BA615: Volume Shadow Copy related services are in an inconsistent state¶
| Error code | Product | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| BA615 | BackupAssist | For BackupAssist 15.0.5 or later. |
Description¶
Before creating a Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) snapshot, BackupAssist verifies that the Windows services VSS depends on are installed, not disabled, and running. This check runs for every backup that takes a VSS snapshot (System Protection, Legacy System Protection, File Protection, File Archiving and Cloud Backup).
This condition is reported when one of those services is missing, disabled, or cannot be started, so a reliable snapshot cannot be taken. The services checked are:
- Volume Shadow Copy (vss)
- Virtual Disk (vds)
- Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider (swprv)
- COM+ Event System (EventSystem)
- System Event Notification Service (SENS)
- COM+ System Application (COMSysApp)
- Cryptographic Services (CryptSvc) - part of the extended set, checked by default
Common causes:
- The Volume Shadow Copy service or one of its dependencies is set to Disabled (via services.msc or Group Policy).
- A pre-backup script stopped a VSS-related service (for example "net stop vss") and did not start it again cleanly.
- Third-party security or optimisation software disabled or blocked one of the services.
When this condition fires the backup is stopped before snapshot creation, so the job does not continue on to fail later with a confusing "no VSS provider" error.
Resolution¶
Resolution 1 - Enable and start the VSS-related services (recommended)¶
- Open services.msc.
- For each service listed above, set Startup type to Manual (or Automatic) - it must not be Disabled.
- Start the Volume Shadow Copy service (and any of the above that are stopped).
- Run the backup again.
Resolution 2 - Review pre-backup scripts that restart VSS¶
If the job uses a pre-backup script that runs "net stop vss" / "net start vss" (or the same for vds, vmms, cryptsvc), confirm the script starts the services again and that they reach the running state. BackupAssist waits a short time after the pre-script for the providers to re-register; if your environment needs longer, increase the wait (see below).
Resolution 3 - Registry overrides (advanced, with guidance from technical support)¶
These are advanced overrides intended for use under the direction of BackupAssist Support; contact Support before changing them. Under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Cortex I.T\BackupAssist\v{major} (all values REG_SZ):
- VSSDisableExtendedServices = "true" - check only the base VSS/VDS/provider set, skipping the extended set (e.g. Cryptographic Services).
- ExecutorPreScriptAfterDelaySeconds = "30" - increase the wait after a pre-backup script before the backup continues ("0" disables it).
- VSSIgnoreCheckServicesOnInitSnapshots = "true" - skip the service check entirely (not recommended; the check exists to prevent later VSS failures).
Note on the backup report¶
This condition appears in the backup report as: Volume Shadow Copy related services are in inconsistent state.
| Last updated | Created | Further assistance |
|---|---|---|
| 15th Sep 2026 | 7th Aug 2026 | BackupAssist Support page |