Hi,
The error "A failure occurred querying the Writer status." occurs when backing up the system state of a Windows 2003 server, VERITAS Backup Exec (tm) 9.1 implements a Microsoft technology known as Volume Shadow Copy. This will show on a server as the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). To use this technology, we query writers. These writers actually gather the data from its current state and present it to the backup software in a manner that it can be backed up, even if the data is in use. If these writers are not working correctly, then the job will fail.
Refer to the following technote to resolve the issue :
http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/261993.htm
This error is caused by simultaneous selection of both, the Microsoft Exchange Writer under the Shadow Copy Components and the VERITAS Exchange Agent Selection .
Ensure that Exchange writer and Exchange agent selections are not selected in the same job.
Refer to the following technote to resolve the issue:
http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/265159.htm
Also ensure that anti-virus and all non-essential third party applications are stopped before performing the backup job .
