Cannot Restore Backup from USB Tape Drive or Back Up to the Drive If Verify Option Is Turned On (328742)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
This article was previously published under Q328742

SYMPTOMS

When you use the backup program that is included with Windows 2000 (NTBackup.exe) with certain models of USB tape drives, you may not be able to restore backups from the USB tape drive or back up to the drive if the Verify option is turned on.

You may receive one of the following error messages:
  • When you generate a catalog from the tape media:
    Unrecognizable Media
    The media in the drive has an unrecognizable format or is not formatted.
  • When you restore from a backup set:
    Required Media Missing
    The next media required in the active family is not currently on-line.
    Please insert the media:

    Name_of_backup_media, media #0

    or click Cancel to stop the current operation.
    The message is displayed even when the correct media is inserted.

    After you click Cancel:
    Drive Error
    The device reported an error on a request to mount the media.
    Error reported: Unknown error.
    There may be a hardware or media problem.
    Please check the system event log for relevant failures.
  • When you perform a backup operation with the Verify option turned on:
    Backup Utility
    An inconsistency was encountered on the requested media.
  • When you perform a backup operation and append the backup set to existing media:
    Backup Utility
    An inconsistency was encountered on the media in Name_of_drive. Do not append to this media.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if you use NTBackup with USB tape drives that use the USB storage driver (Usbstor.sys).

RESOLUTION

Service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322389 How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack

Hotfix information

To resolve this problem, apply the hotfix that is described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 817765. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

817765 Windows Backup utility does not succeed when you use a USB tape drive

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2.

MORE INFORMATION

The following USB tape drives are known to be affected by this problem:
  • Seagate USB 2.0 TR-5 Travan (STT20000A)
  • Seagate USB 2.0 Travan-40 (STT3401)
Third-party backup programs that are known to work with these USB tape drives include:
  • Dantz Retrospect (versions 5.6, 6.0)
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/27/2004
Keywords:kbWinXPsp2fix kbbug kberrmsg kbpending kbWinXPpreSP2fix KB328742
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.