Hi,

I gets error while taking backup of windows server 2008 r2.. Error is 0x800423f4. then "i check vssadmin list writers" i got a error.

writer name: 'NTDS"

State [11] failed

Last error: Non-retryable error.

How to fix this error...?

With Regards

Xavi Seban

I use AppAssure as my backup and occasionally I have the same issues. The following procedure works for me and is verbatim from a document produced by AppAssure:

1. Reboot your server. Servers that have not been rebooted in a while may cause VSS to malfunction.
You should reboot your server regularly as a preventive and cleanup measure for your system.
2. To reset the writers to a stable state, first list the writers: vssadmin list writers

3. Clear any existing shadows: VSS has a limit on the number of snapshots that can be kept on the system; furthermore, these
snapshots take up space on the drive that is needed to take these snapshots. The following will clear this space.

4. NOTE: If the shadows are in use such as when you right click and select restore previous versions,
this will no longer be possible as those versions will be lost.
   1. Open vssadmin from the command line (run cmd as administrator).
   2. Enter vssadmin delete shadows /all.
   3. This will clean up the VSS snapshots.
   4. Some defect systems accumulate hundreds of VSS snapshots that persist in the system.
   5. Enter vssadmin list writers and check for errors.
   6. If there are still any writers that are listed as Failed or have an error, or any writers states are not listed as Stable, please continue to the next step.

Restart these services: open Services.msc and restart "COM+ Event System", "COM+ System Application Service"and "Distributed Transaction Coordinator Service".

5. Check the event viewer for additional info logged by the vss writer.

Run vssadmin list, if there are any writers that are listed as failed or have an error continue to the next steps.

6. VSS has a limited amount of space. the default is 5% of the total volume size and may not be large enough. Run the following command to set the size to no limit. ssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=<Drive Letter> /On=<Drive Letter> /MaxSize=UNBOUNDED ; alternately you can set the size from the disk management GUI by right clicking the first volume, properties. Select the Shadow Copies tab, then select the first disk in the list. Select settings and then No Limit then Ok.

If you don't get any VSS writer errors when using vssadmin list writers but the system isn't able to create a new VSS snapshot after you have deleted all existing snapshots then uninstall all backup software on the computer including windows backup.

After all backup too; have been  uninstalled open the registry editor. (Ensure you backup your registry first) and go to " HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\VSS\Providers" Here you should only find "Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider" If you find another entry first save it by exporting it and then delete it from the registry.

Reboot and run vssadmin list writers to confirm the problem has been resolved.

If you are still having issues after this then I suggest you contact MS technical support.

posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

• Edited by Rigger1959 Thursday, November 28, 2013 4:35 PM

Hi Xavi Seban,

Thanks for your posting.

In addition, you can also refer to these steps to solve the NTDS issue:

1.  Restart the Com and DCOM services.

2.  Restart the Volume Shadow Copy Service.

3.  Rerun the vssadmin command and check your writers. 

For more detailed information, please refer to this article, who had the similar issue with you and solved the NTDS issue.

VSS NTDS Writer Failed:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/41be964f-bc4d-48cf-9940-135fa84eaf61/vss-ntds-writer-failed?forum=windowsbackup

In addition, to troubleshoot the VSS error, please also Check the event log for failure events logged by Windows Server Backup by opening the Event Viewer and review the logs: Windows Logs\Application where the source is Backup.

To troubleshoot VSS issues that occur with Windows Server Backup (WBADMIN) in Windows Server 2008 R2, please refer to this article:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee692290(v=WS.10).aspx

I hope this helps.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

But when i am trying to delete vssadmin shadow. I got message " No items that satisfy the query". What its means...?

With Regards

Xavi Seban

Hi Xavi Seban,

How about running the cmd "vssadmin list shadows"?

If this cmd also results no existing shadows, which suggest that there is no shadows available, and you can skip the step of running the cmd "vssadmin delete shadows /all" posted by Rigger1959.

I hope this helps.