ShadowStorage keeps changing it's own size.

AndyTampa

Member
Is there a way to see which program keeps changing the ShadowStorage Maxsize to unbounded?

It keeps filling up my hard drive and I have to reset it, but then it resets itself to unbounded. It was using 450 GB and I just lowered it to 100GB even though that's probably a little overkill. That particular drive is 600GB.

Is there any way to figure out which program is doing this so I can stop it?

Does something about Vista trigger this automatic reset?
 

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Well, nobody answered. It happened again, so I'll ask again. VSSADMIN keeps changing its size to UNBOUNDED. Is there an event log I can look up or something to see when this setting is getting changed and by which program?
 

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  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, 32-bit
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    Retrofitted Refurbished Gateway
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    4 GB
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    Acer 22-in Flat Screen Monitor
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Are you setting it in CMD run as administrator with this command

vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /Maxsize=100GB
 

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Are you setting it in CMD run as administrator with this command

vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /Maxsize=100GB

Yes, and after some time I get a notice that my Hard Drive is almost full. Then I check and it's set to UNBOUNDED again.

Is there a log somewhere to see when it changes or what changed it?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, 32-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Retrofitted Refurbished Gateway
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    ASUS M3A78-EM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22-in Flat Screen Monitor
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    Logitech K350 Wireless Keyboard
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It's been over a year and I haven't had this problem resolved yet. Is there an event logged somewhere each time the VSS is changed? Is there a program that I can use to capture such changes to the VSS?

I'm trying to determine which program is making the changes.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, 32-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Retrofitted Refurbished Gateway
    CPU
    AMD
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    ASUS M3A78-EM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22-in Flat Screen Monitor
    Keyboard
    Logitech K350 Wireless Keyboard
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Is it possible that you have Vista set to periodically create a system restore point? That will affect VSS.
 

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    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
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    NVIDIA 780i
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    4 GB
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Is it possible that you have Vista set to periodically create a system restore point? That will affect VSS.

The last restore point is from 7/24/18 when Kaspersky updated itself. At some point, the VSSADMIN reset itself back to UNBOUNDED again when I had set it to 50GB. Currently, it's using less than 25GB. It shouldn't matter if it's doing periodic restore points anyway. It should delete the oldest instead of making itself limitless.

I do have Acronis True Image doing backups. I've often wondered if Acronis is doing it, but I can't find anything online stating so.

I'm looking for a way to see when it's happening or what is causing/requesting it to happen.
 

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  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, 32-bit
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    4 GB
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    Acer 22-in Flat Screen Monitor
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Windows doesn't delete restore points. In fact, the folder where they're stored (have to look up where that is) can get so large that it can really slow down a system.

I don't think imaging a drive would affect VSS but, that's just my opinion.
 

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    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
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    4 GB
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Windows does delete restore points.
 

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Thank you for that. My apologies. Need to be more careful. I see that one needs 300 MB of free space on each drive that's being protected and when it reaches that point, older ones are deleted.
 

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  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
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    Cyberpower
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    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
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    NVIDIA 780i
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    4 GB
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    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
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    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
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Windows does delete restore points.
Apparently not on my machine. It just makes more room.

My question remains, and nobody has actually said yes or no, but is there a program or utility that will let me monitor or see when the shadowstorage limit changes and what prompts the change?
 

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System One

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, 32-bit
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    Retrofitted Refurbished Gateway
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    AMD
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    ASUS M3A78-EM
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    4 GB
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    Acer 22-in Flat Screen Monitor
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    Logitech K350 Wireless Keyboard
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    Logitech M705 Wireless Mouse
If you run this command from the command prompt as administrator-

vssadmin list shadows

the "Provider" in each instance listed is supposed to tell you what program is using the shadow storage. I ran it and, in every instance, the program is Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider Service 1.0. Since the date and time that each instance is created is shown, that should answer your question about when it is changing. Trouble is, it really doesn't tell you what program changed it. I wonder if this, from Microsoft, might help with that question-

Vssadmin List Writers Lists shadow copy writers, which support communicating with the Volume Shadow Copy service to ensure that files are captured in a consistent state. By default, subscribed writers include an operating system writer, a registry writer, a WMI writer, and a search service writer, among others. SQL Server also provides a Volume Shadow Copy writer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
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    Cyberpower
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    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
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    NVIDIA 780i
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    4 GB
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    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
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    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
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    Viewsonic VG2436
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    1920x1080p
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    Samsung HD 105SI
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    Apevia XJupiter
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    air
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    Logitech MX 3200
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    Logitech MX 600
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    30 Mbps
I get the same thing you do and a list of writers didn't provide anything useful either. While the list of shadows and their creation dates is interesting, it doesn't tell me what changed the storage size. I keep changing it to 100GB, which is more than enough room, but something keeps changing it back to "UNBOUNDED".

Code:
C:\Windows\system32>vssadmin list shadowstorage
vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001-2005 Microsoft Corp.

Shadow Copy Storage association
   For volume: (C:)\\?\Volume{68d47df8-92e3-11dc-845d-806e6f6e6963}\
   Shadow Copy Storage volume: (C:)\\?\Volume{68d47df8-92e3-11dc-845d-806e6f6e69
63}\
   Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 404.674 GB
   Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 407.589 GB
   Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: UNBOUNDED
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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System One

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, 32-bit
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    Retrofitted Refurbished Gateway
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    AMD
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    ASUS M3A78-EM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22-in Flat Screen Monitor
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    Logitech K350 Wireless Keyboard
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    Logitech M705 Wireless Mouse
On a hunch, I searched for Acronis True Image VSS unbounded and found a reference in the Acronis forum that mentions the same symptom, so I may be on my way to discovering how to fix it. Unfortunately, they keep talking about going to option settings I can't find yet. That may or may not be because I'm on Vista. The site isn't specific on windows versions because it's all about Acronis.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, 32-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Retrofitted Refurbished Gateway
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    ASUS M3A78-EM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22-in Flat Screen Monitor
    Keyboard
    Logitech K350 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech M705 Wireless Mouse
Are you using Acronis to do backups? If so, does either going to the snapshot method (as suggested in the Acronis forum) or disabling Acronis stop the problem?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
Any progress?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
I know that I posted in an Acronis Forum, but haven't seen a response yet. I'll look again soon.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Premium SP2, 32-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Retrofitted Refurbished Gateway
    CPU
    AMD
    Motherboard
    ASUS M3A78-EM
    Memory
    4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22-in Flat Screen Monitor
    Keyboard
    Logitech K350 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech M705 Wireless Mouse
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