Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) - Catastrophic failure - windows-10

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:
When trying to create an image in Macrium Reflect, it can’t, gives
error: VSS_E_UNEXPECTED_PROVIDER_ERROR.
When trying to run “check” on any disk from “tools,” I get “Windows
was unable to scan the drive”
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:
When I try cmd: “vssadmin delete shadows /all” (to clean up any dead
VSS snapshots) I get “No items that satisfy the query.”
The only VSS provider in the registry
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Providers)
is Microsoft V1.0
CMD command, VSSADMIN LIST PROVIDERS, only shows Microsoft.
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)
I Re-registered the VSS components with a bat file.
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.”
In safe mode, I ran chkdsk /f, SFC /SCANNOW, and DSIM.
In safe mode, I ran VSS repair and WMI repair via “Tweaking.com Windows Repair (All in One)” software.
All disks are reported ok in CrystalDiskInfo.
In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup, SystemSetupInProgress is set to 0.
When running “vssadmin list writers” in CMD, they all say “no error.”
I am lost at what to do next.

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.

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.

Related

Azure functions not executing. Access Denied everytime

Can anyone help as I am unable to execute the azure functions and getting this error message everytime.
Indeed, this is an antivirus policy issue. One can confirm this by going to your antivirus logs. I was using Symantec.
Steps to view logs in Symantec -
Open Symantec>View Logs>Client Management>View Logs.
The logs will contain an entry with keyword "BLOCK" with the path of blocked exe (as in snapshot attached in question).
1/27/2020 4:04:05 PM User Event 10 Block [AC1-1.1] List all applications you want to block below, by clicking the Add button. - Target MD5=d028f52957a8759ccbe6845e79090898 - Target Arguments="host start --port 7071 --pause-on-error" Create Process 0 1/27/2020 4:03:04 PM 1/27/2020 4:03:04 PM Block applications from running | [AC1-1.1] Block these applications 10.202.100.23 16776 C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\AzureFunctionsTools\Releases\2.43.0\cli_x64\func.exe 200704 Bytes Alert
Once my security team updated the policy, the azure function ran perfectly!
Finally after two days of struggle I got the answer. The Azure core Tools emulator "func.exe" is located in AzureFunctionstools folder which is located in appdata.
Appdata folder is the place for all the applications to install their configrations and helping component like .dlls or so. And, thus Appdata is an important folder which is hidden by default.
In many case changing the visibility of appdata folder from hidden to visible resolves the problem.
I tried to execute a sample exe from inside and outside of appdata folder and the sample exe was not accessible when it was inside appdata. Same scenario happens with "func.exe", it was executing outside of appdata folder. It was a clear indication that something is restricting access. and only an antivirus would do that.
I make changes in the antivirus policy (added the path in Exception) and it started working.
Here are the screenshots for reference:
As a solution: you can perform the following:
Make the appdata visibility from hidden to visible. or,
Right click on the folder, PRoperties > Security and provide the full access rights to the user. or,
Disable the antivirus and retry, it should work. If it is then add the folder path or the application name "func.exe" as an Exception.
One more solution that I figured out today especially when the antivirus is in client mode and linked with its server for policy.
4. You need to whitelist the path in the server policy and after 5 minutes say, Update the Antivirus, restart the Visual Studio and its done.
Same error I also faced due to anti-virus but can't modify anti-virus since it can be changed by IT Security/networking team and process is time-taking & long process. Another workaround is :
Install azure-functions-core-tools via npm
npm install -g azure-functions-core-tools#3
Change Executable & Working Directory in Debug settings for azure Project settings
Working Directory : C:\<Project path>\bin\Debug\netcoreapp3.1
Executable : C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\azure-functions-core-tools\bin\func.exe

Error loading extension with localization

My nw.js app suddenly stopped working on Windows 10 with the following error;
Failed to load extension from {path}. Default locale is defined but default data couldn't be loaded.
Structure & manifest
_locales
en
js/i18n.js
Manifest
"default_language": "en"
I don't know what windows has changed recently but it has been working solidly on previous versions of Windows for years. I've updated the country tag as per available language packs for windows here and chromium tags but still no luck.
According to this thread :
"I use Chrome and stopped updating it once they made tabbed-options
mandatory. I also keep my User Data folder in a non-default location.
When this bug started, I used the --single-process trick for a while
but as mwalsher said, it stopped working when they messed with the Web
Store. I used but hate the manual method outlined above, so what I did
was to simply move my User Data folder to a FAT32 partition. Problem
solved; now I can successfully install packed extensions from an older
version of Chromium, running in normal mode, to a non-default User
Data folder. Even better, thanks to a system I set up
(http://superuser.com/questions/196886/how-to-relocate-chrome-profile-but-also-make-new-links-open-with-the-relocated-p/257706#257706),
it was /extremely/ easy to change it (I had only to change a single
byte and reboot)."
..
"Change the security permissions of the temp directory might fix this
problem. On my computer, the temp directory only has 3 full control
user (My Account, System, Administrators) at beginning. I manually
give everyone full control to this folder (maybe adding list
permission only also works). However it doesn't work immediately,
until next day I restart the computer with great surprise.
..
As a workaround, --no-sandbox might work. Note that this is just as
unsafe as --single-process, so be careful when using it.
..
..
perform a "chrome://restart
Try this first:
..I restarted Chrome and tried to install it again, and now it
installed cleanly..

