System Recovery 2013 Monitor Loses Computer List

[AaronMac]

We have 27 or so servers and computers being backed up by System Recovery 2013 and I would really like to use the System Recovery 2013 Monitor program to keep an eye on backup status however I consistently have a problem where the list of computers seems to disappear. I say seems to disappear because if I try to manually re-add one of my servers back into the list it says "Computer <MyServersName> already exist in the list." If I uninstall SSR 2013 Monitor, remove the SSR 2013 Monitor folder from ProgramData, and re-install I am then able to add computers to the list again. However the same problem will re-occur within a week or two.

I'm currently using version 1.0.1.49784, which I believe is the latest version, but this problems also occured with the previous version. I don't know if this is relevant but I have a text file with my list of servers and computers being backed up so I can import the list into the SSR 2013 Monitor in case I have to switch computers, re-install Windows, etc. I do not have the full SSR 2013 program installed on my workstation, whenever I need to make changes or restore files I always RDP into the specific server to do that.

The SSR 2013 Monitor program would really simplify my morning routine so I hope someone can help me figure this out.

[criley]

I've not heard of this problem before.

What operating system are you running Monitor on?

Are you able to pinpoint the date when this happens? If yes, are there are specific entries in the event logs that may give some clues?

[AaronMac]

Thanks for the reply Chris.

I'm currently running Monitor on a Lenovo ThinkPad running Windows 7 x64 with all the latest Windows Updates installed. I have also experienced this problem on my virtual desktop which is running Windows 7 x86, but I haven't used it on that computer for awhile now.

Monitor worked like normal on May 20th, but did not work yesterday morning. I don't believe I have had any updates installed or installed any other programs between the mornings of May 20th and 21st. However after I reviewed my event logs I remembered that I ran the Windows Disk Cleanup utility at the end of the day on the 20th. Could that be what's causing this issue?

[criley]

So are there any entries in the application event log for the 20th or 21st that give any clues?

I doubt that disk cleanup would have any effect here. Maybe try running it again to prove this though...?

[AaronMac]

Nothing is jumping out at me from the log, it all looks like the typical entries you see about services starting and stopping, group policy procssing, etc. I did find something else that might help solve this. I decided to test the disk cleanup theory so I uninstalled Monitor, told it to not save user data, and then I manually deleted the "C:\ProgramData\Symantec\Symantec System Recovery Monitor" folder. Then I re-installed Monitor and was able to import my list of servers and it connect to them no problem. Then I closed Monitor and opened it back up and the list was blank with the same situation where when I tried to manually enter a server it told me it already exists. Also I noticed that the settings had been preserved, such as the check box to Save window location on exit and my default domain account was still filled in.

So performed the same uninstall a second time as a sanity check and got the same results. I uninstalled a third time, deleted the "C:\ProgramData\Symantec\Symantec System Recovery Monitor" folder and then I also deleted the "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Symantec_Corporation" folder. That folder contained a sub folder named "SSRMonitor.exe_Url_tsprc0iqkgpjwptol1pudfc5wjjya5zt". Then after that I re-installed Monitor and I saw that the settings had been fully reset so I had to re-enter my default domain account.

Then I imported my server list, which worked fine and I have opened and closed Monitor several times and the list hasn't disappeared. I then ran disk cleanup and opened Monitor back up but it's still working just fine.

So it seems that the folder in my user profile is somehow related to this.

[criley]

Can you please provide the following logs which may give us some clues:

Monitor Service.log
Symantec System Recovery Monitor.log

Both can be found in:

\ProgramData\Symantec\Symantec System Recovery Monitor

Although, these logs may not contain what we need as you have uninstalled a few times. We may need to wait for the issue to occur again, then collect these logs.

[AaronMac]

The issue did re-occur again this morning and I haven't re-installed or done anything else to troubleshoot so hopefully the attached logs will help figure this out.

[Rastasandwich]

I too have been experiencing this issue from time to time on my workstation, Windows 7 64bit with version 1.0.1.49784 of the Monitor program. It also occured with the previous version (from 11.0.1 SSR 2013).

If I close the monitor program (after seeing no computers listed) and reopen it, it tends to bring up my computer list successfully, however sometimes I have to retry the program multiple times before the computer list comes up.

So if you don't find a solution, try reopenning the monitor program to see if the list comes up for you too.

On a separate note, the only other strange issue I have is that I cannot connect to my local workstation SSR from the list of computers. It always appears as "Connection failed". I can successfully connect to SSR on other networked workstations through the monitor program. I ensured that the "Vprosvc.exe" application is permitted through the firewall on all PC's.

[criley]

Sorry for the delay in getting back on this.

This issue is going to require some further detailed analysis and research. I would recommend that you open a support case for this.

[AaronMac]

Just wanted to report back with an update. I wasn't able to use the computer where I have SSR Monitor installed for a couple weeks but now that I'm using it again the problem has not re-occured. Of course I'm sure after saying it my computer list will probably be gone tomorrow, however I will try Rastasandwichs suggestion and open the application several times to see if that works.

[AaronMac]

Well it has been working flawlessly for several weeks now. Perhaps it was just going in and deleting out all the folders out of my profile that fixed whatever was wrong.

[AaronMac]

I've been using the System Recovery Monitor application once a day every day I work and it has worked without any issues until this morning. When I first opened it I saw no computers in the list, but I closed it and opened it again and then it worked like normal. Thanks for the tip Rastasandwich.