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
    2020-08-14T13:50:31+00:00

    Slance, I just started up to Advanced Startup, and I see there is a button there to choose to boot from DVD or USB via EFI. I chose it for DVD, and it booted the DVD. I did that before trying F12.

    So, I tried once again to do an upgrade install (that is the one where it keeps all files and applications — yes, PCR, that is what I need to do), but again, it would not proceed, and here is the actual language of the message it gives:

    “The upgrade install isn’t available if you start your computer using Windows installation media.”

    It then goes on to tell you to boot normally and then use the installer to upgrade. So, simply booting via efi did not solve the issue.

    But, now I even more want to know how to boot to Advanced Recovery on my Gateway, I would be able to boot to DVD or USB without having to deal with bios switching from UEFI to Legacy. And I don’t understand, why, if it will boot the DVD from EFI, does it not do it other than choosing that out of Advanced Startup, I otherwise have to change bios to boot via Legacy? Why not simply boot it?

    PCR Just PCR,

    Yes, at that URL you gave, it has all those. I don’t need all that, I just need to run the upgrade install. Once done, it goes through the OS setup steps, and that’s when you can set a login. That is the only pint of doing it. But from what I just told slance, it seems it will be impossible to do that, unless I already can log in and boot to the desktop.

    So, either my friend gets the correct password from the woman who owns the machine, or we’re dead in the water. I get the impression he doesn’t think it is worth trying to get that — for him, again. He already went through asking her for it, and she gave a login that does not work. It seems like it is some big ordeal to try to deal with her. He was surprised yesterday that the login would not work.

    1. I can’t boot to Windows for lack of the proper login, that’s what I trying to make possible.
    2. Yes, the installer is on separate media. See message above that I get. It says I can’t do an upgrade install if I boot from it.
    3. 2-3 was actually for a clean install, which is not what I want todo, and I probably can do that booted from the disk, although I did not test. But even those instructions say nothing of booting from the install media, and that is the issue I ran into, I can’t boot to the desktop and run from there, and it won’t do an upgrade install if booted from external media. That’s what I’m trying to accomplish, to boot to the desktop.

    So, since I have hit a wall, I will have to take it back to my friend today, until he can get the proper login.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-08-14T13:41:32+00:00

    Hi,

    Yes... It is a mess when trying to enter Bios and etc. on different brands of machines..

    When UEFI Bios came into use, it got even worse as the way Windows is installed, and the hardware requirements, have changed.. In a way, there are two entirely different methods, and it is left to the user to figure them out..

    I do know for a fact that some machines will not allow the use of a DVD for the installation of Windows on a UEFI Machine..

    I stead of FN+F12, or F2... Try simply F12 or F2.. You do need to be quick about it as some machines allow very little time to hit the key.. Fast Startup makes this even worse, as does Fast Boot in the Bios..

    If it becomes necessary, you might try using RUFUS to create a flash drive specifically for UEFI Bios..

    This will make the flash drive a GPT drive (as opposed to MBR), and format it as FAT32 (as opposed to NTFS).. The flash drives created bt the Create media tool are of a Hybrid type that are not recognized properly by some machines..

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-08-14T04:32:10+00:00

    (1) I should have said "Installation media". By that I mean a USB or DVD media that has the Win 10 Installation app on it from...

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

    Download Windows 10 -- currently, this is version 2004

    That can be used 3 ways: Clean install Win 10, upgrade/repair install it, or to boot to its own copy of the recovery environment (Advanced Startup).

    (2) That URL I posted earlier...

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4000735/windows-10-reinstall

    Reinstall Windows 10

    ...shows the various ways Windows can be reinstalled & what happens with each one. Click the various methods one at a time up top, & an explanation opens for it at bottom.

    (3) "The options are only whether to keep all files and applications or not."

    That definitely is not a clean install which wipes all files (except from OneDrive) & apps. It must have been an upgrade/repair-install. That is the only one that offers to keep apps. A Reset will offer to keep only files. Read carefully through that URL to see what they do.

