Cause (Backup Failure)
When you run a command vssadmin list writers through command prompt, it will list all the writers registered in the system and backup is failing due to some vss writers failed state for many different reasons, and required to restart the server.
if there is no list after running the command then run this command in an elevated command prompt.
This issue can be resolved sometime without rebooting the server by Manually restarting the selected VSS writers when in a failed state.
Resolution
Check VSS writer’s which all are in failed state and then see the associated Service Display Name in the table below and restart specific services.
Run the command again to confirm the status has changed Stable with no Error
If the VSS writers fail again, it will be necessary to restart the server.
| VSS Writer | Service Name | Service Display Name |
|---|---|---|
| ASR Writer | VSS | Volume Shadow Copy |
| BITS Writer | BITS | Background Intelligent Transfer Service |
| COM+ REGDB Writer | VSS | Volume Shadow Copy |
| DFS Replication service writer | DFSR | DFS Replication |
| DHCP Jet Writer | DHCPServer | DHCP Server |
| FRS Writer | NtFrs | File Replication |
| FSRM writer | srmsvc | File Server Resource Manager |
| IIS Config Writer | AppHostSvc | Application Host Helper Service |
| IIS Metabase Writer | IISADMIN | IIS Admin Service |
| Microsoft Exchange Writer | MSExchangeIS | Microsoft Exchange Information Store |
| Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer | vmms | Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management |
| NTDS | NTDS | Active Directory Domain Services |
| OSearch VSS Writer | OSearch | Office SharePoint Server Search |
| OSearch14 VSS Writer | OSearch14 | SharePoint Server Search 14 |
| Registry Writer | VSS | Volume Shadow Copy |
| Shadow Copy Optimization Writer | VSS | Volume Shadow Copy |
| SPSearch VSS Writer | SPSearch | Windows SharePoint Services Search |
| SPSearch4 VSS Writer | SPSearch4 | SharePoint Foundation Search V4 |
| SqlServerWriter | SQLWriter | SQL Server VSS Writer |
| System Writer | CryptSvc | Cryptographic Services |
| TermServLicensing | TermServLicensing | Remote Desktop Licensing |
| WINS Jet Writer | WINS | Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) |
| WMI Writer | Winmgmt | Windows Management Instrumentation |