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Error Message "Access Denied to Tape Media" When You Start Windows 2000 Backup

Article ID: 288856 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q288856

SYMPTOMS

When you start the Windows 2000 Backup program, you may receive the following error message:

Access Denied to Tape Media

The current user account does not have rights to access the media managed by Removable Storage. As a result, no tape devices are available to this account.

If desired, an administrator can grant access to this account by running Backup to create media pools for this application, then granting this account rights to access each pool.

[ ] Do Not show this message again. OK

This message is displayed even if you are an administrator.

In addition, when you attempt to prepare a piece of media, you receive the two confirmation pages that confirm that a free media label has been written for the media, but a work queue item is not posted, and the media never gets prepared.

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CAUSE

This issue can occur if the internal Removable Storage Manager (RSM) database is corrupted. This corruption prevents media pools from being created or accessed.

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RESOLUTION

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ )

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

The RSM database is located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Ntmsdata folder. When you use Windows 2000 Backup to back up your %SystemRoot% folder, Backup automatically backs up the RSM database to two locations, the backup media itself, and the %SystemRoot%\System32\Ntmsdata\Export folder. Usually, you can use Windows 2000 Backup to restore the Ntmsdata folder, but this advanced restore option does not work if the RSM database is damaged.

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods to manually initialize or restore an uncorrupted RSM database.

Method One

If you have never performed a %SystemRoot% backup using Windows 2000 Backup, the %SystemRoot%\System32\Ntmsdata\Export folder does not exist. In this case, force the RSM to create a new database:

Start the Computer Management tool, double-click Services and Applications, and then click Services.
Locate and stop the Removable Storage service (or change the startup type from Automatic to Disabled), and then restart the computer.
Start Windows Explorer, open the %SystemRoot%\System32\Ntmsdata folder, and then rename the existing files in this folder so that they have an .old file extension, or copy the files to a different folder.
Restart the Removable Storage service (or change the startup type from Disabled to Automatic), and then restart the computer.

After the RSM restarts, it creates a new database.

Method Two

If you backed up the %SystemRoot% folder using the Ntbackup tool before the RSM database was corrupted, force RSM to import the backup RSM database:

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe)
Locate and click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\NTMS
If the ImportDatabase REG_DWORD exists, change the value of the ImportDatabase REG_DWORD from 0 to 0x1. If it does not exist, on the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following value:
Value name: ImportDatabase
Data type: REG_DWORD
String: 1
Value: 0x1
Quit Registry Editor.
Either stop and restart Removable Storage service, or restart the computer.

When RSM starts, it reads the preceding registry key, and then forces the RSM database to be restored from the files located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Ntmsdata\Export folder.

NOTE: Remote Storage Server (RSS) also automatically backs up the Ntmsdata folder as part of a File Migration session. You can take this media to another computer and use Windows 2000 Backup to restore the RSM database files. You can then copy the database files to the %SystemRoot%\System32\Ntmsdata\Export folder of the original computer, and then use method one.

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