To diagnose the Volume Shadow Copy service writer problem, run the vssadmin command immediately after the backup failure: Click Start, and then click. Run. Type vssadmin list writers. This command lists the Volume Shadow Copy service writers and the current state of each writer.

To do this, you use a backup tool such as DiskShadow.exe to perform the backup for a local volume and for a server message block (SMB) file server remote volume. However, the backup is unsuccessful if the remote volume is added before the local volume, such as in a DiskShadow script.

If some Windows functions aren't working or Windows crashes, use the System File Checker to scan Windows and restore your files. Though the steps below might look complicated at first glance, just follow them in order, step-by-step, and we’ll try to get you back on track. Run the System File Checker tool (SFC.exe)

This article describes an issue that occurs when you restore a Logical Unit Number (LUN) from backup in Windows Server 2012 R2. A hotfix is available to fix this issue. Before you install this hotfix, see the Prerequisites section.

Therefore, run the wbadmin command to back up only the system state. To do this, open a command prompt by using an administrator account, type the following command, and then press Enter: wbadmin.exe start systemstatebackup -backuptarget:letterdrive. In this scenario, the backup fails.

Symptoms. When the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) hardware provider takes more than three minutes to clean up a non-persistent snapshot set, the operation is aborted by VSS. Therefore, the hardware provider has insufficient time to delete all non-persistent snapshots.

This article describes an issue that occurs when you perform resynchronization to restore a hardware snapshot on cluster disks in Windows Server 2012 R2. You can fix this issue by using the update in this article. Before you install this update, see the Prerequisites section.

What it fixes. The troubleshooter helps fix problems that: Corrupt registry keys on 64-bit operating systems. Corrupt registry keys that control the update data. Prevent new programs from being installed. Prevent existing programs from being completely uninstalled or updated.

Symptoms. Consider the following scenario: You create a transportable VSS snapshot on a Windows Server 2008-based computer that has Active Directory-related roles installed. The VSS_VOLSNAP_ATTR_AUTORECOVER flag is not enabled. In this scenario, VSS snapshot creation may fail.

Fixes an issue in which noncritical disk volumes are included incorrectly in the system state backup image when you use the -allCritical option to perform the backup operation. The issue occurs on Windows Vista SP2-based and Windows Server 2008 SP2-based computers.