Windows OS Hub
  • Windows Server
    • Windows Server 2022
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2012 R2
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • SCCM
  • Active Directory
    • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
    • Group Policies
  • Windows Clients
    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • Windows 8
    • Windows 7
    • Windows XP
    • MS Office
    • Outlook
  • Virtualization
    • VMWare
    • Hyper-V
    • KVM
  • PowerShell
  • Exchange
  • Cloud
    • Azure
    • Microsoft 365
    • Office 365
  • Linux
    • CentOS
    • RHEL
    • Ubuntu
  • Home
  • About

Windows OS Hub

  • Windows Server
    • Windows Server 2022
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2012 R2
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • SCCM
  • Active Directory
    • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
    • Group Policies
  • Windows Clients
    • Windows 11
    • Windows 10
    • Windows 8
    • Windows 7
    • Windows XP
    • MS Office
    • Outlook
  • Virtualization
    • VMWare
    • Hyper-V
    • KVM
  • PowerShell
  • Exchange
  • Cloud
    • Azure
    • Microsoft 365
    • Office 365
  • Linux
    • CentOS
    • RHEL
    • Ubuntu

 Windows OS Hub / Windows Server 2016 / VSS Writer Failed: Re-registering VSS Writers on Windows Server

April 28, 2018 Windows Server 2012 R2Windows Server 2016

VSS Writer Failed: Re-registering VSS Writers on Windows Server

Most backup solutions for Windows use Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to create backup copies of the application or service data. In some cases, the VSS service or one of its writers start to work incorrectly which results in failures during the backup. I have faced such an problem on Exchange, MSSQL and Hyper-V servers. To quickly recover VSS and its components, I use the following instruction.

To detect a failed VSS writer, let’s display the list of VSS writers registered in the system and their status using the vssadmin command.
vssadmin list writers

Find the components with the Failed state in the list. For the components working normally, the state looks as follows: State: [1] Stable.

Writer name: 'Microsoft Exchange Writer'
Writer Id: {53da1ac4-4bab-404a-0917-ae23f8aacfb7}
Writer Instance Id: {61b56ab0-9588-432f-ae7b-3233753ffa38}
State: [7] Failed
Last error: Retryable error

vss exchange writer in failed state

As you can see, in our case Microsoft Exchange Writer has failed (State: [8] Failed), so you won’t be able to complete the Exchange backup. Typically, to fix the state of this component, it’s enough to restart the server (which is not always possible for production reasons).

To repair the Exchange writer, try to restart the related service. (The table below shows the list of typical VSS Writers and the related Windows services.) Besides stopping the service, sometimes you will have to kill a hung service process manually.

VSS WriterSystem Service NameFull Name of a Service
IIS Config WriterAppHostSvcApplication Host Helper Service
BITS WriterBITSBackground Intelligent Transfer Service
Certificate AuthorityCertSvcActive Directory Certificate Services
System WriterCryptSvcCryptographic Services
DFS Replication service writerDFSRDFS Replication
DHCP Jet WriterDHCPServerDHCP Server
NPS VSS WriterEventSystemCOM+ Event System
IIS Metabase WriterIISADMINIIS Admin Service
Microsoft Exchange WriterMSExchangeISMicrosoft Exchange Information Store
Microsoft Exchange Replica WriterMSExchangeReplMicrosoft Exchange Replication Service
MSMQ Writer (MSMQ)MSMQMessage Queuing
NTDSNTDSActive Directory Domain Services
FRS WriterNtFrsFile Replication
OSearch VSS WriterOSearchOffice SharePoint Server Search
OSearch14 VSS WriterOSearch14SharePoint Server Search 14
SMS WriterSMS_SITE_VSS_WRITERSMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER
SPSearch VSS WriterSPSearchWindows SharePoint Services Search
SPSearch4 VSS WriterSPSearch4SharePoint Foundation Search V4
SqlServerWriterSQLWriterSQL Server VSS Writer
FSRM writersrmsvcFile Server Resource Manager
TermServLicensingTermServLicensingRemote Desktop Licensing
Microsoft Hyper-V VSS WritervmmsHyper-V Virtual Machine Management
ASR WriterVSSVolume Shadow Copy
COM+ REGDB WriterVSSVolume Shadow Copy
Registry WriterVSSVolume Shadow Copy
Shadow Copy Optimization WriterVSSVolume Shadow Copy
WDS VSS WriterWDSServerWindows Deployment Services Server
WIDWriterWIDWriterWindows Internal Database VSS Writer
WMI WriterWinmgmtWindows Management Instrumentation
WINS Jet WriterWINSWindows Internet Name Service (WINS)
MSSearch Service WriterWSearchWindows Search

