Jim, I believe that you're an old Acronis user. Can you help me. I have been dong my "Data Back-Ups" via the
Microsoft Back-Up that came with XP Professional, however, I recently sprang for a copy of Acronis 2009 so that I could do both Data Backups and System Images so when TSHTF I'll be able to restore operations reasonably quickly. My problem is that I have never been able to get it to work.
I can get through the first three [3] steps with no problem:
Data Type
Source Selection
Target Archive
It's when I get to Scheduling that I run into a stone wall. If I schedule, it stops and gives me a Warning "The login information is not valid. Are you sure you want to continue?" Regardless of what I click, YES or NO that's the end. If I settle on Manual (Not Scheduled) I get the following error: "Failed to create the scheduled task. Error #1722 - The RPC server is unavailable (0xFFF0).
What's the deal? Where am I messing up? What should I be doing? Any and all help gratefully accepted. Thanks much.
Take Care & Best Wishes,
Jon
Jon,
Sounds like you may have disabled the Remote Procedure Call service.
You can check by Start>Run and typing "services.msc" (no quotes) into the Run box. Click OK and the services window will open. Scroll down (they are in alphabetical order) to Remote Procedure Call. It should show Started and Automatic. If either of those is not correct you can double click on the entry to open a new window where you can make the changes. Startup Type - Automatic and click the Start button directly below that.
Hey Jon - Dave's advice sounds spot on (wouldn't expect otherwise! ). Have you ever used any tweaking or tuning software....anything which may have turned off services deemed 'unnecessary'?
I do not use the scheduling feature myself....I don't create incremental nor differential backups either. I have some valid reasons for this.
Here is a simple clarification of the backup types, just in case you are not aware:
Full Backup is self explanatory.
Incremental Backup - backs up only those files that have changed since the very last backup...whether it be full or incremental.
Differential Backup - backs up all files that have changed since the last FULL backup.
EXAMPLES
Say we are creating a backup each Monday:-
[b:292u0jam]Incremental[/b:292u0jam]: First Monday - Full Backup. Second Monday - Incremental Backup would include only changes made since Full Backup. 3rd Monday - Incremental Backup would include only changes made since last Incremental Backup, and so on. Because there is no duplication, backup file sizes are minimal.
[b:292u0jam]Differential[/b:292u0jam]: First Monday - Full Backup. Second Monday - Differential Backup would include only changes made since Full Backup. 3rd Monday - Differential backup would include all changes made since last Full Backup, and so on. As you can see, the differential method does duplicate changes, so file sizes would be larger than with incremental.
Incremental backups are handy for space saving but in these days of inexpensive large capacity external drives, that should no longer be a major consideration. When it comes to restoration, incremental is by far the clumsiest and most time consuming; one has to restore the last full backup plus [i:292u0jam][b:292u0jam]all[/b:292u0jam][/i:292u0jam] the subsequent incremental backups....and there could be lots of them, depending on how often/regularly they are scheduled. Provided space (or lack of it) is not as issue, differential backups would be the better option. Restoration involves just the last full backup plus the[i:292u0jam] latest[/i:292u0jam] differential backup.....clear as mud???
I create full disk images only, this is what I do:
I create a new full disk image every two months until I have 3 images stored. I then continue to create a new full disk image every two months, replacing the oldest one with the latest. Three images is probably overkill but corruptions can/do occur and I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Now if my system crashes I have an image to restore which can be from one day old to 2 months maximum, plus alternatives. My system does not change all that much in two months so, even if I was unlucky enough for the system to crash right on the maximum, updating would be minimal. The timing can be adjusted, of course, to suit personal requirements. If someone is frequently making changes then a one month roll over might suit better but I would regard 2 months as being maximum.
As I said Jon, I have my own valid reasons for doing it that way. I am not necessarily advocating that method nor suggesting it is the best.
Also, one should always perform some basic maintenance prior to creating a full image; I clean up all temp files and unnecessary data, then use MyDefrag to defrag and optimize. Not much point including unneeded files in an image, plus it all helps keep the output file size to a minimum.
