Hmm, frustrating. I use Hitachi/Toshiba disks (to 2Tb) and have had no problems.
FWIW, I can confirm that having both Aomei Backupper Pro and Macrium free installed causes no problems, but I don't have them running simultaneously.
You could, for what it's worth, check SMART params and do a surface test with Crystal Diskinfo and Macrorit Disk scanner just to eliminate the most basic possibility.
Thanks for that! How do I check SMART parameters?
Download and run Crystal Diskinfo (free) - easy to find. Also gives a quick green/orange/red indication.
I think that error message can cover any error form the VSS provider which is 'Unexpected'. I think it basically translates as "Something bad happened in the VSS Provider which I didn't expect".
So while it might point to the disk scenario mentioned, I think there's no guarantee - there could be some completely different failure which gives the same message
Well, I think I found what was causing the VSS crashing although I'm not sure I understand why. Doing the Windows repair install fixed all the problems, Macrium, system restore being the main ones but I failed to mention that I was also using Veeam Endpoint Backup as my main backup program. That worked very well for several months but then as I said earlier I started getting problems with my Samsung M3 and I found the only way out of that was to remove everything onto another disk, deleting the Veeam backups leaving an empty M3, then rename the Veeam folder to something slightly different and then doing another backup, starting from scratch basically. Pretty messy, but I couldn't find another way. And this is why I used Macrium as well, belt and braces.
The VSS crashing happened, I now recall, just after I had done the above yet again. The cause of it I have found is that although I was removing Veeam it only removed the program, the database was being left behind, so that when I re-installed Veeam it was trying to connect to the old database and that was when the VSS crashed, why I don't yet understand. So after I had repaired Windows 10 I thought I would install Veeam again as when it worked it was/is a great program. Having installed it, I then ran Macrium and sure enough, it crashed with the messages posted earlier. I did some googling and found a way to remove/reset the database. So another repair install Windows 10 was done, I re-installed Veeam again and yes, no database, it started with a clean sheet. Now a slight deviation, I had installed Veeam this last time using Revo Uninstaller which monitors what is installed and then removes exactly that if the installed program is removed again but sadly, my memory has let me down and I can't remember if Veeam worked or not, did I try to do another backup? I don't remember! But I do remember thinking I've wasted enough time on this, I will use Macrium as the main backup and also Aomei Backupper so I had 'belt and braces'. So Revo 'seemed' to do the database resewithout me having to go through the manual steps as advised in the link shown below.
And that is where I am now, it would be good if I could use Veeam again but I have spent about a week on this and I feel I need a rest!
How to manually reset your Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE database | TinkerTry IT @ Home
Good, simpler is better. You should only need one imaging solution. I used to use Aomei, but found a few snags. Veeam is reputable, with a good commercial base, but I've not tried it- much less well-known.
I like Geek uninstaller (free) which I use routinely- just a bit more convenient and quicker to use- (but I also have Revo Pro for more difficult cases). Geek uninstaller is what I use for uninstalls- it very quickly lists all installed progs, with a search box, so quick to access a program. It does a scan after the normal uninstaller has run.
Revo of course gives a wider range of options.
Hi there
one problem of running a Windows Backup within Windows itself is the (IMO) WRETCHED VSS system. You have to have a reasonable amount of free space available as a "Volume Lock" is done --this is to allow a user to keep using the system while a backup is being done.
Now IMO if you are backing up a system I don't think you should be using it anyway. If your OS is on an SSD the whole thing will backup in around 15 mins at the most -- so why not run it from a bootable copy of Macrium. No VSS problems in that case either.
I rather think Backup programs shouldn't actually run from within Windows any more -- but that's another issue as I suppose people can schedule automatic Backups.
For DATA backups I use a different approach -- the Windows drives are shared to a NAS server which launches a version of rsync (a Linux program that can be used to ensure files are in sync / latest copy backed up etc etc) every evening so my changed data is backed up nightly at bedtime.
Cheers
Jimbo
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