Files could not be restored when testing

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mart
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:51 am

Files could not be restored when testing

Post by mart »

I am currently testing AISBackup trial edition after using acronis for many years. I'm very impressed with the options available, thinking I've finally found a backup program that does everything I want, but unfortunately there is one issue that might make the software unusable for me.

I backed up about 250GB over 2 partitions to an external USB drive, and at the end there was an error saying that 2 files could not be restored when testing. It doesn't however say what the two files are, so I've got no way of knowing whether they are important and no way to investigate what the cause of the problem might be. Is there any way I can find out what the two files are? If not, the software is as good as useless.

What might be causing the problem? The only other forum posts I have seen regarding this error relate to unreliable media or the possibility of antivirus software deleting files. Could there be any other cause?

AISBackup version: 2.7.0.348
Windows XP SP3
Backup source: entire disk, consisting of system partition C: and data partition D:
Backup destination: External USB drive using standard windows driver

If there is no way of finding out which files can not be restored, please consider this to be a feature request.

Thanks in advance,
Martin
Barry
Site Admin
Posts: 1529
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2002 3:16 pm

What to do if a test fails

Post by Barry »

These files should be listed in the backup log: select the backup job then click Backup History reports, the files that failed to backup should be listed in red.

In the virus scenario you mentioned the file would not be on the backup to validate.

AISBackup has removed the files that could not be checked from the backup so they will be selected next time; the next backup will backup the differences between the last backup and 'now' including the two files that failed the restore test last time. If the second backup is error free then this would be the one to use for disaster recovery restore.

Backup's can be checked for restore capability at any time using the Manage Backup / Validate (Test) Backup option, this option may display the two files that failed to test last time, but only if they were in a backup (zip) with other files – if the files that failed were in 1 zip file (because the files were > 50MB) then the zip file would have been deleted.

As mentioned above, running the backup job again should fix this problem.

Please let us know if the files are not listed in the backup log.

Barry
mart
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:51 am

Post by mart »

Hi Barry,

Thanks for the quick response.

Unfortunately the backup report doesn't list the files that could not be restored. All it says is "2 Files could not be restored when tested" in red.

The backup was successful when run again, but can you give any explanation for the original occurrence? I am very uncomfortable with unexplained happenings when it comes to backup software. I definitely think the problematic files should be listed in the log, regardless of the log detail settings. As the developer, you sould be especially interested in finding out as much as possible about such incidents.

I will be testing a full system restore today, and probably purchase a licence if it is successful.

I also have a couple more unrelated questions which I'll ask in new threads.

Martin
Barry
Site Admin
Posts: 1529
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2002 3:16 pm

Failed tests

Post by Barry »

I have checked the code and all failed restores should be logged, please e-mail the <job name>.log file to customerservices@aiscl.co.uk.

AISBackup uses the standard write file API when making files. There are occasions when there are problems as the zip file format requires that files are written in a random manner, for example the zipped size of the file comes before the zipped portion of the file, but this value is not know until the file is zipped, therefore AISBackup writes this value before the zipped portion in the file. I have noticed some network devices have problems doing this, for example cheap NAS drives and direct to CD/DVD packet writing systems, so an option was introduced n AISBackup to make the backup locally (which is usually okay unless the PC is faulty) and then copy the file to the backup media. There are advantages to using the 'backup locally' option when backing several PC's to the same network device concurrently as the network traffic can be reduced to that of just a 'copy file' rather than continuous I/O.

Errors writing to disks are often accompanied by a Windows 'Delayed write failure' message which may be viewed in the Windows event logs.

The problems with the logging of the failure messages will be repaired and I hope your log file will help make appropriate deliberate errors in the backup zip files.

Barry
Barry
Site Admin
Posts: 1529
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2002 3:16 pm

Test fails

Post by Barry »

I have run some tests and made errors by writing random data though a zip file prior to running the test phase, this is the kind of log you should have seen:

====================================================

10:57:31 SSTART Backup Session: 1 Started on 20 July 2009 at 10:57:31 Version: 2.7 (348)
10:57:31 INF Platform: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Service Pack 3 (Build 2600)
10:57:31 INF Path: C:\Source\Delphi5\BACKUP\Live Backup\AISBACKUP.exe
10:57:31 INF User Account: Barry
10:57:38 STAT Files Selected For Backup: 308 (450.74 MB)
10:57:38 STAT Already Backed up: 0
10:57:38 STAT Excluded From Backup: No files or folders have been excluded.

10:57:38 DEST Backup destination: I:\Backups\Test\Test.zip
10:57:38 INF 12 New Folders.
10:57:38 INF Backing up NTFS Security Settings and Alternate Data Streams.
10:57:38 INF Test Method: File Integrity Method.
10:57:38 INF Backing up: 308 Files of 450.00 Megabytes
10:57:38 INF Excluding: 0 Files (See Modify Files and Folders/Exclusions)
10:57:38 INF Already on Backup: 0 Files
10:57:38 INF Compression Level: High
10:57:38 STAT Estimated Size of Backup: 126.88 MB
10:57:38 INF Backing up NTFS folder security settings
10:57:53 INF Testing Backup
10:59:16 VALERR Test Failed: J:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Aquarius IS Consultancy\AISBackup\Database\DatatoLanDiskFTP.job.zip from [Test_2.zip]
10:59:16 VALERR Test Failed: J:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Aquarius IS Consultancy\AISBackup\Database\XPMCtoLanDisk.bdb from [Test_2.zip]
10:59:16 VALERR Test Failed: J:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Aquarius IS Consultancy\AISBackup\FTPServers.dat from [Test_2.zip]
10:59:18 RESERR 3 Files could not be restored when tested

10:59:18 RESINF 305 Files were backed up and tested successfully
10:59:19 RESULT 3 Files could not be restored when tested
A full restore using this session may not be safe

10:59:26 INF Backing up Backup Contents File Database Files
10:59:26 STAT Time Calculating Backup: 1 Second
10:59:26 STAT Time Backing up: 14 Seconds
10:59:26 STAT Time Testing Backup: 1 Minute 25 Seconds
10:59:26 STAT Total Time: 1 Minute 42 Seconds
10:59:26 STAT Backed up at 1,822.85 MB per minute
10:59:26 STAT Compression Ratio: 84%
10:59:26 STAT Not Compressible 65.78 MB 15% (Not included in compression ratio)
10:59:26 STAT Tested backup at 314.76 MB per minute

10:59:26 SESSEND Backup Session Ended: 20 July 2009 10:59:26

====================================================

Obviously the problem you have needs to be sorted out.

Barry
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