Validating backup image on external USB drive

[Lou[NE]]

Acronis True Image 11 does not seem to be able to validate a backup image done on a USB external hard drive. I've tried using 2 different external drives on 4 different computers - 3 towers running XP Pro and a laptop running Vista Home Premium. All come up with the same validation error codes - "Archive is corrupted". Even good ol' Power Quest Drive Image generates a similar validation error on the external backup. I can open the image with the image browser and everything seems to be there in spite of the error.

This doesn't happen with either program when backing up to an internal drive.

So...what is it with USB drives? I found a 14-page post on the Wilder forums about this topic, which apparently started with True Image 9. Am I the only one with this problem? I don't think I've seen it mentioned on this forum before.

I don't like not validating an image - makes me feel insecure.

[Wiz Feinberg]

Lou[NE];
Welcome to the unofficial Acronis True Image Forum on the SGF ;-)

First, let me state that I also use ATI 11 and have made backups to both internal and external disks. I have backups that both validated and failed to validate on both internal and external disks. What I now do is let the backup run, then if I see the failure icon in the Systray I open the program interface and run the task manually. 9 times out of 10 it runs through without errors. On a few occasions I have to try 3 times, but eventually I get a good backup.

Sometimes the error message is "corrupted Bitmap image" or "failure to read data from partition." In either case, re-running the backup task results in a successful backup! I think gremlins must reside on our hard drives and they come out to feed on bits and bytes, during backup tasks. The reality is that these hard drives are magnetic platters and pickups and they develop dropouts and bad sectors, with age, or due to manufacturing defects.

Another thing I do now, in response to Acronis backup error reports and disk problems, is about once a week I set the C drive to be checked for errors during the next startup. This runs "Chkdsk /P" to scan for and fix file system and master file table errors. After the disk check completes the computer restarts automatically and all is well in Whoville for a while.

You should defragment the destination drive before saving images to it. In fact, check it for bad sectors while you're at it. The OS will mark those sectors as unwritable to avoid data loss. I have learned that is does not pay to try to defrag the destination drive, unless I am starting afresh, with no backups on it.

This concludes tonight's Acronis True Image tips and secrets!

[Lou[NE]]

I don't use the scheduler. I do everything manually, and here are my results -

I uninstalled/reinstalled TI 11 Build 8101.

I ran checkdisk and defrag on both internal source and external destination drives.

Did a backup to external hard drive. File failed validation. Copied this backup file from external to internal drive and tried to validate. No joy.

Did backup to a different internal drive with successful validation. Copied this successfully validated backup file from internal to external drive and tried to validate. No joy.

I have backups that both validated and failed to validate on both internal and external disks

Wiz, my experience with external USB drives is apparently very different from yours. I have
never had a failed validation on an internal hard drive; I cannot get a successful validation on an external USB drive. I get the same validation error code every time, no matter which PC or OS, namely

Operation with partition 0-0 terminated - Image corrupted (0x700200) Tag = 0xF5F8CBCF76155638

Note that I also tried using Power Quest Drive Image with an external drive and got a validation error. This program also never failed a validation when backing up to an internal drive.

My conclusion is that external drives are not suitable for backups if you want to be assured of a valid image, and I need to find another backup program if I want to use external drives.

Does this only happen to me?

Lou

[Wiz Feinberg]

Lou{NE];
Backups to internal drives succeed, whereas external drive fails.

Conclusion:

The USB hub/output jacks/chipset/drivers, or the USB drive electronics, or the hard disk in the USB enclosure are defective in some small way that causes validation of images to fail.

Recommendation:
Buy another internal hard drive and use it for backups only. That's what I do. Yet, some of my backups require two or three tries to validate. Forces beyond our comprehension are at work here.

[Lou[NE]]

That's what I was doing in the first place. I had a dedicated PC with two large capacity hard drives that I used for backups via the LAN. This PC died (motherboard, I think - won't even try to POST), which is why I started fooling with external hard drives. The hard drives in the external enclosures are the same ones that were in the dead PC.

I've submitted ther error codes to Acronis customer support. We'll see what, if anything, they have to say.

