A failure occurred querying the writer status.

[Neil_Laswell]

We recently had a run-in with a worm virus on our server. It's a single server with 3 workstations. After removing the virus and installing Vsheild, I am now getting the error shown below.

"A failure occurred querying the writer status."


We are running:
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server
Backup Exec version 9.1


So far I have:
- read the technote: (along with many others)
http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/261993.htm

- rebooted the server to clear the VSS to no avail (backup still failed)

- installing service pack 2 for backup exec (haven't tested this yet)

- I have not installed the MS hotfix, but from what I've read in the forums, I haven't seen any success with this option. Plus I am having trouble even finding said hotfix. If anyone has a link to this, posting the url would be great. Also, if anyone actually had success with this, I'd like to know.

- I disabled the virus-sheild and ran a test job (not sure if this is a true indication of if the job will run successfully or not) which failed due to media issues.


Any help or insight would be greatly respected and appreciated.

Best Regards,
-Neil

[John_Henderson_]

Have you applied Windows Server 2003 SP1?

See MS KB article 826936 re: Shadow Copy Writers

[Neil_Laswell]

Where would I locate information on if this service pack has been installed? I have done the automatic updates with Microsoft and it doesn't state that anything needs to be installed, which makes me believe I may have SP2 installed.

[Neil_Laswell]

This is the link for that thread, btw.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826936/


I've noticed that urls are usually not posted for anything that isn't veritas... Is this an encouraged practice? I don't want to step on Veritas/Symantec's toes, but this sort of thing would've saved me a lot of time today.

[John_Henderson_]

Click on start, right clilck on My Computer, select properties. The System Properties windows (General Tab) should say "Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server Service Pack 1" - If it doesn't say Service Pack 1, you can download it from the following link.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=22CFC239-337C-4D81-8354-72593B1C1F43

[Neil_Laswell]

Thank you for the advice, John. I am downloading SP1 tonight and will install this tomorrow. I will run a backup tomorrow night to see if this was successful.

Again, thank you for your kind patience and insight.

-Neil

[Amruta_Purandar]

Hello,

Please update us on the status of this issue.


Additional Information :
For information on the recent VERITAS Backup Exec security vulnerabilities, including links to the downloads for the necessary hotfixes, please refer to the following document:
Patch summary for Security Advisories VX05-001, VX05-002, VX05-003, VX05-005, VX05-006, VX05-007

http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/277429.htm

NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked assumed answered and would be moved to answered questions pool.

[Neil_Laswell]

In the middle of installing SP1, one of the two hard drives in our RAID1 became corrupted. This, in turn, offlined the other good drive in bios. After getting the replacement drive from Dell, they are currently rebuilding as I type this message.

Hopefully this issue can be resolved soon so that I can move on to THIS (veritas backup exec) issue. I'm praying that there was no loss of information as we haven't had a successful backup in two weeks.

[Amruta_Purandar]

Hello,

Please do update us once the other issues are resolved. If that might take long, you may open a new thread.

Do revert with the results.


Additional Information :
For information on the recent VERITAS Backup Exec security vulnerabilities, including links to the downloads for the necessary hotfixes, please refer to the following document:
Patch summary for Security Advisories VX05-001, VX05-002, VX05-003, VX05-005, VX05-006, VX05-007

http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/277429.htm

NOTE : If we do not receive your reply within two business days, this post would be marked assumed answered and would be moved to answered questions pool.