    (4) "by repair/install, maybe you mean"

    An upgrade/repair-install is what I said. Boot to windows, plug in the Installation media, open it, & double-click Setup.exe. It is a repair, if the media is the same Windows version as the current installation. If greater, it is an upgrade. (Lesser should not be attempted.) This is the only reinstallation method that will offer to keep apps (as well as files). A Reset offers files only, if even that.

    (5) "The installer doesn’t delete partitions"

    If you do a clean install, you have the option to delete partitions at the "where do you want to install Windows" screen. Don't delete one she may want to keep, but only delete EFI, MSR, Windows, & Recovery. Click next, & they all regenerate clean, but OneDrive should survive.

    But you may choose to delete none, just select the Windows partition & click Next instead. In that case, you get a clean-ish install but a Windows.old folder will be created with her current installation inside. Here files will be inside & could be fished out. I'm unsure, but probably EFI is repurposed & Recovery is regenerated, maybe you end up with two.

    (6) "The issue I ran into is that the installer will not install to any partition other than the one it is running from."

    I don't understand that. The installer is on separate media.

    (7) "Something seems to be missing between #2 and #3."

         "I see nothing to pick a device to run something from."

    I edited stuff out realizing her computer couldn't boot to do that. But the URL has it all. But to see a device there, it has to be plugged in (or inserted) before getting there. I know for sure USB drives will show up. If you insist, I'll try it with a DVD, but I think it should...

    (8) "The real issue is that its stupid to make you boot to the drive you’re installing to"

    That's only for an upgrade/repair-install. A clean install can't be done that way. A Reset can be started from Advanced Startup.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-08-14T04:06:05+00:00

    No, no AUTO selection, not on the Lenovo nor on my Gateway.

    Yes, one-time-only selection from Lenovo bios of what to boot. Since I could do it there, I didn't try F12. If you do it five times in a row, then five times in a row you have to keep going back into bios to select the same thng.

    Yes, Lenovo has its weirdness. But it drives me crazy that no brand wants to follow a standard on Windows machines so that you always know where things are, how they are done, according to the OS, not the brand of machine.

    One of the worst that drives me crazy is trying to figure out how to get into bios on a different machine. They are all different! I goolged for the Lenovo, and Lonovo said to hold down the FN key while quickly tapping and tapping F2 while the machine is starting up. I did, it did not take me to bios, it just tired my finger. Even Lenovo doesn't know how to do it.

    It gave another way by pressing a button But I could find no buitton, and the picture it gave to show you was far too dark to see anything. I finally guessed that it was one of those tiny holes, most of which would light when you were using the slot next to them. I got a toothpic and pushed in with the pointed top, and it did feel like a button in there. I held it in, booted, nope, no bios. Tried it a couple more times, and one time it finally went to bios. It seems you can't hold it as you start up, you have to wait until that is barely getting going, but if you wait beyond that it is too late. I've never come across that method before. So that's how I had to do it evey time.

    Yes, the last post in that one thread talks of the Novo button -- that's the name of the tiny button I was pushing with the toothpick. And that picture inthat post is what it looks like for me on the Lenovo.

    I could not find any way in the bios to arrange the order of boot, like I can on my Gateway. I have my Gateway set up as first being the DVD drive, then I think USB, maybe next is internal drive, or maybe something before it. But on Lenovo, no can do, have to go to the list and pick each time.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-08-14T03:28:40+00:00

    Hi,

    Are you looking specifically in the Boot Options or the Boot Manager in the actual Bios ?

    They are not the same thing.. One is a Bios setting for the first boot device, and the other is a "One Time" boot selection.. It exists specifically for booting into something other than the OS...

    BTW... In a UEFI machine, the Boot Device is WindowsBootManager.. Not an actual drive..

    There must be something highly unusual with these Lenovo's if they do not have the capability to access a Boot Options menu outside of the Bios..

    I guess maybe Lenovo is weird after reading this article.. It might be helpful though... Do you have an "AUTO" selection in addition to Legacy and UEFI ?

    https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/sf16-d0035

    You might also look at the very last reply at this site...

    https://superuser.com/questions/639399/how-to-access-boot-menu-on-a-lenovo-g500s/879457

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