Backup Utility Not Working

[DL333]

OS is XP home, SP3.

I have been backing up successfully using the scheduler and ntbackup to an
exteral hard drive for a week. I back up a full normal backup once a week,
with an incremental each night the other six days. Suddenly, backup quits
responding just after starting. The status window says "preparing to backup
using shadow copy..." but the program is frozen. The only recent change I
know of is that I got a message that indexing had completed for Windows
Desktop Search. The backup log file for the past two days are empty. The
backup file on the external HDD are 2KB in length.

I am grateful for any suggestions. Thanks.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

OS is XP home, SP3.

I have been backing up successfully using the scheduler and ntbackup to an
exteral hard drive for a week. I back up a full normal backup once a
week,
with an incremental each night the other six days. Suddenly, backup quits
responding just after starting. The status window says "preparing to
backup
using shadow copy..." but the program is frozen. The only recent change I
know of is that I got a message that indexing had completed for Windows
Desktop Search. The backup log file for the past two days are empty. The
backup file on the external HDD are 2KB in length.

I am grateful for any suggestions. Thanks.

You need to supply more details:
- The exact command line that you see in the Task Scheduler.
- The name of the account used by the Task Scheduler.
- The full name & location of the backup log file.
- The report generated by the Task Scheduler.

 

[Twayne]

OS is XP home, SP3.

I have been backing up successfully using the scheduler and ntbackup
to an exteral hard drive for a week. I back up a full normal backup
once a week, with an incremental each night the other six days.
Suddenly, backup quits responding just after starting. The status
window says "preparing to backup using shadow copy..." but the
program is frozen. The only recent change I know of is that I got a
message that indexing had completed for Windows Desktop Search. The
backup log file for the past two days are empty. The backup file on
the external HDD are 2KB in length.

I am grateful for any suggestions. Thanks.

Hmm, I've had that problem but it was some time ago. For some reason I
never understood, it was a particular file (non-system file).
Since backup runs and just quits early I assume then that scheduler
and the script is working.
Can you duplicate the problem with a manually initiated backup? If
so:
Watch it backup and note the filename it's working with when it
stops.
I think it occurred during the perparations phase, not the writing
phases so watch closely.

You said it created log files, so look at the logfile for a hint.
IIRC the file's name was listed in the log, too. I copied the file out
to a CD and deleted it, and the backups began working again.

I'd have to dig thru my archives for the filename, but if you spot one
and post it here, I might recognize it.

That may or may not be your situation: But if you're sure it is, I'll
see if I can locate it in my archives; I ended up with a list of names
that would cause that, from Google searches, which might be your next
logical move too.

HTH,

Twayne`

 

[DL333]

Twayne,

Thanks for the quick reply. I manually initiated a backup and got the same
results as the one performed by task scheduler. The first window pops up and
freezes. The backup report file is created, but it is empty. No file name
appears in the window.

This scheduled backup routine is the same one that ran on Friday - an
incremental backup. The one on Saturday did not run. The Sunday backup was
a normal backup, identical to the one that ran successfully last Sunday. I
have not installed anything new in the last week.

I'm at a loss...

DL

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Twayne,

Thanks for the quick reply. I manually initiated a backup and got the
same
results as the one performed by task scheduler. The first window pops up
and
freezes. The backup report file is created, but it is empty. No file
name
appears in the window.

This scheduled backup routine is the same one that ran on Friday - an
incremental backup. The one on Saturday did not run. The Sunday backup
was
a normal backup, identical to the one that ran successfully last Sunday.
I
have not installed anything new in the last week.

I'm at a loss...

DL

If you answer the questions I asked in my first reply then someone can
probably help you.

 

[DL333]

Pegasus,

I thought that I did, though, when I posted the reply, the verification
screen did not come up, but said that the website was too busy to reply.
Here is the detail you requested:

Task Scheduler command line:

C:\WINDOWS\System32\ntbackup.exe backup "@C:\Documents and
Settings\Scheduler\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows
NT\NTBackup\data\Image2.bks" /n "Image2.bkf created 7/15/2009 at 7:56 AM" /d
"Set created 7/15/2009 at 7:56 AM" /v:yes /r:no /rs:no /hcff /m normal /j
"Image2" /l:f /f "Z:\Backups\Image2.bkf"

Account: Scheduler (admin user, with password)

Backup log file name & location: Don't know and couldn't find

Task Scheduler Report: could not find a report generated by task scheduler,
but the backup report generated was empty.

