The Toolkit report will display files that were skipped or encountered problems during a backup. Keep in mind that Toolkit does not back up folders or files that are hidden or system related. For a full list of items, see this article on what is excluded from a Toolkit backup.
IMPORTANT: This article references formatting the external drive from exFAT to NTFS as a solution to resolve some backup issues. See this article for steps on formatting the external drive.
Toolkit will provide a Windows notification that the backup has failed. To see which file(s) failed to back up, check the report. See the Toolkit User Manual for information on accessing the report.
If you contact support, please include a screenshot of the backup report in Toolkit. Not sure how to take a screenshot? See this video on taking a screenshot.
Error/Message - Please check permissions of the file
- Cause – Toolkit is unable to back up a file or files due to a permissions issue.
- Solution – Check to see what files are failing to back up. If those files are not needed, exclude them from the backup. See this section of the user manual to edit the backup plan. If the drive is formatted exFAT, reformat the drive to NTFS. Create a new backup to see if that resolves the issue. See this article for steps on formatting the external drive.
Error/Message - File is in use by another application or service
- Cause - A file or files in the backup plan is being used and Toolkit is unable to back it up
- Solution - Save and close any open files prior to the backup running. Some files are tied to specific programs and those programs may need to be closed too.
Error/Message - Volume unwritable
- Cause - Toolkit is unable to write to the external drive
- Solution - Delete the plan and create a new backup plan. If the drive is formatted exFAT, reformat the drive to NTFS. See this article for steps on formatting the external drive.
Error/Message - Destination file path is more than 256 characters long
- Cause - The file path exceeds 256 characters
- Solution - Locate the file(s) and shorten folder names in the file path. This error is related to a Windows limitation called MAX_PATH, more information can be found here from Microsoft.
Error/Message - Volume full
- Cause - The external drive is full
- Solution - Confirm that the external device has enough free space to complete the backup. See this article for some options.
Error/Message - Insufficient space
- Cause - There is not enough space on the external drive for the backup to complete
- Solution - Confirm that the external device has enough free space to complete the backup.
Error/Message - Destination device or path unavailable
- Cause - Toolkit is unable to write to the drive or path
- Solution - Confirm the drive is still detected by Windows. If the drive is detected, delete the plan, and create a new backup plan. If the drive is formatted exFAT, reformat the drive to NTFS. See this article for steps on formatting the external drive.
Error/Message - Host volume missing
- Cause - The internal drive of the computer is not detected – this affects computers with more than one internal drive
- Solution - Confirm that any source drive is still detected by Windows. This applies to those computers with more than one internal drive installed.
Error/Message - Target drive locked
- Cause – The drive is locked
- Solution – Unlock the drive using Seagate Secure and allow the back up to run.
Error/Message - Target drive disconnected
- Cause – The external drive is not connected
- Solution – Confirm that the external drive has not been disconnected or powered off.
Error/Message - Unknown error
- Cause - Unknown
- Solution – In this situation, the software is unable to determine why the backup has failed. Try deleting the current backup plan and format the drive NTFS if the drive is currently formatted exFAT. See this article for steps on formatting the external drive.
