Acronis True IMage Version 8 crashing my PC

Many questions where to start that is the question. First let me say I have build # 937. After weeks of working with Acronis email support team we were finally able to get my incremental backup to work. The software worked fine for possible one month then for some unknow reason I received a "not enough room" message and my incremental backups once again stopped. Here is a list of what I did.
1.) Reformatted my external HDD.
2.)Created a Image of my C:\ HDD
3.)Schedule Task
After receive the completed task successfully message I would shut my computer down (first time shut down of the day which was the scheduled time for doing it's thing) the incremental backup would go through its thing and at the last second before it would complete its task my system would reboot. I did this thing three times and every time just as it was ready to close it would reboot and I would have to start all over again. I've got no idea what is causing this. I'm running xp home with a 2.4 gig processor on a 80 gig hdd with a 80 gig backup external hdd. Any help will be greatful. The email support takes way to long so this is my first attempt to using the forum as a possible solution to my problem. I've printed a screen shot of every step and put it in a folder on my desk top but for some reason (I guess I just don'
t understand how) I can't get it to attach to this forum.

TIA karpat

 

Could it be that your hard drive is almost full so the first full backup is now not leaving room for the incrementals?

 

The Hdd is 48.5 GB used space and 25.9 GB free space. Keep in mind my external backup HDD is only used as a backup system so it starts off empty so to speak at 80 GB minus the setup space.

Karpat

 

Hello karpat,

Please provide the following info:

1. Size of the full image.
2. size of each associated incremental image up to the point of receiving the error message.

Regards

 

Hello karpat,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Could you please let me know your Acronis request # (e.g. [Acronis #123456]) which can be found in the subjects of the letters that you received from our Support Team? I'll review the correspondence and see what more can be done regarding this issue.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

I have not contacted your support team on this matter because the last time it was way to time consuming. I'm going the forum route to see if I can resolve the problem, thanks for the offer to check it out.

 

The size of the full image is 41.3 GB with 33.1 GB of free space left. I've not been able to run the complete incremental backup without a crash as of yet, I'm going to give it another try soon.

 

Hi again karpat,

If you've carried out a disk defrag or installed/uninstalled a fair bit of software since the previous image (full or incremental) you may well find that the latest incremental image would end up roughly the same size as a full one. If that's the case then it's no wonder you're receiving a "not enough room" error message.

Regards

 

It sounds like I'm misunderstanding how or what the program can do. I thought that if I have the incremental backup set to change only the things that have changed since my last backup unless I've added a large program (larger than the free space that remains on my external (backup) HDD than the incremental backup size should remain pretty much the same size only increasing to cover any additions. If I'm misunderstanding how it works please in laymans terms explaing how it works.

I've just now reformated my G drive (external hdd) so I could do a complete image of my C hdd. The same thing has happened as the last 5 times I've attempted to do it. Do do the imaging it takes about 1 hour. After it has done 59 minutes of that job and is getting ready to give me the message the the task has been completed I will get an error message as follows DRIVER_IRQL_NOT-LESS_OR_EQUAL and then the system reboots and the job of making a image is not completed. I've checked to see if any conflicts are noted but none are. This always happens just before it complets its task. I've got no idea how to solve this problem. I'm able to run my PC for at times 2 to 4 hours without a reboot or error message this is why I'm thinking it may be related to the Acronis software.

 

You should be able to run your pc certainly well in excess of 4 hours without any rebooting at all. Do you mean to say that even when you do not run TI that your pc will sometime reboot after 4 hours but less if TI runs?

If yes, you probably need to scan for spyware and even viruses.

 

Hello karpat,

I'm sorry for misunderstanding your initial post. I though you have already contacted Acronis Support Team on this matter.

However, I believe this issue requires a deeper investigation and so I advice you to provide us with the following information:

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

- Clarify whether the problem appears only when you create an incremental image;

- Try to create an image saving it to any location other than your external hard drive (e.g. any local or network hard drive) and let us know the result;

- Provide the exact text of the error message you have received;

- When exactly have you received this error message?

