I've just noticed my backup on SBS 2008 is failing and I think I've tracked it down to the volume shadow copy as when I try to backup manually it fails when it tries to create a volume shadow copy. This error is in the application event log:

Event ID 7001, Source VSS


Any thoughts where I can start to solve this? I haven't rebooted yet, it's not easy doing that during the day.

Hi Jabba.

If you open a command prompt and run the following command does it list any errors?



Are there any other related errors in the event log?

Dave

It didn't show any errors but they all showed State: [5] Waiting for completion so I rebooted and now I'm even worse off, as the server throws up a stop error:



I can boot into Directory Services Restore Mode but don't know what to do next. Do you think this is related to the VSS and backup errors? Any suggestions would be fantastic!

Thanks!

Are there any devices in Device Manager that are not working properly? Is this a RAID system? If so, are all drivers installed and working?

Try running the following in a command window:



This will check for, and repair, any missing or damaged system files

I did that and it said it repaired something but that hasn't fixed the blue screen stop error. I tried installing Service Pack 2 but after an hour of installing it said it failed and then spent an hour reverting the changes.

I'm at a loss at what to do next.

In answer to your questions, no I didn't see any related messages in the event log and yes it is a RAID system and I think all firmware/drivers are up to date.

Try checking the integrity of the Active Directory database. Run these from a command prompt:



This should tell you if there are any errors with the database itself

When I try and use ntdsutil I get this error:



I've tried to Google a solution to that but have drawn a blank.

Is it the only DC in the domain or is it a member server? If it's a member server I would just remove Active Directory from it and then join it to the domain again. It can then replicate AD from another server.

If it's a standalone server when was your last backup? If it is recent you could just selectively restore the C:\Windows\NTDS folder - all you'd lose would be any changes to AD, such as new user accounts, password changes, etc since the backup. Make a copy of the current folder first, of course, just incase it doesn't work.

These would be the quickest options to get it back up and running.

That sorted it! I had a backup from a few days ago so no AD changes were lost. Thanks to everyone that helped with this, I'm a happy man now

That's good news. What about the original problem? Are the backups / shadow copies working now?