Sorry about the mixup...


DL

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Your report tells me this:
- You're running the job under an account called "Scheduler".
- You're trying to back up to a file called "Z:\Backups\Image2.bkf".
- Your backup report is kept in the folder "C:\Documents and
Settings\Scheduler\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows
NT\NTBackup\data".
- Your Task Scheduler report is accessible via the Advanced pull-down menu
that you see when you open the Control Panel / Task Scheduler.

You should now examine both the Task Scheduler log file and the latest
backup report file. You will probably find that drive Z: does not exist
while you're running the backup job, either because it is a mapped drive or
because the "Scheduler" account has insufficient access rights to it. If it
is a networked drive then the usual remedy is to use UNC coding instead of
mapping a drive letter. Post again if this is not clear or if the issue
remains unresolved.

 

[DL333]

I'm not sure how to use UNC coding - not really sure what it is.

The Z: drive is available to the Scheduler user. I have manually initiated
a backup operation to this drive from two different users on this computer,
both admin users, and get the same results, i.e., it opens a status window
saying "preparing to backup using shadow copy" and doesn't progress beyond
that (all other boxes in the window are empty). The task logs are empty for
all of the backups that froze. As I said, this started Saturday - the Friday
backup was successful.

Thanks

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

OK, let's get out the tool box. Create the batch file c:\DL.bat with the
following lines inside:
@echo off
echo %date% %time% %UserName% >> c:\test.txt
net use >> c:\test.txt
dir z:\ >> c:\test.txt
dir z:\Backups 1>> c:\test.txt 2>>&1
xcopy /y %comspec% z:\Backup\ 1>> c:\test.txt 2>>&1
C:\WINDOWS\System32\ntbackup.exe backup "@C:\Documents and
Settings\Scheduler\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows
NT\NTBackup\data\Image2.bks" /n "Image2.bkf created 7/15/2009 at 7:56 AM" /d
"Set created 7/15/2009 at 7:56 M" /v:yes /r:no /rs:no /hcff /m normal /j
"Image2" /l:f /f "Z:\Backups\Image2.bkf"
echo %date% %time% End of test >> c:\test.txt

Now use the Task Scheduler to schedule c:\DL.bat under the Scheduler
account. Afterwards examine c:\test.txt. I expect it to be an eye opener.

By the way - you never reported the contents of the two log files - the one
maintained by the Task Scheduler and the one created by ntbackup.exe.

 

[Twayne]

Twayne,

Thanks for the quick reply. I manually initiated a backup and got
the same results as the one performed by task scheduler. The first
window pops up and freezes. The backup report file is created, but
it is empty. No file name appears in the window.

This scheduled backup routine is the same one that ran on Friday - an
incremental backup. The one on Saturday did not run. The Sunday
backup was a normal backup, identical to the one that ran
successfully last Sunday. I have not installed anything new in the
last week.

I'm at a loss...

That just means the problem is a little deeper, that's all. It sounds
like Pegasus has you on the right track, so I'd stick with him for now.
I saw his batch file and it's good; in fact, I thieved it for myself<g>.
Haven't run it yet, but when I get time ...

Twayne`

 

[DL333]

I followed your instructions. Here are the contents of the resulting
test.txt file:

C:\DEDUCT~1\DPUsers\
Wed 07/29/2009 8:35:00.56 Scheduler
New connections will be remembered.

There are no entries in the list.

Volume in drive Z is HomeBack
Volume Serial Number is 5004-96F6

Directory of z:\

07/29/2009 12:01 AM <DIR> Backups
07/27/2009 10:17 AM <DIR> Deb Docs
07/27/2009 11:11 AM <DIR> Don Docs
0 File(s) 0 bytes
3 Dir(s) 883,663,540,224 bytes free
Volume in drive Z is HomeBack
Volume Serial Number is 5004-96F6

