When you perform a P to V or V to V conversion, the end result is one or more new virtual disk files. These need to be attached to a new Hyper-V virtual machine. The final step is simple. You simply create a new Hyper-V VM with similar settings as the original computer or VM. […]
In the video below, we restore a VMware virtual machine as a clone, side-by-side with the original. Download BackupChain® Home Page
In the video below, we back up a VMware VM while it’s running. However, the task will also run properly when the VM is off, too. If you aren’t familiar with live VM backup, it’s basically the same quality of a backup that you get when you back up your PC or Windows Server while […]
In the video below, we back up a VirtualBox VM while it’s running. However, the task will also run properly when the VM is off, too. If you aren’t familiar with live VM backup, it’s basically the same quality of a backup that you get when you back up your PC or Windows Server while […]
In the video below, we show how simple it is to set up a V2V Conversion for Hyper-V. The steps for Hyper-V, VMware, and VirtualBox differ only in the target format selected: VHD / VHDX, VMDK (VMware), and VDI (VirtualBox). The main step when converting a virtual machine from one platform to another or one […]
In the video below, we show how simple it is to set up a P2V for Hyper-V conversion. The steps for Hyper-V, VMware, and VirtualBox differ only in the target format selected: VHD / VHDX, VMDK (VMware), and VDI (VirtualBox). Note that some versions of VMware and VirtualBox also support VHD. Also have a look […]
In the video below, we set up disk imaging backup task in Windows. Disk imaging creates a container file where the disk contents are stored. That’s different from disk cloning, where disk contents are copied directly to another disk, without having to restore anything later. If you are interested in disk cloning instead of disk […]
In the video below, we show how to mount or map Wasabi S3 bucket to a drive letter in Windows (Windows 11-7 and Windows Server 2008-2025) using DriveMaker. You can use the drive from Windows Explorer, and any other Windows application, such as Microsoft Office and the Command Prompt: Download DriveMaker DriveMaker Details
In the video below, we show how to mount or map an SSH / SFTP site to a drive letter in Windows (Windows 11-7 and Windows Server 2008-2025) using DriveMaker. You can use the drive from Windows Explorer, and any other Windows application, such as Microsoft Office and the Command Prompt: Download DriveMaker DriveMaker Details
In the video below, we show how to mount an Amazon S3 bucket to a drive letter using DriveMaker. You can use the drive from Windows Explorer, and any other Windows application, such as Microsoft Office and the Command Prompt: Download DriveMaker DriveMaker Details
In the video below, we show how to map an FTP or FTPS site to a drive letter using DriveMaker: Download DriveMaker DriveMaker Details
In the video below, we set up a USB bootable external drive with Windows, step-by-step. A USB bootable Windows installation is the gold standard for all kinds of IT administrator tasks, such as system recovery and troubleshooting. Note that Windows-to-Go is required and it’s a feature that is only available in Windows Server, Hyper-V Server, […]
In the video below, we set up a disk cloning task, step-by-step. Disk cloning produces a ready-to-use, standalone clone that you can use at any time to boot from; however, Windows doesn’t permit 1:1 clones to be installed side-by-side with the original. In order to allow side-by-side mounting of disk clones and original disks, BackupChain […]
In the video below, we go through a simple full virtual machine restore process for Hyper-V, step-by-step: All Hyper-V Backup Features Download BackupChain® Home Page
Below is a list of all step-by-step videos: Hyper-V Videos Hyper-V Virtual Machine Backup Step-by-Step for Windows Server, Hyper-V Server, and Windows 8-11 Hyper-V hosts. How to Restore a Hyper-V Virtual Machine (Full Restore), Step-by-Step Disk Drive Imaging and Cloning Videos How to Clone a System Hard Disk, SSD, or RAID to Another Disk, Step-by-Step […]
Are you looking for a way to create a backup of a Hyper-V guest machine while it is running? With BackupChain you can back up Hyper-V on Windows Server, Hyper-V Server, but also on Windows 10-11, without affecting the VMs at all, live and while the virtual machine is running. The backup is consistent just […]
Are you looking for a way to create a full system image backup, or create a hard disk image? You found the right tool: BackupChain is a reliable and customizable PC and Windows Server backup solution for Windows Server and Windows PCs made specifically for IT professionals. You will find that our backup solution is […]
BackupChain®: Backup Software and Toolset Made for IT Professionals If you are looking for backup solution for Windows that offers a configurable file history backup? Then check out BackupChain, the most comprehensive backup software with file history functionality for Windows, trusted in over 80 countries, 100% made in USA. In file history mode (called version […]
Are you looking for a backup solution that works offline, without an internet connection? BackupChain is a reliable and customizable PC and Windows Server backup solution for Windows Server and Windows PCs made specifically for IT professionals. Not only does the software work and activate offline, it also uses open standard backup file formats to […]
VHD and VHDX Backup Software for Virtual Machines and Servers BackupChain is a easy to use and powerful backup tool for IT professionals, specifically designed for Windows Server and Windows PCs. It can be set up in various environments and offers file version histories, disk cloning and imaging, delta compression, virtual server backup, VHD backup, […]
Can 2 VMs share a virtual disk Hyper-V? Yes, two Hyper-V virtual machines may share a virtual disk in Hyper-V, beginning with Windows Server 2012 R2. Microsoft states: To configure a guest failover cluster that uses shared virtual hard disks, you require the following: At least a two-node Hyper-V failover cluster. Servers must be running […]
Do you need command-line access for Amazon S3 bucket, FTP, SFTP, Wasabi bucket, or any compatible cloud drive storage? You found the right tool! DriveMaker maps a drive letter or network drive to your cloud drive or cloud storage. With DriveMaker, you can access your cloud storage from any application, including the command prompt, PowerShell, […]
