This article is for informational purposes only and no longer being updated by Seagate.

Seagate Replica - Never Completes First Backup

Troubleshooting in case Replica never completes its first backup.

The Replica backup is designed to operate in the background with minimal interactions. However, occasionally the first backup will take a long time to complete, or the first backup does not launch automatically.

The following are some of the symptoms:

  • File remaining count never seems to decrease.
  • Replica system tray reports Creating recovery point for several hours.
  • It has been several days and the backup is still progressing.
  • The installation didn’t complete or the backup never began after installation.


For the Replica Backup software to run a backup, verify the following items:

  • If the system has been optimized by an advanced user or by optimization software, some key services may have been disabled. Make sure the required services are running and set to the proper start state.
    1. Click Start.
    2. Choose Run
    3. Type "services.msc" and press Enter.
    4. Double-click each item listed below and confirm the "Startup Type" value.
      1. "COM+ Event System" service: start type=manual
      2. "COM+System Application" service: start type=manual
      3. "Remote Procedure Call (RPC)" service: start type=automatic
      4. "Terminal Services" service: start type=automatic
        Note: In Windows 7 and Vista, Terminal Services is known as Remote Desktop Services.
      5. "MS Shadow Copy Provider" service: start type=automatic
      6. "Volume Shadow Copy" service: start type=automatic
      7. "Seagate Replica Service" service: start type=automatic
      8. "Seagate Replica Sysmon" service: start type=automatic
  • The initial backup may not complete because of issues with Volume Shadow Copy. 
  • The system must be healthy before the backup begins. If the computer is having problems, it does not do much good to perform a full system backup. The system would just be restored to the same, problematic state it was in before the backup was created. If the backup will not complete, check if the system is healthy.
    • Run Windows error-checking or chkdsk on the drives that will be the source of the backup, in order to confirm that the partitions are healthy.
    • Check the Windows event viewer logs to determine if the computer is reporting any errors.
  • If the Antivirus or Antispyware security on a computer is particularly strict, it may prevent the software from installing or running properly.
    • Be sure to allow the software to install or run, if prompted.
    • If the system is set to higher security modes, be sure to allow exceptions for the software. See your Antivirus / Antispyware software help documentation for details on how to allow exceptions.
    • If the installation will not complete, it may be necessary to disable the antivirus software temporarily, until the installation of Replica completes.
  • Reboot the computer and let the backup run for a while before opening any programs.
    Sometimes, if the Replica backup was attempting to access a file at the same time as another program, the backup may continue to retry to backup that file until it is no longer busy. A reboot will make sure that whatever program has the file open will release it.