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Question

How to diagnose network problem?

Upon completion of the back up of my XP laptop I have the backup job set to copy the backup file from the laptop to my NAS. Unfortunately, recently I keep getting the message "Cannot copy <filename> The specified network name is no longer available". When I look at the network share via Windows Explorer, it shows as being available. How can I find out what is causing this problem?
Additional information:
* The Laptop is connected over a wired connection so wireless issues are not involved in this problem.
* The file to be copied is about 10GB in size and the copy operation usually "dies" after 7 to 9 GB have been copied.
* The process worked fine in the past and "nothing" (apart from regular Windows updates) has changed recently.
* The backup job itself is not the culprit: if I do a straight COPY via Windows Explorer, the same problem occurs.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Sounds right.
Aug 29, 2013 4:22AM PDT

Many NAS doe not support files over 4GB. I've seen such fail at 8GB.

Try files under 4GB as a test.

No, I do not consider this to be a network problem.
Bob

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I don't think it's quite this easy...

I have backups of over 9GB for the laptop since October of last year.
I also back up my Windows 7 desktop to the same NAS (QNAP 559 Pro II) and those backups are around 35GB in size. The only differences: the desktop runs Windows 7 and sits in my office. The Laptop runs XP and sits 30 feet away in my bar. Maybe the fumes from my scotch are affecting it?
(I have no doubt a 4GB file will work ok. As I said in my original post, the copy usually fails somewhere between 7 and 9 GB [but it has failed as early as 1.5GB into the copy])

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Since it is backup.
Aug 29, 2013 7:35AM PDT

Did you try the old delete the target folder and create it again? Some of those NAS have file system issues.

And across WiFi you may encounter other issues.

-> Once in a while you get a client that is stuck on a problem and will not try anything. Such as change to another sync app. I've used RoadKil's Unstoppable copier to work around odd copy issues. No, it didn't fix the core issue but the client was not about to change the NAS or the network. They were digging in all heels and we tried another solution which worked but they still wanted the old way to be fixed (without changing a thing?)
Bob

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Trying it now

I am using Acronis Backup & Recovery as a backup program. Acronis B&R has an option to "replicate" a backup into additional locations and that is the option I am using. When it comes to backup locations, Acronis has its own internal structure - something it calls a "vault" and that vault contains a "Catalog" directory and some sort of XML file. Because of this structure, Acronis recommends managing your backups via Acronis itself rather than going in through the backdoor and renaming directories or deleting individual backups.
A a test, I created a new folder and copied to this folder. This, surprisingly, worked. I was also able to then move the copied file from the new folder to the existing one using my W7 machine. Before I start trying to create a new vault via Acronis, I will try this operation a few more times - it just does not make sense to me that I cannot copy from the laptop to directory "A" on the NAS but I CAN copy to directory "B" and I can also move the file from "A" to "B" via my W7 machine.
I suppose I could try the unstoppable copier you mentioned (sounds like an interesting program anyway) but it would require me to cobble together a combination of jobs: One local backup job WITHOUT the "replicate" option and then a separate copy job.
WiFi, as mentioned in my original post, is not used in this case - it's all good old Ethernet.

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Sadly it sounds like an old issue.
Aug 29, 2013 10:35AM PDT

With permissions and more at play here I usually find I need to remove the folder that broke on the NAS and recreate it from the machine that needs to use it. Some may call that hocus pocus but ownership and permissions were bad enough on a local PC. Across a network and a NAS makes it more fun. Sorry but I am not support for that make/model so all I can do is share I've seen this fix a few.
Bob

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No Luck

I have now tried it a few times and have not been able to complete one single copy operation to the original location or the new location. I have the feeling this laptop is suffering from bit rot. It was slated for replacement anyways so I won't be spending anymore time on this problem and just hope the backups to the local drive will be sufficient until someone finally makes a convertible Haswell Windows 8.1 touchscreen machine that I like. Thanks for trying to help!