Hi Ken,
To be able to run Synthetic backups, please ensure that the option "Collect additional information for synthetic backup." is selected in the General options of a backup. Also, note that the Synthetic backups can only backup the files and that backups of the system State are not possible. Please refer to the following Document:
http://support.veritas.com/docs/277397
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.