The backup has failed because 'VSS Writer' has timed out during snapshot creation. Example of full error log: click to expand.
Try to re-schedule the backup to some different time. A VSS writer is application-specific software that acts to ensure that application data is ready for shadow copy creation. If the workload on the machine is high at the backup time, a VSS writer might not respond in the expected timeframe, that is, reach a timeout. A backup made under these conditions might not be restorable, that is why Acronis software cancels this backup and shows this error message.
It is caused by default timeout value for the VSS writers 60 seconds. Since opening and flushing volumes takes significant time, after 60 seconds writers fail and snapshot is aborted, especially if disk load is high. If you have Windows 8. As the first troubleshooting step, reschedule the backup to a different time when disk load is lower. If you are backing up Hyper-V virtual machines and the Hyper-V host, we recommend scheduling these backups to different times so that backups of multiple virtual machines are not running in parallel.
To determine what time is better for proper handling of VSS snapshot creation requests, we suggest to use the following scheme:. Backups of a shutdown system are application-consistent by default. See this article for details. Creating backups from bootable media is not available in Acronis Cyber Backup Cloud.
If this specific VSS writer cannot be fixed for example, the version of the OS is too old and you know the software isn't actually used on the affected machine, consider uninstalling the software or stopping its service, which uses this VSS writer.
Do this only if you are sure these actions will not affect the machine's functioning. Snapshot creation with Diskshadow should be tested close to the time when you usually create backups with Acronis Software.
How to create snapshot using Diskshadow: click to expand. Specify the writers that should be verified during the shadow copy creation: specify the ID of VSS writer s from the error message that you receive, e. During backup creation you will see messages similar to the following appearing in the command prompt, meaning that a particular component has been included into backup procedure and will be verified:.
Error on recent operation. If snapshot is created successfully, you will see a message Number of shadow copies listed: 1 or more, depending on how many volumes you selected.
See example on the screenshot below:. If any writer fails with an error or creating a snapshot with Diskshadow does not end with "Number of shadow copies listed: x", you need to troubleshoot this writer and make sure it is functioning correctly before using VSS backup in Acronis Software. If suggested steps did not resolve the issue, collect the following information and contact Acronis Customer Central for further troubleshooting:.
Skip to main content. Last update: Symptoms Backup fails with: VSS writer Please note that NTbackup or "vssadmin create shadow" command is not a valid way to check application-consistent snapshot. Specify the volumes to be included in the backup, e. See example on the screenshot below: In case there is no such a line Diskshadow must not be considered as successful.
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Last update: Acronis True Image is available as a subscription and a perpetual license. After your Acronis True Image subscription expires, all product functionality will be blocked until further subscription renewal, however, the backed up data is still accessible: For 5 days after the subscription expires, you can continue making backups, including backups to Acronis Cloud storage for Advanced and Premium subscriptions Within 30 days after the subscription expires you can restore data from Cloud Storage.
Thirty days after subscription expiration the data in Acronis Cloud storage is destroyed. Local backups remain available for restore. The quota is shared among all the machines registered in the account.
Subscription licensing policy The license is based on the purchased subscription term for the specified number of machines physical or virtual , with no restrictions on the number of mobile devices.
Which products can be upgraded to Acronis True Image ? Was this article helpful? Acronis True Image Essential Subscription. Acronis True Image Advanced subscription. Acronis True Image Premium subscription. Acronis True Image Essential. Acronis True Image: Backup fails with "There is not enough space on the destination drive to perform a backup".
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