Macrium Reflect Backup Failures  

=DavidY;791611]Ah I wasn't quite clear - those commands should have created a text file called vsschecks.txt in your Documents folder. Assuming that worked, could you paste the contents of the file here, in a Code box, please?

At some unknown and unknowable time, I would have found that file and wondered where it came from, why it came from there.

Code:

vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001-2013 Microsoft Corp.

No items found that satisfy the query.
vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001-2013 Microsoft Corp.

No items found that satisfy the query.
vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001-2013 Microsoft Corp.

Writer name: 'Task Scheduler Writer'
   Writer Id: {d61d61c8-d73a-4eee-8cdd-f6f9786b7124}
   Writer Instance Id: {1bddd48e-5052-49db-9b07-b96f96727e6b}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'VSS Metadata Store Writer'
   Writer Id: {75dfb225-e2e4-4d39-9ac9-ffaff65ddf06}
   Writer Instance Id: {088e7a7d-09a8-4cc6-a609-ad90e75ddc93}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Performance Counters Writer'
   Writer Id: {0bada1de-01a9-4625-8278-69e735f39dd2}
   Writer Instance Id: {f0086dda-9efc-47c5-8eb6-a944c3d09381}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'System Writer'
   Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}
   Writer Instance Id: {137d8ee1-97f8-4e4e-bd3a-9dfae99a2b22}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'ASR Writer'
   Writer Id: {be000cbe-11fe-4426-9c58-531aa6355fc4}
   Writer Instance Id: {5870e83c-a030-47f1-8342-80af83a2ee99}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Shadow Copy Optimization Writer'
   Writer Id: {4dc3bdd4-ab48-4d07-adb0-3bee2926fd7f}
   Writer Instance Id: {9a000db4-d2e6-4019-9fb8-94c6d1584b3a}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Registry Writer'
   Writer Id: {afbab4a2-367d-4d15-a586-71dbb18f8485}
   Writer Instance Id: {45455b89-a27c-4f34-8da4-0354a01e6fc9}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'COM+ REGDB Writer'
   Writer Id: {542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f}
   Writer Instance Id: {0f57803a-5d97-4631-9ad2-22f9b6730207}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'BITS Writer'
   Writer Id: {4969d978-be47-48b0-b100-f328f07ac1e0}
   Writer Instance Id: {bd7fd198-ef56-4b84-850c-899ef894e3ef}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'WMI Writer'
   Writer Id: {a6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0}
   Writer Instance Id: {17fbab10-38a9-4d93-a164-8d25cef82df3}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'MSSearch Service Writer'
   Writer Id: {cd3f2362-8bef-46c7-9181-d62844cdc0b2}
   Writer Instance Id: {0219352c-e1c2-42f0-a646-794629fb78fc}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001-2013 Microsoft Corp.

Provider name: 'Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider 1.0'
   Provider type: System
   Provider Id: {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}
   Version: 1.0.0.7

Edit: Also I found something else online which suggests checking the status of the system volume. From an elevated command prompt try these commands and post a screenshot of what came back.

Code:

diskpart
list volume

Then look for the volume with "System" in the Info column, "FAT32" in the Fs column, and a size of 100MB.
Suppose it is volume 2 - replace as necessary in the commands below.

Code:

select volume 2
detail volume
exit

Result:

simrick said:

A search on that error code and text brings up a conflict between Macrium and other imaging software (either existing or previously installed, ShadowProtect from StorageCraft in particular):

VSS fails due to disks with a non-standard sector size - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

VSS fails due to modification by 3rd party software - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

VSS Error: 0x8004230F - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

I could not find any of the things mentioned in the Macrium articles as being causes of problems, nor did the downloaded VSS repair program fix Macrium,. ShadowProtect and other imaging software never installed as far as I am aware.

Not Myself said:

Result:

I see that all the VSS Writers claim 'No Error' (perhaps optimistically).

So am I right in thinking your disk setup looks like this? :

1. Main disk with
   1. C: drive
   2. System drive (incidentally I wanted to check that Offline was set to No; it was)
   3. Recovery Tools
   4. Recovery Partition ('Image')
2. A WD Passport drive with encryption (I have something similar) which
   
   1. Emulates a CD drive on drive F: so you can type in a password, and
   2. Has drive K: for data once you've unlocked it
3. Drive H: which is a Freeagent (Seagate?) drive, which if I remember rightly is the one you were trying to backup to in the first place?
4. DVD/CD drive as drive E:

Is there any space on the K: drive? I wonder what would happen if you set up a new backup job in Macrium, which perhaps just selected the two smallest partitions on the main system drive (ESP and WinRETools), and then tried to backup to a folder on K: (if there's space). It might eliminate one or two things, although wouldn't be much use as a backup. Another thing to try would be safely removing then unplugging the K: drive altogether, and trying something like the original backup.

But I admit I really don't know the answer. @simrick do you have any more ideas?

The only other thing I found was some software called VSSTrace which is part of the Windows Software Development Kit, which might perhaps give more helpful error messages on whatever is going wrong with VSS. (I'm assuming VSS is the problem because I believe both System Restore and Macrium use it, and the error code started with VSS_.) But it's too late for me in this timezone to look at that today.

simrick said:

Have we tried creating a Restore Point in Safe Mode? If it indeed works, then we need to perform a clean boot to troubleshoot.

I thought that I had posted that I tried, and that Restore Point does not even appear in Safe Mode. However, a quick scan of this thread did not find that information. I will try Safe Mode sometime to day and report what I find.

simrick said:

One other question - have you had a chance to create the rescue media, boot to it, and run a complete image of C that way (independent of the operating system)?

No, I have been avoiding doing that, just because I want to avoid doing that, and for no other reason.

You could help me overcome that reluctance by giving me the complete instructions on what to download, how to use it, as I have only done this once, and that was many months ago when I was trying to repair my previous computer as Windows 10 kept getting less and less useful.

simrick said:

@Not Myself,
David suggests trying to make a backup of one of your other partitions, other than C. So, maybe WINRETOOLS => K, and see if it fails or runs.

If it completes, then try backing up the C partition => K, creating a new instruction (not using the existing one). Just a one-off, no scheduling.

Please also post a screenshot of Macrium, showing all the partitions of your drives, and a code box of your Macrium instruction set.
Thanks.

What does "WINRETOOLS" mean?

I will get around to posting your requested information later today.