FAQ: How to troubleshoot problem with Volume Shadow Copy? Pro d u c t Ve rsio n : ClearMedia ACB / OBM: All OS: Windows De sc rip tio n : Exclusively opened file on a local hard disk cannot be backed up, the following error message is displayed: Backup Logs No. Type Timestamp Backup Logs *......... * Error... [Error] File="file" Error="The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process." or Backup Logs No. Type Timestamp Backup Logs *......... * Error... [Error] File="file" Error="The process cannot access the file because another process has locked a portion of the file. " There may also be other Volume Shadow Copy malfunction, such as the following: Error of Volume Shadow Copy reported by vssadmin / Event Viewer. Fails to create Volume Shadow Copy snapshot. Long snapshot generation time with intensive hard drive activity. Many underlying components in the operating system may come into play during the backup process, to cause the VSS error. This article offers a guideline to troubleshoot errors related to Volume Shadow Copy. Ste p s: Below are the steps that you should follow to troubleshoot errors related to Volume Shadow Copy: (Important: These steps may vary depending on the operating system) Prerequisites of Volume Shadow Copy Which version of Windows are you using? Ensure that you are using Windows XP, or higher. The Volume Shadow Copy Service was first added to Microsoft Windows in Windows XP, therefore, previous versions of Windows such as Windows 2000 does not include VSS. Pag 1
Reboot the affected machine Have you restart the affected computer recently? Try rebooting the affected machine. In some instances, servers that have not been rebooted in a while may cause VSS malfunction. Reboot your server regularly as a preventive and clean-up measure for your system. Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Ensure that the VSS service is started or can be started properly. Restart the VSS service with the following procedure: o Open Services.msc, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, then double click Services. o Right click Volume Shadow Copy, then Restart. Restart the following related Windows Services as well: COM+ Event System, COM+ System Application, MS Software Shadow Copy Provider and Remote Procedure Call (PRC). Re-register VSS files Perform the following procedures to ensure that all VSS related components are correctly registered: Pag 2
o For Windows XP / Vista: In an administrative command prompt, execute the 'RegisterVSS.bat' script file available in the ClearMedia OBM installation home, reboot the machine afterward. ${Install-Home}\bin Important: You can safely ignore the error message(s) displayed during the process, some of the DLL files are platform specific. o For Windows 2003: Backup the following registry key. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\EventSystem\{26c409cc-ae86-11d1- b616-00805fc79216}\subscriptions Remove the registry key along with all its sub-keys. Reboot the machine afterward. The registry key will automatically be re-generated after a machine reboot. o For Windows 7 / 2008: Request the 'RegisterVSS2008.zip' script file at ClearMedia support. Extract the zip file to ${Install-Home}\bin Execute the extracted script file. Reboot the machine. Latest Windows updates from Microsoft Have you installed the latest Windows Updates on the affected computer? Check if you have installed the latest Windows Updates. For ClearMedia OBM installation on Windows 2003, there are a few updates for VSS that you should install: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891957 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833167 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826936 Component services (COM+) Ensure that COM+ is configured correctly: o Open Control Panel, double click Administrative Tools, and double-click Component Services. Ensure that VSSW.VSSoftwareProvider.1 is found in the following path: Component Services > Computers > My Computer > COM+ Applications > MS Software Shadow Copy Provider > Components Pag 3
If the component VSSW.VSSoftwareProvider.1 is not found, perform the following: -> Right click on 'Components' at the following path and select 'New': Pag 4
Click 'Next', then click 'Install components that are already registered'. Select 'VSSW.VSSoftwareProvider.1' from the list, and click 'Next'. If you do not see VSSW.VSSoftwareProvider.1 in the list, click 'Cancel' and perform the following: Right click on 'Components' at the following path and select 'New': Click 'Install new component(s)'. Select the file C:\Windows\System32\swprv.dll and click 'OK' and 'Next'. Damaged COM+ catalog (does not apply to Windows Vista) Are the COM+ catalog on the affected computer damaged? Refer to the instructions provided in the following document to clean up the COM+ catalog: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315296 Pag 5
Microsoft Visio: In some cases, Visio, which is part of Microsoft Office 2003 can cause Volume Shadow Copy to fail. Leverage the event logs found under Event Viewer. For machine with Visio installed, check if the following event is found: Event Type: Error Event ID: 5013 Description: Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Shadow Copy writer ContentIndexingService called routine VsServiceChangeState which failed with status 0x8007041d (converted to 0x800423f4). To resolve the issue, delete the following registry key with regedit.exe, reboot the computer afterward: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ContentIndex\Catalogs\Visio Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) related issue: Troubleshoot for VSS related issue. Refer to the following instruction: o Ensure that status of all VSS writers and providers are stable. To output the list of writers and their status, enter the following commands in an elevated command prompt: vssadmin list writers Important: All writer should have status of [1] Stable. To output the list of providers present, enter the following command in an elevated command prompt: vssadmin list providers If no provider is listed, there may be issue with the installation of operating system itself. Resolution should be pursued with Microsoft support staff. Pag 6
o Ensure that left-over snapshots are cleaned up: Enter the following command in an elevated command prompt: vssadmin delete shadows /all This will clean up all VSS snapshots. Defect operating system may often accumulate hundreds of VSS snapshots that persist in the system and cause Windows to become un-responsive. o In some case, you may not be able to delete the VSS snapshots with the above command. Perform the following instead: To decrease the maximum shadow storage size, enter the following command in an elevated command prompt: vssadmin resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=300MB If there is no VSS writer error displayed, but the system is not creating a new VSS snapshot, increase the max shadow storage size on the system instead. To increase the maximum shadow storage, enter the following command in an elevated command prompt: vssadmin resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=10GB Persisting issue Problem persist after going through all steps outlined above? Issue related to the Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) Windows services, or the Windows operating system itself should be further pursued with Microsoft support staff. Pag 7