File history stopped working after a warning message in the event log

I have encountered this twice that File history stopped working, the event log says:

Unusual condition was encountered during finalization of a backup cycle for configuration C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory\Configuration\Config

If I re-run it, it consumes the backup disk space but still failed to backup.

I have to manually delete all backup, turn off File History and re-configure it again to make it work.

This happened twice already, so all my file history lost after re-config.

Anyone encounter the same situation?

November 14th, 2012 7:45am

Getting the same issue here. Have set it up several times. I also frequently get the maintenance issue "reconnect your drive" not long after the warning message (~20/30 minutes) even thought the drive is still there and fully accessible through file explorer.

Hope someone has a solution.

Cheers,

Shawn.

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November 14th, 2012 9:58pm

glad to see that I am not the only one experience this, to me the file history is totally not usable due to this unreliable behaviour. I wonder how this feature passed MS QA test...

By re-set up the backup it will lost all the history of the file changes which totally destroy the purpose of this "file history" feature.

November 15th, 2012 8:27am

Just had a thought - fengchun is the drive that you are backing up setup as a raid array?

The drive I'm backing up is a Raid 1 array and I'm wondering if that is messing with it trying to determine what has changed. The initial backup works fine, its just the incremental backups that seem to be getting stuffed up.

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November 16th, 2012 12:00pm

Hi fengchun,

Please let me know what kind of drive you use to back up file history? Local drive, outside drive or network path?

If you use outside drive or network path, when system cannot find the drive or network path, it will cache the file history in the following local folder:

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory

Please check if the backup is in this folder and check if there is enough space in it.

November 16th, 2012 12:15pm

I am using a NAS to be my backup drive, so it is a network shared drive.

I will check the cache thing and report back. Thanks!

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November 17th, 2012 6:20pm

Just had a thought - fengchun is the drive that you are backing up setup as a raid array?

The drive I'm backing up is a Raid 1 array and I'm wondering if that is messing with it trying to determine what has changed. The initial backup works fine, its just the incremental backups that seem to be getting stuffed up.

mine is a plain network shared drive. no RAID setup..
November 17th, 2012 6:21pm

Hi fengchun,

Please let me know what kind of drive you use to back up file history? Local drive, outside drive or network path?

If you use outside drive or network path, when system cannot find the drive or network path, it will cache the file history in the following local folder:

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory

Please check if the backup is in this folder and check if there is enough space in it.

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November 17th, 2012 6:36pm

Hi,

If the network drive disconnects, then all the backup files are in %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory.

When the network drive online again, the backup files will automatically transfer to this network drive. Please check System->File History-> Advanced settings and check the cache file size.

Please make sure the size is large enough to cache your backup file when the network drive is offline. If it is too small, we may need backup files again when the network drive online.

November 20th, 2012 1:28pm

Hi,

If the network drive disconnects, then all the backup files are in %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory.

When the network drive online again, the backup files will automatically transfer to this network drive. Please check System->File History-> Advanced settings and check the cache file size.

Please make sure the size is large enough to cache your backup file when the network drive is offline. If it is too small, we may need backup files again when the network drive o

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November 22nd, 2012 4:28pm

Hi,

We can use an advanced monitoring tool named Process Monitor to trace the backup process and try to find the clues of this backup failure.
=========================
Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. To do this,
 
a. Download Process Monitor from the following link, and extract it from the zip file.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx
 
b. On this affected server, double-click the Procmon.exe file (requires Administrators group membership) to start Process Monitor together, you will see it starting to capture events.
c. While Process Monitor is running, please try to start the backup.
d. After this issue is reproduced completely, then switch to the Process Monitor window, Click File -> Capture Events to stop it. And then click File -> Save to save the log file.

November 23rd, 2012 11:31am

Hi,

We can use an advanced monitoring tool named Process Monitor to trace the backup process and try to find the clues of this backup failure.
=========================
Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. To do this,
 
a. Download Process Monitor from the following link, and extract it from the zip file.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx
 
b. On this affected server, double-click the Procmon.exe file (requires Administrators group membership) to start Process Monitor together, you will see it starting to capture events.
c. While Process Monitor is running, please try to start the backup.
d. After this issue is reproduced completely, then switch to the Process Monitor window, Click File -> Capture Events to stop it. And then click File -> Save to save the log file.

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November 24th, 2012 5:28pm

I am having the same problem, I have enabled File Backup to a UNC path (not a network drive).  The UNC path is on a home NAS (ReadyNas Duo) which is set to spin down it's disks after 15min of inactivity.

Perhaps a timeout on accessing the NAS device while the disks are spining up on SMB access might cause File History to detect an error?

December 11th, 2012 3:22pm

Same Problem here. Moreover, external hard disk isn't recognized as filehistory drive anymore (unknown error), although it is available and accessable through the explorer. And: MY WHOLE FILEHISTORY BACKUP IS DELETED!!!

Thanks Microsoft for nothing. Filehistory is unusable. It even tells me NOT when a backup failed or something went wrong. I have to check myself (finding all my backup files are gone). Filehistory is very very unreliable and unstable. And I know other people who have exactly the same problems.

Will use another backup tool. Too bad. Filehistory is such a nice idea. But it does not work.

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December 7th, 2013 3:57pm

Getting the same issue here. Have set it up several times. I also frequently get the maintenance issue "reconnect your drive" not long after the warning message (~20/30 minutes) even thought the drive is still there and fully accessible through file explorer.

Hope someone has a solution.

