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Windows Backup VSS System Writer XML error

Anonymous
2012-10-30T03:23:09+00:00

I'm getting these error in the Application Log trying to perform a Windows Backup including my system image.   VSS System Writer remains in error state after running Windows Backup.   I cannot recover Windows when bad things happen without a backup...

Error 10/29/2012 11:10:03 PM VSS 8204 None

Volume Shadow Copy Service error: An invalid XML document was returned from writer {10205878-86d8-4cc5-9b52-1329b535139e}.

Operation:

Writer Modifying Modifying Backup Document

Context:

Execution Context: Requestor

Writer Instance ID: {10205878-86D8-4CC5-9B52-1329B535139E}

Error 10/29/2012 11:10:03 PM VSS 8228 None

Fail to parse XML file.

Reason An invalid character was found in text content.

Line 0x000003c0

Position 0x000020de, The schema is not loaded.

Errorcode 0xc00ce508

Problem text <WRITER_COMPONENTS xmlns="x-schema:#VssComponentMetadata" instanceId="10205878-86d8-4cc5-9b52-1329b535139e" writerId="be000cbe-11fe-4426-9c58-531aa6355fc4" backupSchema="0"><COMPONENT logicalPath="ASR" componentName="ASR" componentType="filegroup"><BACKUP_METADATA xmlns="" metadata="<AsrSif><Version AsrVersion="2.0"/><System MachineName="EVIMERO" Platform="AMD64" FirmwareType="1" OSVersion="6.1" BootWinDirectory="C:\Windows" BootSysDirectory="C:\Windows\system32" AutoExtend="1" SKU="0x10100"/><DiskBuses NumBusType="4"><BusType Key="1" Type="9"/><BusType Key="2" Type="11"/><BusType Key="3" Type="11"/><BusType Key="4" Type="11"/></DiskBuses><Disks NumMbrDisks="4" NumGptDisks="0"><MbrDisk NumPartitions="1" PartitionTableSize="1" BusKey="1" DeviceNumber="4" IsCritical="0" MbrSignature="0x1" BytesPerSector="512" SectorsPerTrack="63" TracksPerCylinder="255" NumCylinders="53762" MediaType="12" DiskSize="442215694336" IsExcluded="0" IsShared="0"><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="0" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0x4" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="2" PartitionOffset="0" PartitionLength="442215694336" IsCritical="0"><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="??\Volume{a43c106e-eb0a-11e0-984d-005056c00008}"/><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="\DosDevices\L:"/></MbrPartition></MbrDisk><MbrDisk NumPartitions="5" PartitionTableSize="12" BusKey="2" DeviceNumber="2" IsCritical="0" MbrSignature="0x10b2a7bf" BytesPerSector="512" SectorsPerTrack="63" TracksPerCylinder="255" NumCylinders="91201" MediaType="12" DiskSize="750156374016" IsExcluded="0" IsShared="0"><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="0" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0x7" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="2" PartitionOffset="1048576" PartitionLength="9572450304" IsCritical="0"><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="??\Volume{5563140c-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}"/><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="\DosDevices\E:"/></MbrPartition><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="1" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0xf" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="0" PartitionOffset="9573498880" PartitionLength="740580917248" IsCritical="0"/><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="4" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0x7" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="2" PartitionOffset="9574547456" PartitionLength="654680522752" IsCritical="0"><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="??\Volume{5563140d-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}"/><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="\DosDevices\D:"/></MbrPartition><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="5" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0x5" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="0" PartitionOffset="664255070208" PartitionLength="85899345920" IsCritical="0"/><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="8" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0x7" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="2" PartitionOffset="664256118784" PartitionLength="85898297344" IsCritical="0"><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="??\Volume{458c34ea-7d27-11e1-bdf9-00222cffffff}"/><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="\DosDevices\F:"/></MbrPartition></MbrDisk><MbrDisk NumPartitions="3" PartitionTableSize="8" BusKey="3" DeviceNumber="0" IsCritical="0" MbrSignature="0xd279d65a" BytesPerSector="512" SectorsPerTrack="63" TracksPerCylinder="255" NumCylinders="121601" MediaType="12" DiskSize="1000204886016" IsExcluded="0" IsShared="0"><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="0" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0x7" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="2" PartitionOffset="1048576" PartitionLength="882083102720" IsCritical="0"><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="??\Volume{387826e0-0d05-11e2-9992-001aa0c8eb9c}"/><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="\DosDevices\J:"/></MbrPartition><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="1" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0xf" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="0" PartitionOffset="882085199872" PartitionLength="118117892096" IsCritical="0"/><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="4" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0x7" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="2" PartitionOffset="882086248448" PartitionLength="118116843520" IsCritical="0"><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="??\Volume{0139407b-7d26-11e1-998f-806e6f6e6963}"/><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="\DosDevices\K:"/></MbrPartition></MbrDisk><MbrDisk NumPartitions="3" PartitionTableSize="4" BusKey="4" DeviceNumber="1" IsCritical="1" MbrSignature="0x5d6eb569" BytesPerSector="512" SectorsPerTrack="63" TracksPerCylinder="255" NumCylinders="29185" MediaType="12" DiskSize="240057409536" IsExcluded="0" IsShared="0"><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="0" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0x14" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="0" PartitionOffset="32256" PartitionLength="24643584" IsCritical="0"/><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="1" PartitionFlag="0" BootFlag="0" PartitionType="0x93" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="0" PartitionOffset="24675840" PartitionLength="82252800" IsCritical="0"/><MbrPartition PartitionIndex="2" PartitionFlag="7" BootFlag="1" PartitionType="0x7" FileSystemType="0x0" NumSymbolicNames="2" PartitionOffset="106928640" PartitionLength="164308193280" IsCritical="1"><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="\DosDevices\C:"/><VolumeMountPoint SymbolicName="??\Volume{bb5f77f3-7c52-11e1-9a03-806e6f6e6963}"/></MbrPartition></MbrDisk></Disks><AsrVhd NumDisks="0"/><FixedVolumes NumVolumeNames="7"><VolumeName VolumeGuid="??\Volume{bb5f77f3-7c52-11e1-9a03-806e6f6e6963}" DosPath="\DosDevices\C:" FsName="NTFS" Label="Drive1 SSD" ClusterSize="0x1000"/><VolumeName VolumeGuid="??\Volume{5563140c-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}" DosPath="\DosDevices\E:" FsName="NTFS" Label="PageFileVol" ClusterSize="0x10000"/><VolumeName VolumeGuid="??\Volume{a43c106e-eb0a-11e0-984d-005056c00008}" DosPath="\DosDevices\L:" FsName="NTFS" Label="Mo_Lib0" ClusterSize="0x1000"/><VolumeName VolumeGuid="??\Volume{0139407b-7d26-11e1-998f-806e6f6e6963}" DosPath="\DosDevices\K:" FsName="NTFS" Label="VMs2_Drv3" ClusterSize="0x10000"/><VolumeName VolumeGuid="??\Volume{5563140d-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}" DosPath="\DosDevices\D:" FsName="NTFS" Label="Drive2" ClusterSize="0x1000"/><VolumeName VolumeGuid="??\Volume{458c34ea-7d27-11e1-bdf9-00222cffffff}" DosPath="\DosDevices\F:" FsName="NTFS" Label="VMs" ClusterSize="0x10000"/&

