Drive filled up

[pauli]

Although I had Retrospect Express set to uses only 75% of my MAXTOR 100 drive, it used up all the space and now doesn't have enough either to back up or to let me reset the percent used to 50%. However, I had earlier tried to change from 75% to 50% and that did no good, although it did cut down the number of restore points from 125 to 35, apparently still leaving the drive almost full. Retrospect Express says that there are 4GB now available but that "Can't save setup, check the selected drive to make sure there is enough free space".

 

The last error message I had was "Grooming Backup Set Restore Point Failed Error 2242...Can't access Backup REstore Point Error 2242"

 

What can I do to fix this problem? If I need to reinstall and start again, losing all my back-up points, how do I avoid this problem in the future.

 

Thanks in advance for whatever help you can give me.

 

pauli

[nekr0phage]

Hi,

 

You could just delete the restore points without reinstalling Retrospect HD. Then when you go through configuration again, be sure to set the amount of space the percentage you want to use.

[pauli]

Foster,

 

Thanks a lot for your response, in fact your two responses. You say "You could just delete the restore points without reinstalling Retrospect HD. Then when you go through configuration again, be sure to set the amount of space the percentage you want to use."

 

So I tried to figure out how to delete restore points, using Retrospect Help "There is not enough space...". So I came to the following para:

 

"Unlock restore points.

Locked restore points cannot be deleted to reclaim disk space. If the destination disk contains many locked restore points, they may be taking up a large amount of space and causing this error. Click the link in the notification window, then click Restore to view a list of restore points. Select a locked restore point and click the lock icon from the toolbar to unlock it.

 

Once you unlock a restore point it can be deleted to reclaim disk space. "

 

It wasn't clear to me what the "notification window" was, but I assumed it meant go to "Setup and Restore" and then to "Restore". (I hadn't locked any restore points.) As I had mentioned, I now supposedly have only 35 restore points, rather than the previous 125 or so, but the amount of disk space on my Maxtor 1 Touch 100 used by Retrospect is still 86 GB. However, none of the days are now in bold, although I was backing up daily until about 10 days ago. When I click on a day that day -- and I've tried a bunch -- it gets a blue box around it. However, when I hit any of the three icons on the toolbar nothing happens. Similarly, when I hit "next" nothing happens.

 

Am I wrong in thinking that something has gone seriously wrong? I wondered what was happening when the disk use went over three quarters (now to 86GB). I wonder if I have any operable Restore points at all, even if I'm supposed to have 35.

 

Any suggestions? My whole professional life, and more, is on my computer. I can't be without a backup.

 

Thanks again for your help to date and for whatever advice you can give.

 

Pauli

[nekr0phage]

Hi,

 

I'm sorry, I should have been more clear. When I said "delete the restore points" I meant you could close Retrospect, go to My Computer and open your Maxtor drive. In there you'll have a folder named "Retrospect Restore Points," if you delete the contents of that it will clear out all of your restore points.

 

After that, open Retro HD and make sure it says you have 0 restore points available. Then you should be able to start again with new backups.

[natew]

Hi

 

Have you updated to Retrospect Express HD 1.1 as outlined here:

 

http://kb.dantz.com/article.asp?article=5209&p=2

 

Thanks

Nate

[pauli]

Nate and Foster,

 

Thanks. I have installed HD 1.1. It now say I have "0 restore points available".

 

I had not earlier done what Foster said "close Retrospect, go to My Computer and open your Maxtor drive. In there you'll have a folder named "Retrospect Restore Points," if you delete the contents of that it will clear out all of your restore points." The reason I misunderstood is because the relevant help page specifically says not to do so. Should I now combine what you said, Nate, about installing HD 1.1 with what you said, Foster, about deleting the folder? Should I do so before the first back-up under HD1.1?

 

I note that other users have also said that Retrospect filled up their disks even though they had it set not to do so. Can I assume this problem has now been solved with HD 1.1?

 

Is there anything I can do to make sure that my restore points don't disappear once again? Anything you think I might have accidentally done that caused this problem that I should be sure to avoid in the future. I have a lot riding on Restrospect.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Paul

[pauli]

Nate,

 

Before you respond, I should add that although I installed HD 1.1, and the screen is now that of the EMC version, it doesn't seem to work. Not only are there 0 recovery points but I get a message saying "upgrading status" whether or not my Maxtor One-Touch is connected (although Autoplay runs when I connect it). But as far as I can make out -- either from waiting a long time or from looking at what happens to Retrospect.exe (user name: SYSTEM) and RetroExpress.exe (user name: Paul) in "Processes" under Widonws Task Manager -- nothing happens.

 

Paul

[nekr0phage]

Hi,

 

You might need to update the .NET framwork on your computer to 2.0 if it is not already. You can check by locating the "Microsoft .NET Framwork X.X" in Add/Remove Programs under the Control Panel.

 

If it is already installed, take a look at this KnowledgeBase article on the "updating status" issue:

http://kb.dantz.com/article.asp?article=8098&p=2

[pauli]

Thanks to Foster I updatged the .NET framework to 2.0 from 1.1. It didn't help, though. I still get the message when Retrospect starts that there are zero restore points and that it is updating status -- which it never completes whether or not my Maxtor 1-touch is connected.

 

Two other odd things. 1) When the computer boots up, I get the message "Retrospect.exe is attempting to connect to a DNS server", which I let it do. Why though? (I have copied the screen that has the Remote address in case this should not be happening.) 2) when I run Retrospect Express HD 1.1, I now have trouble shutting down the computer and have to go to "start" and "turn off computer" more than once or shut it off manually.

 

Nate, I'd really appreciate your help here. I can't afford not to have backups. (Now it seems I have none at all.)

