This article provides information about the error message VSS_E_PROVIDER_VETO error on volume that may appear in the log files when attempting to copy open / locked files.


The error is generated by Windows refusing SyncBackSE/Pro's request to use the Volume Shadow-copy Service (VSS). Possible reasons why Windows is refusing / giving this error:

  • When multiple backup programs are installed on your system. Backup programs have their own proprietary snapshot manager which can cause conflicts with other backup solutions installed on the system. If you have more than one backup program installed on your system, disable/uninstall all of the programs except for SyncBack, and run the profile again. After uninstalling the backup programs, clean the registry to remove any registry entries corresponding to those backup programs.
  • Shadow storage on the source drives is not configured or not large enough. VSS requires space allocated to each volume to be able to create and store snapshots. If there is no free disk space (or if the partition has less than 100MB of free disk space), then the snapshot process may fail with that error.
  • The file being copied is on a FAT32 partition or there is no NTFS or ReFS partition on an internal drive. Open / locked files can be copied from FAT32 partitions only if there is also an NTFS or ReFS partition on an internal drive (it cannot be an external drive).
  • VSS conflicts can occur when two (or more) SyncBack profiles are trying to run VSS at the same time. Ensure that only one backup profile is running at a time.
  • Conflicts with backup devices can happen when another process is trying to use the backup destination at the same time as SyncBack. Ensure that no other backup tasks are running at the same time.
  • There was too much disk activity so Windows could not create a snapshot of the drive. Stop any unnecessary programs to reduce disk activity or re-schedule your backup to run when there is less disk usage.