How did Acronis get to suck so bad?

When I started using TIH at Version 8, it was a great product.. Everythig worked, support was responsive when you had a question (and it was mostly just questions on how to do things, since the product worked well). Now, at TIH 11, the product stinks, I dont feel confident that my backups are secure should I need them, features that should work DONT, and support sends you on these wild goose chases to give them the same information over and over again - without actually fixing the product.

Case in point...

Backup locations and quotas -- why is this feature so delicate and why hasn't it been fixed yet? If one of your backups doesn't run as scheduled, the whole entire backup plan has to be trashed and you have to start over from scratch. Why doesn't TIH detect these issues and fix them? Why do I have a backup number quota of 6, but yet have 15 .TIB files from 3 different series laying around in my backup location? Sure, the log says this:

Code:

Check for 'number of backups' rule violation is started. Set number: 6
Number of backups' rule violation is detected. Maximum allowed: 6 Current number: 7
There is no action available to take against the limit violation. Limit rule: by backup count. By default, the 'delete' action will be used.
Trying to fix limit violation: by backup count.
Deletion is started. Rule: by backup count Number of backup will be deleted: 1
Operation has succeeded.

Followed by the next night's backup:

Code:

Check for 'number of backups' rule violation is started. Set number: 6
Number of backups' rule violation is detected. Maximum allowed: 6 Current number: 8
There is no action available to take against the limit violation. Limit rule: by backup count. By default, the 'delete' action will be used.
Trying to fix limit violation: by backup count.
Deletion is started. Rule: by backup count Number of backup will be deleted: 2
Operation has succeeded.

and the next night...

Code:

Check for 'number of backups' rule violation is started. Set number: 6
Number of backups' rule violation is detected. Maximum allowed: 6 Current number: 9
There is no action available to take against the limit violation. Limit rule: by backup count. By default, the 'delete' action will be used.
Trying to fix limit violation: by backup count.
Deletion is started. Rule: by backup count Number of backup will be deleted: 3
Operation has succeeded.

Of course this continues until 2 weeks later and Acronis has run out of space on the drive.. I've sent logs to support like crazy as requested, until finally they sent me a response saying they need screenshots of every backup as it finishes, all logs, etc.. I dont have time to sit here and babysit my backup job every night just so I can take screenshots.. So I gave up. The only way to get it going again is to just delete everything and start over.. Why bother doing daily backups?

Just venting..
Rick

 

To answer your original question:
IMHO it’s because they’re trying to be everything to everyone. Too many new bells and whistles.

 

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b127/rickny/mess.jpg


backup_place.cfg:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<backup_place_cfg>
	<limit_list>
		<k_8F6CD26D-F485-4DC6-9B17-990DE976F049 slice_count="8" type="2">
			<action_list />
		</k_8F6CD26D-F485-4DC6-9B17-990DE976F049>
	</limit_list>
</backup_place_cfg>

Yeah, that looks like its (not) doing what its supposed to... Two purchased copies of TIH 11 on two machines, both doing the same thing.

 

Hello RickNY,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are sorry for delayed response.

Could you please let us know your Acronis request number (e.g. [Acronis #123456]) which was sent to you in autoreply to your letter? We will find out how the investigation of your issue is going. If you have not received an autoreply then please send us a Private Message containing your e-mail address.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

I've been facing the same issue, among others, since i bought ATI 11.
Tried customer support... As always, the answer was : log into your account, and check "notify me for critical updates".
Last update was in 2007, I have no idea of what they are doing. Even the French website of Acronis shows a build version that is more recent than the US one.
Other issues I am facing are : application crash when editing backup location settings, tasks not running... Workaround is to delete everything and recreate all backup tasks, and of course the solution will come in a later update.

~Private communication removed per the TOS - Ron~

 

We have been waiting on Acronis support for over a month now.