IFW 4.06 - Unable to get lock with VSS

[Fracso]

Windows 11 24H2 4470, IFW 4.06

I tied to make an online full backup, failed at the beginning with the message

Unable to get a lock on unit C (translated from "No es posible lograr un bloqueo en la unidad C", Spanish).

The log file:

[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Image for Windows (x64) 4.06
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Comenzando ...
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] imagew64.exe /b /d:w0 /f:"E:\HP 400 - Backup-w0-$~YYYY$-$~MM$-$~DD$-$~HHMM$"
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Windows 10 Pro 24H2 64-bit (10.0.26100.1.100)
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Intentando Crear una Captura VSS...
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Agregado \\?\Volume{8a066d3c-39ac-4cd6-a116-4f8b9860c2b7} a la captura.
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Agregado \\?\Volume{33a96978-5f4d-4b18-b63d-b1c3bade7763} (C:) a la captura.
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Agregado \\?\Volume{1b8be6bf-e09c-43ac-9793-7c7ea3577392} a la captura.
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Agregado \\?\Volume{ec74a8b1-7460-40ba-8884-550746ee2d17} (G:) a la captura.
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Creación de la Captura VSS Fallida (1h)
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] 00000000 - Task Scheduler Writer - Stable
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] 00000000 - VSS Metadata Store Writer - Stable
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] 00000000 - Performance Counters Writer - Stable
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] 00000000 - ASR Writer - Stable (N/A)
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] 00000000 - Shadow Copy Optimization Writer - Stable (N/A)
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] 00000000 - Registry Writer - Stable
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] 00000000 - COM+ REGDB Writer - Stable
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] 00000000 - MSSearch Service Writer - Stable (N/A)
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] 00000000 - WMI Writer - Stable
[07/30/2025 02:19:09 PM] Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider 1.0
[07/30/2025 02:19:10 PM] No es posible lograr un bloqueo en la unidad C:
[07/30/2025 02:19:10 PM]
[07/30/2025 02:19:10 PM] Asegúrese de que PHYLock esté instalado y no se haya desactivado.
[07/30/2025 02:19:10 PM] Para obtener información sobre la resolución de problemas, visite www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/?p=340
[07/30/2025 02:21:21 PM] Borrando respaldo incompleto o fallido.
[07/30/2025 02:21:21 PM] Transcurrido 0:00:02:12
[07/30/2025 02:21:21 PM] Operación Completada con el Código de Error 68 (Fallido)

IFW was installed with VSS selected.
I checked that VSS was active. Also tried with another image program and the image was created without any problem.

[TeraByte Support]

Check the windows event log. Then
See https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/kb ... on-failed/
and: https://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/kb ... vent-4001/

[Fracso]

Thanks for the answer.

In the Event Viewer, I found VSS errors 8194 and 12293.

I didn´t know what to do with this, even after reading the linked article.

But I could solve the problem. It seems it was related to the combination of elements I was using.

When the process failed, I was imaging to an external USB connected through a USB-C hub to the computer.

Then I connected the external USB directly to a port in the computer, and the process succeeded. So it seemed that the hub was the problem.

But I tried again using the hub, with another external USB, and the process also succeeded. So the hub was not a problem in this case.

In both cases (with hub and without it) the lock was slow, almost 2 min.

Edited.

[OldNavyGuy]

Try using Phylock instead of VSS.

[Muad'Dib]

Try using Phylock instead of VSS.

Phylock is normally much slower to start than VSS. So if Frasco's most recent complaint is that VSS is slow to start (at 2 minutes), it's very unlikely that Phylock is going to be any faster.

[OldNavyGuy]

Try using Phylock instead of VSS.

Phylock is normally much slower to start than VSS. So if Frasco's most recent complaint is that VSS is slow to start (at 2 minutes), it's very unlikely that Phylock is going to be any faster.

Phylock took 8 seconds for the last IFW backup I did two days ago from an internal SSD to an external USB SSD...

[08/08/2025 12:57:28 AM] Image for Windows (x64) 4.06
[08/08/2025 12:57:28 AM] Starting ...
[08/08/2025 12:57:28 AM] imagew64.exe
[08/08/2025 12:57:28 AM] Windows 10 Pro 22H2 64-bit (10.0.19045.1.100)
[08/08/2025 12:57:28 AM] PHYLock is waiting for drive writing to stop ...
[08/08/2025 12:57:35 AM] PHYLock using drive C:
[08/08/2025 12:57:36 AM] PHYLock Started
[08/08/2025 12:57:36 AM] PHYLock Using Disk
[08/08/2025 12:57:36 AM] PHYLock version 14
[08/08/2025 12:57:36 AM] Backup: Drive 0

[Gavin]

I have a question related to Phylock and VSS.

If Phylock and Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) are equally available, will IFW always choose VSS over Phylock?

Is one superior to the other?

[OldNavyGuy]

I have a question related to Phylock and VSS.

If Phylock and Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) are equally available, will IFW always choose VSS over Phylock?

Is one superior to the other?

i wouldn't use the term "superior"...it's two different ways of accomplishing a lock for drive imaging.

I use Phylock because I want the image to contain exactly what was on the drive when it was locked.

VSS uses a registry key to determine what files not to snapshot, so it does not include "everything".

Personally, I have never had a corruption issue with Phylock (long time user), but I have seen several (and helped users fix) corruption issues with VSS.

You can configure IFW to use VSS, and fail over to Phylock if VSS can't get a lock.

You can disable Phylock entirely, or disable VSS entirely.

On the main IFW window, click on Settings under Auxillary Items, and then click on the Phylock/VSS tab.

Use the IFW manual and get familiar with the settings.

I would suggest trying both, and seeing what works for you.

[crawfish]

I just ran into this problem with 4.07 after updating a system from 23H2 to 24H2. I could back up the EFI and Recover partitions separately or alone with the other volumes on my boot drive, but not the two of them together. Odd to say the least. I got Event Log 4001 events, "Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Cannot find diff areas for creating shadow copies. Add at least one NTFS drive to the system with enough free space. The free space needed is at least 32 Mb for each volume to be shadow copied." I saw that my Recovery partition was 768 MB, and I know it's like 1004 MB on my other systems. I remember having to resize it for Microsoft's reasons months ago, and I assumed I did so on this system, but maybe not. Anyway, I resized it per the article below that I followed for my other systems, and then I was able to use IFW as before:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/top ... c8229763bf