Trouble Making Image Backup with Acronia True Image 2016 -- apparent misread of space

Anonymous
2020-06-18T23:54:58+00:00

I have been trying for days now to make a backup image of my internal Windows 10 hard drive, fully updated to current Windows 10 level May 2020. I have been using Acronis True Image 2016, as I always do. I have been backing up to an external, USB2 connected hard drive with 160 GB of free space on it (a 320 GB hard drive), the same drive I normally backup to. This is a Gateway laptop, NE56R from 2012, which shipped with Windows 8.

I have been trying to backup all partitions, including the C, and recovery partitions (including the Push Button one, which is about 15 GB) and whatever others are there. In total, they are about 109 GB. So I ought to have plenty enough free space.

I have checked all partitions to back up with True Image. It runs the whole backup, takes a good five hours. At the end, it throws up amessage saying ther eis not enough space for the image.

I have never had this problem before. The machine is booted from the True Image disk, so that should rule out some issue wiht my Widows 10 OS. I am doing a full disk backup, and I am even using Maximum Compression, which is what I always use, so I should need something lessthatn 109 GB of free space. and Ihave 160 GB of free space on the external drive.

I have a backup of Win 10 I made in April, shortly before the new OS level cam out on the drive -- I always keep two, just because. I deleted the older of the two on there, so now have only the one. I certainly don't want to delete the one on there, and still have this problem but no backup at all. But Ihave more free space than shudbe needed.

The external drive has been used only for backups since I started using it brand new, and I make a backup once or twice a year -- and I have been using it no more than four years. So, the external drive has very little, hardly any actual use on it, it is not far from brand new.

I read something this morning about a real problem found in the new Win 10 update, something to do with Storage Space, that is some sort of function in the OS now. I don't know what that is, or what it does. But the story said if your drive is not showing as RAW, then it should be OK, not affected. I checked Disk Management, and none of my volumes nor the external drive are marked as RAW. So, that should mean that issue is not the case here.

I have done enough backups in the past four years using the Acronis True Image 2016 software. It has always worked fine, and actually with less free space (I had another item on the drive too, but have deleted it. I also have deleterd about 32 GB of stuff from my C drive in an attempt to make this backup fit, but to no avail -- that is, my last two backups were actually larger than this one, and they fit fine.)

So, why do I keep getting the message about not enough space? I should have way more than enough.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-06-19T22:22:17+00:00

    Well, I do think the 120 GB number is correct because it is in the vicinity of where it has been in the past, it doesn’t seem to be getting rad any differently. I also am thinking there is something wrong with how size is being reported, either by Acroinis or something. And yes, I also am wondering about the external, maybe that is fine but its size is being miscalculated by Acronis. But Acronis is burned to disk, if it was not mis-reading this before, it should not be now, its software should not be changed any on the DVD.

    I think I will now try using the OS imaging, see if that works.

    I just tried plugging in the drive I use for backing up my Mac, it has three partitions on it, one being empty and with 155 GB of space on it. Unfortunately, Windows does not read it, does not show it in This Computer, I presume because it has a Mac format on it. I have to keep that as-is, it holds the backup of my Mac. That was the only other thing around here large enough to handle this image.

    I will try the Windows imaging. If that fails, I have one thing I can do to reduce the size of what is on the disk, and then try that. And when that files, I’m sure it will, I don’t know.

    I will also try to take a look at the hidden files, as you mention. Im not clear what you are saying or where to doit, I will try to figure that out. Where is Show Hidden Files? Where is Hide Protected Operation System Files?

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-06-19T21:56:06+00:00

    Hi,

    You should be able to tell which partition is which by the size.. The EFI is the one you mentioned.. It is specifically list as so to the right of the Disk Management screen.. It is a bit large for a EFI partition, but that doesn't really matter..

    EDIT... The EFI will also be the only FAT32 partition...

    When you do the image, the full size of 448gb is in the image, but the unused space is compressed in such a way that it amounts to almost nothing.. Just something like " X amount of empty sectors "

    I can only think that the 120gb number you mention is not correct in that there is an error with how Windows is reporting the size... Or that for some reason your external drive has a problem and all of the space is not accessible..

    I just tried the Acronis 2016 on the UEFI version of Windows 10 (2004) without issues, although I did not try to restore it..