BackupChain is an affordable, reliable, and customizable virtual machine and physical server backup software for Windows Server 2025 – 2008, Windows 11 – 7, and Azure Stack HCI, made specifically for IT professionals. BackupChain provides physical disk image backup, Hyper-V image backup, VMware image backup, and Windows Server backup, at a much lower price than […]
Each technology has its pros and cons and Hyper-V Replica is no exception. In this article we compare BackupChain virtual machine replication with Hyper-V Replica. Both technologies have some overlap and common use scenarios but differ in how they work. Hyper-V Replica Pros and Cons Hyper-V Replica is integrated in Hyper-V. It can be quite […]
Use Our Automated Backup Software “BackupChain” to Protect Your School’s PCs and Server Data. Is your I.T. infrastructure sufficiently protected against data loss, such as computer failure, fire, flood, ransomware, and cyberattacks? Depending on your school’s IT arrangement, this simple question may be indeed hard to answer, but this is exactly where we can help […]
You may have heard about many different cloud backup storage providers in the media. But when we look closely, there are some big differences that you need to be aware of. The differences between cloud plans could make a huge difference in your long-term charges. How Will You Use Your Cloud Plan? Are you planning […]
BackupChain is a PC and Windows Server backup solution that is offered as a lifetime, portable and perpetual license. This means by purchasing a BackupChain license, you may use it for as long as you want (perpetual / lifetime) and the license may be moved to a new computer (portable). BackupChain comes with a one […]
If you want to map a real drive letter in Windows to your remote SFTP site using DriveMaker Freeware, you might run into an issue with the SSH keys, depending on their internal format. Please check the contents of your key file with Notepad and if your SSH keys begin with —–BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY—– […]
VMware cloud backup doesn’t have to cost and arm and a leg. Have a look at our small business cloud backup plans for VMware and other platforms. If you do have the servers and internet connection needed to host your own cloud, BackupChain contains all the software you need to set up your own secure […]
Below is a video with step-by-step instructions, showing how to restore a virtual machine from a Hyper-V VM Backup, running on Windows 11. The steps and user interface are identical for Windows Server 2025 restore. Please note that the user guide also contains illustrated step-by-step instructions for restoring Hyper-V VMs and all other features of […]
Below is a video with step-by-step instructions, showing how to set up a Hyper-V Backup of a VM running on Windows 11. The steps and user interface are identical for Windows Server 2025 backup. The virtual machine backup is set up as a Hyper-V Server Backup task, then the VM is selected and a target […]
Would you like to have your own private DIY Cloud Server Storage and be able to map a drive to it in Windows, while all is based on Windows and under your exclusive control? Did you know that many cloud storage providers actually have access to your cloud files and can read them? Wouldn’t you […]
Especially if you are using a Windows Server in a production environment, you would definitely want to check the health of your hard disks without downtime. After all, most servers are “always-on” with only few opportunities to take a server offline; however, there are several ways you can check on your hard drives without having […]
Go back in time and restore your old files using BackupChain Download Buy BackupChain allows you to go back in time and restore old versions of your files, it’s like a time machine for Windows. BackupChain has been optimized to handle large files of all types, such as virtual machines, databases, or just simple documents […]
We hereby certify that our BackupChain Backup Software product, and all other software products and supporting services we offer, are based in the USA. BackupChain is American Backup Software, 100% Made in USA. Our company is self-funded and all employees and external contractors are U.S. tax payers. FastNeuron Inc. is an American corporation based in Baltimore, […]
BackupChain®: Backup Software and Toolset Made for IT Professionals BackupChain backup software is an all-in-one solution for Windows Servers and PCs and contains sophisticated backup verification and backup validation tools to ensure that your backups are functional long before you will need to restore. BackupChain’s backup verification features protect against many causes of backup data […]
Backing up OneDrive is crucial because only backups can protect your business from accidental deletions, malware, ransomware, and even employee vandalism. OneDrive is hosted by Microsoft online and exposed to more threats than local storage. However, with our backup software toolset for Windows Server and Windows 10, you can protect the files in OneDrive just […]
If you are looking for a good value backup solution and low-cost cloud storage solution, you will find that our all-in-one PC and Windows Server backup software BackupChain offers multiple unique savings over other offerings. There are indeed multiple ways that BackupChain saves you money; in the short term, as well as in the long-term. […]
If you are looking for a backup software without compression, for example, if want your backup folder to contain the files ready to use without having to decompress them, you came to the right place. One of the many reasons why our PC and server backup solution BackupChain is so popular with IT pros, is […]
If you are looking for a backup solution that comes with VSS support, you came to the right place. Our backup software BackupChain uses VSS in all its editions, on Windows 11 PCs as well as on Windows Server 2025. BackupChain uses VSS to obtain a consistent state of Windows and all installed services. BackupChain […]
If you are looking for a backup solution that offers deduplication, you will be surprised that our server backup software BackupChain offers various deduplication mechanisms in all editions, even for PCs. BackupChain’s unique deduplication method works at the file-level and ensures your backups use only minimal storage space. In addition, when backing up to remote […]
