Complete and utter mystery - missing backup folder

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by Faust, Dec 27, 2008.

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  1. Faust

    Faust Registered Member

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    As the title eluded to! I had a scheduled backup fail today using TI 2009. My first thoughts were "oh dear what's happened here then" as the schedules have worked like clockwork since I installed 2009. The folder where the scheduler backs up to is on my Maxtor external drive and is used only for backups. When I looked on the Maxtor to see if I could see anything wrong I had the shock of my life - the folder along with all it's contents (three weeks worth of backups) was gone.

    How on earth can this have happened? The folder was two large to have been accidentally deleted - one always get the message "this file is to large for the recycle bin are you sure you want to permanently delete it" I think I would have remembered had I received any such warning. The wife never ever touches the external drive and would not have deleted anything in any event. Short of our dog using the PC and deleting the folder the whole thing is a complete mystery. Even if I had the "delete old archives" box ticked (which it isn't) this would not have deleted the folder.

    Can anyone shed any light on how this folder can have gone missing? I am running Vista by the way and a complete search of all drives has revealed nothing. Losing this folder isn't the end of the world as I have other copies of the backups kept on the internal slave drive, it's just that I do hate mysteries.
     
  2. jehosophat

    jehosophat Registered Member

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    It does sound a bit of a mystery. Starting with the obvious then.

    Has the folder been hidden or renamed? Has anyone but yourself been using the computer?
     
  3. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    No real idea but there is a lesson here for all of us.

    Never keep only one backup and never only use only one backup device.
     
  4. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    Does chkdsk report any errors on the drive?

    Does Disk Management show any used space on the drive (an amount like it should have)?

    Was the backup folder the only folder on the drive? If not, were all the other files/folders still okay?
     
  5. Faust

    Faust Registered Member

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    To answer jehosophat and MudCrab - everything checks out OK - I have looked through every other folder not only on the external drive but on my C drive and slave drive. No folders within folders etc. and lets be honest a 120 gig folder is a bit difficult to lose. No I have looked everywhere and checked out disks and disk space - everything checks out. There are only two of us in the house - well and the dog and he's not saying. Wife hasn't been on the PC for over a week in any event. I tell you this is a real who dunnit.

    Thank goodness for my backup of the backup eh?
     
  6. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    You could try a data recovery program and see what it turns up and if that gives any clue. Some let you see what you could recover and you only pay if you won't to enable the actual recovery features.

    You sure you're using the correct USB drive?!!!
     
  7. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    Does the TI log show anything odd (deletions or errors just prior to the failed backup, for example)?
     
  8. shieber

    shieber Registered Member

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    The failure of the backup could be because the target directory could not be found, perhaps an accidental deletion occured prior to the schedule tasks attempting to run. Based on the available info, that makes as much sense as anything.

     
  9. Faust

    Faust Registered Member

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    Log event as per request MudCrab

    Trouble is Sheiber Vista will not let you delete a file of that size accidentally as it is to big for recycle bin so you are presented with UAC promt to warn you and asks permission to delete permantly file or folder. Obviously as the log states the schedule task failed because TI could not find specifed path and the reason it couldn't do that is because the folder had disappeared.

    Oh well I suppose I will just have to chalk this one up to experience. Pity Agatha Christie is no longer alive as it could have been a best seller - The case of the missing folder! o_O
     
  10. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    Faust,
    What does the log say for the previous task run on that drive. It may have gone wrong there.

    I'm still looking for my magnifying glass and junior detective kit.
     
  11. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    Faust:

    I would also examine the perf logs in Vista to see if there are any clues in these three logs:

    1. Event Viewer > Custom Views > Administrative Events
    2. Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Application
    3. Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System

    There may be a logged event if there was a hardware failure associated with the external USB disk.

    Have you run chkdsk on the external disk to see if it has any file system corruption? If any is detected then you may want to run chkdsk /f to see if it can be fixed. Perhaps the missing folder will return. If any problems are detected at all then I would also run chkdsk /r to try to find and repair bad sectors on the disk.
     
  12. nb47

    nb47 Registered Member

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    I couldn't have said it any better-ext. HD AND 8G flash drive work good for me!!
     
  13. Faust

    Faust Registered Member

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    Right this gets more and more curious - I must apologise for my bad maths as I have obviously miscounted when checking all the folders and files on the external disk. It appears I cannot account for a massive 115 gig on the external drive. I have checked and re-checked every folder, turned on view hidden folders, run chkdsk several time no errors no missing hidden files etc. I have checked the volume in Vista and Disk Director, one single 750 gig volume no partitions and secure zone has never been activated according to GUI in TI. I have also run disk cleanup but only reclaimed a couple of gig, so it would appear that the missing folder is linked to the missing 115 gig of drive space. Anyone any ideas as to why I can't see it - I can see me having to clear the drive of what I can see then re-format the drive.
     
  14. jmk94903

    jmk94903 Registered Member

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    How big is this drive supposed to be?

    Are you using GB as defined by Windows? !GB =1024 x 1024 x 1024 bytes. Or as defined by drive sellers? 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes.

    For a 1TB drive, this amounts to a 9.1% difference, or 89GB.
     
  15. Faust

    Faust Registered Member

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    750 gig drive - no wasn't falling for that old chestnut re: Windows v manufacturers HD size claim. What I have ended up doing is moving all the visible folders to my slave drive and then with the HD apparently empty I was still being told that I had 115 gig of used space. I have simply reformatted the drive and moved the files back from slave to external HD - drive now OK again and used space concurs with my calculation. Still a mystery though as to how the backup folder had mysteriously been consumed by the HD in this way - Proper Christmas Ghost Story - I'm wondering if I should have the drive exorcised :argh:
     
  16. lesterf1020

    lesterf1020 Registered Member

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    If you are using Vista it could have been a problem with the volume shadow copy. Also sometimes something goes wrong with the way the recycle bin works and it stores files without showing them. I actually had to use the command prompt to sort out an incident like that once. It is tricky because when that happens only the system is allowed access to files so if you check the directory it will tell you it is empty.
     
  17. Faust

    Faust Registered Member

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    Yes I am using Vista and note your comments for future reference. There is another question I would like some info on if possible. I have noticed in my other TI backup folder on the slave drive a file called "acronis_backup_place.cfg" (without the quotes) and is some 539 bytes. I don't have this file in the other backup folder i.e. the one that went missing or the latest backup to replace the missing folder, and to be quite honest although it states the file was created way back in October I can't remember seeing this file before??
     
  18. lesterf1020

    lesterf1020 Registered Member

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    That is a file created by acronis 11 to manage backup locations. You can delete it if you are not using backup locations or if you are not using Acronis 11. There should be one of these files in each folder you used backup locations.
     
  19. Faust

    Faust Registered Member

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    Thanks for that info - it is a bit curious though. When I uninstalled TI 11 and installed 2009 I actually created a new folder for the backups - how then has this location folder from TI 11 ended up in a different backup folder for 2009. Mind you having said that where did my missing 115gig go? A strange week all round.
     
  20. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello Faust,

    Backup Location in Acronis True Image 11 Home is not a folder it’s just a place which has the above mentioned. cfg file. It can be external drive, all partition or separate folder. The .cfg file contains Backup Location quotas for backup archives and it is not used with Acronis True Image Home 2009. So you can safely delete it.

    Best regards,
    --
    Dmitry Nikolaev
     
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