Introduction
This article describes troubleshooting techniques that can be used to resolve/workaround a number of issues with Acronis True Image software, caused by outdated, damaged or missing parts of the software settings and executable files.
The list of symptoms when it can help includes, but is not limited to:
- the error "Cannot create database" at program startup
- various errors telling that a certain device, path, folder, file, backup, volume, version were not found or could not be accessed
- unexpected prompts for items listed above while using the program within Windows
- backup task is shown as "queued" when no other task is running
- program silently does not launch, no errors are displayed (GUI is not showing up at program's startup)
The methods described on this page go from a quick database cache refresh, that does not require backup tasks reconfiguration afterwards, to applying a special cleanup tool used in cases when neither repair nor uninstallation works.
Instructions from this article apply only to issues within a Windows operating system. The article does not apply to any problem observed in the bootable media environment.
Solution
Method 1. Rebuild the Database folder
- Stop or pause any active tasks: backups/restore/disk cloning/archiving/synchronization. If there is any problem with that, skip to the next step.
- Temporarily disable the self-protection feature of Acronis Active Protection. Click here to see how if you are using Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office. Click here to see how if you are using Acronis True Image.
- Close Acronis True Image window.
- Open Windows Task Manager: press a key combination Ctrl+Shift+Escape.
- Switch to the Services tab.
- Click on the Description column to sort the services list by service description alphabetically, from A to Z. Acronis services' description start with the letter "A".
- Right-click each Acronis service and select Stop.
- Switch to the tab with the list of running Windows processes:
- Windows 7 users: click on the Processes tab
- Windows 8 and 10 users: click to the Details tab. If you do not see any tabs, click More details in the Task Manager.
- Click on the Description column to sort the processes list by process description alphabetically, from A to Z. Acronis processes' description start with the letter "A".
(!) If the Description column is not visible, right-click on any column header, click Select columns in the drop-down menu and select Description column from the list of available columns.
- Select each Acronis process and click End Process (Windows 7) or End task (Windows 8, 10) to terminate it. When asked, click End process to confirm.
- Open File Explorer (Windows Explorer) and navigate to the folder C:\ProgramData\Acronis\CyberProtectHomeOffice (if you are using Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office) or C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome (if you are using Acronis True Image). The folder C:\ProgramData is hidden; to see it, you may need to enable displaying hidden elements in the File Explorer options. Do not confuse it with C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86) - you need to navigate to C:\ProgramData.
- Rename the folder Database to Database.bak
If the folder "Database.bak" already exists, delete the old version of it. - Start the program and check if the issue has been resolved.
The scheduled backup jobs are preserved and you do not need to reconfigure them.
If the problem persists, use the second method described below. In that case, you would need to re-define backup settings and point the program to the previously made backups.
Method 2. Rebuild all settings
The steps below make the program re-build its settings afresh, simulating a new installation. This does not affect the backup files in any way and you can definitively continue a previously created chain of backups.
(!) You will need to set up backup tasks from scratch.
- Follow the steps 1-4 from Method 1, get to Windows Task Manager.
- Switch to the Services tab.
- Right-click Acronis Scheduler2 Service and select Start.
- Download the file schedmgr.exe
- Right-click the downloaded file and select Run as administrator. A black Command Prompt window will open.
- Type the command "task zap" without quotes and press Enter. This command clears up Acronis Scheduler's list of scheduled jobs.
- Follow all the steps from Method 1 again.
- Rename the folder C:\ProgramData\Acronis\CyberProtectHomeOffice\Scripts (if you are using Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office) orC:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts (if you are using Acronis True image) into Scripts.bak. Together with the above steps, this will clear the list of cached backups displayed in the user interface. The backups themselves will not be deleted or affected in any way by the procedures described or mentioned on this page.
- Delete the folder %userprofile%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Acronis if it is present. To open this path, press the key combination Windows logo key + R to open the "Run" dialog, paste %userprofile%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Acronis and press Enter. Deleting this folder is especially effective for fixing issues with browsing backups by double-clicking .TIBs in Windows Explorer.
- Check if the issue with Acronis True Image is resolved.
Click here see how to access previously created backups and continue them.
Method 3. Repair and reinstall
If all of the above failed, follow https://kb.acronis.com/content/60195 to repair the installation, and if it does not help, perform a clean installation of the software. It would recreate all of the program files and settings, including those stored in the system registry.
Method 4. Use the Cleanup tool
Lastly, if the repair or uninstallation fails, hangs, or crashes, apply a special Cleanup tool to remove the software, install the latest version of the program and see if the problem has been fixed.
Further troubleshooting
If the issue persists, contact Acronis Support for further assistance.