I have been using Paragon B&R Free for over a year without problems. I backup to an external hard drive. Suddenly, today, it gets partway through the backup, to the point where is says, "Collect file information," and stops with Windows giving me this message: "A part of Paragon System Utilities has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available." Even viewer logs the following application error: Faulting application name: backup.exe, version: 10.1.19.16240, time stamp: 0x50ae1d72 Faulting module name: hdm.dll, version: 10.1.19.16240, time stamp: 0x50ae1695 Exception code: 0xc0000005 Fault offset: 0x0028e4a3 Faulting process id: 0x1798 Faulting application start time: 0x01ce8b15e6ef2f20 Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Paragon Software\Backup and Recovery 2012 Free\program\backup.exe Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\Paragon Software\Backup and Recovery 2012 Free\program\hdm.dll Report Id: 71ac9e80-f70a-11e2-b1e9-b23ade79287b I downloaded the latest Update of Paragon B&R [Paragon Backup & Recovery™, version 10.1.19.16240 (22.11.12 ) Free], rebooted, and tried again with the same result. I am using Windows 7 sp 1. Why is this happening?
Most likely your Anti-Virus is monitoring this process so aggressively that its causing Paragon to crash. This usually happens when you have the VSS method chosen as your preferred Hot Processing method. Are you using AVG? Things to try: - Try running a backup again with your AV disabled. This will be to verify if it is actually your AV that is conflicting with the Paragon backup process. If Paragon suddenly works, then you know its your AV. If applicable, I recommend you contact the AV vendor and raise it as a problem. - If it is your AV according to your test, then I recommend you change hot processing methods. Its usually the VSS method that your AV can find suspicious - even though it never flags anything as a threat, it just seems to monitor this process fairly aggressively. To change hot processing methods in Paragon, go to "Settings" -> Hot Processing. Change it to Paragon Hot Processing (or Paragon Hot Backup). If it doesn't work, or its greyed out, then this means that when you installed Paragon, you never chose the option to also install "Hotcore". I believe by default, its not chosen, so you may not have it installed. If this is the case, you'd need to uninstall Paragon and then reinstall it. I'd recommend you do not use a 3rd party uninstaller. Use the native Paragon uninstaller (in add remove programs) and reboot after uninstall. Also reboot after install. Note, 3rd party uninstallers can wreak havoc for apps that install system drivers. So if you're a Revo lover, I recommend you give Revo or any other 3rd party uninstaller a break. Not that you mentioned this, but thought I better point it out to warn you in advance. It took me a few days to figure out why my hibernation was suddenly not working and this was as a result of the Paragon app crash. If you use hibernation on your PC (or Hibernation Sleep), its also probable that the Paragon crash has made your hibernation file inactive. If you do use hibernation, test it. If it runs - great, but if it doesn't run, you can run a system restore point to fix it (or restore a previous image backup). Just in case you're not aware, always make sure your AV is disabled when running a system restore point. Hope this helps. If it doesn't help, then I don't know what else might be causing it. Most likely, it will be a security app of some sort.
Yes, AVG was the problem! I'd forgotten that I'd switched from Avast to AVG between the last time a did a backup and now. Disabling AVG solves the problem and so does leaving AVG up and changing hot processing to Paragon Hot Backup. It seems that the latter takes longer for the backup to complete, but either way works. I don't use hibernation, so that's not an issue with me. But thanks for pointing out to disable my AV when running a system restore point. I didn't know that. Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it!
I have had this problem for a while, but am only now getting around to addressing it. Background: Win7-64, BR2013Free. The backups run fine per the schedule set up several months ago. However, every attempt to start the program manually as either regular or syadmin user results in the message which is the title of this thread. I logged in as sysadmin and uninstalled BR2013Free, then re-installed from scratch. It worked ! although the user interface (UI) felt very unfamiliar. I then set up a schedule to do a full weekly primary hdd backup. I exited the program, then re-entered it. Same unfamiliar UI. I then realized there's an option near the bottom to switch the "Advanced User Options". And, voila!, the problem appeared. Since switching to the advanced UI I can not successfully start the program. I use Comodo AV, and tried turning off every option (AV, Firewall, Defense+Security Level, Sandbox, GameMode) ... no luck. So .... any ideas ? Obviously I would like a complete fix so that I can use the Advanced UI, but if even if there's just some way to (externally) switch back to the basic UI so I launch the program and can create some more backup schedules, that would help. Thanks in Advanced (TIA) !