If you are looking for a secure backup solution that offers encryption to protect your data, you found the right tool. Our PC and Windows Server backup solution BackupChain® offers various security features to ensure your backups are secured against tampering and unauthorized access. BackupChain offers the following security features: Files, databases, virtual machines, and […]
BackupChain®: Backup Software and Toolset Made for IT Professionals There are two possibilities available to convert a pass-through disk to a virtual disk. The first option is to do the conversion from inside the virtual machine, since the VM has the pass-through disk directly attached to it. The advantage here is that no downtime will […]
TCP/IP Port Exhaustion Prevention affects FTP servers and other services using the TCP stack as well. In the case where a lot of TCP links are created and closed very quickly, as is the case in most web and FTP servers, you should change the following two system settings to prevent port exhaustion during peak […]
What is the Issue with Long File Names? Why is the length of the file name such a problem for backups? First of all, unlike BackupChain many disaster recovery solutions cannot handle long file names as they are based on the older windows concept. When an individual makes a backup the software will follow the […]
Setting up a Hyper-V Server 2019 or Hyper-V Server 2016 to boot and run from a USB stick is actually easy to accomplish with the steps shown below. The most important thing is you need a fast USB 3.0 stick that offers fast random access speeds and high throughput at a good price. One such […]
Below are some strategies to help protect against ransomware. The simplest solutions include: Invest in a good cloud backup system Rotating external hard drives. Only one drive should be connected at a time. Configure external hard drives to use the same drive letter when plugged in and avoid plugging in more than one drive at […]
Below is a list of strategies to troubleshoot SMTP settings. If sending email alerts or logs fails, the first step is to examine the error message. Most of the time, the error message helps narrow down the cause of the error; however, most of the time the following checklist should be used to systematically pinpoint […]
Unfortunately there is still a widely held belief that file fragmentation is a thing of the past and not necessary. Some IT guys even mention they read somewhere that “NTFS does not need fragmentation” or somehow prevents fragmentation. Unfortunately the truth is, things haven’t changed at all and file fragmentation is the result of the […]
When you encounter an issue with just one VM failing, it’s almost certainly an issue inside the VM, not the host. That’s because any VSS-aware service inside a VM can break the Hyper-V backup cycle by vetoing. When all VMs fail to back up, it’s likely something on the host causing the failure. Please check […]
Are you looking for a simple way to backup Hyper-V virtual machine guests on Windows Server 2025-2008 or Windows 11-8 PCs? With BackupChain’s server backup software you can set up and backup Hyper-V virtual machines in just three minutes and just a few steps. Backup for the Windows host server disk as well as backup […]
If you are looking for a self-hosted Google Drive, DropBox, OneDrive, Carbonite, or Amazon S3 alternative, BackupChain has all the components you need to set this up yourself and save thousands of dollars per year by hosting a secure system yourself. Whether you want to share files online securely with team members or use cloud […]
Do you need a free SFTP and FTP client for Windows? Check out DriveMaker, it’s a free SFTP and FTP client that maps a drive to SFTP and FTP sites. This works like a network drive with a real drive letter, say X:\ Once you have the drive letter mapped you can use it from […]
Probably by far the best option to do bare-metal recoveries and other bare-metal operations is to have a USB pluggable boot disk or USB stick with Windows on it. You can prepare such a boot disk ahead of time and be prepared in case you do not have a second PC or server where disk […]
BackupChain is a backup software toolset that is specifically made for IT professionals who need total control over their backups. BackupChain offers a plethora of backup options, yet is easy to use and install, and includes a centralized, task-oriented user interface. One of the major advantages of using BackupChain to backup Hyper-V is the freedom […]
Our backup software toolset includes disk imaging features with P2V, V2P, and a V2V converter which you can use to: Convert VHD to VHDX, for example in Hyper-V or to mount it directly Convert VHD to VMDK, to convert a Hyper-V virtual machine to VMware Convert VHD to VDI, to convert a Microsoft virtual machine to […]
Our Windows Server backup software runs on Windows Server 2025 – 2008, as well as PCs, and provides all-in-one protection for a complete server backup. Tens of thousands of IT professionals use BackupChain worldwide as their RAID backup software of choice and to reliably clone entire arrays to other RAID 0/1/5/10 arrays or to single disk drives. […]
BackupChain®: Backup Software and Toolset Made for IT Professionals BackupChain’s backup software toolset contains a V2V converter for Hyper-V, VirtualBox, and VMware as part of its disk backup toolset. The V2V converter may be used as a final virtual to physical migration or you could schedule V2V conversions to occur on a schedule as a […]
BackupChain is reliable Windows Server backup solution for Windows Server 2025 – 2008 as well as Windows 11- XP, that also includes a free V2P converter for VMware, Hyper-V, and VirtualBox. You can use BackupChain to convert a virtual machine into a physical machine while it is running. BackupChain will read a VHD, VMDK, VHDX, […]
BackupChain is a Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 all-in-one server backup software that also contains free P2V converter tools for Hyper-V, VMware, and VirtualBox. It can convert your physical machine to a virtual machine as VHD, VHDX, VMDK, and VDI. This can be done repeatedly on auto-pilot to function like a backup or just once as a final P2V migration. You […]
We would like to announce the availability of BackupChain Backup Software version 3.0.768, which was released with several new data protection features. The main new module in BackupChain is the Disk Backup & Conversion screen where entire disks can be backed up, copied, and converted at the sector level, allowing you to make a byte-level […]
