Backup for Files - Backup fails due to path not found error

Written By Tami Sutcliffe (Super Administrator)

Updated at August 24th, 2021

Problem

The backup fails with an error message similar to the following:

ERROR: 0x30000: The system cannot find the path specified. [3 (0x3)] {eFS:ClieBackup:655}

In newer versions of the software the error may look like:

ERROR: 0x30000: The directory does not exist or is not mounted. If this is a network mapped drive, then it has been disconnected. You should use the Folders page to specify the credentials for the network mapped drive changing the folder's properties. (The system cannot find the path specified.) [3 (0x3)] {eFS:ClieBackup:976}

This error message can occur for at least 5 different reasons:

  • The file it is trying to backup is on a network mapped drive, and the network mapped drive became disconnected.
  • The root directory of a backup folder has moved or was deleted (for example, if you were backing up E:\MDBDATA but now the folder has moved to F:\MDBDATA).
  • The volume shadow copy service was not able to create a snapshot of the volume that the file is on or if the directory is a volume mount point or NTFS reparse point
  • Another application deleted all of the shadow copies in the system (for example, another backup application might do this)
  • The volume shadow copy service could not maintain the snapshot and the snapshot no longer exists, so the backup cannot use the snapshot to backup data

Diagnostics

If the folder with the problem is a network mapped drive, please refer to: Backup fails because it cannot access a network mapped drive. Otherwise, please follow these steps to more precisely determine the problem:

  1. Check to see that the directory mentioned in the error message still exists. If not, the error message should not occur again during the next backup. If the root directory has moved, use the Move button on the Folders page to specify the new location of the root folder.
  2. If the directory is a network mapped drive, then use the Folders page to right click on the Folder and choose Properties. Then specify network credentials for the network mapped drive.
  3. Look in the log to see if other files in that directory were able to be backed up, but then at a certain point in time all files in that directory started to fail. This can indicate that either the network mapped drive was disconnected -or- that the volume shadow copy disappeared while the backup was running. Apply the hotfixes mentioned below.
  4. Look for VSS or VOLSNAP error entries in the Windows event log. (Open the system event viewer (Start. Run. eventvwr. OK.) and click the Application log.) For any entries found, double click to view the details, copy the information to the clipboard (using the copy button), and paste it into an email to technical support.
  5. Go to the Options page, Backup tab, and change the Volume Shadow Copy Logging to Full. Then re-run the backup and send the log to technical support.

Resolution

Certain issues in the operating system are known to cause this error under certain conditions, such as high levels of disk activity and when disk space is low. Please apply the following hotfixes:

If the folder contains files that are not usually open while the backup runs, you can tell the backup to not use the volume shadow copy to backup the files. This can avoid problems with certain directories that are never included as part of a volume shadow copy snapshot.

To exclude a folder from open file backup, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Folders page
  2. For each folder with the problem:
    1. Right click on the folder experiencing the error and choose Properties from the menu.
    2. Change "Disable Open File Backup" to Yes and click Save in the lower right hand corner.
  3. Click Save in the lower right hand corner.