Cheers,

Shawn.

Hi same problem: 

Says 'We can't copy your files to this location' ' Your current file history drive is disconnected. Please reconnect your drive and try again.'

Obviously I've done this and the drive is connected and fully accessible via 'my computer'

The corresponding error log is:

Unusual condition was encountered during finalization of a backup cycle for configuration C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory\Configuration\Config.

My external drive is a Samsung M3 portable.

Interestingly it did work he first couple of times, then I had to do a NTFS reformat of the drive and I wonder if that is the problem. The external hard drive works properly other than this though.

Any ideas?

February 6th, 2014 7:56pm

Good morning,

i experience the same error on my Windows 8.1 while trying to use filehistory with my synology nas.

I followed the advice to use procmon and found this:

- There are numerous outputs of vssserv.exe "C:\Windows\CSC\v2.0.6\namespace\DISKSTATION - NAME NOT FOUND"

- Some "LOGON FAILUES" when trying to copy some .doc files, but logon to my nas works perfectly. even other applications can access it at any time.

Any ideas?

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April 9th, 2014 10:21am

Didn't work, and the same message lined up under the 1st one....any ideas?
April 21st, 2014 1:38am

I'm having the same problem. Just moved from XP to windows 8.1. Backup was awesome on XP - this is not so. Get the same error and have no idea how to fix :(
  • Edited by Suparoo Monday, April 21, 2014 6:53 AM
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April 21st, 2014 6:52am

I'm having the same problem. Just moved from XP to windows 8.1. Backup was awesome on XP - this is not so. Get the same error and have no idea how to fix :(
  • Edited by Suparoo Monday, April 21, 2014 6:53 AM
April 21st, 2014 9:52am

Hello

I had the same issue backing up on a single drive on the network.

I see multiple times that the network drive can not be accessed. when checking the network drive from windows explorer via mapped drive, it does not show. But then when I access it via IP address, it works, and the Backup/history process is also able to connect and continue.

I think, due to this issue, some of the files are missing on the network drives, and I was able to find them in:

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory

Does the backup process eventually go back to these locally cached files and try to migrate them to the network location?

Is there anyway to find out the progress of the backup process?

Thanks


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May 16th, 2014 5:13am

Same problem here, but the situation that created it could give a hint to the reason this error occurs.

In my case the File History folder was on a network and by mistake I stopped sharing this folder on the network. When I opened File History it was "disconnected", which was correct since the folder wasn't shared on the network. What I did was I manually started sharing the folder with the File History files and changed the default name "E" to "File History" to correspond with the share name of the "disconnected" network share.

Now I have the "Unknown error" like you guys above.

I understand that the solution wasn't found yet, but maybe you could propose a workaround. Is it possible to automatically share that folder without the renaming etc.? Maybe that would help?

July 1st, 2014 5:40pm

Yes and also  on C:\Users\Cxxxxxt\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\FileHistory\Configuration\Config.

But my backup continue to save, I hope it is a valide save.

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January 30th, 2015 12:05am

MICROSOFT is plagued by idiots!!!!

- Just turn it off

- then click  "select drive"

- and when it asks you the retarded question... just click >>>>>"NO"<<<<<<<    -_-

Seriously... this is the answer.... frigging retards at microsoft... to think it takes an army of programmers and billions of dollars to create such idiocy!

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/cannot-change-drive-in-file-history-windows-8/6dbeca54-d05e-4f93-9262-45a56d6a82d1?page=2&msgId=f1792c5e-c5d0-4163-b449-c7165d72f88d&tab=question&status=AllReplies&status=AllReplies%2CAllReplies

I cant believe these morons put everyone through such hell and then don't even bother to follow up with the correct solution.

To top it of the moron moderator marks this as an answer??!!!
What a pathetic joke - I hope everyone reads this message before being punished by the miles of bullcrap in this thread -_-

Microsoft = ridiculous

-------

Thanks! I guess the TL;DR version is "to change your file history drive you need to discard the current temp files."

Exactly :) It's the bad wording in the messages. the first message (which I can only vaguely remember so can't quote exactly) that gives you the impression you can continue something but doesn't make clear that to so will need the "old drive" configured the way the "old drive" was. Then the next message is just confusing: we can't copy files to this location.  Your current File History drive is disconnected.  Reconnect the drive and try again  sounds like  we can't copy files to this location. [because there's a problem with the new location] Your current File History drive is disconnected. [the new location is disconnected] Reconnect the drive and try again [reconnect your new location and try again]  When it should be reworded to say something along the lines of (in more formal language): "You asked us to continue...give us the drive you were previously using...or if it's no longer available, click here to start from scratch" (I know that's all the opposite of tldr but I'm trying again to put into words what I think was happening).


April 24th, 2015 7:39pm

Ken Dawson;

I have struggled and struggled since buying an 8.1 PC system.  constant 203 event and than 204 error codes.

read what you said several times and was so suspicious that the truth could be so simple.

it appears to have worked for the first EVER for me.

yes, msn has gone so far downhill in the past few years. if something is NOT broken, don't fix it. Guess gates, balmer and whomever now never heard of that. I am as dumb as a rock but could do back ups with every other system I ever owned.  this thing was, is and probably will always be a nightmare. I look at 8.1 like putting a kid in front of a tv playing cartoons and walking off. they are mesmerized by the pretty moving colors. hope msn makes an attempt with 10. to go back to basic usable process in understandable verbiage.

larry wilson

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May 13th, 2015 2:08pm

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