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Chris CollinsFlag for United States of America

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Need to make a disk image of 2008 R2 RAID array . . . but VSS not working

I have been tasked with making an image of a Server 2008 R2 computer which hosts an EMR program, the SLA for which will not be renewed.

Normally, I would use Windows Server Backup and make a BMR image to an external drive. But, on this particular machine, Windows Server Backup keeps failing because there is something wrong with the Volume Shadow Copy service. When I run an elevated command prompt and do:

vssadmin list writers

... nothing is displayed.  I have tried every fix I could find including re-registering all the related DLLs to no avail.

So, my question is two-fold:

1. Does anyone have any suggestions for repairing the misbehaving VSS service?

2. In lieu of that, is there a relatively straightforward way for me to make a disk image of a server that is running a RAID 5 array onto a single USB external drive?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.
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Lee W, MVP
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Dr. Klahn

If Windows is on the RAID set to be backed up, then making the image is not the problem.  All decent backup software can do that.  It's reloading the backup that'll be the problem after a catastrophe occurs.  Few standalone backup programs recognize the wide variety of RAID controllers on the market.

(Side note:  This is why I recommend never putting Windows onto a RAID set.  Too hard to get back running if there's a disk catastrophe.)

If the RAID set is not the bootable volume, but rather data-only, then any decent backup program scan image backup the volume for you.  Macrium Reflect, for example, can do imaging online without the VSS.  However ... many otherwise free backup programs detect when they are running on Windows Server and want a paid license.
You can try booting the Server from the CloneZilla LiveCD. If it sees the array rather than the single disks that are part of the array, you can use it to make an image. If it only sees the single disks, then you won't be able to use it.

http://clonezilla.org


On the other hand, if you do any sort of image you'd probably be carrying the VSS problem over. so it really would be a good idea to find the cause of the issue and fix that first. Check your event viewer, maybe you can find out there why the VSS service stops. Maybe you need to check the health of the array and replace a failing disk, or run a chkdsk /f on your partitions to fix file-system corruptions. Or run the Windows Cleanup wizard to regain space.
Acronis, Shadow Protect or Symantec haben their own VSS service. So getting software from one of these providers will let you take online backups like you would do with MS Server Backup.
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I am going to explore some of these options and then come back to rate the best answer.

You're all incredibly helpful.  Thank you!!  :-)
Oh, I used German instead of English :)
Should be read: "Acronis, Shadow Protect and Symantec HAVE..."
Thank you for all the suggestions.  The Disk2VHD utility with the volume snapshots turned off seems to have worked.  I appreciate all your input. Closing this question now.
Thanks again!  :-)