W2k daily backup program all of a sudden stops working. Is it a known bug?

[WoundedWallet]

PS. UPDATE
I found out my original guess was wrong.

I don't know if that's what the problem is but... my daily backup stoped working a couple weeks ago. Or so it seems.

While I "think" I still remember listening the server working at my usual backup time up till last night, when I checked the file's dates the latest one was dated May 17th.

So I changed the time so I could see it going right now and realized that the Backup program asks for the password. So I entered the new password(that I've had for about a couple weeks) and watched the backup work flawlessly and the date on the backup file change to today.

So my question is:
Do I have to update all my different backups with the new password or is there some bug in W2k that stops the backup program from working all on its own?

Thanks,

 

[WoundedWallet]

Up... all night ^

 

[jaywallen]

That's interesting, but I'm not sure I understand exactly what's happening. Which backup software are you using? What permissions is the backup software running under?

Regards,
Jim

 

[obenton]

My guess is that you're backing up over the network, and that the user/password on the client, since you changed the password, isn't matching those in the server. If you were on a domain, the server would handle the password updates, but since you're apparently in a workgroup I guess you've got to do it manually.

 

[WoundedWallet]

I'm using MS's backup program and doing it on the server directly and with administartor rights, not over the network.

This is not the first time it happened and I just happened to think about the correlation, BUT your guys skepticism made me look at my workstation backup files and they too stoped working without me changing the password. So this theory goes down the tubes.

Damn! If that was the case it would've been easy, now I guess the solution is to look for a decent backup software.

MS sucks!

 

[jaywallen]

Hmmm. This is really beginning to sound like some sort of permissions / access issue, or perhaps some other sort of entity that could be interfering with ntbackup's (or the scheduler's) functions. Are you seeing System or Application errors in the Event Log? Do I understand correctly that you were trying to back up the entire network by using a tape system on the server to which you refer? (Or were the workstation backups a separate affair?) I haven't made use of ntbackup under W2K because of previous experiences with Microsoft backup on older operating systems. However, my recent examination of the current product has led me to believe that it may be quite good. I now know some pretty sharp people who are using it exclusively in their organizations. I have definitely seen situations similar to yours in NT 4.0 caused by permissions issues. In those cases having admin privs wasn't necessarily enough to assure proper function of backup software, whether Microsoft's own backup utility or another was being used. In some cases, depending upon domain policies in effect, the administrator had to be quite careful to be sure that the backup program had access to everything that needed to be backed up. Since I have no real experience with W2K and its version of NTBACKUP, I just don't know if the same sorts of issues can occur with it. Did you search the MSKB for info? I'm thinking that you should try to ferret out the reason for this because merely changing backup software may not provide you with the solution you seek.

Regards,
Jim

 

[jaywallen]

Wow! I don't know what I was thinking! For some reason I was divorcing your mention of the password from ntbackup, even though you indicated otherwise. I don't know exactly what you're doing, but let me just explain that my use of ntbackup as a scheduled task for backing up workstations and server on a small network in NT 4.0 involved creating a special user which was a member of the Admin group. The user account had to have advanced rights to log on / run as a service and as a batch job. This user account had to have a password that was set to NEVER EXPIRE! (I'm pretty sure I'm remembering this correctly. I just started using Windows a little over a year-and-a-half ago, and I used NT 4.0 only for a few months.) I can look up the exact method I used if you're interested. It involved creating a .cmd file and using the AT command to invoke it. I'm certain I documented it somewhere. I'm now using software which handles all of this without need for any such machinations.

Perhaps you already know all this. I feel that I don't know your situation nearly well enough to be able to make helpful suggestions in other than very general ways. Sorry if I'm covering old ground.

Regards,
Jim

 

[WoundedWallet]

Ok simply put this is the situation:

I have W2k backup program set to make backups everyday to another hard drive. Then on beautiful day I noticed that it stoped doing it on its own. I thought the reason was because I had changed the administrator password, which is loged in all the time for other reasons.

But examining another system with its own backup program and schedule I noticed that it too had stoped working for no apparent reason. AND I had not changed any password in this system.

So what I have now is a schedule that works for a while and then stops. So it may be a scheduling program problem, but most definetely not a permissions problem. Unless the two back up schedules are interfering with each other over the network.

 

[jaywallen]

You leave the Administrator account logged on?

Under what account's credentials is the backup running? If different from the currently logged on account, ntbackup will start but exit right away. At least that's how it works here. I just tried it. I wouldn't have expected to ever run into this because I would only run scheduled backups on a machine after hours with no one logged in, but your message prompted me to try the experiment. (It does appear to work if I have the user under which the task was created currently logged in. At least it hasn't stopped yet.)

Weird, but it makes sense in a way. I realize this may not be your problem, but thought I should mention it, just in case.

Regards,
Jim

 

[WoundedWallet]

No.. it's not an account problem. The same account that created the schedule is the account logged in at the time of the "backup".

The dauly back does work for a few weeks, then it just stops.

I doubt there is any logical reason for that, outside of the backup being buggy that is. But I'm open to suggestions.

 

[jaywallen]

Ah, well. So many variables, so little time...

I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help. It's interesting that no one else has chimed in to say that they've seen the same thing. I suppose that this could be some arcane configuration issue involving a driver or app. Surely if this were a bug in ntbackup itself we'd have heard something about it. W2K has been in pretty widespread use for almost a year-and-a-half now. And I saw absolutely nada about this in the MSKB. (Of course, one always wonders if the data is there and the search engine just failed to reveal it.) Did you ever say whether or not there were any errors showing up in the Systems or Applications logs of the Event Viewer? Which alternative backup software are you thinking of using?

Regards,
Jim