Fix VSS Writers When “vssadmin list writers” Returns Nothing

Now and then the VSS writers in our VM’s will go haywire, causing backups to fail. The solution for this is fairly simple, and in most cases does not require reboot.

1. In regedit, delete the key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\EventSystem\{26409cc-ae86-11d1-b616-00805fc79216}\Subscriptions (Protip: export it first)
2. In services.msc, restart the following services: COM+ Event System, COM+ System Application, Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider, and Volume Shadow Copy
3. In a command prompt, type “vssadmin list writers” without quotes. If the writers list and none show errors, you are done. If not, continue.
4. Type the following commands into the command prompt, or create a batch file.

• cd /d %windir%\system32
• net stop vss
• net stop swprv
• regsvr32 ole32.dll /s
• regsvr32 oleaut32.dll /s
• regsvr32 /i eventcls.dll /s
• regsvr32 vss_ps.dll /s
• vssvc /register
• regsvr32 /i swprv.dll /s
• regsvr32 es.dll /s
• regsvr32 stdprov.dll /s
• regsvr32 vssui.dll /s
• regsvr32 msxml.dll /s
• regsvr32 msxml3.dll /s
• regsvr32 msxml4.dll /s

The xml dll’s may or may not throw an error depending on what you have installed on the system. Once this is done “vssadmin list writers” should list the VSS writers correctly. If not, try rebooting.