BackupChain in an all-in-one Windows backup solution that contains a complete virtual machine backup toolset for Hyper-V, VMware, VirtualBox and other hypervisors. BackupChain can be used to create a live backup of each VM from the host as a local backup or as cloud backup. Apart from backing up VMs, BackupChain offers a wide range of […]
BackupChain is the only backup software that includes the ability to receive backup files over the internet through its built-in secure FTPS server. It’s by far the easiest FTPS server and very simple to set up and use. BackupChain includes this FTP server to allow IT Pros to build their own remote backup system with […]
As an all-in-one, disk to disk and disk to image Windows Server backup solution for Windows Server 2025 – 2008 R2 and Windows 11 – 7. Essentially being a complete and lightweight enterprise backup software for IT professionals, BackupChain offers disk image backup and disk cloning (disk to disk live copy) in addition to various […]
BackupChain is an complete Windows 11 – 7 and Windows Server backup software for Windows Server 2025 – 2008. If you want to track every backup step and want control over how data is being processed, BackupChain is the tool for you. BackupChain does much more than just clone hard disks. We took the concept […]
Lots of IT professionals use Windows 11 or Windows 10 with Hyper-V to run various virtual machines. Naturally the really important VMs you would want backed up often and efficiently, but how exactly is a Windows 10 client Hyper-V backup set up? Below are the steps to set up a Hyper-V virtual machine backup task […]
BackupChain®: Backup Software and Toolset Made for IT Professionals If you are looking for a backup solution that backs up from and to network servers with file versioning capabilities for Windows 11 or Windows Server 2025 or older versions, have a look at BackupChain, it’s the professional backup tool with tens of thousands of users in […]
This article describes several different ways to install the .NET framework v2.0 on various Windows Server and PC platforms. BackupChain requires either the .Net Framework 2.0 SP2 or the .Net Framework 4.0 or later to work. If you have Windows 10, 8, or 7 and Windows Server 2019-2012 there is no need to install a […]
When you try to connect to a network share you may encounter this Windows error 1219: Multiple connections to a server or shared resource by the same user, using more than one user name, are not allowed. Disconnect all previous connections to the server or shared resource and try again. Cause The origins of this […]
If you plan to use a Gmail email account for sending email alerts, the configuration requires two steps. First visit https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps and able “less secure apps”. This step is only necessary once: Then enter the Gmail settings in BackupChain’s Log Options tab as follows: SMTP Server: smtp.gmail.com Port: 587 Sender’s email address and […]
In order for Ubuntu virtual machine live Hyper-V backup to work properly, you need to install Hyper-V’s Linux Integration Services. Download the currently latest version 4.1 at https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/virtualization/2016/03/21/linux-integration-services-4-1/ Then run the commands: Sudo apt install hv-kvp-daemon-init linux-tools-virtual-lts-xenial linux-cloud-tools-virtual-lts-xenial Then reboot the VM. The ISO and RPM files can be downloaded here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=51612 How […]
RAMKick™ is a new freeware tool we have that empties system working set memory automatically. It empties RAM used by Windows similar to RamMap but does so automatically and based on a threshold. On some Windows Server versions it is observed that under heavy load, the metafile memory is never freed and grows to the […]
VolSnap 36 event ID may show up as error: Volume Snapshot Driver, Diff Area health issues or Event ID 36 Source volsnap The shadow copies of volume C: were aborted because the shadow copy storage could not grow due to user imposed limit or a related message. Basically VolSnap 36 is an error event […]
If you encounter a VolSnap 25 error with this type of message or similar: The shadow copies of volume C: were deleted because the shadow copy storage could not grow in time. Consider reducing the IO load on the system or choose a shadow copy storage volume that is not being shadow copied. The […]
If you encounter the Windows Error: 121, “The semaphore timeout period has expired”, this could have several potential origins: It could be a hardware connection issue, to or from the drive, such as its physical connection. Beyond that it could be a network issue, as described in Microsoft’s KB 325487 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/325487 The network issue may be […]
Below is a general checklist aimed for basic server administration and server monitoring when done by hand: When you unpack a new server Hardware defects with brand-new servers and PCs are unfortunately not uncommon. To be certain your hardware is in good condition before you put your server in production: Run chkdsk with /b on […]
In this article we describe how to protect against ransomware, CryptoLocker, Trojans, viruses, and other forms of digital vandalism. How to Protect Your Data Against Attacks Depending how your infrastructure is set up and what kind of virus strikes you may be able to recover from it; however, having a server backup is usually not […]
It is possible to create a Hyper V backup of Linux virtual machines without interruption, without shutdown or pause. Download the latest release of Microsoft’s Linux Integration Services 4.1 and benefit from a range of features specifically for running Linux VMs in Hyper-V, beyond zero downtime when running Linux virtual machines are backed up. What’s […]
BackupChain®: Backup Software and Toolset Made for IT Professionals If you are looking for automatic file versioning for Windows, check out BackupChain, the most advanced backup software with versioning for Windows used in over 80 countries. BackupChain performs incremental as well as differential backups. At the file-level, only new or changed files are backed up […]
BackupChain®: Backup Software and Toolset Made for IT Professionals BackupChain is a backup software that is Made in the USA and is optimized for Windows Server 2025 – 2008, Windows 11 – XP, and Hyper-V Server 2019 – 2008, and over the last 15 years, it has become the IT professional’s choice in more than […]
