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Steven YarmushFlag for United States of America

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Windows back fails on Server 2012 R2

I have backed up this server to a external hard drive for over a year with no problems. Last week the backups started failing with the error
Windows backup failed to get an exclusive lock on the EFI partition

If I reboot the server the backup will run without error

I am going to change the virus scan so that it excludes the USB hard drive

Do you have any other suggestions?
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eridzone
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any failed service reported in event viewer etc related to VSS volume shadow copy
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Steven Yarmush
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ASKER

I see no error vss in the event viewer

I also ran the command
vss admin list writers

It shows everything as stable
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Justin Hannah
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SOLUTION
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Sam Simon Nasser
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I suspect the third party security software protects the system files and causes this issue. Therefore, please disable security software temporarily and perform clean boot.
 https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/windows-backup-failed-exclusive-lock-efi-partition-avast/

Uninstall Avast / Trend Micro / AVG
Open Control Panel, Programs and Features
Right click on the anti-virus software entry (for example, “Avast Free Antivirus / Avast Internet Security”, or “Trend Micro” or “AVG”) then click “Uninstall”
Follow the on-screen instructions and restart Windows.

Intel Energy Server Service WILLAMETTE
Intel Energy Checker / Intel Energy Server Service WILLAMETTE is also known to cause the same problem. See if disabling/uninstalling this software fixes the problem.

ESET Antivirus
If you’re using ESET antivirus, create exclusions for these two files:

\Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD
\Device\HarddiskVolume1\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD.LOG
Assuming that the drive-letter is I:\ these are the exclusions you need to create in ESET settings:

I:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD
I:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD.LOG