Okay, now what?

In my previous post I talked about the problem of corrupted images using DVD. Believing Acronis is not addressing that problem in a forthright manner, I went out and purchased a new Maxtor 120G USB 2.0 external drive. I formatted it for NTFS. Using my notebook with Win XP Pro SP2 I then created an image on the external drive. Upon checking the image I was told it was corrupt. On a whim, I then rechecked the image. Guess what, it is no longer corrupted. Now, am I to believe that this image is actually okay? Can I really rely on this in case of failure? No, I don't think I can. It seems to say to me that the error checking I/O routine (or routines if they use more than one (and perhaps they shouldn't)) is faulty. Oh, yes you could say I had an intermittant hardware failure. This seems highly unlikely since both the notebook and the external dirive are new. Considering the number of items regarding corrupted files is long and varied it seems intuitively obvious that the software is lacking some very vital error checking. It writes the image successfully as it tells you and then it can't read it immediately afterwards? Just where does Acronis stand on correcting this problem? Are they even working on it? Will we see another new release? When? These are some of the more obvious questions raised, and unfortunately without the Acronis techinicains answering any of them.

 

Well, I bit the bullet and decided to reformat the external drive and redo the image. Again the image is corrupted when checked. Why is it when Acronis can produce a log of the imaging process they do not produce a log of the check image process? It seems to me there would be great value in knowing exactly where the corruption occurs (if it really does). At least one would have some pointer to the area of problem. Can it be that difficult to write the log while doing the checking? Are they so intent on producing a speedy product that they are foregoing good programming practices? Speed is useless without accuarcy when backing up. Are they able to check a NTFS file larger than 2 Gigs within an image? Now, after all these problems, I am beginning to question each and every supposed ability of the software? Do you blame me?

 

Just a thought, but as your getting so many errors and now with 2 different drives, perhaps you should look to the system rather than software.

Maybe the IDE is failing etc.

The only reason I suggest this as your issue is not common which is a pretty good chance of not being software.

 

I disagree, the issue is very common if you will look at the numerous posts about the corrupted image issue. Next, since there is no other probems being experienced with this couple-of-months old notebook and this brand new external drive I seriously doubt that it is hardware related. If Acronis can write the image successfully and then not be able to check it there is probably a slight difference between the I/O routines of the creation and checking routines somewhere. Perhaps there are multiple routines and that could provide a possible hidden place for some poor coding.

BTW, I have tried to use this software on my desktop and it gets the corrupted file also. The desktop does have ECC memory and there are no problems with this system other than it is not suitable for SP2 upgrade. It does have all the latest updates for SP1. This, seems to me, to be software related. I can successfully use MS Backup to write to this device. Understand, it does not have the ability to reduce the file size which is one reason I bought Acronis. I would like to see it work, and soon, or it will go the way of dinosaurs.

 

Hey I'm only trying to help... Lets start at the beginning, we both have the same programe, I backup over 9 gigs every Friday night and have never had a corrupted image, so unless you have a different programe it must be something else.

Are you using secure zone?

Can you close down most background running programs and then try to image and verify?

Have you run chkdsk on your drives recently?

Can you remove any peripheral devices and try to image and verify?

Clearly problem solving is trial and error and despite what you say most owners of ATI don't have your issues.

 

I appreciate the fact that you're trying to help. Since I am using a notebook and the only additional device is the external drive I'm not about to close any peripheral devices. I took the same drive and erased the latest corrupted image and then ran Dantz Retrospect Express backup and the device and software ran fine. I have now started another attempt to image using TI and will then verify that image if possible. My drives have no errors on them and I have recently defrag-ed the notebook drive and have even run MS Backup on to the external drive. No problems. BTW, I'm only backing up about 40 Gigs although I do have a few files which are over 2 Gigs in size. No, I am not using the secure zone.

Since my hardware differs slightly from yours, don't you think it's at all possible that the software is not properly operating? We really don't have the same program since there are installation routines to customize for unique configurations. Many, many posts on this forum are related to the problem of corrupted images. Since there is no connection between the imaging and the verification (not same program) it seems possible that the I/O routines differ slightly and probably differ even from manufacturer's different drives.

Your suggestion to close down most background programs and trying to image and verify is a good thought, but then, scheduled backups (as advertised by Acronis) will not be able to be unattended. Not an attractive alternative.

I have no problem believing most owners of ATI don't have my issues, but, then they also do not have the identical configuration or software. All of this is not to say I don't appreciate your attempt to assist.

BTW, since starting this reply on my desktop my notebook again said it had a successful image. Soon we'll see if the image is corrupted. Remeber my first post found a corrupted image on the first checking but when the check was run a second time the image came out fine, not that I could trust it. Another sequence like that and I'll have absolutely no confidence in this software. Backups need to be accurate and reliable.

 

No what this will show is that if you close any running tasks and you get a clean verification you can then close running apps one at a time until you find the culprit, it could be a program that locks a file or app it could be any number of countless things.

The reason to use SZ is to minimise the TI file being corrupted by external sources such as say a virus checker etc.

Your comments regarding system configuration is correct this is one reason it is difficult for any programmer to produce an application that is 100% compatible with 100% of systems.

At the end of the day you might have to try a different program.