- Reproduce the problem and collect Acronis True Image 9.0 log which can be saved from Tools -> Show Log -> Diskette icon;

- Try to perform the same actions using the free trial version of Acronis True Image 9.0 and let us know the result;

- Describe actions taken before the problem appears step-by-step.

Could you please also do the following?

- Open Computer properties either by right clicking on My Computer icon and choosing Properties or by opening System properties in Control Panel;

- Go to Advanced tab;

- Press Startup and Recover Settings button;

- Choose Small memory dump in Write debugging information box;

- Close all the dialog windows by clicking OK buttons.

- Reproduce the system crash and collect the mini-dumps created.

Please submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the information about your purchase of Acronis software (order number, e-mail, where did you purchase our product, etc.) and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with the solution as soon as possible.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

Yes that is what I'm saying and I do a scan for spyware and viruses both automatically and manually once a week, the system is clear. I use three different programs to do this just incase one misses something.

 

I will be taking your advice. This is going to take a bit of time so most likely it could be the weekend before I get it all done. When I do I will post the results. Thank you.

 

I'm afraid it's not quite as straightforward as that. Assuming no compression, a full image would take up as much room as the Used Space on your source drive. Any incrementals created would then be cumulatively added on top of that.

TI creates an image by taking a snapshot (thumbprint) of the sectors that are in use at the time and saves the data contained on the in-use sectors only. A thumbprint of those in-use sectors is also included in the image. Every time TI creates an incremental image, it compares the the thumprint contained in the previous image with the snapshot of the in-use sectors for the new image. It then only saves the data contained on those sectors that have changed since the previous image. So far so good.

However, as you open and close applications (including Windows itself) or, more importantly, carry out disk defragmentation, the thumbprint of the current in-use sectors will have changed significantly since the previous image was created. So even though the files themselves may not have changed in size, with so many changed sectors, it's not unusual to find that an incremental turns out to be almost as large as the original full image. Hence, again assuming no compression, it could transpire that a full image + one incremental equals almost twice the Used Space of the source drive.

An additional complication is that, if the source drive contains a corrupt file system/bad sectors, TI will default to creating sector-by-sector (as opposed to in-use sector) images. Again, such images will be the same size as the used space on the source drive. It's probably worth running the Windows checkdisk utility via Start > Run and typing chkdsk x: /r where x: equals each partition on your source drive.

Notwithstanding all the above, the remainder of your post seems to indicate that you have a more fundamental problem than just running out of space on your destination drive!! Hopefully you manage to get that sorted with the help of Acronis Support.

Regards

 

I understood all you stated up to the point of telling me to type in chkdsk after that I don't have a clue what your taking about. Please see if you can put it in laymans terms. Thanks

 

I was suggesting that it might be worth you testing your source drive for a corrupt file system or bad sectors using the Window built-in disk checking utility.

For Windows XP, click on the Windows Start button, select Run, type the command chkdsk x: /r into the dialogue box (where x: represents the partition to be tested e.g. chkdsk c: /r, chkdsk d: /r, etc.) and then click the OK button. The /r parameter will attempt to "repair" bad sectors (it doesn't actually physically repair them; merely blocks them from future use).

If using Windows 9x, type the command scandskw x: (again, replace x with the letter of each partition being tested) instead of chkdsk x: /r.

Hopefully I've made it more clear

Regards

 

Well I did the chkdsk and it got as far as 60% of stage 4 of 5 which is the verifying file data. The system reboots every time it gets about 60 % of that stage complete. I've blown out the inside of my pc and check to see if there appeared to be any fan problem, everything seem ok. I thought that it may be a heat problem causing the reboot. Any idea on what else I can try to see what is causing the reboot issue?
Karpat

 

A number of problems can cause your shutdown symptoms. I would first download the hardrive manufacturer's utility software for free and follow the instructions to create a floppy to boot from and test. That will eliminate the drive conclusively.
The error message you are receiving is most often related to a driver problem, so start with your bios and update all your drivers including your drives controller.
It also may be as simple as reseating any memory/ cards in your computer.
In short, Ti won't work reliably until you get your computer to a stable state.