If you have encountered a strange error Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) error with ID 12344, see details below: Volume Shadow Copy Error: An error 0x00000000c000014d was encountered while Registry Writer was preparing the registry for a shadow copy. Check the Application and System event logs for any related errors. Operation: OnFreeze event Freeze Event Context: […]
You may run into a situation where some Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) shadows can’t be deleted. You tried: vssadmin delete shadows /all but receive the error message: Error: Snapshots were found, but they were outside of your allowed context. Try removing them with the backup application which created them. This peculiar error basically […]
This article shows the steps needed to turn off and get rid of one of the worst nag screens in PC history: “Upgrade to Windows 10″. And there is no ‘no, thank you” button! It’s so annoying, some people say it’s as bad as a virus. Well at least it gives us a taste of […]
This article summarizes the steps needed to fix the error ID 10102, Hyper-V VMMS (Microsoft-Windows-Hyper-V-VMMS) “Failed to create the backup of virtual machine”. There are various reasons why this error may occur: Virtual machine files are stored in root folders of a drive or mounted folder. If that’s the case please move all Hyper-V virtual […]
Download the final release of Windows 10 Enterprise (July 29, 2015), directly from Microsoft: http://care.dlservice.microsoft.com/dl/download/6/2/4/624ECF83-38A6-4D64-8758-FABC099503DC/10240.16384.150709-1700.TH1_CLIENTENTERPRISE_S_EVAL_X64FRE_EN-US.ISO The ISO name is: 10240.16384.150709-1700.TH1_CLIENTENTERPRISE_S_EVAL_X64FRE_EN-US.ISO A Windows 10 product key is not necessary for this evaluation CD. BackupChain Features BackupChain backup software is a Windows Server product that is now available for Windows PC backup as well. Our cloud storage […]
Whether or not you are using our Hyper-V backup solution, if you are planning on purchasing a NAS backup (Synology, Qnap, Netgear, Drobo, Buffalo, etc.) device to serve as a target for Hyper-V NAS backup, below are a few NAS product features to consider before purchasing the NAS and when setting things up with your […]
This article outlines some considerations when using fixed disks for Hyper-V and fixed disk Hyper-V backup. Performance of Fixed Disks at Run-time Fixed-sized VHDX are great building blocks for VMs as they greatly reduce overhead in Hyper-V. Assuming you refrain from using Hyper-V checkpoints, disk access to fixed disks is always linear. In addition, neighboring […]
Pass-through disks in Hyper-V are touted to offer better performance; however, the speed advantage is rather minimal and below 5% compared to a fixed-sized VHDX. When using pass-through disks one needs to be aware of a couple of disadvantages: Exclusive Use Pass-through disks are under exclusive use by the VM, even though the access is […]
Dynamic disks in Hyper-V may be a bad choice under certain circumstances, especially for Hyper-V backup and for general performance reasons. First of all we need to distinguish between dynamic disks and dynamically expanding disks. Dynamically expanding disks are VHDX files that grow over time. Hyper-V uses them internally also for checkpoints (a.k.a. snapshots) of […]
USB disks and other external disks can be used with Hyper-V in many different ways; some relate to Hyper-V backup to USB disk, some don’t: mounted directly as a disk inside the VM shared between host and guest VMs as host storage to hold Hyper-V VMs as a target Hyper-V backup drive Mounting USB Disk […]
Tremendous storage savings Data deduplication data basically means removing duplicate segments in data files; hence, deduplication is a form of data compression but it’s being used with a twist in various different ways. Hyper-V backup software, for example, uses deduplication to achieve a dramatic reduction in backup storage usage by comparing the last backup of […]
Drive controller errors may show up in the Event Viewer as: The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk2\DR2. or: The driver detected a controller error on \device\ide\ideport1 Disk Issues and Defects The first thing to be concerned about is a disk defect, especially if the system hardware or drive configuration hasn’t been changed […]
Some users encounter an error when running a Windows backup or Hyper-V backup and the Event Viewer may list several errors, such as: The shadow copies of volume X: were aborted because of an IO failure on volume X: The above error (source VolSnap or VSS) means the backup snapshot had to be taken down by Windows […]
You may see the error Data error (cyclic redundancy check) in the Windows Event Viewer or in the logs of your backup tool followed by a failure. When these errors refer to a disk drive, usually data errors and cyclic redundancy check errors are due to serious disk defects. It’s is strongly recommended to […]
The following two errors may show in the CSV node’s Event Viewer System logs: Event 1135 FailoverClustering Cluster node ‘NODE1’ was removed from the active failover cluster membership. The Cluster service on this node may have stopped. This could also be due to the node having lost communication with other active nodes in the failover […]
Below is a comparison reviewing Carbonite vs. Acronis vs. BackupChain Cloud Backup plans (Pricing as of May 8, 2015). Carbonite Acronis BackupChain 1 TB 1 TB 1 TB $1,499.99 yearly 899.99 yearly $479.99 yearly 2 TB 2 TB 2 TB $2,499.84 yearly $1,699.99 yearly $949.99 yearly BackupChain cloud backup plans are high-speed, server-grade offsite storage plans that integrate with […]
Below is a list of 12 virtual backup software vendors. Some handle Hyper-V, some VMware, some both virtualization platforms. Of the 12 virtual backup software solution providers presented below, some offer physical backups and cloud backups as well. We leave comparing one virtual backup product versus the other to you, as there are many factors to consider, depending on […]
To create a Microsoft Outlook (PST file) backup using BackupChain Backup Software, you simply select your Outlook data folder. The Microsoft Outlook data folder location depends on the Windows and Outlook versions you are using. The simplest way to backup Outlook and most other application data is to simply add C:\Users to your backup task. This […]
