|
Error code |
Product |
Applies to |
|---|---|---|
|
BA904 |
BackupAssist |
BackupAssist v4 and later |
Description
This error occurs when the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is unable to run due to another snapshot management provider being installed on the system.
Resolution
The error's known causes and resolutions are described below.
Known Cause 1 - Multiple backup solutions installed
Many backup solutions have their own proprietary snapshot manager which can cause conflicts with other backup solutions installed on the system.
If you have (or had) more than one backup program installed on your system, disable/uninstall all of the programs except for BackupAssist, and run the backup job again.
It is best practice to only have one backup solution installed at any one time.
You should also run a registry cleaner after the other backup solutions have been uninstalled: https://www.backupassist.com/blog/support/how-to-resolve-a-ba910-volume-shadow-copy-error-0x80004230/.
Known Cause 2 - Shadow storage on the source drives is not configured or not large enough.
VSS requires space allocated to each volume to be able to create and store snapshots. The steps to configure shadow copies varies between operating systems, so it's advised to check Microsoft's knowledge base for the steps specific for your OS. The steps and commands to alter the shadowstorage on any given volume are uniform across operating systems.
The shadow storage size can be checked and manually changed through command prompt.
- To check the current limit set: vssadmin list shadowstorage
- To change the limit: vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=X: /On=X: /Maxsize=XX%
This will resize the limit to XX percentage size for the X: drive.
We generally recommend 30% for shadowstorage size to be able to avoid most errors related to Shadow Storage.
Known Cause 3 - Scheduling Conflict
This section explains VSS and device conflicts. Refer to the section applicable to your issue.
VSS conflicts: Having two backup jobs running at the same time within BackupAssist can cause errors if both backup jobs are trying to run VSS. Ensure that only one backup job is running at any one time.
Hardware conflicts: Conflicts with backup devices can occur when another process is trying to use the backup destination at the same time as BackupAssist. Make sure that there are no scheduled tasks, particularly backup tasks, that run at the same time as your scheduled backups.
To confirm that this is a scheduling issue try running a backup during the day, or try changing the scheduled time of your backup by a few hours. If these backups work, the problem is likely to be a scheduling conflict.
Known Cause 4 - Destination drives not formatted in NTFS
If your destination drive is not formatted in NTFS, this can cause a conflict with the snapshot process which causes this error.
Make sure the backup destination is compatible with the NTFS format. Please view the following article on how to convert a drive to NTFS format: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881
Known Cause 5 - High disk activity when snapshot being performed
High disk activity during the snapshot process can cause issues with the snapshot process that generates this error. For example, a conflict with the snapshot creation that causes the snapshot manager to have trouble determining a cutoff point for the snapshot.
To resolve this, it is recommended that you re-schedule your backup for a time where there is less disk usage. It is also recommended that you perform consistency checks (such as chkdsk) on the drive(s) which are in the backup set.
|
Last updated |
Created |
Further assistance |
|---|---|---|
|
8th June 2017 |
20th Aug 2007 |
BackupAssist Support page |