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    I've suddenly developed problems backing up one of the computers on my network.  The backup has failed the last few nights, and fails if I kick it off manually.  Each time I get an error about the Windows Home Server Backup service not running on the machine.  The backup failure message itself says that "An error occurred reading or writing from server storage D:\folders\{00008086-058D-...}\ComputerName.C.Volumecluster.4096.dat ReadFile 1117"

    The automatic backups of the other computers on my network are working fine, and I just manually triggered a backup on a different computer and it went off without a hitch too.  It's just the backups on this one comp that are failing.  I tried to do a backup cleanup from within the console, and that failed too (service not running error).

    Any ideas what might be causing this or how to fix it?  I found the directory on the server that houses the backups, is there anyway to tell which files are specific to this computer so I can delete just those (if I need to delete any at all that is)?  I'd rather not lose all my backups for the other computers as well.

    I'm running on an HP MediaSmart, WHS with PP2.  I've got both XP Pro and Vista machines on the network, the one that's failing is Vista.

    Thanks in advance for any assistance.
    Saturday, July 25, 2009 7:14 PM

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    It sounds like you have a problem with your backup database. It's possible that this is the result of a disk problem, so I would first run chkdsk on all the drives in your server . Assuming that comes back clean, I would repair the backup database using the Repair... button in the console settings page, Backup pane.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Sunday, July 26, 2009 1:07 AM
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    Addendum.  I tried to run the cleanup to get rid of the failed backups, and it failed.  I then ran the Repair, and it worked fine.  And the failed backups were gone.  A manual backup of the troubled machine ran fine too.  Then, thinking everything was back on track, I ran a backup of a new machine (the reason i'd started all this in the first place)... and it failed.  It said it couldn't access a file on the home server, I got another Service Not Running error, and the failed backup itself says that an error occurred reading or writing to server storage.

    I assume I should run the checkdisks again and see what happens?  Any other steps?

    You could try running chkdsk on your primary drive again.  However, if it was me, I would just replace the primary drive (hard drives only get worse, never better) and do a Server Reinstallation.
    Monday, July 27, 2009 4:30 AM
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    Will you lose your backup database? Maybe. It's not duplicated, so any time you have a (real or simulated) drive failure that takes a drive out completely, there's the possibility of loss. Replacing your system drive counts here.

    There are instructions for backing up and restoring the backup database in the Home Computer Backup and Restore technical brief. If there's corruption in the database, you will be backing up and restoring that as well...
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Tuesday, July 28, 2009 7:33 PM
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    It sounds like you have a problem with your backup database. It's possible that this is the result of a disk problem, so I would first run chkdsk on all the drives in your server . Assuming that comes back clean, I would repair the backup database using the Repair... button in the console settings page, Backup pane.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Sunday, July 26, 2009 1:07 AM
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    I'll give the chkdsk a shot, thanks.  I tried running the Cleanup and it bombs too, is it likely that Repair wouldn't?  Also, does Repair delete all my backups?
    Sunday, July 26, 2009 1:14 AM
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    If the database has been damaged, there is a possibility that repair will delete the entire database. If this happens, the best I can do is tell you that the database was unrecoverable because of the damage...
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Sunday, July 26, 2009 3:20 AM
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    The chkdsk on the D: drive came back with no errors.  It says it can't check the C: drive because it can't lock the drive, would I like to schedule the check for later.  If I say yes, it begins checking anyway, but when it gets to stage 4 verifying file data, it seems to lock up.  I'm sure I'm missing something dreadfully obvious, but I can't for the life of me figure out what.  Any suggestions?  Oh, and thanks again for all the help.
    Sunday, July 26, 2009 4:02 PM
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    When I have had similar problems in the past as you are having now, it was usually caused by a faulty disk, or part of a disk - which is why yours could be locking up.

    It might be worth pulling the drive, connecting it up to another computer and running the checks from there?

    Andrew
    MVP - Windows Home Server http://usingwindowshomeserver.com
    Sunday, July 26, 2009 4:05 PM
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    The chkdsk finally finished, and it did find and replace three bad clusters.  I rebooted the server, and kicked off a manual backup of the troubled machine which is running now.  Should I still run the Repair database utility, or am I safe to leave it be?
    Sunday, July 26, 2009 9:40 PM
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    Addendum.  I tried to run the cleanup to get rid of the failed backups, and it failed.  I then ran the Repair, and it worked fine.  And the failed backups were gone.  A manual backup of the troubled machine ran fine too.  Then, thinking everything was back on track, I ran a backup of a new machine (the reason i'd started all this in the first place)... and it failed.  It said it couldn't access a file on the home server, I got another Service Not Running error, and the failed backup itself says that an error occurred reading or writing to server storage.

    I assume I should run the checkdisks again and see what happens?  Any other steps?
    Sunday, July 26, 2009 10:45 PM
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    One other thought.  A week or so ago I installed PlayOn, and as a part of it Windows Media Player 11 on the WHS.  It's now running the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service instead of the Windows Media Connect service.  The backups ran successfully subsequently so I don't think that's causing the issue, but thought I should mention it just in case.
    Monday, July 27, 2009 1:28 AM
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    Addendum.  I tried to run the cleanup to get rid of the failed backups, and it failed.  I then ran the Repair, and it worked fine.  And the failed backups were gone.  A manual backup of the troubled machine ran fine too.  Then, thinking everything was back on track, I ran a backup of a new machine (the reason i'd started all this in the first place)... and it failed.  It said it couldn't access a file on the home server, I got another Service Not Running error, and the failed backup itself says that an error occurred reading or writing to server storage.

    I assume I should run the checkdisks again and see what happens?  Any other steps?

    You could try running chkdsk on your primary drive again.  However, if it was me, I would just replace the primary drive (hard drives only get worse, never better) and do a Server Reinstallation.
    Monday, July 27, 2009 4:30 AM
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    Why do I have the nagging suspicion that I will lose my backups and data if I do that?  Assuming I do go that route, does the primary drive have to be a certain size or anything special?
    Monday, July 27, 2009 12:00 PM
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    I got all my data off the shares, or at least backed up to a USB drive.  Assuming I buy a new drive to replace the primary drive and do a server recovery on the new drive, will I lose my computer backup images?  Is there any way to save them?
    Tuesday, July 28, 2009 4:24 PM
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    Will you lose your backup database? Maybe. It's not duplicated, so any time you have a (real or simulated) drive failure that takes a drive out completely, there's the possibility of loss. Replacing your system drive counts here.

    There are instructions for backing up and restoring the backup database in the Home Computer Backup and Restore technical brief. If there's corruption in the database, you will be backing up and restoring that as well...
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Tuesday, July 28, 2009 7:33 PM
    Moderator