Quick solution

First steps:

1. Create a new test backup task
2. Check if NAS can be accessed in Windows Explorer
3. Try copying a file from Windows to the folder for backups on NAS

If the issue persists, try re-establishing connection to NAS:

1. Reboot PC, router and NAS
2. Make sure that True Image window is closed
3. Clear credentials cache for SMB connections by deleting registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Acronis\Connections\smb
4. Open True Image window, create a new backup task. Type the path to top-level share directly and use ip form, e.g. \\192.168.0.12\Public

Localizing the issue

If above steps do not help, exclude the factor of an issue with particular share or NAS user account by recreating them:

1. Create a new test user account on NAS via NAS management console
2. Create a new test SMB share on NAS, grant the new account Full access permissions for the new share

In order to localize the issue further and exclude the factor of the whole Windows environment with all installed programs and possible conflicts between them, you can boot your computer from Acronis bootable media and see if you can access the NAS

Lastly, if the issue persists, see more details on troubleshooting credentials-related issues with NAS devices

Where Acronis True Image 2016 stores credentials for accessing NAS/network shares

Acronis True Image 2016 stores credentials for accessing NAS devices in pairs: user name and password. Password is always obfuscated, meaning that only Acronis True Image software can read it properly.

Two processes access NAS: TrueImage.exe and TrueImageHomeService.exe (see https://kb.acronis.com/content/56697 for complete list of Acronis True Image 2016 processes).

When you configure/change backup tasks, browse to backups folder on NAS in graphical user interface, TrueImage.exe process is used and credentials are set to and retrieved from the following locations in Windows registry:

• Credentials for the NAS itself when using SMB shares are stored at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Acronis\Connections\smb\<NAS name or ip>
• Credentials for each top-level SMB share on the NAS that has been accessed at least once are at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Acronis\Connections\smb\<NAS name or ip>\<SMB share name>
• Credentials for FTP server are saved in a separate key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Acronis\Connections\ftp\<FTP server address:port number>

If you are running Windows session under a non-administator account, you would need to open registry editor "as administrator" to access that key: open Start menu, type cmd, right-click it, select "Run as administrator", type in your administrator password when prompted, and when command-line window opens, issue command regedit

When you save changes in backup task in graphical user interface, the program updates the registry cache and copies values from there to corresponding script file in C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts. All the settings for given backup task, except schedule, are stored in one file with extension .tib.tis in that folder. You can open these configuration files with Notepad.

TrueImageHomeService.exe is the actual engine that performs backup, cleanup of old backups, validation, copy to second location, recovery and disk cloning (until reboot, if it is required). It takes credentials not from the registry, but from script file at C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts. You can identify your configuration file by looking at 5th line of the file in Notepad - it will contain backup name. User name and password are stored in obfuscated form in between <volumes_locations> and </volumes_locations>

Different forms of entering NAS user name

If your NAS credentials are not accepted when authenticating, you can try using different forms of entering user name:

1. Just user name, e.g. administrator
2. NAS machine name and user name: MyNAS\administrator
3. NAS ip-address and user name: 192.168.1.20\administrator
4. Domain name and user name: MyDomain\administrator
5. User name and domain name: administrator@MyDomain

Known issues and solutions

Issue: Backups start failing after changing password for NAS account

Symptoms: backups start failing after you have changed password for your NAS account

Possible cause: password was not updated in Acronis True Image 2016. The program tries to access the NAS using old password.

Solution: close Acronis True Image 2016 window, clear old credentials by deleting registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Acronis\Connections\smb, open Acronis True Image 2016 window and edit your backup task, re-select your NAS folder as destination for storing backups. The program will detect that registry cache is empty and will ask for new credentials. Enter your NAS user name, new password and run backup task. Software will recreate registry cache and update corresponding backup configuration file in C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts

Issue: Different sets of NAS folders/shares are shown in Windows Explorer and Acronis True Image 2016

Symptoms: you see different set of folders/shares on your NAS when you access it in Windows Explorer and in Acronis True Image 2016

Possible cause: you may have used different credentials when connecting to NAS in Windows Explorer and in Acronis True Image 2016. NAS may display only those shares/folders that current user account is allowed to access.

Solution: see what user accounts were used to access the NAS in 1) Windows Explorer: open Control Panel - User Accounts - Credentials Manager - Manage Windows Credentials and 2) Acronis True Image 2016: see registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Acronis\Connections\smb\<NAS name or ip>\<SMB share name>. If you see different user names, then you can delete saved credentials in Windows Credentials Manager and/or Acronis True Image (key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Acronis\Connections\smb), restart Acronis program and use only one account while browsing folders on the NAS.

Issue: Backup to NAS fails due to wrong credentials while NAS could be browsed successfully in software`s graphical interface

Symptoms: you can browse your NAS contents successfully in Acronis True Image 2016 window, but backups (both manually started and scheduled) are failing with an authentication error.

Possible cause: password was written incorrectly into backup configuration file

Solution: copy obfuscated password from the registry cache HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Acronis\Connections\smb\<NAS name or ip> into backup configuration file at C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts. Save changes in the file, run the backup and see if it now succeeds.

Issue: "Enter your Windows credentials" prompt is shown when accessing the NAS as mounted network drive in Windows.

Symptoms: you have a folder from NAS mounted as a network drive in Windows Explorer. There are no backups, configured to use this network location yet. You open Browse dialog box in Acronis, expand "Computer" section and select mounted network drive. You are not asked for credentials at this point and are allowed to click "OK" button. Then when you want to save your changes and click on "Backup now" or "Later", you are asked to enter "Windows credentials" as shown below:

Possible cause: the program detects that there are no saved credentials for this location yet at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Acronis\Connections\smb and will use Windows Credentials storage in Browse dialog. When you try to save changes in backup task, software needs to create/update backup configuration file at C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts. As network drive in Windows is mounted for current user and backups could be run independently of whether the user is logged on or not, Acronis True Image 2016 shows login prompt. The problem is that login prompt`s title is incorrect. It should read "Enter your network folder credentials", not "Enter your Windows credentials".

Solution: type in your NAS credentials. Do not enter your Windows credentials.

Issue: Correct credentials for NAS are not accepted after entering wrong credentials at least once

Symptoms: correct credentials for NAS are not accepted after you have entered wrong credentials at least once (e.g. made a typo and then entered correct value)

Possible cause: Some NASes may have a setting to block account after attempt to use a wrong password

Solution: either reboot the NAS to reset the counter or disable the setting to block accounts after a number of wrong authentication attempts in NAS Management Console

Issue: Acronis True Image cannot access NAS by a user with a blank password

Solution: to enable access to the NAS for a not password-protected user, access permissions to this shared folder for a guest user should be set to "full access". Alternatively, use a password-protected user.