 

As hinted by Noonie, file system errors can be caused by faulty memory. Suggest you download and run <Memtest86+ Version 1.65> for a couple of hours. There should be ZERO errors reported. If you do receive errors, check that you're not overclocking your computer or using too aggressive memory timings before swapping out the memory.

Regards

 

I downloaded the Memtest86+Version 1.65 with my evaluation copy of winzip but can't find any exe file to click on to install it do you know why?

 

Memtest should be run from a boot floppy so all the memory is tested and is os independant.
Google for specifics.

 

If you downloaded the zipped, pre-compiled, floppy version then unzip the package into a single folder on your HD e.g. C:\TempExtract\. Insert a blank formatted floppy disk into your A: drive and run the install.bat file from the temporary extraction folder. This will create a Memtest86+ bootable floppy, which is then used to boot from and start the program.

In the event that you downloaded the zipped, pre-compiled, bootable CD ISO version then unzip it to your HD and burn the ISO image to a blank CD. If you are unsure how to burn an ISO to CD here are some links to suitable instructions:

http://trb.org/publications/burning_iso.html (For Nero Burning ROM and Roxio Easy CD Creator)

http://iso.snoekonline.com/iso.htm or http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm (For other CD recording software)

After burning the bootable ISO, boot from the CD to run Memtest86+.

Regards

 

I had one driver that needed updated which I did. I then ran the chkdsk program and it did not reboot, it was able to get through the whole process without a problem. You guys are great thanks. The hdd appears to be fine. I made a image of my c drive but as stated earlier the image I believe is to be to do a incremental backup. I've attached a screenshot of it. Keep in mind all I have is about 75 gb backup hdd space to work with.

I just purchased a 250 gb WD2500 that I need to figure out how to install on my pc to replace one of my 80 gb that quite a few months ago. So I have to do some research to see the proper way to install this (unlike you guys) and then maybe I need to purchase a larger external backup? I'm not sure how to add an attachment, I think I've do it so please let me know if you received it.
Karpat

 

Hope you got your system stable.
Here is a link to a free utiliy that can test your system and stress it a bit. http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22444,00.asp#
Run the diagnostics and see if it crashes.
As far as how and where to install your new hdrive you have to decide:
1 how much space you need for installed programs
2 how much space you need for data only
Respond and I'm sure you will get suggestions.
That will determine the best method and size of hdrive to use for backups.

Your attachment works.

 

I ran the software and no crash, thanks. I do have a question and don't know if it is ok to post it on your forum or not. So please forgive me if it does not belong on this forum.

As previously mention in one of my posts I purchased a WD2500LB HDD to use as a backup and possibly a main drive just incase the problems I've been having with crashes is do to a bad HDD. I went to Western Digital's web site and downloaded and ran their program called Data Lifeguard 11 for Windows. Using this program I copied my complete C drive to the new HDD. The program said everythings was all set. I rebooted the system and it booted fine showing the new drive. The Lifeguard instructions were to have the jumpers set as follows the new drive would be set up a primary Slave and the old drive would be set up as Master. This was needed so as to allow the program to copy all the files onto the new drive. After this was completed I decided to make my new drive as the boot drive so I switched the jumpers around but the system would not boot. Any idea why? I've been Googling looking for a Forum for Western Digital hdd's hoping that Western Digital had one of their own but I was unable to locate one so that is why I'm posting my question here.

I switched the jumpers around so my old 80 gb was once again my boot drive and the new 250 gb is my slave. Everything is working fine infact I'm on the new hdd right now. All the files seem intact it just won't boot from it.

Thanks