Norton 360 ver. 25.5.10141 (build 25.5.10141.934) no longer supports previous local backup sets

Issue abstract: Norton 360 ver 25 Backup to Local Disk

Detailed description:

I recently updated to Norton 360 ver. 25.5.10141 (build 25.5.10141.934) and all of my local backup sets disappeared dejavu. I opened a ticket and they got back to me today. They were having so many issue with the backup that was release at the earlier in the year that they decided to re-write it again making all old local disk backup sets incompatible. So they told me I would have to create new backup sets and if I needed to restore anything from the old backup sets, I would have to uninstall Norton and install an older version compatible with those old backup sets.

The only real solution is to start my backups over from scratch. Eight backups sets totally about ten terabytes, each taking about a day to day and a half to recreate.

Product & version number: Norton 360 ver. 25.5.10141 (build 25.5.10141.934)

OS details: Windows 10 64 bit

What is the error message you are seeing? On Local Backup tab, “No local backup created yet.”

If you have any supporting screenshots, please add them:

Hello @GEORGEL_WESTLUND
and by an older version compatible with those old backup sets. Does Norton mean N360 v22.x?
and do you have access to the N360_Backup folder?

Note: my Norton 360 v25.5 recognizes my local backups from Feb 2025.
Your old backup sets were created with N360 v22.x?

~fwiw ~
Find missing files or backup sets when restoring them
Instructions in this article apply for Norton 360 products running on version 22.x and older.
https://support.norton.com/sp/us/us/home/current/solutions/v59650017

Sorry…no idea if ARestore will help.
ARestore.exe →
https://community.norton.com/t/arestore-exe/248298

~ fwiw ~
regarding N360 v22 here

I was told prior to the current release I had installed (25.5.10141 build 25.5.10141.934). I was also told that ARestore was obsolete as of 10/2024.

The problem is I don’t need to restore. I need to continue backing up and I can’t go back each time I need to recover a file, so I’m going to rebuild from scratch all eight backup sets of about 8-10 TB.

1 Like

Oh!? okay… you were told v24 had so many issues…and v25/25.5 is the re-write?
So, your backups were created with v24…but, v24 initial release did not support local backups?
v24.12.9694 returned local backup feature.
That’s why I was thinking your local backups were created with v22?

Oh okay…Thanks
Wow! 8-10 TB

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No, mine was working until I applied the version I listed above(25.5.10141 build 25.5.10141.934). I have always kept my software up to date and usually checked for patched at least once a week.

I do a lot of photography and video work almost exclusively for charities which is the reason for my external drive farm of five drives totally 47 TB of which most are a little under half full. Drives are paired so I can back up to a similar size. The fifth and smallest drive is my system backup.

Hello @GEORGEL_WESTLUND
Okay…that’s a head scratch.
Your local backup sets were available with Norton 360 v25.4 and went missing with v25.5?

and you’re Signed In at Norton 360 Home?
and your v25.5 is otherwise running/working okay?

Note: my Norton 360 v25.5 recognizes my local backups from 4 months ago.
I checked an old ext drive after reading your message.

Have you tried Norton 360 → Troubleshooting → Repair Norton?
Any Norton Cloud backup sets?

Yes, v24 had issues…and v24.12 restored local backup function.
I’m imagining Norton support was referring to v24.12 release here as re-write.
And v25.2 restored local back to a network drive function here

I can’t say exactly what the previous release was (I think it may have been 25.5.10141 build 25.5.10141.0)and tech support did a repair Norton with no change before he escalated the case.

I do have one small cloud backup of another machine and it has always been visible.

Okay…head scratch since you’re always up-to-date. As you know v25.4 was released before v25.5.
Your local backup sets were available with Norton 360 v25.4 and went missing with v25.5 ?

and you’re Signed In at Norton 360 Home?
and your v25.5 is otherwise running/working okay?

And Norton 360 is on that machine & that machine also does not find your local backup sets??
Are your local backup sets DAS or NAS?

This has a long history. I have been running live update at least weekly because of a previous ticket in January from when all my local backups disappeared. They reappeared in Februaryish and have been working fine until I update last week. The local backups are on an older machine (they are local USB drives and not network drives). The new machine is what I want to migrate to and I was waiting for the backup issues to get addressed before moving the drives and everything over to the new machine. No networked drives.

Thanks for sharing.
Ahh, okay…circa ~ January/February. Februaryish working fine until v25.5?
Wow!?

That is correct.

I have also been disappointed with performance. Prior to last October I could run an incremental across all of my backup sets (8 sets on three external drives) in about a half an hour. Now running a single increment on one backup set with very few changes takes about 40 minutes at a minimum. I was told that the performance change was due to security enhancements.

Maybe, you missed need to re-authenticate message


Do you have another machine with Norton 360?

and that’s the machine that reports = No local backups?
and Norton support advised you to create new backup sets

fwiw ~ my local N360_BACKUP folder

Note: my Norton 360 v25.5 recognizes my local backups from 4 months ago.
I checked an old ext drive after reading your message.

And support tried Repair Norton.
Did support try Reset to Default &or clean re-install Norton 360?
Note: Reset to Default resets Cloud Backup.

I’m still scratching my head.
Lets ask Community

Caveat: Norton is not my daily rider backup tool.

If you want consistency, don’t use Norton Backup. There are many backup solutions that backs up everything you want, instead od what Norton thinks you need.

Some of my Backup folders were a combination of the pre-Oct 2024 folder and the post Dec 2024 folder format and some were post Dec 2024 only. The v25.5 that was applied a little over a week ago cannot see any of them. There was also no reauthentication message.

The pre-October 2024 version gave me that control, the new one does not, there was an option in the newer version to backup non-normal files, then that option went away a few weeks ago.

Pre-October 2024 there was a lot of consistency for over ten years. I’m hoping they get their act together. If not I will use another product.

Sorry…when my Norton 360 is not behaving. I’ll try clean uninstall → clean re-install.

Your Norton 360 is not behaving due to a Norton update.

Yeah…persist with Norton support for a satisfactory solution or use another product.

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The 3-2-1 Backup Rule

  1. You should have three copies of your data at all times — one original, and two backups.
  2. Both backups should be on different storage mediums.
  3. One backup should be stored offsite.

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Hasleo Backup Suite wilderssecurity.com discussion here
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Lets hear from Community

Hello again @GEORGEL_WESTLUND

Ya know what’s peculiar.
Earlier today I had local backups.
Earlier today I created a local backup.

and now

Yes, that was my experience before and after the most recent update.

Wow!
Maybe, my old ext hdd is causal. I’ll need to create new local backup on newer ext ssd…as test.

I’ve already had a couple on clean installs and repairs runs over the last several months and from the looks of it, I’m not the only one experiencing this problem.

Norton Tech support, after escalation, told me that the old backup sets are no longer compatible. They wanted me to go to an older version whenever I needed to restore and back to the new version to backup newer files which isn’t practical, so I’m going to rebuilt my backup sets from scratch. If it happens again, I’m going to look at other local backup strategies as that would indicate the product is loosing reliability. In the time I’ve been using Norton 360 for backups, the last eight months have been horrible, but I’m going to give them one more chance..