IFW 4.07 canceling backup asks to insert disks for in-progress backups on two different network machines

[crawfish]

I was creating my weekly images of the PCs on my network, and I canceled the backup on my primary machine while the two networked PCs were still conducting their backups. They all backup to the same directory, but the filenames are of course distinct. Well, after I pressed the Cancel button, IFW asked me to insert the disks for the other two ongoing backups. On the main machine, I was canceling "Q:\Images\vm-w5-2025-08-28-124401-chg.tbi", and it asked me to insert disks for the other two backups. It recorded two Error Events 259 with the messages:

Cannot open "Q:\Images\nas-w0-2025-08-28-123021-chg.TBI".
Cannot open "Q:\Images\spare-w1-2025-08-28-122447-chg.TBI".

Why would this happen?

ETA: Turns out I asked the same question a year and a half ago. I didn't get an explanation.

Spooky interaction between remote and local IFW 3.60 instances
https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/ucf/v ... php?t=4483

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

It may just be trying to read them when checking on what needs to be deleted due to the cancel and can't because they're locked (backups in progress).

Have you tried saving the backups for each system in their own sub-folders so they don't mix?

[OldNavyGuy]

Have you tried saving the backups for each system in their own sub-folders so they don't mix?

This ^^^

[crawfish]

It may just be trying to read them when checking on what needs to be deleted due to the cancel and can't because they're locked (backups in progress).

An analogous situation would be for Windows Explorer to refuse to delete a file because another unrelated file in the same folder is in use by a program running on a different computer. IFW knows the files it's working with. It shouldn't need to enumerate the directory and try to get a lock on all the other files in it and pop up a confusing dialog box asking one to insert the disk containing the unrelated file, particularly when the disk is an SSD, and there's nothing to insert. It's asking for an impossible solution to a problem it created, a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place.

Have you tried saving the backups for each system in their own sub-folders so they don't mix?

I like the way I'm doing it now. The files have distinct names, so there's no "mixing" going on, at least as I would define the term. I mean, I've never thought twice about storing more than one Excel file in a folder.

[OldNavyGuy]

You most certainly are not the only one using a single folder for all images.

However, I've used IFW for more years than I can count, and your issue is the first I've heard of it.

Isolating the issue by using separate folders to test makes sense for the following reasons...

• I noticed in the logs that you posted back in February of 2024 that you're using VSS.
  
  VSS doesn't lock folders, but it can can cause locking behavior on a folder if a backup process fails, or is terminated prematurely (one of several reasons I use Phylock).
  
  There may also be issues with VSS that need to be corrected.

I would first suggest downloading Sysinternals Process Explorer, and see what is holding a lock on the files that are asking for the next disks.

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

The issue has been replicated and can be looked into.

The error message and prompt can be ignored or separate folders can be used for each system to separate the images. As for the filenames being different between the different system backups, the filenames are not used to determine which image files are related (the filenames can be anything).

[crawfish]

The issue has been replicated and can be looked into.

Appreciate that. To be clear to anyone reading this, it doesn't mess anything up. It's just confusing to see and have to click through.

The error message and prompt can be ignored or separate folders can be used for each system to separate the images. As for the filenames being different between the different system backups, the filenames are not used to determine which image files are related (the filenames can be anything).

OK, but distinct filenames (e.g prefixes with machine names that I use) are necessary for me to be able to distinguish the backup sets when I dump them all into one folder.

[TeraByte Support(PP)]

Yes, one would normally use the filenames to group the backup sets, especially when saving multiple systems to the same folder. I just meant that when IFW is going through the image files to determine which ones are grouped that the filename doesn't matter.

[crawfish]

That's a subtle but really good feature, as sometimes I like to add some extra descriptive text to the filename, particularly after an out-of-band (incremental) backup has completed, like one I've done before an update, a new driver or other installation, etc, that I think I may want to revert. Being able to change the filename is a lot better than having to modify the script I use or the shortcuts I use to launch it for my different machines, or to track it separately in a text file or something.