VSS idle timeout. shadow copy does not work.

[Guest]

i am running vista ultimate...
and my shadow copy is no longer working.. it hasn't for months!
it did when i first got my system (dell inspiron 9400)!.. i think i disabled
it... but have
re-enabled it... but to no avail.. i have system backup set to auto...
windows shadow copy set back to auto (was disabled) (under services)

and when i right click a folder, and goto previous versions.. it is empty...
i have checked my even log viewer.. and it i get the following:

-The Windows Modules Installer service entered the running state.

-DCOM started the service VSS with arguments "" in order to run the server:
{E579AB5F-1CC4-44B4-BED9-DE0991FF0623}

-The VSS service is shutting down due to idle timeout.


any idea as to what could be causing this? i tried figuring this one out
months ago.. but gave up...
im now determined to figure it out!

any help would be much appreciated!

thanks
pj

 

[Guest]

if i cant get help here, where, oh where can i?
come on! anyone?

p

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

PJ

Do you have System Restore enabled on the system drive (C? The system
restore files is where all of the previous version shadow copies are saved.

 

[Guest]

yes, i have it checked to monitor drive C, the drive i want shadow copies to
work on...
i have checked, and rechecked..
p

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi,

Each time System Restore is disabled, all shadow copies, including Restore
Points and Previous Versions are deleted.

Now that System Restore is enabled on C:, right click on the Command Prompt
and select Run as administrator. Then paste the following command and press
enter. This will displays all shadow copy storage associations on the system.

vssadmin list shadowstorage

In the command prompt right click on the upper left conner of the title bar
and select Edit - Select All then press enter. This will place the contents
of the command prompt into the clip board. Now paste the results here.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

 

[Guest]

im on the road right now.... be back after thanksgiving... thanks for posting.

pj

 

[pj]

ok, im back, and did like you said BERT...
here are the results:

pj

C:\Users\ME>vssadmin list shadowstorage
vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001-2005 Microsoft Corp.

Shadow Copy Storage association
For volume: (C\\?\Volume{155e5023-0a83-11dc-94e1-806e6f6e6963}\
Shadow Copy Storage volume:
(C\\?\Volume{155e5023-0a83-11dc-94e1-806e6f6e69
63}\
Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 678.664 MB
Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 970.223 MB
Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 2 GB

 

[pj]

Bert ya there!? anybody.... would really like to figure this one out!!!
thanks
pj

 

[tom2218]

I just solved an issue with Shadow Copy. I could not create a restore point
and had numerous vss errors. In the course of my research I found a link
that might help:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937862/en-us it speaks to part of your
question.

I had no shadowstorage set and the issue was that IIS was not installed
correctly but I also looked at this link.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940032.
To check on IIS try this:
Click Start, type Programs and Features in the Start Search box, and then
click Programs and Features in the Programs list.
b. Under Tasks, click Turn Windows features on or off.

If you are prompted for an administrator password, type the password. If
you are prompted for confirmation, click Continue

If IIs is not checked expand the drop down and select all the appropriate
boxes.

tom

 

[pj]

hey tom, thanks for posting...
tried everything that was stated in the articles.. and tried turning the IIs
feature off/on like you stated.. still no luck...
if i do the shadow admin (under cmd) it shows that C is being monitored, and
space is used up.... i have it set to 1GB for system restore...
i cam able to do sys restores... its just that if i right click a folder in
C, or even C itself.. and goto previous versions.. it is blank... there is no
table, the whole tabbed area is GREY....

still cant figure this one out!
thanks for the tips though
any more thoughts anyone!?

pj

 

[pj]

grrr.. disspointing, no one helped me out...
i just wanted to post back on here, for anyone else who seems to be having
this problem.....
turns out TUNEBIT (which i dont use,) causes problems with VSS...
my problem was, i disabled admin shares... check the following yourself
goto RUN, type regedit and:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters,
and create two new DWORD values, AutoShareServer and AutoShareWks, both set
to 1

pj

 

[pj]

grrr.. disappointing, no one helped me out...
i just wanted to post back on here, for anyone else who seems to be having
this problem.....
turns out TUNEBIT (which i dont use,) causes problems with VSS...
my problem was, i disabled admin shares... check the following yourself
goto RUN, type regedit and:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters,
and create two new DWORD values, AutoShareServer and AutoShareWks, both set
to 1

pj