The first step I would do is to check the status of the VSS writers. Run the command "vssadmin list writers" and look for any errors. If there are problems, then those need to be investigated first as they are causing the problem.

Yes i have done this and get various Failed States however restarting various Services gets these back to normal, and then afer i try to run the backup again they then fail

There should be an event ID to match the failure of the VSS writer. What is the error? Also, what product are you using to perform the backup?

The product is Active Image Protector The Event ID Is not helpful but

A Vss Writer has rejected an event with error 0x00000000 the operation completed successfully

Have you tried to contact their support. The error appears to relate to the writer "AIP", which is I am assuming means "Active Image Protector Writer". Since it originally worked, there could have been a Microsoft update that is causing a conflict or something along those lines. I have seen updates cause problems with third party apps in the past.

I did track down a similar issue with host on a VMware system that had Microsoft workarounds.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2853247

There was also a KB on the Active Image site about VSS issues:

Windows Application Log：
- Source: VSS
- Type (Level) : Error

Windows System Log：
- Source: Volsnap
- Type (Level) : Error

If the error is generated due to the AIP Software：
1. Please ensure that the AIP tracking driver was installed at the same time that AIP was installed. Also, ensure that Windows was rebooted after the AIP installation.
If a full and incremental backup task is scheduled to run while the tracking driver is not working correctly or is not installed, VSS cannot be started and consequently returns a -311 error. The tracking driver is a component included in the AIP standard installation.

* Windows 2000 systems do not include VSS. A -999 error may occur instead of a -311 error. Also, the above error will occur during a scheduled full backup task.

To confirm that the tracking driver is functioning properly, please select [System Information] - [Software Environment] and confirm that "aiptrack" is on the list of system drivers.


If the error is due to the OS：
Windows Server 2003：
Please install the update program for Windows Server 2003 or earlier as follows to see if the problem is solved.
1. Apply Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2.

A Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) update package is available for Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833167/en-us

2. Apply the roll-up package.

An update rollup package is available to resolve some Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) snapshot issues in Windows Server 2003.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940349/en-us

Ok this is a Hyper V server 2012, all updates are the latest, the server was rebooted after installation of AIP.

Also I did get the backup to perform once yesterday, unfortunately after that it stopped working again, but everytime it put 100's of Generic Shadow Copy Devices in storage manager, they are not used and I know having theses can cause issues, but its painful going in and having to delete these every time

I can also confirm that AIP Track is presenr

Ok. These have to do with system restore. Microsoft released an update\hotfix for the problem in server 2008.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982210

You could also stop the shadow copy service otherwise. This could be a bug for 2012 that they have not addressed yet.

yep ok I have downloaded the Devcon and managed to clear them down, I have just uninstalled AIP and reinstalled with a reboot.

Just tried to do a full backup job and same errors etc happening

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with this backup product. I checked their support website, but there really is not that much information available. I was going to suggest contacting them, but then I located an article with someone having the same problem using Computer Associates ArcServe product in a 2012 Hyper-V environment. It appears to be a Microsoft issue based on his findings.

Here is the workaround:
http://www.guillaumeverrey.com/2013/07/error-the-specified-component-was-not-reported-by-the-vss-writer-error-517-in-windows-server-2012-backup/

Here is the original thread:
https://communities.ca.com/thread/106282465

Yes I have tried this but when I try to list the shadows I just get no shadows can be found