Node.js installation (windows installer) terminates prematurely on windows 10 64-bit

After going through a windows 10 re-installation due to a windows update crashing my laptop, I was left with re-installing many applications. One of them being node.js. When I tried to install it through the windows installer, I kept getting 'setup wizard ended prematurely because of an error message'. I am not sure what the problem is. I used x64 version which is what my OS is and there is no nodejs folder in program files. When I logged the installation this message popped in a lot of the lines has no eligible binary patches. Before the no eligible lines there were error logs such as:
'WixSchedInternetShortcuts: Error 0x8007000d: failed to add temporary row, dberr: 1, err: Directory_'
'WixSchedInternetShortcuts: Folder 'ApplicationProgramsFolder' already exists in the CreateFolder table; the above error is harmless'
If that is not enough information please advice me on how to send the full logs without spamming huge text in the thread. Thank you.
The MSI log file:
https://gist.github.com/luki2000/ab00476127d54aaf610d8bda84d40a64
Maybe try to search the log for "value 3" as explained by Rob Mensching in his blog. Doing so will find the locations in the log file that describe errors of significance.
Many people use dropbox, gdisk or similar to post logs. Some put it on github (just a sample log for OP, leaving in for reference). Check that last link, is that the same problem you see perhaps? (search for "value 3" as explained above - without the quotes of course). Looks like there is an error creating an Internet shortcut. Perhaps that is a Windows 10 problem? I will take a quick look.
I am betting Bob Arnson knows what this problem is outright. He will probably give us the real answer, see below for my workaround.
The correct thing to do overall, would probably be to communicate the problem back to the Node.js guys so they can fix the problem once and for all.
UPDATE: Maybe see if this answer helps you: node.js installer failing with 'CAQuietExec Failed' and 1603 error code on Windows 7. Essentially un-check Event tracing(ETW) in the setup's feature dialog - or you can try to launch the MSI from an elevated command prompt.
UPDATE: There seem to be two Internet shortcuts configured for this MSI in the WixInternetShortcut table. I would just create a transform to remove these two shortcuts and try a reinstall. If you feel bold and fearless and like to break the law, you can delete the two rows from the table and just save directly to the MSI itself. This is never the right thing to do if you are a deployment specialists. The original MSI is sacred, but if this is for your own system and you need to get something done, that would work. Then you just install the MSI direct afterwards. Otherwise you can install the transform after creating it with a simple command line:
msiexec.exe /i node-v8.11.2-x64.msi TRANSFORMS="C:\MyTransform"
You can create the transform using Orca, InstEd or SuperOrca or any commercial tool that supports creating transforms.
In case you don't know, transforms are little database fragments that are applied to the original MSI (which is also a database under the hood). After the transform is applied the in-memory version of the MSI is the MSI + the changes from the transform.

Debugging Azure WebJob locally - recompile fails

I have a webjob that I'm debugging locally as a console app. But once I stop the code from within VS2017 I'm unable to recompile the exe as I get the following error
Unable to copy file "obj\Debug\******.******.exe" to "bin\Debug\******.******.exe". Access to the path 'bin\Debug\******.******.exe' is denied.
When I look at the processes that are running theres nothing there that jumps out.
I've closed VS and restarted it, but thats not cleared the issue.
Other than restarting my machine is there anything else I can try?
You can use the Windows Resource Monitor tool. Once opened, navigate to the CPU tab and enter the full path of the .exe (e.g. C:\Project\bin\debug\App.exe) in the Search Handles text box in the bottom-mid right corner and search. You should see the list of processes currently locking on the particular resource (in this case, the .exe). Select all the unwanted processes, right-click and end process. Depending upon on the version of Windows you are running, the experience might differ a bit but the general idea is more or less the same.

Is it possible for a team to use Eclipse installed on a shared network drive?

Our lead programmer likes to install tools on a shared network drive to minimize effort when updating. He recently installed Eclipse to the network drive, but when I run it, I get a window that says Workspace in use or cannot be created, choose a different one. After clicking OK, I get a window that gives me a drop down menu with only one item, the workspace on his machine. I can then browse to the workspace on my machine, click OK, and Eclipse continues to start up and run just fine. There's a check box in that second window that says Use this workspace as the default that I've checked after browsing and selecting my workspace, but the next time I start up Eclipse, it reverts back to the lead's workspace.
Are we violating some assumption that Eclipse makes about the install? We're on a Linux network, if it makes a difference.
Setup the shared eclipse such that it can not be modified by the users accessing it. This should (if I recall correctly) force eclipse into a "Shared User, Hands Off" mode and default to storing settings per user account.
Do not share Workspaces (or Projects) -- this will only break things horribly -- use a different strategy such as a proper revision control system.
Perhaps this documentation will be helpful.
"""The set up for this [shared] scenario requires making the install area read-only for regular users. When users start Eclipse, this causes the configuration area to automatically default to a directory under the user home dir. If this measure is not taken, all users will end up using the same location for their configuration area, which is not supported."""
I would try to run Eclipse locally as well as over the network. Using a shared network drive may make Eclipse more painful than it sometimes is. A development environment should work for the developer, even at the expense of a slightly more complicated setup.
Eclipse stores a lot of settings, including the workspace list, in it's installation directory (especially the "configuration" directory). It's hard to say how well sharing the installation will work, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a number of issues caused by "fighting" between Eclipse instances running on different developer's workstations.
To fix the particular issue you're having, you could set up a separate startup script that passes your workspace as a command-line argument to Eclipse, bypassing the workspace selection dialog you're seeing.

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