my vssadmin.exe outputs:

C:\Windows\system32>vssadmin list writers

vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool

(C) Copyright 2001-2005 Microsoft Corp.

Writer name: 'Task Scheduler Writer'

   Writer Id: {d61d61c8-d73a-4eee-8cdd-f6f9786b7124}

   Writer Instance Id: {1bddd48e-5052-49db-9b07-b96f96727e6b}

   State: [1] Stable

   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'VSS Metadata Store Writer'

   Writer Id: {75dfb225-e2e4-4d39-9ac9-ffaff65ddf06}

   Writer Instance Id: {088e7a7d-09a8-4cc6-a609-ad90e75ddc93}

   State: [1] Stable

   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Performance Counters Writer'

   Writer Id: {0bada1de-01a9-4625-8278-69e735f39dd2}

   Writer Instance Id: {f0086dda-9efc-47c5-8eb6-a944c3d09381}

   State: [1] Stable

   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'System Writer'

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

   Writer Instance Id: {d19a0c5c-4403-45c7-9a8f-8401b592be7a}

   State: [7] Failed

   Last error: Timed out

Writer name: 'ASR Writer'

   Writer Id: {be000cbe-11fe-4426-9c58-531aa6355fc4}

   Writer Instance Id: {8c61d83c-c33e-4666-a592-1bc496c6959d}

   State: [1] Stable

   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Shadow Copy Optimization Writer'

   Writer Id: {4dc3bdd4-ab48-4d07-adb0-3bee2926fd7f}

   Writer Instance Id: {cb9bd9e8-ca4e-4afe-b0e7-e824871e61a1}

   State: [1] Stable

   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'MSSearch Service Writer'