Below is a selection of BackupChain backup software customers in random order (also check out our BackupChain User Testimonials): Last Update: Dec 30, 2024: Police Department of Enterprise, Oregon United States District Court, Western District of Wisconsin The University of Hong Kong (https://www.hku.hk/) The State of Maryland Government (https://www.maryland.gov) General Dynamics Mission Systems, Canada (https://gdmissionsystems.ca/) […]
Before backing up to cloud providers, such as Amazon S3, Glacier, Azure, OpenStack, Rackspace, Google Cloud, Google Drive, and Softlayer, you may want to look at alternatives. These services may turn out to be very costly if you don’t watch out and if you are not aware of all pitfalls set in your way to […]
When backing up a VM that runs SQL Server inside you may run into the following issue. The VM backup fails and the Event Viewer on the host reports a VSS writer inside the VM failed. Upon inspection of the VM’s Event Viewer and SQL Server’s logs you find: Error: 18210, Severity: 16 and Error […]
If you are stuck trying to back up or copy long path names over 240 characters long, you are not alone. Did you know Windows NTFS supports nested, long paths and folders reaching well over 32,000 characters? And, Windows Explorer itself will produce errors when you are trying to work with deep folders over […]
Microsoft uses an old but effective strategy of selling “interrelated components”. You want X to work? Then you need to buy A, B, C and spend a many work hours (and lots of dollars, too), only to find out: • Everything about A, B, and C before you understand how they work together • it doesn’t work: the […]
In this article we show possible fixes for Windows error 64 “The specified network name is no longer available”, which may pop up when large network I/O is performed and appears to affect only certain kinds of devices, for example, Linux-based NAS devices during lengthy backups. In the network adapter settings of the sending machine (or […]
What Causes VSS Shadows to Stick? Deleting orphaned Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) shadows may be necessary from time to time for several reasons. A: You are using defect backup software or some scripts that don't clean up correctly. In that case follow instructions below and switch to BackupChain®. B: Your backup software crashes all […]
Virtual machine backup software is a new class of disaster recovery tools and deserves special attention. While some products are all-in-one backup software solutions, such as BackupChain, other tools may be for virtual backup only. We put together a list of virtual machine guides and how-to tutorials for your convenience that describe how to backup […]
In this detailed article we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of external hard drives, connected via USB, eSATA, or Firewire. With the advent of USB 3, all modern PCs, servers, and laptops now offer a very simple interface for plugging in portable storage and as we summarize below, external hard drives are perfect for dozens […]
Bit rot is a very complex phenomenon. While most publications refer to hard drives and tapes, such as http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/01/bitrot-and-atomic-cows-inside-next-gen-filesystems/ and http://www.economist.com/node/21553445 the reality is much worse because bit rot also affects RAM and CPUs. Damaged RAM can be quite difficult to spot, too. How Damaged RAM can interfere with your data and affect your […]
A big thank you to our customer Prince James, who recommended the following tool for offline Windows Update installation: Portable Update, available at http://www.portableupdate.com/ Another alternative tool is: WSUS Offline Update, available at http://www.wsusoffline.net/docs/ Both tools allow you to download all current Windows Updates to a disk, folder, or […]
This article summarizes best practices on how to manage Windows Server backups, server data and files, and Hyper-V backups. Keep enough disk space free at all times: At the source as well as the target Free disk space is of paramount importance. All kinds of strange software errors emerge, even from Microsoft Windows itself, when […]
The disk signature error "PartMgr" ID 58 may occur on its own or when a virtual machine backup is initiated. You'll need to check whether there are disks that have the same disk signature. In the case of Hyper-V, check if any of the VM disks inside the VM have the same disk signature as […]
The Volume Shadow Copy Service error 0x8007000e E_OUTOFMEMORY may occur in your logs as shown below: Processing Writer 'Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer': Adding this component: …… Creating shadow set … (Waiting for the asynchronous operation to finish…) (Waiting for the asynchronous operation to finish…) (Waiting for the asynchronous operation to finish…) Error during […]
The following in-depth article summarizes common Hyper-V and HyperV virtual machine backup tips and tricks that our BackupChain tech support team gathered over time since we first rolled out in 2009. Our backup software BackupChain supports Hyper-V backups on Windows Server 2019-2008 as well as Windows 10. While some of the points below are focusing […]
In this article we show how to set up Hyper-V replication between two or more Hyper-V production servers, or from a production server to a backup server. In fact, any combination is possible. Each server could replicate its own VMs elsewhere. In case of a failure you could simply boot the VM on the backup […]
You may freely delete files and folders inside the backup folder. BackupChain backup software fills the gaps next time it runs However, there is one thing you need to watch when deleting: If you have backup files that use deduplication, they need to be deleted in groups. This does not apply to regular file backup, […]
Backup to, from, and between NAS Devices with BackupChain Backup Software Backing up files to and from Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices is best done using a reliable backup software tool on a task schedule, so that it runs automatically at set intervals. Give this backup software a try and you’ll find it is perfect […]
There’s an Acronis alternative called BackupChain backup software, which is both reliable, and more affordable than Acronis and Veeam. BackupChain is part of the IT professional’s repertoire worldwide and has a rapidly growing fan base of more than 35,000 users. As an alternative to Backup Exec, Veeam, Microsoft DPM, and Acronis, BackupChain grew over the years to become the backup solution of […]