Cheers now.....JIM
Hi Guys;
Good advice is what I asked for and looks like I got some. Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of moving (some major changes in my life) so I'm kind of tied up for a while. When things settle down I'll come back to the forum and print out Dave's plan of action and see if that fixes the situation.
Jim, good background on the various backup's and your way of doing things. Thanks.
Everyone take care and stay well,
Best Regards
Jon
Hope you're not gone for too long, Jon!
Dave;
Hate to do this to you my friend, however, when I followed your advice all seemed to be as you said it should be. I did note that the following item "RPC Locator" showed a blank for Status and Manual under Startup Type is this a problem?
My main reason for getting Acronis was to be able to image my "C" Drive. All my "Data" is on my "D" Drive and I don't have a problem using M/S Back-Up to deal with that. I back-up my data to my "E" Drive and also to an external Hard Drive.
I can tell you that the first time I ran Acronis I did get an image back-up but I don't know what I did right that time and what I'm doing wrong now. Please help.
Thanks Much,
Jon
P.S. Jim, if you or anyone else has a clue, please jump in.
Hey Jon - Welcome back mate. I know your latest comments were addressed to Dave, but I'm gunna answer anyway.
I wrote a basic guide on how to use Acronis to create a full image of 'C' drive for the DCT news letter some time back....there are pictures and everything!!
Anyway, start off by taking a look here: https://davescomputertips.com/newsle ... p#article6
Then please post back with any remaining questions.
Cheers....JIM
[quote="WiseTioga":1eym8iod]Dave; I did note that the following item "RPC Locator" showed a blank for Status and Manual under Startup Type is this a problem?
Thanks Much,
Jon[/quote:1eym8iod]
Jon, First I would register your software on the Acronis site and make sure you have the latest build of the software. Second, I would start the service by double clicking the name and clicking Start in the new window. Give it a shot and let us know, especially if following Jim's article doesn't help.
Oops! Before trying to start the RPC Locator service (using instructions in my earlier post) check to see if the Acronis Scheduler Service is Started and Automatic. If not start the service and change its' type to Automatic. Also check msconfig.exe (Start>Run>msconfig.exe>OK) There will probably be several processes listed for Acronis. The important one is Acronis Scheduler Helper. Make sure it is checked (enabled). If either of these needed to be changed then restart and try to create another image.
RPC is an interesting beast, but a beast it is. RPC allows a program to communicate with other objects (programs, subroutines, etc) in a different address space. This address space can be on the same computer or a completely different computer on the network. This allows remote administration of various functions. I image Acronis is using RPC so they have to ability to administer both local and network computers (in the software base). I can also see where this would result in the login and task errors.
[size=85:1eym8iod][color=#004000:1eym8iod]Edited to correctly suggest checking the Acronis Scheduler components[/color:1eym8iod][/size:1eym8iod]
O.K. Dave thanks and I'll try your new instructions
By the way, I tried a back-up after reading and saving Jim's article (Nice job, Jim) and ended up with an error box with the following notice "Failed to create the scheduled task #1722 - The RPC server is unavailable (0xFFFo)
I'll get back to you after I work through Dave's new suggestions.
Best and thanks
Jon
Dave, Jim;
Good news, I went through Dave's last set of instructions and found some services that needed to be adjusted.
After that I tried an image back-up [u:1j6ph9yw][b:1j6ph9yw]IT WORKED!!![/b:1j6ph9yw][/u:1j6ph9yw] Yeh! Thanks so much guys. I'll try another one tonight or tomorrow just to be certain all is O.K.
Jim, Dave, how often would you suggest that I do a system image? I would think only when I add an application or make major changes in settings. Otherwise once every two or three months to pick up any minor changes. Or am I wau off base??
Appreciate the No BS responses and helpful information.
Regards,
Jon
Hey Jon - Great news....well done!!