   Writer Id: {cd3f2362-8bef-46c7-9181-d62844cdc0b2}

   Writer Instance Id: {9dc4664f-84c3-4e52-98ae-1c482c32696c}

   State: [7] Failed

   Last error: Timed out

Writer name: 'Registry Writer'

   Writer Id: {afbab4a2-367d-4d15-a586-71dbb18f8485}

   Writer Instance Id: {58fa7534-c63a-4f87-b030-6a83f6cb17d4}

   State: [1] Stable

   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'BITS Writer'

   Writer Id: {4969d978-be47-48b0-b100-f328f07ac1e0}

   Writer Instance Id: {cbb0a874-ad31-439c-b34a-bb1203f1012b}

   State: [1] Stable

   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'COM+ REGDB Writer'

   Writer Id: {542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f}

   Writer Instance Id: {18fd8b58-fe46-4ab0-a961-923b88c43c32}

   State: [1] Stable

   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'WMI Writer'

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

   Writer Instance Id: {fe4fdcfa-7dae-4f13-9a33-45696c6a8ca6}

   State: [7] Failed

   Last error: Timed out

C:\Windows\system32>vssadmin list shadowstorage

vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool

(C) Copyright 2001-2005 Microsoft Corp.

Shadow Copy Storage association

   For volume: (J:)\?\Volume{387826e0-0d05-11e2-9992-001aa0c8eb9c}\

   Shadow Copy Storage volume: (J:)\?\Volume{387826e0-0d05-11e2-9992-001aa0c8eb9c}\

   Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 0 B (0%)

   Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 0 B (0%)

   Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 41.075 GB (5%)

Shadow Copy Storage association

   For volume: (C:)\?\Volume{bb5f77f3-7c52-11e1-9a03-806e6f6e6963}\

   Shadow Copy Storage volume: (C:)\?\Volume{bb5f77f3-7c52-11e1-9a03-806e6f6e6963}\

   Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 440.984 MB (0%)

   Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 3.115 GB (2%)

   Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 15.302 GB (10%)

Shadow Copy Storage association

   For volume: (E:)\?\Volume{5563140c-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}\

   Shadow Copy Storage volume: (E:)\?\Volume{5563140c-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}\

   Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 0 B (0%)

   Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 0 B (0%)

   Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 456.447 MB (5%)

Shadow Copy Storage association

   For volume: (D:)\?\Volume{5563140d-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}\

   Shadow Copy Storage volume: (D:)\?\Volume{5563140d-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}\

   Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 238.719 MB (0%)

   Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 3.091 GB (0%)

   Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 30.486 GB (5%)

C:\Windows\system32>vssadmin list volumes

vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool

(C) Copyright 2001-2005 Microsoft Corp.

Volume path: J:\

    Volume name: \\?\Volume{387826e0-0d05-11e2-9992-001aa0c8eb9c}\

Volume path: C:\

    Volume name: \\?\Volume{bb5f77f3-7c52-11e1-9a03-806e6f6e6963}\

Volume path: E:\

    Volume name: \\?\Volume{5563140c-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}\

Volume path: L:\

    Volume name: \\?\Volume{a43c106e-eb0a-11e0-984d-005056c00008}\

Volume path: K:\

    Volume name: \\?\Volume{0139407b-7d26-11e1-998f-806e6f6e6963}\

Volume path: D:\

    Volume name: \\?\Volume{5563140d-cac4-11e0-8e57-806e6f6e6963}\

Volume path: F:\

    Volume name: \\?\Volume{458c34ea-7d27-11e1-bdf9-00222cffffff}\

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-02-17T00:10:56+00:00

    I had the same problem with special characters in my GptNames after cloning my SSD with the tool EaseUS Todo Backup on Windows 8.1.

    I was able to solve the problem following the solution described here:

    https://community.acer.com/t5/Swift-Spin-S-and-R-Series/Volume-shadow-copy-error-after-moving-to-MSATA-SSD-on-R7-572/m-p/423300

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-06-04T08:18:39+00:00

    I found what was hanging Acronis for my machine;  I had used EaseUS to move to an SSD a while back, and I was getting errors in Event Viewer under VSS regarding XML.  I used gparted live to rename my gpt partitions (you can rename them to whatever, just avoid special characters,) and once I commited the changes and rebooted, VSS started working perfectly.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-11-07T13:51:00+00:00

    bump.  i guess everyone is busy fixing Windows 8 issues now.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-06T23:51:27+00:00

    I ran into this problem recently on Windows 10.

    In my case, the invalid character were clearly visible in the text:

    GptName="㓍臕Ǒ臚Ǒ臚Ǒ臚Ǒ" 

    I wonder where Microsoft is getting the GptName from, if it is something that got messed up on the SSD migration, and if there is a way to fix it.

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