Hyper-V cloud backup doesn't have to cost a fortune. Check out our secure, high-speed terabyte cloud hosting plans for Hyper-V and other services. If you do have the infrastructure to host your own cloud, BackupChain contains all the tools you need to set up your own private and secure cloud storage to backup your Hyper-V […]
Live backup of Hyper-V virtual machines may be done with or without the use of the Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer, which is part of the Hyper-V Role in Windows Server 2008 and later. The key integration element powering live backups in Windows is VSS, also called Volume Shadow Copy Service, which allows services and applications […]
If you are planning to use your NAS device for Hyper-V or for backups, please read this article first before diving into further details. At BackupChain we have put together this article to describe some of the shortcomings of specific Network Attached Storage devices, such as: Drobo, Buffalo, Synology, Netgear, QNap, IOmega, IOSafe, Diskstation, ReadyNAS, let’s collectively call […]
In this article we describe how to quickly and easily copy a VHD or VHDX Hyper-V VM to another host, disk, USB disk, NAS drive, network share, or FTP. The steps are all the same and require only a minute to set up. Copying a VHD / VHDX can be done with compression and deduplication […]
A Hyper-V Snapshot, nowadays called a Hyper-V Checkpoint beginning with Windows Server 2012, is a fundamentally different thing than a Hyper-V backup. Hyper-V backup software works similar to file server backup software but is specialized in how it handles virtual machine guests. Hyper-V backups are used for disaster recovery and are hence full and portable […]
When the Hyper-V host is a Windows Server 2008 R2 and the VM runs Windows Server 2012, the VM may be pulled into a saved state. This may be due to the following: The Hyper-V Integration Services version is not up-to-date in VM Backup (Volume Snapshot) Integration Service is disabled or not installed. The virtual […]
The Hyper-V backup error “…could not initiate a checkpoint operation: Element not found. (0x80070490)” is an old but still existing Hyper-V bug seen on Windows Server 2012 R2 when backing up Hyper-V virtual machines with Windows Server 2003 guest operating systems. Update 2018: A new bug in Hyper-V 2016 (on Windows Server 2016) corrupts […]
Deduplication of backup storage is especially important in the case of virtual machine backups. Whether you're using Hyper-V Server VMs or VMware, optimized storage usage is of paramount importance, since VHD and VMDK files tend to be huge. It's therefore ineffective to store them in full after each backup. Using BackupChain (see screenshot below) you […]
This How-to guide shows the quick and easy steps required to convert a physical machine to a virtual machine (P2V) using Disk2VHD and use it on a Hyper-V Server 2012 (or Hyper-V Server 2008). This example uses the newest Disk2VHD to create a VHDX virtual disk file containing a disk image of the partitions stored […]
The idea behind Hyper-V granular backups is to back up certain folders more often than the entire VM, for efficiency reasons. For example, you could back up a SQL database folder every hour via granular backup, and the entire VM each night as a full backup. Both types of backup together in one task would […]
Backing up Hyper-V to an external hard disk using eSATA or USB 3 is an efficient way to protect your Hyper-V infrastructure. As with all methods and strategies, there are advantages and disadvantages. USB drives have their own, too. Advantages Hyper-V backup to external disks connected to a Hyper-V host is incredibly fast. A typical […]
Below is a list of requirements and recommended hardware when you set up a Hyper-V host or system. Every “modern” PC bought within the last five years will satisfy the above requirement. Here are some real world Hyper-V requirements Use really fast hard drives, ideally SSD. RAID striping probably won’t help as much as a […]
Hyper-V checkpoints, formerly called Hyper-V snapshots, are a convenient way to place a virtual machine back to an earlier state. You can use them for development and testing, for example, when you need to have an exactly identical starting point for your tests. Because the checkpoint functionality acts like it’s restoring a VM, many beginners […]
Hyper-V Pass-through Disks may be the key for better performance; however, they come with their own disadvantages and limitations, too. First of all the speed gain of using Hyper-V pass-through disks is probably overrated when compared to a fixed-sized VHDX. Estimates are that a pass-through disk may be around 15% faster due to a reduction […]
On some Linux-based network attached storage devices (NAS), such as Drobo, Synology, QNAP, etc, some users reported invalid file time stamps. It appears there is a Linux bug in the file system causing this issue. Sometimes this phenomenon appears to be related to file dates that are far in the future. It is possible that some […]
Usually when we get this question the IT admin is concerned with Hyper-V performance. Hyper-V and NTFS Block Sizes Explained Understanding the best NTFS cluster block size for Hyper-V requires an understanding of how hard drives, file systems, and Hyper-V work. However, the max. difference in performance we discovered was a mere ~10%. IT admins are […]
Setting up a free network attached storage device (NAS) is actually very simple…and free! Forget about FreeNAS, you can get the great stuff from Microsoft for free, too. If all you need is an NTFS based, 100% Windows compatible file server, there is no need to buy Drobo or Synology boxes. How to Set […]
Differential backup software is similar to incremental backup software, but usually uses a different reference than incremental backup software. Usually the term differential backup is used in conjunction with deduplication. Deduplication is an efficient way to reduce backup storage usage when taking frequent backups. It's important to note that because backups run frequently, compression alone […]
Incremental backups are different from differential backups and full backups. Depending on the incremental backup software you may be using, it may mean two things: "Incremental" may refer to backing up only files that have changed. The backup software compares the previous copy of a file to the current, often by checking dates and sizes, and […]
This article describes how to seed your first backup to an external hard drive. This particular example assumes you will be using the FTP protocol for your cloud backups. In order to create a seed drive (or folder) in BackupChain, you need to create a backup that is targeting an FTP site first and store […]