G'day ParaFree, I'd be hedging my bets that its probably Comodo, but I might be wrong. I did experience the same problem as you did when I installed "Paragon Backup and Recovery 12 Compact" a long while ago. From what I can recall, I managed to get it working by doing the following: - Uninstall it - Disable your AV and your HIPS (Defence+) and then reinstall Paragon. Make sure you reinstall with admin privileges (right click on the Paragon installer and "Run as Admin"). Also, during the Paragon installation process, you'll be prompted at some stage to chose which components to install (chose all components, which will ensure that Paragon Hot Processing also gets installed). Then try running the "Advanced UI" again. Hopefully this time it works. I'm just sharing that I had the same problem as you did and how I got around it - which could have been a fluke. Therefore, this doesn't mean it will also work for you, but hopefully it does. Its worth a shot. Cheers,
Thanks, Volare. I just tried all that ... no luck. (Disconnected ethernet, disabled everything in Comodo, uninstalled, reboot, re-installed (incl hot processing), reboot, started program, switch to Adv UI --> problem). (Made sure each reboot still had everything disabled in Comodo.) I may be willing to remove Comodo completely and try again, but at this point I have a feeling there's something broken in the registry or Win7, and that an un-install of Paragon does not completely clean out the registry and settings. Is there a custom Paragon supplied un-install routine which makes sure to completely clean out left-overs from a previous install ? Edit: I perused thru the registry ... there are a lot of "paragon" entries, including may old "job" (previous scheduled tasks) entries -- even after multiple un-installs. I am wondering if there's some sort of spill-over or limit or buffer overflow that has gotten triggered on my system causing the software's inability to launch the Advanced UI (which, of course, give you access to all the history and tasks) ...
It could be a number of things, but its usually just a single thing causing the problem. Just make sure you're always backing-up in case you pull the wrong trigger. The best way to uninstall Paragon is to use their own uninstaller. I'm not a fan of 3rd party uninstallers when it comes to uninstalling apps with services and drivers. It sounds like you have some experience with the registry. You can try running a registry cleaner after uninstalling Paragon, but I think its a long shot, meaning, it probably won't solve your problem. Paragon leverages the Windows Task scheduler and it sounds like you have some Paragon entries in your task scheduler - if so delete them. From memory, Paragon apps usually don't leave that many orphaned registry entries behind after uninstalling their apps, but there will be a few (many of the entries you described just sound like entries in your task scheduler). Also, after uninstall, make sure you manually delete any left-over paragon folders/files (ie, C:\Program Files (x86)\Paragon Software\Paragon Backup and Recovery 2013\ AND you should have a folder in your root drive "C:\archive_db" - this is just a small database file that lists all your backups which appears in the Paragon GUI - therefore take note of how many backups you currently have so you can manually re-add them into the database later. It might be worth deleting this archive before you reinstall, just in case the archive database is corrupt, which could be causing the crash (This is just a guess, but note, when I uninstalled Paragon, I also manually deleted the achive_db folder). If you have hundreds of backups created with Paragon - be prepared that if you delete the archive_db folder, you will need to manually re-add them into the database one-by-one - this will be time consuming, but will only take you a few minutes if you only have a handful of backups to re-add. If you decide to give a reg cleaner a shot, make sure you only run a reg scan after reboot (ie, Uninstall Paragon first, you should then be prompted to reboot your computer, if not, reboot it anyway, once you're back into windows, run a reg scan). Some security apps aren't always fully disabled even when you disable them within their GUI. There might be a specific Comodo service you could try disabling, however I am not familiar with Comodo to offer you more specific advice. Other things to try - Within your Paragon directory, add launcher.exe and plauncher_s.exe to your Comodo exceptions list for both the AV and HIPS. Which OS are you using? Note, I'm using W7 x64 and I just had a look at the compatibility modes for both launcher.exe and plauncher_s.exe. I'm currently using Paragon B&R 11 and for launcher.exe, its set to Windows XP (SP3) mode and plauncher.exe is set to Windows Vista. Perhaps its worth trying to change the compatibility mode to see if you have any luck?
