Ti10 DIFF restore malfunction / Ti10 versus Windows Restore

(A). Differential Restore Mystery – TI10
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The following is a list of files in my operating system backup folder as of 30/10/2006.

P:\OS_BUP\
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2006_10_23_19_30_05_390D.TIB 1 KB 23/10/2006 06:35:20 PM a
2006_10_23_19_30_05_390D2.TIB 286098 KB 24/10/2006 06:31:26 PM a
2006_10_23_19_30_05_390D3.TIB 900891 KB 25/10/2006 09:50:10 PM a
2006_10_23_19_30_05_390D4.TIB 999789 KB 26/10/2006 09:23:56 PM a
2006_10_23_19_30_05_390D5.TIB 1027632 KB 27/10/2006 06:34:20 PM a
2006_10_23_19_30_05_390D6.TIB 1082645 KB 28/10/2006 06:34:24 PM a
2006_10_23_19_30_05_390D7.TIB 1135518 KB 29/10/2006 07:34:30 PM a
2006_10_30_20_30_08_825D.TIB 1 KB 30/10/2006 07:35:56 PM a

The backup scheduling is set to create a new FULL backup after every 6 DIFF backups. The backup folder is set to contain a max of 14 backup files in this folder.

On 30th Oct my PC was behaving badly. I tried to use Windows System Restore to rewind the clock and take my operating system back to 29/10/06 when it was behaving properly.

The windows restore was not successful in curing the problem. Ti10 created a new FULL backup at 7.35 on 30/10/06.

Since windows restore had not helped me to solve the problem, I decided to use Ti10 to turn the clock back to 29/10/2006 7:34pm using the DIFF 7 backup titled “ 2006_10_23_19_30_05_390D7.TIB” along with its associated FULL backup “2006_10_23_19_30_05_390D.TIB “

Before overwriting my corrupt OS - as a test I attempted to restore to a clean partition on a separate hard drive. Despite the fact that I selected the DIFF 7 backup which I assumed would take me back to a version of the OS of 29/10/2006 what ti10 did was to restore the backup titled 2006_10_30_20_30_08_825D.TIB - this is the corrupt version of the OS partition.

It appears that ti10 used the most recent full backup not the backup I requested. This seems to be a malfunction of the Ti10 software.

To test the restore again – the second time I deleted the backup file titled
2006_10_30_20_30_08_825D.TIB
Then I attempted to restore the DIFF 7 backup from 29/10/06

This time the restore worked perfectly and effectively rolled back the OS partition status back to 29/10/2006.

So it appears that if you want to restore to a previous point in time you have to delete all DIFF and FULL backups made after that point in time – otherwise ti10 will malfunction when it restores the partition.

Has anyone else noticed this ti10 behaviour with DIFF backups/restores?


(B). Windows System Restore versus Acronis ti10
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In their ti10 operating manual , Acronis advocate the use of ti10 in preference to Windows System Restore.

BUT there is a fundamental operational difference:-

Windows System Restore leaves Outlook emails and settings in tact (latest versions) when you rollback the OS status to a previous point in time. This assumes that outlook emails and settings are stored within the OS partition.

Ti10 will rollback the OS partition completely, so that outlook emails and settings are not up to date – they will only reflect the partition status (and outlook email status ) at the point when the backup was made. So Ti10 is not a replacement to Windows restore - it operates in a different way.

As seen in my restore test in (A) above, ti10 can help fix a system that Windows cannot - so I would prefer to use ti10. In order to make sure I can retain up to date emails and settings when I restore the OS partition to a previous point in time - does anyone know a way to store outlook emails and settings outside the OS partition ?

Any advice is very welcome. pete

 

It is a very good idea to keep your Outlook files on a separate disk/partition to the OS (the same applies to the My Documents folder).

Each user of Outlook has a database file called Outlook.pst The following Microsoft "How to..." will show you how to move the .pst file.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/outlook/HA011124801033.aspx?pid=CL100626971033

 

Ti10 DIFF restore BUG

thanks for the link with info for shifting the pst file to another partition.

I see that 40 people have viewed my thread below - but no-one has an opinion on whether DIFF restore works ok when you are trying to restore a partition to a point in time which is not necessarily the most recent version of the partition.

has anyone been successful is using DIFF restore to do this - or did they also find that DIFF restore always defaults to the most recent backup image as I did.

 

If what you have stated above is accurate then Acronis are absolutely wrong in advocating this idea.

There is no correlation whatsoever between Windows System Restore and Acronis True Image. WSR deals specifically with the Registry and a selected group of files that might be changed when installing new software or performing Windows or other updates. WSR monitors these critical file groups and takes snapshots of files before they are changed.

The files that WSR monitors are:

# The Registry
# User profiles
# COM+ DB
# The WFP.dll cache
# WMI DB
# The IIS Metabase
# Files with extensions listed in the Monitored File Extensions

From the above it is clear that WSR is specifically designed to roll-back changes that are made to the "system" and leave everything else "as is".

ATI has obviously been designed for a very different purpose.

WSR and ATI are two separate and completely different tools in the "Disaster Recovery Toolbox". Each has a distinct function and purpose. To confuse them is the same as confusing a hammer with a screwdriver.

 

Hi,

I justed made a small test:

- Full backup of logical partition
- Add one file and made differential backup
- Add one more file and made another differential backup
- Add one more file and made new full backup

All backups was done to Backup Location like you did.

The I tried to restore the second differential backup (the one made before new full backup) and it was done correctly. Namely, the file that was added after this differential backup was created was NOT restored.

So for me it works just fine.

Is it possible that you select the wrong time when ATI asked? (check screen shot). When you start to restore ANY differential/incremental backup ATI will offer you to choose the time to restore even if you already select differential/incremental from the drives tree.

_Kento_