 

Thanks.

 

Paul

[nekr0phage]

pauli,

 

Did you try the steps outlined in the knowledgebase article I referenced? I know it seems troublesome, but it is a good step to take to try and resolve the "updating status" issue.

[nmurdoch]

I am having similar problems with stuffed up backups after my drive filled up. I have a question and an answer.

 

Question - are the files you deleted the 600MB blue floppy disc icons ?

 

Answer - I can't do a backup but I can do a duplicate & drag & drop files so you might be able to do that in the mean time so that you have a duplicate to fall back on then try to get the backup feature fixed. NB you can experiment with the backup feature and not back up a whole drive. In the set up section you can select just one small file to back up - get that working then delete your duplicates and backup the whole PC.

[myoldpostcards]

Foster,

 

I have been going through the same issues that Pauli has had today. I downloaded the 1.1 update but have had no luck. When I launched the 1.1 application, it said I had 44 restore points and roughly 270GB of storage available. Yet when I tried to set the backup parameters in SETUP, it said the disk was too full.

 

I have printed a copy of the knowledgebase article you recommended to Pauli, and I have --- without making any changes --- confirmed that the programs and folders are all where you said they would be (they are). The only thing is that I am running .NET 1.1.

 

Back to the article. The one thing it doesn't tell us how to do is to re-install .NET. Since I never recall having installed it in the first place, where do I go looking for it. I am concerned about creating more of a problem by uninstalling it, give the warning used for the uninstall tool.

 

Any comments will be appreciated.

 

myoldpostcards

[nekr0phage]

Hi,

 

.NET is a Microsoft programming framework, so to reinstall or udpate to the newer version you should use the built-in Windows updater. This should automatically detect if you uninstall .NET and offer it for installation again.

[pauli]

Thanks, Foster. If I understand it right there are issues both about the earlier version's not stopping at the % of drive specified and about the new version's installation (even with NET 2). Therefore, I need to uninstall everything and then reinstall. I can't do that now, since I'm now away from home, and so from the Retrospect CD-ROM that came with my Maxtor 100, for another month. So I assume the right thing to do is to eliminate the Restrospect directory from the Maxtor drive and then use a freeware program like SynkBack. Is there any other alternative?

 

pauli

[nekr0phage]

Hi Pauli,

 

Since you don't have your Maxtor cd, you won't be able to use Express 6.0 which is also on there. What you could do in the interim is use a trial of 7.5 Pro which will last you a full month. You can get that from the trials page of the site here:

http://www.emcinsignia.com/try/

[pauli]

Thanks, Foster.

 

If I understand the article you referred me to, downloading the beta version of 7.5 won't work. Since I don't have the Maxtor diskette here with me, I wouldn't be able to reload the Maxtor software either. The relevant section of the article is:

 

7) Before installing the 1.1 version, you must first install the Express HD software that came with your Maxtor External Hard Drive. Locate your Maxtor CD and install the Maxtor software and Express HD software.

 

Right?

 

Paul

[nekr0phage]

Hi Pauli,

 

No, 7.5 is a different version of Retrospect. It is not beta, it has been released to the public since the beginning of February. It is not Express, it is something you can download and run for free until you get back to your install cd and are able to continue dealing with this issue. I mainly suggested it so that you can have some sort of backup in the interim.

[dthede]

I suppose I might add my $500 on this. My install was the original Retrospect Express HD 1.1.126 with Maxtor OneTouch II (300 GB) and I already had the WINDOWS.NET environment present. A similar thing happened to me, Pauli and others, with a slight variation. One difference was that I had the entire disk available for backup and the point of failure occurred during a backup when I had plenty of disk space left. After failure, instead of 122 restore points available, mine had dropped to 49, with the familiar "updating" message showing. After dinking with that over a weekend, I also removed the index and saw it get rebuilt to a different size than it had been, to no avail.

 

My problem ultimately was partially revealed in two phases: (1) by running the Maxtor diagnostics and receiving the 8-character failure code, contacting Maxtor, and having my drive replaced, no questions asked. (NOTE: the Win XP SP2 OS and its chkdsk reported the drive as ok. Did not do surface scan.) (2) Having copied the Restore Point files (600+) to the new drive and thinking all would be okay, my disappointment was immediate. "Updating" and so on again appeared and persisted for a day or so -- never hanging, btw -- with no good result. I rebuilt the index yet again. No improvement. EMC Insignia recomended that I download the trial version of Retrospect 7.5 Pro, using a temporary license, to see whether anything could be recovered (a positively scary phrase to be using with BACKUP SOFTWARE!)

 

Good news. Nothing lost, everything recovered, new index built in under three hours. I bought the software just today. Conclusions: (1) I suspect this is a pervasive problem. The superficial issue is overrunning the allocated space and the software's failure to behave as described. That can be fixed or explained by methodically tracking down the cause(s). (2) The fundamental cause for serious worry is: what recovery tools are available for a backup archive which is corrupted or otherwise rendered by Retrospect as unreadable? I was able to migrate to "the real software." What do I do next time? What software provisions are there to contain, partition, isolate or compartmentalize archive errors? Backups which span media raise the obvious possibility: can one corruption on one tape with a backup spanning tapes render an entire set of tapes inaccessible? (3) My issue was possibly induced by keylogger spyware or similar rootkit-level crap. (4) I re formatted the "bad" Maxtor drive and re-ran the diagnostics. It still shows up as bad, so that's good from the perspective of it's not having been a false positive. (5) It appears that I need to purchase Maxtor drives in triples, so that I can rotate backup media as in a business critical environment (business resilient): never backing up today using the last known good medium from yesterday.

 

Hope this helps