NTBackup.exe from WinNT 3.51 SP5 Causes Verify Errors

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.51 and 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51 and 4.0

SYMPTOMS

After installing Service Pack 5 on Windows NT 3.51, you may start to see verify errors in NTBackup. The errors you see, in either your NTbackup screen or Backup.log, will have the following format:

   *File information found on tape:
   *%FileName% %Size%   %Date%  %Time%
   *File information found on disk:
   *%FileName% %Size%   %Date%   %Time%
   *Difference encountered in alternate file data.
   *The file %FileName% is different.

CAUSE

This is caused by NTBackup checking the stream size of the data which may change every time you run backup.

RESOLUTION

This problem seems to be more of a nuisance than actual file problems, but can cause NTBackup to degrade in performance, especially on large volumes. So far, we have not seen any cases which actually showed file corruption. You can simply choose not to verify after backup or apply the Hotfix available as mentioned below.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.51. This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 U.S. Service Pack. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

   S E R V P A C K

   S E R V P A C K