sysinfo file this morning.

 

My conputer did not come installed with the USB 2 it came from the factory with USB1 I contacted Dell and was told I could never get true USB 2 but I could update my USB card which I did.

Hey is somewhat faster than 1 but still very slow. Also as recommended by Dell I have the external hard drive directly plugged into the card and not into the my hub.

Back up using the USB is about 2 3/4 hours and restore is about 13 hours.

I purchased Acronis because it was advertised as it would work with Firewire and DVD. So far it does not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!