VSS Doctor

    Free tool for diagnosing and repairing volume shadow copy service issues

    It’s Free. Forever
    Download

    What is VSS?

    Volume Shadow Copy Service (aka VSS, Shadow Copy, or Volume Snapshot Service) is a built-in Windows technology that allows snapshots of PC files or volumes to be taken, even when they are in use. Most backup software programs rely on VSS to perform backup and recovery operations.
    There are many reasons VSS might not work properly, causing your backup software to fail. But diagnosing the problem can be tricky given the number of system components involved.
    Embedded thumbnail for Backing up Your files

    Benefits

    Running VMware vCloud? Stop losing money when data or critical applications are unavailable. Ensure quick failover to the cloud, making your infrastructure resilient and cost-efficient.

    • Diagnoses

      Diagnoses all VSS components with one click

    • Generates a report

      Generates a report with the results of the tests performed

    • Automatically collects data

      Automatically collects data from scattered sources into a single report

    • Fixes issues with one-click

      Fixes issues with one-click when a pre-defined solution is available

    • Easily spots the weak places

      Easily spots the weak places in the VSS infrastructure

    Features

    Diagnose and repair
    • Configuration and status of VSS-related services: Volume Shadow Copy, Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider, COM+ Event System
    • VSS COM-interface registration (not supported for Windows XP)
    • Configuration of VSS providers
    • Access rights for VSS (not supported for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003)
    • Configuration of VSS shadow storages (not supported for Windows XP)
    • Access rights for NTFS volumes
    Diagnose and repair
    Diagnose only
    • Free space available on disks. Provides drive letter assignment for “hidden” volumes
    • Current I/O load of disks
    • List of VSS-related errors/warnings from Windows Event Log
    • List of faulted VSS writers
    Diagnose only
    Report generation
    • Diagnostics results can be saved as a plain-text report for sharing or future analysis
    Report generation

    VSS Doctor

    Free Tool for Diagnosing and Repairing Volume Shadow Copy Service Issues

    It’s Free. Forever
    For Windows 7/XP/Vista, Windows Server 2003/2008
    Download
    Compatible with .NET Framework 3.5
    For Windows 8/10, Windows Server 2012 and later
    Download
    Compatible with .NET Framework 4.5
    How to use VSS Doctor Tool
    • Download the Free VSS repair tool
      For Windows XP/Vista/7, Windows Server 2003/2008
      For Windows 8 and later, Windows Server 2012 and later
    • Launch the tool (local administrator rights are required).
    • Click Start diagnostic and wait until it finishes.
    • Check out sections marked as
    • Click Save log if you want to save diagnostic results as a plain-text report.
    • If a Fix issues button is available, click on it to see the exact solutions proposed by the tool and proceed if you agree.
    • After fixing the found issues, click Start diagnostic again to check if all the issues were corrected.
    • Click Back up now to retry the backup operation that failed.

    Looking for help?

    • Is there any functional difference between .NET 3.5 and .NET 4.5 versions?

      No, both versions are identical. The different versions of .NET Framework were simply built in order to avoid the additional installation of a specific version.

    • Why does the list of errors in the Event Log section change from run to run?

      The list of errors in the Event Log section is a subset of Windows Event Log items, which only contain errors and warnings that have been logged during last 24 hours. Older items are removed as time passes and fresh items replace them.