Can I de-select a folder from a partition image ?

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by alan_b, Jun 4, 2009.

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  1. alan_b

    alan_b Registered Member

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    It would save some time and backup storage space if I could create a partition image that includes everything excluding a specific folder with all its sub-folders.

    The excluded set is not needed for Windows to run, and is freeware that can be easily downloaded should disaster strike.

    This should be a default action. I do not wish to manually explode a tree and deselect every time I create a backup.

    I am using Acronis T.I. 11

    Regards
    Alan
     
  2. Earthling

    Earthling Registered Member

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    Folders such as that are best stored on a separate drive or partition. Same goes for all data files.

    As far as I can see you can only exclude files in TI11, not folders, but maybe someone can prove me wrong on that.
     
  3. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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  4. alan_b

    alan_b Registered Member

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    Earthling

    I agree with your sentiments, and for some time now I have used "Reparse Points" to pretend that many such folders are still on Drive C:\ even though in reality I have moved them to other partitions (which are separately backed up as required). This works well, and most applications believe these folders are still on Drive C:\,
    but Acronis knows better and as a result the Partition C:\ image is now 50% of the size it used to be.
    I also have many "portable" programs that are held on and run from another partition. But some freeware is NOT available in portable form, and needs to be executed from C:\.

    My immediate concern is with ERDNT, which spends 6 seconds each morning creating a fresh backup image of the registry. Although ERDNT itself runs in C:\Program Files, it places the registry backup files in folders held under C:\WINDOWS\ERDNT\AutoBackup\, and states that this is more accessible to the Recovery Console for restoring the registry after a total computer crash.
    If I ever have a total computer crash the last thing I want to discover is that "Reparse Points" no longer work for relocated registry backups.

    When I create an Acronis image, I have a working system that has not needed to use these registry backups. Should I restore the Acronis image I again have a working system and no need for those registry backups, and immediately after restoring and restart I login, and the fresh login immediately creates a fresh registry backup.
    Therefore immediately before I create an Acronis image I delete all the registry backups, which can total over 1 GByte. If at the end of an exhausting day I forget to delete them, the Acronis image is 30% larger and takes more time to create and validate.

    Regards
    Alan
     
  5. alan_b

    alan_b Registered Member

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    MudCrab

    Thank you for that link. It looks very relevant. Unfortunately it failed to work for me.

    In case I have not understood how to do this :-
    Exclusion.gif shows how I implemented the exclusion of C:\WINDOWS\ERDNT\AutoBackup\ ;
    Pre_Post.gif shows I used one Pre-Backup command, and no Post command ;
    Pre-Edit. gif shows the exact command, with 4 arguments in a separate section, and no Working Directory (I hoped that the batch command would detect which of several Acronis Backup locations was in use - another disappointment there ! ! - Related to this is my new post https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=1480522#post1480522) ).

    Possible factors that may cause failure of the Acronis Support solution include :-

    1. Unlike Jfosc, I never had the problem "Unable to create volume snapshot",
    and so never installed the latest snap API build 359 ;

    2. I have never seen any error such as Jfosc posted, suggesting that he may have more problems than I have, or that snap API build 359 is more inclined to produce / report errors ;

    3. Perhaps the Acronis Support solution cannot work unless I install the latest snap API build 359 ;

    4. I was not Creating a Full Image, but a Differential Image, i.e.
    2009_04_05_18_49_38_184D2.TIB - based upon
    2009_04_05_18_49_38_184D.TIB;
    n.b. when I restored from the differential, I retrieved this morning's folder which should have been excluded - this was not a hang-over from the Full image.
    Is it possible that Acronis went ballistic due to the fact that the Full Image was created without any attempt to exclude any folders ?

    5. My Pre-backup command works well. It moves the differential images to a separate folder from the Full image, so that the new differential image is again called 2009_04_05_18_49_38_184D2.TIB.
    Is it possible that Acronis remembered the "old" instance of the differential image when the Full image was chosen as the basis,
    and after completion of my Pre-backup command it got confused by the absence of the "old" image and glitched a bit ?
    If necessary I can run my Pre-backup command off-line before launching Acronis.

    The benefits of my Pre-backup command are :-
    a. After creating the differential image, the validation process does not waste time recomputing all the checksums on all the previous differential images
    b. If earlier differential images are NOT relocated, then they must remain perfectly free of errors. I understand that if any one of them should fail validation it is then impossible to restore from any subsequent images.

