How to Fix: Acronis 2016 Won't Validate Backups, Show Progress

Infopackets Reader Steve T. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

I am use Acronis 2016 with Windows 10 to backup my system. Recently I tried to restore my C drive, but the backup failed in the middle of the restore operation. I subsequently tried 3 more backups I made earlier in the year but they also failed. This makes me think there is something wrong with the backup drive. I ended up having to reinstall Windows clean on my system to get back up and running. I tried running 'chkdsk' on the backup drive, and it reported that the volume bitmap was incorrect. I followed your guide on 'How to Fix: ChkDsk Volume Bitmap, Shadow Copy Error' and was able to fix the external drive's file system - however, now Acronis 2016 won't validate my backups. As such, I have no idea whether these backups are any good even after the file system has been fixed. When I right click a backup and choose 'Acronis True Image -> Validate' from the menu, it loads the Acronis True Image 2016 main program and proceeds through the backup wizard, as if I'm trying to create a new backup. There are no other options inside the program that allow me to validate a backup set. How can I get Acronis 2016 to validate my backups? "

My response:

I asked Steve if he would like me to connect to his system using my remote desktop support, and he agreed.

How to Fix: Acronis 2016 Won't Validate Backups, Show Progress

After a lot of poking around and research on this topic, there are a number of issues that will cause Acronis True Image 2016 to not validate your backups or show the validation progress indicator:

1. First, use the latest version of Acronis True Image 2016 available to you from the web. You will need to login to Acronis' website with your user name and password (when you first purchased the program) to acquire the latest version. There are a number of bugs in Acronis True Image 2016 that have been fixed in relation to the issues described on this page.
    
2. The backup drive / media must be validated using chkdsk and must pass all chkdsk tests. If it reports that the volume bitmap is incorrect or that there are errors on the drive, you need to fix these before attempting to validate or restore the backup or it will most likely fail.
    
3. Acronis True Image 2016 must have the volume shadow service enabled in via Windows Services, otherwise it will start with the "Backup Wizard" instead of validating the backup. Depending on your system, you may have more than one volume shadow service; if so, ensure these are all enabled.
    
4. Assuming all of the above requirements are met, Acronis True Image 2016 may or may not show the backup validation progress indicator. On Steve's system, the only indication that something was happening was that an icon appeared near the clock (the same one that appears when a backup or scheduled task starts). The backup progress indicator window which normally appears did not appear; as such I was forced to review the backup progress through the log files which are created each time an Acronis task is created.
   
   To view the Acronis True Image logs manually:
   
   a. Open File Explorer and go to: C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Log
   
   b. Sort by date and time, and look for the latest file named 'service_[date-time].log
   
   c. Double click the service log to load it into Notepad and review the progress. It should say what task is being handled by Acronis (validating the backup). When the validation incomplete you will need to close and reload the file
   
   d. If the backup fails, you will be notified by Acronis that it failed; if it passess it will be shown in the service log.

I hope that helps.

Additional 1-on-1 Support: From Dennis

If all of this is over your head, or if you need help validating your backups and/or restoring data from a corrupt backup set, I can help. Simply contact me, briefly describing the problem and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

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About the author: Dennis Faas is the owner and operator of Infopackets.com. With over 30 years of computing experience, Dennis' areas of expertise are a broad range and include PC hardware, Microsoft Windows, Linux, network administration, and virtualization. Dennis holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science (1999) and has authored 6 books on the topics of MS Windows and PC Security. If you like the advice you received on this page, please up-vote / Like this page and share it with friends. For technical support inquiries, Dennis can be reached via Live chat online this site using the Zopim Chat service (currently located at the bottom left of the screen); optionally, you can contact Dennis through the website contact form.