Backup: error 800423f4 in log

[Lucvdv]

Each time I back up the C: drive of my development machine, I get this
error in the backup log:

| Error returned while creating the volume shadow copy:800423f4

I found two articles about it:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;828481
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=826936

The articles only talk about Server 2003 though, I'm running XP Pro.

Does anyone know if they could apply to XP too?

 

[Sriram.V]

Hi Lucvdv

Windows XP Backup, by default, creates a volume shadow copy of the volume
being backed up. A volume shadow copy is a picture of the volume at a
particular moment in time. That means a computer can be backed up while
files are open and applications running. Files are not skipped during
backup and you don’t need to schedule backups when the computers on your
network aren’t being used. The volume shadow copy service allows
applications to continue running uninterrupted on the actual volumes while
a shadow copy is made. After the backup is completed, the shadow copy is
deleted.

By default, Windows XP Professional uses available space on any NTFS volume
to store a record of the differences between the original volume and the
shadow copy volume. If enough disk space isn’t available, Windows XP
Professional won’t be able to make a volume shadow copy and Backup skips
open files. It’s possible that you’ll get an error message when enough
space isn’t available. In that case, you can turn off the volume shadow
copy service. In the Completing the Backup Wizard dialog box, click the
Advanced button. Then select the Disable volume shadow copy check box in
the How to Backup dialog box. In the interests of efficiency, you can also
turn off volume shadow copying if you are backing up just a few files or
routinely back up when the computers on your network are not in use. You
can only turn off Shadow Copy if System State is not part of backup.

Thanks
Sriram.V

(e-mail address removed)

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


--------------------
| From: Lucvdv <[email protected]>
| Subject: Backup: error 800423f4 in log
| Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 09:29:46 +0200
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|
| Each time I back up the C: drive of my development machine, I get this
| error in the backup log:
|
| | Error returned while creating the volume shadow copy:800423f4
|
| I found two articles about it:
|
| http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;828481
| http://support.microsoft.com/?id=826936
|
| The articles only talk about Server 2003 though, I'm running XP Pro.
|
| Does anyone know if they could apply to XP too?
|
|

 

[Lucvdv]

By default, Windows XP Professional uses available space on any NTFS volume
to store a record of the differences between the original volume and the
shadow copy volume.

I suppose this is similar to the way EWF works in XP Embedded, i.e.
only changes are buffered and committed to the actual sectors later.

That would mean storage requirements are low (EWF can even be run
RAM-based if there aren't too many changes to the protected volume).

The partition is 16GB with 6GB free, and it's defragmented dayly so
the free space is almost one huge chunk, so I don't think that can be
it.

The machine is idle while the backup is being made: it's a scheduled
backup of C + system state, run at 7AM so it has time to complete
before I arrive at 8.

You
can only turn off Shadow Copy if System State is not part of backup.

So I can't turn it off: system state is included.



Is it possible that I just scheduled backup to start too early after
boot?
Could not having physically logged on yet before the backup is started
(no logon at all after boot) have an influence?

A mainboard timer automatically powers on the machine at 7:00 AM each
day, the backups are scheduled to start at 7:05.
According to the event log, the system has fully booted at approx.
7:02:20.

The backup is started through a cmd file that first stops a few
services that seemed to cause problems (none of them part of windows),
and restarts them after backup finishes.

SQL Server is kept running, maybe I could try stopping that too
(there's no problem in doing so, it's only developer edition with a
few test databases).

There is a database with a recovery model other than "simple" (art.
828481), but it's not stored on the partition that's being backed up:
is it possible that SQL Server blocks volume shadowing for the drive
on which the software is installed too, even if all database files are
on another drive?

 

[Adi Oltean [MSFT]]

Hi,

This error (800423f4) means that one of the shadow copy writers have
failed during backup. You can see the full list of VSS writers (and
their state) by running the command "VSSADMIN LIST WRITERS"
immediately after backup.

Please also consult the Event Log for COM+/VSS errors.


Thanks, Adi

P.S. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers
no rights.