    If you were to select Windows to Show Hidden Files and Folders as well as uncheck "Hide Protected Operating System Files" you will see a "System Volume Information" folder on C:, along with another for Recycle Bin.. You may be able to view the Recycle Bin folder, but not the System Volume Information.. You would need some type of bootable File Management tool to access the folder.. Or a bootable Defrag program to show "Excluded" areas on the drive... It is normal for the HiberFil, PageFile, and SwapFile to be "Excluded", but if there is a bunch of other stuff there is a problem..

    As I mentioned before, I have found as much as 100gbs of unknown files in this folder, which should have only a couple of basic files..

    What I was thinking is that you might use Acronis to image only your EFI partition for instance...

    Just to see if it will do so... Then do the same thing to the other partitions one at a time.. The images will be of little use, just delete them if it works, but it will possibly identify a problem area with your internal HDD..

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-06-19T19:47:57+00:00

    Partition 2, at 300 MB, is the EFI system — that is necessary. The Windows imaging seems to think the “push button” recovery partition is necessary, that’s 15 GB. That and the C partition are the only sizable ones, other three are in MB size, all three together just over 1 GB.

    Wait, I see issues with identifying partition number. In the list at top, partition 5 is a recovery partition, and push button is a different partition, but is spot 5 on the chart below. How is anyone supposed to follow this? A normal human will take the partition in the fifth spot to be partition 5.

    So, who knows which is the EFI partition, as it is partition 2, but it seems that does not mean it is the 300 MB partition in the second partition in the chart.

    And it means I can’t even tell how large this “push button” partition is because I can’t know which it is in the chart.

    Nonetheless, including all the partitions is what you are suggesting anyway, with Acronis, and that is what I have been doing. To not include one or two of the small recovery partitions isn’t going to make much of any difference to the size of the file, which is starting out at more than 120 GB.

    I note, I just noticed in the disk management screen shot, it says C is 448 GB. That’s the size of the partition, not the amount of files on it. The files on it take up 104 GB, and there is 344 GB of free space.

    When I do a “full disk” image, is it not taking the 104 GB rather than the 448 GB? I think I have always done a “full disk” image, but maybe I have instead selected the “Files” image method? My head tells me there can be issues with booting if I do only a “files” image.

    I have never even looked at the Windows System Imaging until last night. So there would not be anything Idid there that left a big file somewhere. And even now, I have not pressed the button to start the imaging.

    Other than your info about Windows System Image and where it would save a file, I don’t know where to find any of the others you mentioned earlier. I don’t know what the issue is here, I am pretty doubtful it is some uncounted files taking up a bunch of space. For one thing, they were no issue just back in April, about all that I have on here now that was not  then is this newest OS level, plus the ISO on the desktop to install it. But the ISO is being counted in the volume of files on the drive, I’m sure.

    Bottom line: I have 164 GB of free space on the external drive, and I’m trying to add what is a little over 120 GB before compression. That should still leave me at least 44 GB of free space after it is done, without considering how much more thanks to compression. I’m being told there is not enough space. This should not even be a close call.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-06-19T19:00:01+00:00

    Hi,

    Those are the partitions you need for UEFI.. Although I would not think the Push Button Reset should be a requirement...

    You have an extra Recovery Partition at the front that is not in use, but it should be included with any Acronis Image regardless... Just to be safe..

    The 2nd Recovery partition is in use, but could be left off... You would lose some Repair features which could be made with bootable installation media instead.. But again, it is not really that big, and it would be safer to include it..

    The Windows System Imaging is one of the file types that does not list file size as it is protected.. It will show a 100gb file as zero bytes.. Is it possible that you may have experimented with this previously and have a 100gb file hiding somewhere..

    Windows normally stores them on the ROOT of a drive, in a folder called "WindowsImageBackup"...

    C:\WindowsImageBackup for instance.. There is nothing really wrong with the Windows Imaging with the exception that it can be finicky when it comes time to reload a saved image.. Under other circumstances it can work flawlessly.. It can have issues sometimes when trying to reload an image to a different drive..

    It will not reload an image to a smaller drive as Acronis will..

    It is possible that your Bad Sector issue has become worse and is causing issues..

    I will get going on testing the UEFI version of Windows 10 2004..

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-06-19T18:37:44+00:00

    Raju, I'm surprised to hear that. Mine doesn't seem to have options, it does one thing only, take it or leave it. I still have no idea what PE is.

    Mine at control panels/System and Security/Back Up and Restore/Create a system image -- it merely lets me select the backup drive and then tells me the the partitions it will image as all that is needed, and I can click the button to proceed. Nothing more.

    I do notice it saying the size will be larger than the original, but that size is still far less than the space I have for it.

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