Your suggested schedule for creating backups sounds fine. After any new major installation or otherwise every 2 months or so. The trick is to strike a happy medium between space occupied by images and not letting the system get too far behind with updates. 2 - 3 months strikes a pretty good balance, depending on total number of programs installed....more programs generally = more updates.
Bear in mind too that you still have System Restore to fall back on. I always manually create a system restore point prior to any new software installation but do not create an image.....that I do just every two months. Remember to always perform a system restore from safe mode too....it is more reliable that way.
Because I do not need nor use the bells and whistles in Acronis; incremental backups, differential backups, scheduled backups, etc. I do not actually have Acronis installed. Again, I have valid reasons for this. I install Acronis and create a couple of boot discs (from the options within the program) then completely uninstall Acronis. I then use an Acronis boot disk to create and/or restore any images. No problems, no issues, no conflicts, it just works.
Cheers mate....JIM
Jim,
Thanks for the imput. Doing a system restore before loading a new application sounds like a really good idea.
You suggest doing it in safe mode. Are you talking about the creating a restore point or actually doing the restore? How would I go about doing that??
Thanks as always for your kind words and good advice.
Regards,
Jon
Hey Jon - I meant when restoring. Creating a restore point can be done OK when the full system is running. Restoration is always better done from within safe mode though.
There are two ways to access safe mode:
1) Is, IMO, the best way. You will need to restart the computer. Just as the BIOS is finishing but before the operating system starts loading, start pressing the 'F8' key repeatedly. If you have got the timing right you should then see a screen with a list of options, just select the [b:1aulceum]Safe Mode[/b:1aulceum] option (with no other appendages). Navigation while in that screen is via up and down arrows. The Safe Mode option should be selected (highlighted) by default, if that is the case just press 'Enter'. But if it is not, just use the up and down arrows to highlight it and then press 'Enter'.
2) Open a [b:1aulceum]Run[/b:1aulceum] dialogue and type [b:1aulceum]msconfig[/b:1aulceum] into the Run dialogue box and the press 'Enter' or click [b:1aulceum]OK[/b:1aulceum]. Now, in the System Configuration window, click on the[b:1aulceum] Boot[/b:1aulceum] tab (across the top). Now you should see, under "Boot options", a little box next to[b:1aulceum] Safe Boot[/b:1aulceum]. Place a checkmark (tick) in that box by clicking on it. Click [b:1aulceum]Apply [/b:1aulceum]then [b:1aulceum]OK [/b:1aulceum]and restart the computer. To go back to normal boot just do the same thing, except remove that tick.
Cheers mate....JIM
Jim,
I was pretty sure that you ment the actual restore but I subscribe to the old adage "Trust but Verify".
Sounds like a reasonable plan.
By the way, when I did the system image back-up it created two [2] separate back-ups. One quite a bit smaller than the other. What's the deal here?
Dave,
That last set of instructions was the winner. Thanks.
Regards,
Jon
[quote="ozbloke":1vo0lsbr]I do not actually have Acronis installed. Again, I have valid reasons for this.[/quote:1vo0lsbr]
Actually I think this is just another sign of Jim's advancing age. It's installed. He just doesn't remember it's installed! (I crack myself up sometimes)
[quote="WiseTioga":1vo0lsbr]Jim,
By the way, when I did the system image back-up it created two [2] separate back-ups. One quite a bit smaller than the other. What's the deal here?
[/quote:1vo0lsbr]
It is possible that your previous efforts resulted in an incomplete file. Do they have the same filename, but with a suffix (backup-1, backup-2)?
Is the second file the smaller one?
If they have the same filename I suspect the option to split the backup was checked. It splits the files to CD or DVD size. If that is the case the first file should be around 4.7GB.
If they are not the same size I suspect one is an incomplete backup from your previous attempts.
I would probably create a new full image once a month, but I'm anal about those things. You can automate Acronis so it updates the image every couple days without any intervention on your part. If your computer is on all the time set it to make differential backups in the middle of the night while you're asleep.
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