Windows 10 - Error 0x800704B3 with Backup & Restore App. Also Red X on Network Shares Although Accessible

Question

I'm getting a very weird set of things happening with my Windows 10 system which started in the past 2 weeks.

1. All my network shares have the red cross on them with Windows Explorer, although they can all be accessed, written to, etc., EXCEPT for 1 app (so far). Even after access, the red cross remains with Explorer.
2. The one App that is problematic is Windows 7 Backup & Restore. It's been great until now, but it no longer will do the Backup - gives Error 0x800704B3 which says it can't connect to that drive. It will not allow me to change the setup to another network drive (or back to that 1st one - all give the same error when I try to connect them). However, I can successfully Restore files using the app...

I have run SFC /Scannow and all is good (1st time found some undefined errors it said it fixed). DSIM finds no problem with the Health. I've tried unmapping and remapping the drives. Also tried using their IP addresses instead of the \name with Backup & Restore without success.

My external network drives are 3 generations of NetGear mirrored discs. The 2 older ones still need SMB1 on my home network, so that is enabled (Win 10 updates removed it some months ago, but I managed to get it back and to remain subsequently). The newer one uses SMB3 (which is also the one I was using for Backup & Restore).

I'm fully up to date, according to Windows Update, with both Windows 10 patches and drivers. I'm currently on Win 10 Pro - 19043.985 (21H1) with Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.2020.0 (whatever that is).

Does anyone have any ideas how to fix this - I really don't like not having a current backup?

Many thanks,
Guy

Answer 1

Thanks, Sunny. As my PC is currently working after various restores and patches, a trace won't help. I'm also in the process of setting up a new one as the current one is rather old (7+ years) so the problem might be there somewhere. If it recurs, I will follow your advice.

Kind regards,
Guy

Answer 2

Hi,

Thanks for posting in Q&A platform.

Based on provided information, my understanding is that you create a map drive on Windows 10. There is a red cross on this map drive, but you can still access this map drive. You can also read and write files in the map drive. The issue is related an app regarding of windows 7 backup & restore in this map drive doesn't work properly. Am I correct here?

May I know when did this issue occurred? If the app in the map drive can work properly in previous?

Have you try to uninstall and reinstall this app to see if the issue can be resolved?

Best Regards,
Sunny

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Answer 3

Many thanks, Sunny. The primary issue is with Backup & Restore, insofar as I can read and restore from old backups (and even manage the old backup files on the drive), but it doesn't allow me to create further ones, giving the 0x800704B3 error.
The symptoms of the red X against all of the network drives seemed to have come along at the same time - in the past couple of weeks. I suspect there is either a problem with the Windows 10 networking interface or the Windows Explorer, but can't uninstall these (or Backup & Restore) as they are integral to Windows.
I've run SFC and DISM and although SFC found some errors and, apparently fixed them, DISM found no problems, and subsequent SFC scans are clean.
All a bit strange, but I've had several problems with the past few WIndows 10 Pro upgrades, so I'm starting to wonder if I have an intermittent hardware problem that's not showing up on Troubleshooter, etc.

Best regards,
Guy

Answer 4

Hello @Guy Whitcroft ,

I regularly read these forums (and post to them too), and I have seen several messages about this type of problem (red X in Windows File Explorer, etc.), but I have not seen an explanation or solution yet. I mention this to reassure you that you probably don't have a hardware problem or a problem for which a known software/configuration fix is available.

Do you "shutdown" your systems sometimes? Windows has a "fast start-up" mechanism that is enabled by default; this type of "start-up" is "fast" because "shutdown" becomes just a slightly different variant of "hibernate" - system state is saved on shutdown and restored on start-up. This "state" might include something that causes a problem when trying to reconnect shares. I have disabled fast-startup on my PCs because I like them to start up in a "clean" state.

I often suggest using Event Tracing for Windows (ETW - a built-in Windows mechanism) to understand a problem and it is usually very helpful. As the name suggests, this would capture events that happen when the trace is running and the problem is being reproduced. In this case, something is probably wrong in the existing state of the computer and a trace would not capture that. ETW traces normally need interpretation by someone with experience (of ETW and Windows internals), so you would probably have to share the trace data here (via a link to OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.). The chances of this approach delivering enough information to infer the cause of the problem are probably 50-50 at best. Let us know whether you want to try this approach (you might have privacy concerns about sharing the trace data, for example).

Gary

Answer 5

Many thanks, Gary.

I do restart from time to time (maybe once a week or so, but due to an increased incidence of patches from MS the past few months, it seems to restart more often as I have the system automatically apply them when they come through - maybe not such a good idea).

Fast Start is ticked (default, it seems) so I have now switched it. Frankl,y it's something of a misnomer as to do a restart takes at least 15 minutes, and sometimes longer, before everything has stopped loading and has settled down. HDD activity remains at 100% for around 30 minutes, on average, after a restart.

After numerous SFC /scannow runs (even after it said all clear) the system seems to be working at present. No more red X and I managed to run another backup, so likely to remain a mystery (at least until the next time MS issues an update, or the system changes its mind). It is 7 years old, so maybe just getting tired and in need of replacement :-(