I guess I'll have to resurrect the deadster and go back to what I know works.

Thanks for your time.

Lou

[Chip Fossa]

Lou,

If it will make you feel any better, I also have been using Acronis, with many complaints such as you've stated.

Me and The Wiz have gone round and round about this program. Mainly, the Russian's are to be blamed.

Anyway, I just clicked on my desktop Acronis icon to check on what version I have, and it is 11.0.

On the main page there is always an error warning. This one states: Last attempt to backup 12/28/2008 completed but with errors.

Wiz said, "don't worry about the man behind the curtain". OK, fair enough.

I've always been totally confused with this program. Especially like the difference between INCREMENTAL and DIFFERENTIAL backup.

Acronis explanation of the difference between the 2 is so vague and seems like both are identical.

Anyway, what I do now, is simply do a full backup; and a full backup validation. I have enough space on MyBook external HDD to add the new backup, and once that is done, I delete the previous one.

BUT - I still don't know if this is working or imaging or what?

Wiz says to take the MyBook HDD and try to install it on another PC somewhere. This is ridiculous. I don't know anyone, or anywhere to go to do this. Wiz is probably correct in checking this out, but heck, it's too much fuss. Shouldn't have to be this way.

Once again, it's the Russians.

Anyway, I do a backup about once a week. I've lost stuff in the past, and I've "recovered" so to speak. I'm used to losing stuff, by now, and still have much of what I care for on CDs. So Acronis seems like a nice program, but, I don't trust it, but I bought it, and continue to use it.

The big revelation will be on the day that I have to rely on it.

So ---hope it works. BINGO!

[Wiz Feinberg]

While I don't know why Acronis True Image sometimes reports errors and fails to create a backup the first time around, once a valid backup finally exists it can be used to restore your entire computer, as saved, in one fell swoop. I know because I have done so several times already, after foolish experiments went bad.

I have also extracted individual files from my daily Acronis images and dragged them into the original folders to overwrite corrupted data files. I do this by going to the Backup Location, choosing an incremental or full backup with the last good date, then double-clicking on it until I open to the desired folder. It's just like using Explorer to drill down to find a file. Pulling a file out of the archive expands it to full size at the destination. It does not remove that file from the image; just copies it.

[Lou[NE]]

Acronis has saved my bacon on several occasions when a hard drive crashed. I'm just scared to rely on a backup image that won't validate. Wiz I'll probably take your advice and put an extra hard drive in each box for backup purposes.

Chip, if you're getting a successful validation of your backup image I wouldn't be too worried.

Also, at the risk of confusing you completely, here's the difference between incremental and differental backups as I understand it. Notice you always start with a full backup.

Differental - You do a full backup on Sunday. On Monday you do a differental backup. This backs up any files that were created/changed since Sunday's full backup. On Tuesday you do another differential backup. Again, this backs up any files that were created/changed since Sunday's full backup, and you can delete Monday's differential backup file since it is no longer up-to-date. The differental backup always uses the date of the last full backup as a reference date.

Incremental - You do a full backup on Sunday. On Monday you do an incremental backup. This backs up any files that were created/changed since Sunday's full backup. So far they're both doing the same thing. On Tuesday you do another incremental backup. This - and here is the difference - this backs up and files that were created/changed since Monday's incremental backup. Wednesday's incremental will back up any files created/changed since Tuesday's incremental. The incremental backup uses the date of the last incremental as its reference date.

Clear as mud, yes?

Incremental backup files are smaller, but there are more of them to fool with when restoring from them. Differental backup files are larger, but there's only one of them to apply to your restore.

Personally I don't mess with either differental or incremental backups, and just do a weekly full backup (in theory, anyhow).

Hope this made some sense.

Lou

[Chip Fossa]

Thanks Lou,

Your DIFF and INCR description does make it much clearer than Acronis. I get it.

But just like you, it's just easier doing a full backup once a week or whenever you feel you should backup.

It obviously takes longer to backup the entire PC everytime, but I just click the clickers and walk away and do something else for awhile; or do it before hitting the rack at night.

That Acronis warning I got has been there s
ince it's inception and no other errors have popped up since Dec.28