Directory of z:\Backups

07/29/2009 12:01 AM <DIR> .
07/29/2009 12:01 AM <DIR> ..
07/15/2009 08:17 AM 952,876 cc_20090715_081655.reg
07/24/2009 12:21 AM 2,870,822,912 Friday 7-24-09.bkf
07/27/2009 09:06 AM 2,048 Friday.bkf
07/19/2009 03:12 AM 78,321,864,704 Image1 - 7-19-09.bkf
07/26/2009 07:33 AM 2,048 Image2.bkf
07/27/2009 05:04 AM 2,048 Monday.bkf
07/26/2009 05:41 PM 2,048 Saturday.bkf
07/23/2009 12:21 AM 1,942,450,176 Thursday 7-23-09.bkf
07/21/2009 12:22 AM 2,053,113,856 Tuesday 7-21-09.bkf
07/28/2009 05:04 AM 2,048 Tuesday.bkf
07/22/2009 12:16 AM 1,719,219,200 Wednesday 7-22-09.bkf
07/29/2009 05:04 AM 2,048 Wednesday.bkf
12 File(s) 86,908,436,012 bytes
2 Dir(s) 883,663,540,224 bytes free
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
1 File(s) copied
Wed 07/29/2009 8:35:04.23 End of test

I verified that cmd.exe had indeed been copied to my external HDD.

As for the contents of the two log files, I could not find a log file
produced by the Task Scheduler, and the one created by ntbackup.exe was
created, but empty.

Any ideas on what to try next? I really appreciate your help.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

OK, here is what I gather from your feedback:
- Account used by the scheduled task: Scheduler
- Mapped drives: None
- Type of device on drive Z: local, USB or substituted
- Access rights for Scheduler to Z:\Backup: Full
- Free disk space on drive Z: 883 GBytes
- Your largest backup file is less than 100 GBytes
- Task Scheduler log file: Not found but since the batch file
generated all the expected results, the task obviously ran
successfully from beginning to end.
- There is nothing wrong with the parameters you supply to ntbackup.exe

Since the above observations do not immediately point to the culprit, you
need to run a few further tests, varying just one item at the time. When
running these tests you should log on as Scheduler so that you can see with
your own eyes what's going on. Here are the items I would vary:
- The folder to be backed up. Start with a small folder, then work your way
up if successful.
- The location for the target file. Use drive D:, for example.
- Run the batch file from the Command Prompt instead of the Task Scheduler.

By the way - I suppose you have tried this panacea to a surprisingly large
percentage of computer problems: Reboot the machine. I also suppose that you
have examined the Event Logger (eventvwr.exe) for relevant error messages.
Last question (and it is a fundamental one which you might have asked you
right at the start): What do you expect to get out of your backup process?
Ntbackup.exe has some rather limited functionality and may not really
deliver what you're after.

 

[DL333]

Pegasus,

Sorry that I haven't replied until now - I became swamped with my business
and did not have time to mess with my home computer.

This morning I checked my home system and the backups had started working
again! I have done nothing to the computer except install the automatic
updates from Microsoft and McAfee.

I just wonder if there is something that an earlier update caused that was
corrected by a later update? I know that some of my networked computers in
my business have quick seeing each other recently (I had this problem before
and it was due to something that a MS update had changed). Also, I have
noticed a significant slow-down of my home system since installing McAfee
(used to run AVG) - it seems to be a real resource hog.

I appreciate your kind help.

DL
--
DL

OK, here is what I gather from your feedback:
- Account used by the scheduled task: Scheduler
- Mapped drives: None
- Type of device on drive Z: local, USB or substituted
- Access rights for Scheduler to Z:\Backup: Full
- Free disk space on drive Z: 883 GBytes
- Your largest backup file is less than 100 GBytes
- Task Scheduler log file: Not found but since the batch file
generated all the expected results, the task obviously ran
successfully from beginning to end.
- There is nothing wrong with the parameters you supply to ntbackup.exe

Since the above observations do not immediately point to the culprit, you
need to run a few further tests, varying just one item at the time. When
running these tests you should log on as Scheduler so that you can see with
your own eyes what's going on. Here are the items I would vary:
- The folder to be backed up. Start with a small folder, then work your way
up if successful.
- The location for the target file. Use drive D:, for example.
- Run the batch file from the Command Prompt instead of the Task Scheduler.

By the way - I suppose you have tried this panacea to a surprisingly large
percentage of computer problems: Reboot the machine. I also suppose that you
have examined the Event Logger (eventvwr.exe) for relevant error messages.
Last question (and it is a fundamental one which you might have asked you
right at the start): What do you expect to get out of your backup process?
Ntbackup.exe has some rather limited functionality and may not really
deliver what you're after.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Intriguing! Thanks for the feedback.