Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) - Catastrophic failure

Question

I have an issue with Volume Shadow Copies (VSS). This issue started a few days ago. I’ve tried MANY things from Google but cannot find a solution.

What’s frustrating (and surprising) is that even after I restored the computer to a sector-by-sector image backup, to a time that this issue was not existent, I still get this issue.

SYMPTOMS:

1. When trying to create an image in Macrium Reflect, it can’t, gives error: VSS_E_UNEXPECTED_PROVIDER_ERROR.

2. When trying to run “check” on any disk from “tools,” I get “Windows was unable to scan the drive”

3. From Windows Events: Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Error calling a routine on a Shadow Copy Provider {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}. Routine details Cannot ask provider {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5} if volume is supported. [0x8000ffff] [hr = 0x8000ffff, Catastrophic failure”

FACTS:

1. When I try cmd: “vssadmin delete shadows /all” (to clean up any dead VSS snapshots) I get “No items that satisfy the query.”

2. The only VSS provider in the registry (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Providers) is Microsoft V1.0

3. CMD command, VSSADMIN LIST PROVIDERS, only shows Microsoft.

4. Services “Microsoft Storage Spaces SMP”, “Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider” and “Volume Shadow Copy” services are set to automatic and run ok.

THINGS I’VE TRIED (not a complete list)

1. I Re-registered the VSS components with a bat file.
2. Tried resizing the VSS with “vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /Maxsize=25GB” in cmd, I get “The shadow copy provider had an error.”
3. In safe mode, I ran chkdsk /f, SFC /SCANNOW, and DSIM.
4. In safe mode, I ran VSS repair and WMI repair via “Tweaking.com Windows Repair (All in One)” software.
5. All disks are reported ok in CrystalDiskInfo.
6. In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup, SystemSetupInProgress is set to 0.
7. When running “vssadmin list writers” in CMD, they all say “no error.”

I am lost at what to do next.

Parody

Answer 1

Some UpperFilters value in the registry got deleted for some reason.

Carry out the following steps:

• Open a new Notepad window

• Copy and paste the below script into Notepad, and save as vss_fix.reg:

  Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{71a27cdd-812a-11d0-bec7-08002be2092f}]
  "UpperFilters"=hex(7):76,00,6f,00,6c,00,73,00,6e,00,61,00,70,00,00,00,00,00
  

This will update the UpperFilters value at this location to be volsnap (the hex code decodes to volsnap). Once you've copy/pasted the registry key, save this in a location you can easily access (e.g. desktop), and double click on the script to run the fix.

You will need to restart your machine once the fix has run.

Parody

Oh god, you save me the life! – Napper

I found my LowerFilters is also missing, it has the same type of UpperFilters and value is fvevol, only fix UpperFilters only let me create the restore point but prevent me to execute the restore operation, after I added back the LowerFilters, everything works. – Napper

How did you figure this out? This magically fixed the issue for me for my C drive but other drives still fail to take snapshots. I'd like to understand what UpperFilters actually does to help fix it for the other drives as well. – Tiro

@Tiro Truthfully, I don't remember how I figured it out. I'm sure it was a combination of lots of Google searches and trial and error :) – Parody

Well in case it helps someone else, I learned that UpperFilters and LowerFilters are related to how drivers work, filtering data before and after it goes through the driver. – Tiro

As an additional note, I found that I also had to add the LowerFilters key with a value of fvevol as mentioned by @zzy. Adding just the UpperFilters made my backup software work with C:, but not with my other drives (which is very strange). Chkdsk and several other disk-related things also didn't work. After adding the LowerFilters key, everything seems to be working. I'm not sure whether it was my experiments with PopOS on a second partition (of a second drive) that broke it or whether it was installing Macrium Reflect, just happy it's fixed. – Tiro

Ok, note to self after buying a new, faster SSD... just don't install Macrium Reflect. It breaks this every time. Paragon Migrate OS to SSD does the job anyway. – Tiro

Answer 2

I'll share my event log error when I tried and failed to run windows backup in case it helps searchers find this post.

Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Error calling a routine on a Shadow Copy Provider {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}. Routine details IVssSnapshotProvider::IsVolumeSupported() failed with 0x8000ffff [hr = x8000ffff, Catastrophic failure]. 

FWIW- I don't know what messed it all up. I had installed AOMEI Backupper right before it- aiming to use it to clone to a new flash drive. I didn't actually use it since it was a pay version, but I did install and run the app. I'm highly suspect of it playing a role here. I've seen others have similar problems with Acronis utilities, Truecrypt, etc.

Wellspoken