Run the following command again:

vssadmin list writers

Check the status of the problem VSS writer. If it hasn’t changed to Stable state and the problem is not fixed, you can try to re-register the VSS components and libraries.

Go to this directory:

cd c:\windows\system32

Stop the following services: Volume Shadow Copy and Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider.

Net Stop VSS
Net Stop SWPRV

stop the shadow copy services: vss and swprv

Re-register the VSS components:

regsvr32 /s ole32.dll
regsvr32 /s oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 /s vss_ps.dll
vssvc /register
regsvr32 /s /i swprv.dll
regsvr32 /s /i eventcls.dll
regsvr32 /s es.dll
regsvr32 /s stdprov.dll
regsvr32 /s vssui.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml3.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml4.dll
vssvc /register

re-registering vss writers on windows server 2012 / 2016

Start the previously stopped services:
Net Start SWPRV
Net Start VSS

Make sure that the error of the problem VSS writer has disappeared.

This method of restarting and re-registering of VSS components is effective both on Windows Server 2008 / 2012/ R2 and on Windows Server 2016.

2 comments
0
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
previous post
Limited Wi-Fi Access in Windows 10 and 8.1 – Troubleshooting
next post
Windows Server 2016: Workgroup Failover Cluster without Active Directory

Related Reading

Enable Single Sign-On (SSO) Authentication on RDS Windows...

May 23, 2023

Allow Non-admin Users RDP Access to Windows Server

May 22, 2023

Configuring DNS Conditional Forwarding and DNS Policies on...

April 17, 2023

Updating PowerShell Version on Windows

April 12, 2023

Fix: Remote Desktop Services Is Currently Busy

March 15, 2023

Categories

  • Active Directory
  • Group Policies
  • Exchange Server
  • Microsoft 365
  • Azure
  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016
  • PowerShell
  • VMWare
  • Hyper-V
  • Linux
  • MS Office

Recent Posts

  • Configuring Event Viewer Log Size on Windows

    May 24, 2023
  • How to Detect Who Changed the File/Folder NTFS Permissions on Windows?

    May 24, 2023
  • Enable Single Sign-On (SSO) Authentication on RDS Windows Server

    May 23, 2023
  • Allow Non-admin Users RDP Access to Windows Server

    May 22, 2023
  • How to Create, Change, and Remove Local Users or Groups with PowerShell?

    May 17, 2023
  • Fix: BSOD Error 0x0000007B (INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE) on Windows

    May 16, 2023
  • View Success and Failed Local Logon Attempts on Windows

    May 2, 2023
  • Fix: “Something Went Wrong” Error When Installing Teams

    May 2, 2023
  • Querying Windows Event Logs with PowerShell

    May 2, 2023
  • Configure Windows LAPS (Local Administrator Passwords Solution) in AD

    April 25, 2023

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS
Popular Posts
  • Managing Printers and Drivers with PowerShell in Windows 10 / Server 2016
  • Managing Printers from the Command Prompt in Windows 10 / 8.1
  • Fix: RDP Authentication Error Has Occurred – The Function Requested Is Not Supported
  • Windows Server Licensing for Virtual Environments
  • Installing a Free Let’s Encrypt TLS/SSL Certificate on IIS Web Server / RDS
  • RDP Authentication Error: CredSSP Encryption Oracle Remediation
  • How to Obtain SeDebugPrivilege when Debug Program Policy is Enabled
Footer Logo

@2014 - 2023 - Windows OS Hub. All about operating systems for sysadmins


Back To Top