Volare: BINGO !!!! Thank you ! Thank you ! Thank you ! Before the step that solves everything I did one extra step -- deleting the tasks in Task Scheduler --- but I don't think that had anything to do with it. I had also during one attempt removed the old C:\Program Files folders, but no luck. So here's what solved the problem: (Win7-64 just like yours) All of the following was done from a sysadmin account and without touching anything in Comodo (i.e. full protection was "ON"). Just before re-install -- based on what you mentioned about "C:\archive_db" -- I renamed that folder. I then deleted the old tasks in Task Scheduler (except one created during an earlier install attempt today), re-installed BR2013Free, rebooted, started the software. I switched to Advanced UI. And, voila, it launched without problems. ( The last step is what appeared to create a new "C:\archive_db" folder with a blank "arcdir" file (1KB, being the minimum file cluster size). ) I exited the software, copied the old "arcdir" (3.10MB) from the renamed folder to "C:\archive_db" and relaunched the software. --> CRASH. I deleted the "arcdir" file (leaving the "C:\archive_db" folder empty) and restarted the software. It worked So ... it appears a corrupt database is at fault. Is there a way to fix that 3.1MB database ? Some routine in BR2013 ?
AWESOME Glad to know the cause of the problem was located. Mate, I'm not aware of any way to fix that corrupted database file. Hopefully you don't have too many backups to re-add into the database. You can re-build your archive database by - in the Paragon GUI, click on "Archive"-->"Add Archive to the Database". Then just browse to the directory where you have saved your backup images - and from memory, its the .pbf file that you chose (I think its the file with the smallest footprint). You'll need to add your backups one-by-one until your archive list is populated with all your backups again (Just start with the oldest backup and work your way up to the latest backup). Might be worth to occasionally make a separate backup of the archive_db folder. Just add it as a required folder to backup in your file syncing app. Cheers,
I'm using Paragon Hard disk manager suite 15 (299-PEE_WinInstallSNx64_10.1.25.431_000) . When I try to Backup to VD, I get the error "a part of paragon system utilities has stopped working" see: http://www.aanning.com/ajissues/paragon/11.jpg (I was using suite 14, smart backup and got this error, resolved by disabling AVG and using the Paragon hot swap in settings instead of Microsoft VSS. Legacy smart backup works in suite 15 too, if I disable AVG and use hot swap) However, as I was saying when I try to Backup to VD in Suite 15, I get the error "a part of paragon system utilities has stopped working" I'm on windows 8.1 Enterprise 64bit. I should Also mention Apps I have installed which you may need to know about. AVG version 14.0.1001.519 Spybot 2.4.40.181 VMWare Workstation 10.0.4 VMPlayer 6.0.4 before running paragon, I used task manager to go in and End task on each of these, I also end tasked several others not listed such as iCloud. I tried to only have Paragon running when I did the Backup to VD, still get the error "a part of paragon system utilities has stopped working" (Below are log and system information file) http://www.aanning.com/ajissues/paragon/BioNtLog.txt http://www.aanning.com/ajissues/paragon/pwlog.txt http://www.aanning.com/ajissues/paragon/stubact_log.txt http://www.aanning.com/ajissues/paragon/system_information_nfo.txt Please advise , thanks James.
G'day James, I haven't graduated to Windows 8 yet, but I have experienced all sorts of crashes and BSOD's when using Paragon B&R with AVG in W7 x64. Even though switching to Paragon Hot Backup appeared to solve the problem, crashes can still happen albeit less frequently. Whether using VSS or Paragon Hot Backup, the issue most likely causing the crash is the "AVG Cache Server". This has been an ongoing problem for a long time (over 18 months), regardless of the Paragon version been used. I first experienced issues with B&R 11 and noticed the same issues existed with B&R 12. It appears it is still an ongoing problem with current Paragon versions, whether it be B&R or HDM. In AVG, go to "Options->Advanced Settings->Computer Protection->Cache Server" then uncheck "Enable adding new files into cache". Then click "Apply". Try running a backup again and let us know how you go. If your PC has two internal hard disks, instead of one, I also recommend that you set your "Hot Processing temporary drive" to your secondary drive (i.e. set it to drive D) and then add the entire secondary drive to the AVG resident shield exception list (Depending on how security conscious you are, I don't think you'd be compromising your security that much by doing this for a non-system drive). This should not be a necessary step, therefore its up to you, but its how I've set it up myself to minimise the chance of Paragon crashes. Also note, according to my experience after every crash, I found that windows hibernation would no longer work. Something in the system files would be corrupted and I could not find a way to fix this. If you do use hibernation, you'd need to run a system restore point (or restore a backup image) before the crash happened. Cheers,
