ntbackup "Disable volume shadow copy"

Hm, why do you want to disable VSS during Exchange data backup ? If any of those files will be in use, you will get error and data would not be backed up. VSS allows backing up opened files without stopping applications which are using them

However, if your Windows Server 2003 is after SP1 then it is not available anymore
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/104169

Regards,
Krzysztof

very very good point,

do you know what , at the very high risk of coming across as dense I'm not to sure now. :(

What happened was, I ran a backup yesterday and it failed part way through and for some reason I wanted to try disabling the VSS......but now typing this out with you it has suddenly dawned on me that the problem was that the service was not running before.......

I'll get my coat.... and go and try the backup again.

it does help to talk though , i'll let you know if it worked and thanks

You're welcome :)

I'm awaiting for further  information :) and yes, sometimes short chat allows to review the issue once again with fresh eye ;)

So, in meantime I would also suggest you to see VSS writers status in command-line

vssadmin list writers

Select allOpen in new window

and see their status

Krzysztof

Well the first backup came up with "an inconsistency was encountered in the requested backup".

I then tried splitting it into 2 backups; first I backed up the public store which succeeded.
I then tried the mailbox store and that succeeded as well.

SO all seems ok.

Many many thanks Krzysztof for reading (listening) and helping me out,

I ran vssadmin list writers and the result was:


Microsoft Windows [Version 5.2.3790]
(C) Copyright 1985-2003 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>vssadmin list writers
vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001 Microsoft Corp.

Writer name: 'System Writer'
   Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}
   Writer Instance Id: {0b246023-c487-4f57-bbbd-29f123551422}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'FRS Writer'
   Writer Id: {d76f5a28-3092-4589-ba48-2958fb88ce29}
   Writer Instance Id: {1aebd4a8-c8db-43c3-b676-bcb527735ad6}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'NTDS'
   Writer Id: {b2014c9e-8711-4c5c-a5a9-3cf384484757}
   Writer Instance Id: {7bd94f07-0458-4481-99f2-b652af6cfe9d}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'WINS Jet Writer'
   Writer Id: {f08c1483-8407-4a26-8c26-6c267a629741}
   Writer Instance Id: {92a2081d-e63e-4b81-8106-f94d38813471}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Certificate Authority'
   Writer Id: {6f5b15b5-da24-4d88-b737-63063e3a1f86}
   Writer Instance Id: {07dc9974-6d9d-4f26-b2c8-891fc35ff065}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Event Log Writer'
   Writer Id: {eee8c692-67ed-4250-8d86-390603070d00}
   Writer Instance Id: {f224137a-4c57-401d-8a8b-f468da80912a}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'IIS Metabase Writer'
   Writer Id: {59b1f0cf-90ef-465f-9609-6ca8b2938366}
   Writer Instance Id: {2034a613-050e-49e4-9bad-28d9458c6e39}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'TermServLicensing'
   Writer Id: {5382579c-98df-47a7-ac6c-98a6d7106e09}
   Writer Instance Id: {2864dfd7-105f-47e7-92f5-efbac254f210}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Removable Storage Manager'
   Writer Id: {5d3c3e01-0297-445b-aa81-a48d7151e235}
   Writer Instance Id: {46fe9f1d-ad12-4408-9cbb-86450b48b1ab}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'BITS Writer'
   Writer Id: {4969d978-be47-48b0-b100-f328f07ac1e0}
   Writer Instance Id: {26eb6f71-e596-4346-89bf-2c72b3189a0e}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'WMI Writer'
   Writer Id: {a6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0}
   Writer Instance Id: {b12f4993-fb82-400e-8c54-8eb34d1bd67c}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Microsoft Exchange Writer'
   Writer Id: {76fe1ac4-15f7-4bcd-987e-8e1acb462fb7}
   Writer Instance Id: {11c5be87-68b7-4d0a-a445-7fef7b3b3c59}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'COM+ REGDB Writer'
   Writer Id: {542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f}
   Writer Instance Id: {7e99cb99-bd1b-4fda-a36c-8984deeb36e8}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Registry Writer'
   Writer Id: {afbab4a2-367d-4d15-a586-71dbb18f8485}
   Writer Instance Id: {15b02925-baa3-4a9b-b2a8-758aeb53128d}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'MSDEWriter'
   Writer Id: {f8544ac1-0611-4fa5-b04b-f7ee00b03277}
   Writer Instance Id: {09e0a042-e15b-4502-a0ab-43f1bbae75f8}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error