How to clone backup

Hello,

Either I couldn't find this feature, or it should be added to the wish list.

Every backup software I used to deal with has something like "Clobe backup" feature. For instance, I want to create a backup for each day of the week. It's the same backup, or it might have some minor differences, but it should run at a different time. Right now the only way to achieve this in Acrobis is to create a new backup for every day, to select all files again etc. This is an unnesessary waste of time and efforts. It would be much better just to make a copy of this backup, make some modifications, if necessary, and schedule it to run at a different time.

So far I couldn't find anything like this in Acronis. There is a nice feature - to create a new group for backup (like Documents), but it allows you to select only one source. I have several drives with files in many folders, so this doesn't work for me or for many others.

Thank you,

Peter

 

XCopy with the right switches and incorporated into a batch file will work for you since it is files and folders only that you want to backup. Some here recommend Karen's Replicator - can't say how this works though.

 

Hi,
See this page: http://www.backup4all.com/templates/online-help/backup_list.htm
There is a feature called "Create like" that does exactly what you said. You right click a backup job, select Create Like and that backup is cloned.

 

Hello peterafonin,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Actually, using Acronis True Image you can achieve the goals you have described. Acronis True Image is able to create an incremental backup, which only contains data changed since the last full or incremental backup creation. It also allows you to create differential backup containing all changes against the initial full backup.

In addition, Acronis True Image allows you to create periodic backup tasks. Thus, choosing the backup type (full, incremental or differential) and using scheduled tasks you can create flexible backup scheme.

Note that once created, you can start the scheduled task any time you need using "Run the selected task" button (checkered flag).

Acronis True Image also allows you to create a task with "Do not start automatically" parameter. Using this kind of scheduled task you can select data to back up once and then use
"Run the selected task" button to start the task without need to select data again.

You can find the detailed instructions about scheduling tasks in chapter 8 “Scheduling tasks” in the respective User's Guide.

Thank you.
--
Aleksandr Isakov

 

Yes, you can accomlish your ultimate goals with ATI. What you can't do easily is just copy an existing task so you can then slightly alter it. That's a simple function that hasn't been built into the Task Scheduling interface.

 

Hi,
ATI 10 don't has a "Create like" Function and I understand here, taht there is no possibility to clone and edit an existing task. Where is the profile of a task stored, in a config file? Perhaps there is an opportunity to copy and edit a task.
Does anybody know why Acronis don't have this usefull function implemented?
Bernd

 

Well, tasks are essentially script files (I believe written in xml) with a *.tib.tis filename and usually located in

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Acronis\TrueImage\Scripts

I suppose you could copy one of those but I don't think you would have the appropriate registry entries for the copy.

Your best bet, imo, is just make a new task -- it really only takes a minute -- and put on the wish list the ability to copy tasks.

 

Hi Shieber,
thanks for your input! I checked this files and you are right, to edit them is more difficult than creating a new task.
The reason for my to clone a task was, I created and run a full backup. Every two days I like to perform an incremental backup, but the file size of the first incr. backup was more than twice as large than the full backup, which can't be possible because only a few files have changed.

I done a test on an other computer. I created 3 tasks with the same data files to be saved, a full, a diff and an incr backup and I run them all at the same day. The full backup contains 51 GB, the diff backup 59 GB and the incr backup 56 GB. How is this possible, becaus I haven't changed a file in the PC except what windows has done. What kind of flags does Acronis use?
Thanks in advance, Bernd