Sudden Backup Failures

[ArtShapiro]

I've discovered that my last eight nightly backups with 1.1.127 Express HD haven't succeeded on this XP Pro machine. Here's a log file - the failures are consistent:

 

5/18/2008 11:58:16 PM: Copying System (C:)

File "C:\Documents and Settings\Art\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\34kjif32.default\parent.lock": can't read, error -1020 (sharing violation)

 

File "C:\Documents and Settings\Art\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Google Desktop\9bdf253fae2e\dbc2e.ht1": can't read, error -1020 (sharing violation)

 

File "C:\Documents and Settings\Art\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Google Desktop\9bdf253fae2e\dbdam": can't read, error -1020 (sharing violation)

 

File "C:\Documents and Settings\Art\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Google Desktop\9bdf253fae2e\dbdao": can't read, error -1020 (sharing violation)

 

etc, etc for eight or nine files.

 

As an experiment, attempts to Restore an arbitrary file work on at least one of the eight backups, but most are giving reports of a serious error, an assertion failure at tree.cpp-2528. I let it send one of those reports to Dantz last night.

 

Any suggestions as to how to get myself out of this mess?

 

Art

 

[Mayoff]

assert errors are probably a sign of a corrupt catalog file or preferences.

 

You can try to delete the .rbc file from the backup drive in the Retrospect Restore Points folder after you exit Express HD. When you reopen express HD, the file will rebuild itself...it will take a few hours to finish.

[ArtShapiro]

Thanks...I figured rebuilding the catalog might remedy the second problem. I'll try it.

 

But what about the original issue? Clearly Express can backup inuse files without problems, or I'd never be able to have my Outlook pst file saved. What might have changed to generate security warnings about profile-related files? This had never been an issue in the several years I've been using the product.

 

Art

[Mayoff]

It sounds like those files are somehow being ignored by the MS VSS service. Windows won't let the files get copied, Retrospect has no control over this. I don't know what has changed.

[ArtShapiro]

It's been a couple weeks, but I'd like to follow up on this thread and describe the resolution.

 

I tried rebuilding the catalog and failed...Several times I attempted to have Express rebuild and it crashed and burned on an assertion failure of some sort. (Don't have that info any more). Even removal and reinstallation of the base release and the "for dot net 2.0" update failed to remedy the problem. I was forced to purge the backup drive via quick format and start over. This went fine and no subsequent assertion failures have been noted. As this seems to happen to me a couple times a year, I think I have legitimate concerns about the stability of Express HD. Happily it hasn't burned me yet, although there are times where it is useful to have historical backups.

 

You clued me onto a VSS issue, and you were correct. I found a number of severe VSS errors in the event log each night, any one of which would indicate significant VSS problems. I tried for a couple weeks to remedy the problem, trying many things that people under similar circumstances had tried as uncovered by many Google searches. I failed.

 

Last night I bit the bullet and did a repair installation of XP. This isn't normally a big deal, but I was terrified given my Raid 0 configuration and the necessity of adding special drivers during the installation process. But it went OK, even if I used several Tums in the process.

 

And for the first time in weeks, I got a normal backup with Retrospect. Guess we're up and running, at least until problem #1 recurs a few months from now.

 

Art