On April 4/4/2014 we released BackupChain v2.4.531 which contains bug fixes and major improvements for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 Hyper-V backups. The download is available at: //backupchain.com/downloads.html If you have installed v2.4.527 you can install in-place by simply running BackupChainSetup.exe. If you have an older version based on Windows Installer (MSI) you'll […]
New: BackupChain Rewards Program. Get Cash Back or a serious discount for creating a video, presentation, blog post, or article about BackupChain. Visit: //backupchain.com/BackupChain-Rewards.html
Are you trying to delete a really deep folder and you're getting 'path too long errors'? This bug in Windows is annoying and almost exactly 20 years old! Use our tool DeleteLongPath and you won't have any problems deleting anything: Download this freeware tool here: //backupchain.com/DeleteLongPath.html
Checkout VssDiag, our new free VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) diagnostic tool: //backupchain.com/VssDiag.html It scans and finds all relevant errors for you including Hyper-V, VSS, VolSnap, and Disk errors that may be causing trouble. All you need to do is enter the date and time when the backup error occurred
Have a look at our User Testimonials and notable client list and see what our customers think of BackupChain. BackupChain review on Virtualization How-to (January 2018) Two reviews were published on ms4u (Lai Yoong Seng, Microsoft MVP Hyper-V): BackupChain Review #1 BackupChain Review #2 There is a German BackupChain review available as well Please […]
When a live backup is performed on a Windows host, BackupChain uses VSS, which is a Windows component, to send a signal to all VSS aware services to prepare for backup. Then, the operating system itself also prepares for backup and flushes all caches to disk. Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, Hyper-V and VMware also also […]
Great video showing how to install Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012:
You might be surprised to find that when you connect to and use the internet, your computer is constantly talking with servers somewhere in the world. Any content you view or download from the internet comes from a server somewhere that hosts it. Servers are similar to normal computers, except that their sole purpose is […]
Note: This page uses Hyper-V as an example; however, Granular Restore works for VMware and VirtualBox as well. Granular Restore is a recovery module being used after a backup for a Hyper-V server has been completed. In contrast to full virtual machine recoveries, this operation allows prompt access to backed up files that reside inside […]
You cannot back up VMs running on another node, even if they share the same storage on a SAN. Application consistent backups require backup software to run locally on the node that hosts the VM. Windows Server 2008 and R2 Specifics You may only run one backup across all nodes of an entire cluster shared […]
Cluster Shared Volume backups are fully supported in BackupChain Server Edition and Server Enterprise Edition. It is recommended to limit read and write I/O speeds or to use separate network adapters for backup traffic, in order to keep the server network balanced. You may need to use the domain administrator account for your iSCSI provider […]
The automated Single Click Backup & Restore feature for Hyper-V reduces the effort and takes care of all the steps outlined in the previous section. Start with the Backup Wizard: Create a new Hyper-V Backup task: Select Automatic Hyper-V Backup and turn on CSV mode in case you are using cluster shared volumes: Then, select […]
To restore a Hyper-V virtual machine using the standard file restore process, select the backup task from the Backup Task List (unless restoring on a new machine) and select Restore from the main menu. Proceed with Restore Files and Folders: Then you need to fill in the details about the backup location. This information is […]
The file-based approach is not recommended unless you are an advanced user. It is not recommended for cluster shared volumes. Most users should use the Automatic Hyper-V Backup feature instead, see next section below. Note that you can only back up live virtual machines when they are stored locally. Live backup does not work over […]
Are you in search of a straightforward method to backup and restore Hyper-V virtual machine guests on Windows Server 2025-2008 or Windows 11-8 PCs? With BackupChain’s Hyper-V server backup software, you can easily configure and backup Hyper-V virtual machines in just three minutes and a few simple steps. Perform backups for both the Windows host […]
Limitations may apply, see previous section. You cannot use this feature on ZIP files. It works on deduplicated backups (FastNeuronDelta files) and plain files (VHD, VHDX, VMDK, VDI). You cannot use Granular Restore via FTP. This feature works for all supported virtualization platforms: Hyper-V, VirtualBox, VMware Server, VMware Workstation, and Virtual PC; however, not all […]
Granular Backups are great for saving money and time because you can access all VM files from the host without installing agents. What Exactly Is Granular Backup? Granular backup is a feature in BackupChain that allows you to back up files and folders that are stored inside the VM. However, you don’t need to install […]
Microsoft SQL Server Database Backup There are two ways to back up SQL Server database. One way to use a VSS-powered hot copy of the database files (MDF, LDF, etc.). Alternatively, you can use SQL Server’s BACKUP DATABASE command and then have BackupChain deduplicate the backup file. Backup MDF and LDF Files Create a […]
Hard drives fail and crash and corrupt data all the time. The bigger hard drives get, the more likely it is it will fail during its “expected” lifespan. When you hear the hard drive click or make weird noises, it’s time to immediately back up everything! There are many ways a hard drive will tell […]
Installing Microsoft’s Hyper-V Server is free and quite straightforward. First you need to have a spare physical computer. Then, download the latest Hyper-V Server directly from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/hyper-v-server/default.aspx The ISO file should then be burned on a DVD using a burner tool or Windows Disk Image Burner: Then insert the DVD and […]
