Shadow Copy errors TIMED_OUT, FAILED, WRITER MISSING in VSSADMIN

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Let's begin identifying the cause of these possible errors, tipically connected to writers issues or corrupted shadow copies (snapshots):

The Syntax

vssadmin list {shadows [/set= [shadow copy set GUID]] | writers | providers}


vssadmin delete shadows /for=<ForVolumeSpec> [/oldest | /all | /shadow=<ShadowID>] [/quiet]

Writers (Scenario 1)

Let’s start off by checking the state of the VSS Writers:

C:\vssadmin list writers


vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool (C) Copyright 2001 Microsoft Corp.


Writer name: 'System Writer'


Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}


Writer Instance Id: {449e12cf-6b8f-4d75-a821-bc869d6612c4}


State: [1] Failed


Last error: No error



Writer name: 'SqlServerWriter'


Writer Id: {a65faa63-5ea8-4ebc-9dbd-a0c4db26912a}


Writer Instance Id: {de3b2861-77f6-43f8-8619-64dc9ea2fbcf}


State: [1] Stable


Last error: No error



Writer name: 'MSDEWriter'


Writer Id: {f8544ac1-0611-4fa5-b04b-f7ee00b03277}


Writer Instance Id: {9036fdfa-05ef-4f7d-9c2f-84fa2f06560a}


State: [1] Stable


Last error: No error



Writer name: 'WMI Writer'


Writer Id: {a6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0}


Writer Instance Id: {f9f92826-a3d4-486c-ade3-a4201deb8ad2}


State: [7] Failed


Last error: No error

The output above is showing the System and WMI writers in a Failed state.

Most issues with VSS can be resolved by a server reboot. Rebooting the server is not often a viable option in a production environment where uptime is an issue. Let’s take a look at some of our other options.

Identify the services associated with the failed writers. Search the registry for the Writer Id and/or google it.

I have identified the failed writers as:

System Writer is the Cryptographic service.

WMI Writer is the Windows Management Instrumentation service.

Restart both services (Services MMC) and recheck the output of vssadmin list writers.

C:\vssadmin list writers


vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool (C) Copyright 2001 Microsoft Corp.


Writer name: 'System Writer'


Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}


Writer Instance Id: {449e12cf-6b8f-4d75-a821-bc869d6612c4}


State: [1] Stable


Last error: No error


Writer name: 'SqlServerWriter'


Writer Id: {a65faa63-5ea8-4ebc-9dbd-a0c4db26912a}


Writer Instance Id: {de3b2861-77f6-43f8-8619-64dc9ea2fbcf}


State: [1] Stable


Last error: No error



Writer name: 'MSDEWriter'


Writer Id: {f8544ac1-0611-4fa5-b04b-f7ee00b03277}


Writer Instance Id: {9036fdfa-05ef-4f7d-9c2f-84fa2f06560a}


State: [1] Stable


Last error: No error



Writer name: 'WMI Writer'


Writer Id: {a6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0}


Writer Instance Id: {f9f92826-a3d4-486c-ade3-a4201deb8ad2}


State: [7] Stable


Last error: No error

As you can see above the VSS issues have been resolved by restarting the associated services.

Writers (Scenario 2)

Other VSS errors might not be as straight forward. Let’s looks at some additional options:

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Clean up any dead VSS snapshots. Some defect systems accumulate hundreds of VSS snapshots that persist in the system and cause Windows to become unresponsive.

vssadmin delete shadows /all

Restart the services: COM+ System Application Service, Distributed Transaction Coordinator Service, and Volume Shadow Copy Service

Rerun vssadmin list writers and check the output.

Recommendation (by Microsoft)

Additionally recommended by Microsoft: create a batch file to start/stop the VSS services and reregister the DLLs.

cd /d %windir%\system32


net stop vss


net stop swprv


regsvr32 ole32.dll


regsvr32 vss_ps.dll


Vssvc /Register


regsvr32 /i swprv.dll


regsvr32 /i eventcls.dll


regsvr32 es.dll


regsvr32 stdprov.dll


regsvr32 vssui.dll


regsvr32 msxml.dll


regsvr32 msxml3.dll


regsvr32 msxml4.dll


regsvr32 Vssapi.dll


regsvr32 Vssui.dll


regsvr32.exe /i %windir%\system32\eventcls.dll


regsvr32.exe /i %windir%\system32\swprv.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\system32\vssui.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\vss_ps.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\msxml.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\msxml2.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\msxml3.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\msxml4.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\ole32.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\oleaut32.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\es.dll


regsvr32.exe %windir%\SysWOW64\comsvcs.dll


vssvc /register


net start swprv


net start vss

If backup Fails with error message "Writer Missing" or "Failed" or "Timed Out" or "Waiting for Completion" in VSSADMIN, follow the below instructions to fix the issue:

From elevated cmd (run as Admin or with any account with administrative privileges) execute following commands sequentially:

Takeown /f %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /a


icacls %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /grant "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(RX)"


icacls %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /grant "YourDomain\Domain Admins":(RX)


icacls %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /grant "YourDomain\Domain Users":(RX)


icacls %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /grant "NT Service\trustedinstaller:(F)"


icacls %windir%\winsxs\temp\PendingRenames /grant BUILTIN\Users:(RX)


Takeown /f %windir%\winsxs\filemaps\* /a


icacls %windir%\winsxs\filemaps\*.* /grant "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(RX)"


icacls %windir%\winsxs\filemaps\*.* /grant "NT Service\trustedinstaller:(F)"


icacls %windir%\winsxs\filemaps\*.* /grant BUILTIN\Users:(RX)


net stop cryptsvc && net start cryptsvc


net stop vss && net start vss


net stop Winmgmt && net start Winmgmt

P.S. Replace the name of your domain in place of YourDomain!

Run vssadmin list writers from elevated cmd and you should see the missing or problematic Writer Listed without any errors. If this doesn't make any problem it's recommended to Reboot the Server after running the above commands.