Windows 7 Backup Broken

[Matt8445]

I am finding that I have a bit of a problem at the moment. I installed a trial version of Acronis True Image Home and decided to give it a try for a few days to compare it to the built in Windows backup.

I liked it but decided it was not much different then the windows backup and uninstalled it. Sense that point my windows backup has not worked. I do not know what to do at this point. I go to the control panel - System and Security - and try to click on either Backup and Restore or Back up your computer and neither are able to be selected. I click on them and nothing happens.

I have asked Acronis about this and they have acknowledged the problem and offered some fixes, but none of them have solved my problem. Is there anyone here who might have some insight into what I might be able to do?

I do not want my option to be that I have to go back to buying and using Acronis after they have caused massive amounts of frustration for me.

On another note does anyone know a way of using a backup utility of some type that would allow me to create multiple backups on multiple drives at the same time? I.E. I have a usb external drive connected to a laptop dock at my office and a network drive at my house. I want them to both be backed up to, but I have not found something that will do the same backup say daily to multiple drives.

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Matt

 

[badger906]

You should still be able to do a system restore to before you installed the software.

Personally I only back up files, not whole disk images. If problems arise I always like to start from fresh with only my files being the thing the same as before.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

 

[Matt8445]

I am only backing up data not doing a disk image. I just tried out the acronis true image. That is why I want to be able to go back.

I did try doing a system restore, but no luck. The oldest restore I have is after I installed that unless there is something I am not aware of to go back further.

Matt

 

[pincushion]

Sorry about your predicament - and can't help you with that I'm afraid. I use Macrium Reflect free version to image to a second internal HDD and then Teracopy this to the system drive (separate partition). I also save a copy on a USB HDD. With my images being less than 15GB I can store quite a few versions. I believe a back-up utility such as SyncBack or SyncToy can be scheduled to do automatic copying - SyncBack certainly can and there is a free version. I use SyncBack to back-up my data regularly but I don't use an automatic schedule. I have done several restores using the original images all of which have succeeded so I've never needed any back-up copies. Better safe than sorry though since HDD space is (was) cheap.

:huh:

 

[Britton30]

Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools\Services and make sure Volume Shadow copy And windows Backup services are enabled and set to Manual.


Acronis and Macrium are better imaging choices than the native Windows Backup. They are both configurable while Windows Backup is not.

After you back up your data, you can try a http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html#post31238

 

[Matt8445]

Both are set to manual and the windows backup is "started". Still no luck.

 

[Britton30]

Ok, good, check to see if there are any Acronis services listed and diasable them if so. You may have to look at descriptions to find them too.

 

[essenbe]

The full version of Acronis takes over windows backup. Simply uninstalling Acronis does not reverse this. Acronis takes over registry keys and is extremely hard to remove. This link from Microsoft Answers may help. Here is the link from Acronis to remove it.

 

[Matt8445]

no acronis stuff in the services not anything labeled as such at least.

 

[Britton30]

OK, run Essenbe's removal tools, it is hard to get rid of all of its bits.

 

[Tinkerdog]

I am only backing up data not doing a disk image. I just tried out the acronis true image. That is why I want to be able to go back.

I did try doing a system restore, but no luck. The oldest restore I have is after I installed that unless there is something I am not aware of to go back further.

Matt

On the System Restore Screen, where you select the Restore point, there is a checkbox to allow you to see ALL the Restore Points, not just the most recent. Make sure you check this!

 

[essenbe]

Here is a discussion of the problem from the Acronis forums. There is an Acronis removal tool on CNet. However many have reported success with reinstalling it, and in the program configuration there is an option to let Acronis take over backups, reverse that then remove it. Some of these methods work for some people and not for others. I had the same problem and found that it was easier to do a clean install than all the work it would take to get rid of it. The free versions do not cause this problem, but the retail versions are a nightmare to get rid of.

 

[essenbe]

matt8445, how are things going? did you resolve the problem? If you did let us know so others can benefit from your experience.