    I will greatly appreciate any further advice.

    Regards
    Alan
     

    Attached Files:

  6. alan_b

    alan_b Registered Member

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    p.s.

    I hope that "latest snap API build 359" is not needed.

    I have gone to http://kb.acronis.com/content/1754
    and clicked on
    https://www.acronis.com/r/support/en/kb/995/SnapAPISetup.msi

    It fails to offer or download any *.msi file,
    instead it gives me a screen dump of binary code plus remnants of a EULA ! !

    Incidentally, http://kb.acronis.com/content/1754 seems to solve a problem due to a hidden DIAGNOSTIC partition.
    This does not apply to me. The only hidden partition on my Internal drive C:\ is the Acronis Secure Zone.

    Regards
    Alan
     
  7. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello alan_b,

    Thank you for using Acronis True Image 11 Home

    Use the following KB article to download the latest SnapAPI update for Acronis True Image 11 Home.

    Best regards,
    --
    Dmitry Nikolaev
     
  8. alan_b

    alan_b Registered Member

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    Thankyou Dmitry

    Download successful

    Regards
    Alan
     
  9. alan_b

    alan_b Registered Member

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    Dmitry

    I suspect a redirection error.

    The download and unzip result was :-
    Code:
    SnapAPI_l_s_e.zip	2,348,322	09/06/2009 13:23:40
    SnapAPISetup.msi	2,888,704	15/02/2007 14:54:06
    snapapi.dll		  230,944	15/02/2007 14:26:24
    
    snapapi.dll File properties show version 3.1.0.329

    I find I already have, in C:\Windows\System32
    Code:
    snapapi.dll		  222,488	09/04/2008 19:15:40
    
    and its file properties state version 3.3.0.345.

    According to http://kb.acronis.com/content/1754, a problem due to a hidden diagnostic partition can be resolved with snapapi build 359, which I assume is version 3.3.0.359.

    The only hidden partition is the Acronis Secure Zone.

    I have no "Unable to create snapshot" nor "Failed to read" errors, nor any other errors other than the failure to exclude a folder.

    Do I really need to replace snapapi to be able to exclude the contents of a folder ?
    If I need a replacement, what version should I expect, and please give me another link.

    Regards
    Alan
     
  10. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2004
    Posts:
    25,885
    Hello alan_b,

    Thank you for using Acronis True Image 11 Home

    I have sent you file via PM, please check it.

    Best regards,
    --
    Dmitry Nikolaev
     
  11. alan_b

    alan_b Registered Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Lancashire, England
    RESOLVED :- Can I de-select a folder from a partition image ?

    Dmitry

    Thank you very much for the link.

    The update failed to make exclusions functional,
    BUT it did capture into the new image
    95DB66E9-32DA-4721-A171-EE90AA83471E.tmp.tib.tis
    and I observed that this included
    <filtering exclude_by_mask="false" .... >
    where-as the defaults I depended on in backupsupp.config had
    <filtering exclude_by_mask="true" .... >

    Whenever I create an image, I always restore it to "spare" partition R:\ and compare all folders and files between C:\ and R:\.
    I have never before seen any *.tmp.tib.tis file.
    I assume this tmp.tib.tis file is now captured by the new SnapApi file, so the update did give the the vital clue, even though it failed to be an instant cure.

    After 10 days of exploration and hypothesis testing I now have the solution.

    DEFAULTS DO NOT WORK AS EXPECTED.

    To create a differential image I use the Create Backup Wizard.

    I configured "Source files exclusion" and "Pre/Post commands" within
    Acronis / Tools / Options / Default backup options, and rebooted the P.C.

    I used the Create Backup Wizard to select a FULL image and specify that a Differential image was required.
    This is what I have always done.
    On screen 5 of the wizard I have never configured any exclusions.
    Now that I wish to configure exclusions I made the reasonable assumption that this was redundant because I had already stipulated default exclusions, so assumed those defaults would still apply.

    PLEASE BE WARNED - Default "Source files exclusion" is a total waste of time.
    It make work on some versions of Acronis, but not on version 11.
    Any default exclusions are ignored unless they are repeated on screen 5 of the wizard
    I am however pleased to say that the Pre/Post command defaults are automatically applied by the wizard.

    I have not found any use or relevance in Default "Source files exclusion".
    I can think of a few possibilities that I could test,
    but life is too short - I would rather be on the team of monkeys typing the works of Shakespeare ! !

    Regards
    Alan Borer.
     
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