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Having problems with SQL Agent in SQL 7. Just noticed that my backup hasn't
been running since the 17th. Went into SQL Agent, and the 4 jobs that it
does (integrity checks, optimizations, transaction log backup, and db
backup) were all hanging -- still running "step 1" from the 18th.

I stopped SQL Agent and restarted it, and tried running the integrity
checks. It hung.

Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running optimizations. It hung.

Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running db backups. The backups
job runs three backups: master, msdb, and my database. Interestingly, the
backup job created a backup for master and msdb, but didn't create a backup
for my database. The job just continually showed that it was being processed
when I looked in EM, under Management, SQL Server Agent, Jobs.

I stopped SQL Agent again, and restarted it. Then I did a manual backup of
my database. The manual backup worked fine. Also, the database itself seems
to have been working fine these past 11 days. But, for some reason, SQL
Agent won't run the jobs for my database.

As noted, the last successful running of the jobs was on the 17th, between 4
and 5 a.m. On that same day, between 3 and 4 a.m., the sys admin applied
some Windows 2000 Server security updates and rebooted the server. Then the
jobs ran an hour later. Then, on the 18th, the integrity checks ran
successfully at 4:10. After that, nothing ran successfully.

Even stranger, still, are the SQL Server Logs.

The SQL Server logs show SQL Server stopping at 3:29 am on the 17th
(probably at the time of reboot), and then restarting at 3:35 am, and then
completing the backups of the three databases at 4:37 and 4:38 am. That's
all fine.

Then, that night, at 10:08 pm on the 17th, there's a log entry that reads:
"Using 'xpsql70.dll' version '2000.28.09' to execute extended stored
procedure 'xp_msver'"

Then, at 11:00 pm that same night, EVERY database was backed up (master,
model, msdb, Northwind, pubs, my database, and another I have there called
test1). They all got backed up at 11:00 pm on the 17th, even though I have
no maintenance plan that specifies that they should be backed up.

Then, after the 17th, according to the logs, those 7 databases got backed up
every night between 10 and 11 pm -- but at a different time each night:
10:41 on the 18th; then 10:37 the following night; then 10:41; then 10:42;
then 10:51; 10:57; etc. Clearly, these backups are happening at the end of
another job, which is taking longer and longer.

But the question still remains: what caused these 7 backups to happen in the
first place? The Windows 2000 Server updates that the admin applied the
morning of the 17th? And why do my regular Agent jobs not execute, but just
hang indefinitely?

Also, though the log shows these 7 backups running every night, I don't see
the backups anywhere. Looking at the properties for one of the log entries,
I see the following:

Database backed up with following information: Database: Northwind, creation
date and time: 2002/05/19(12:03:16), pages dumped: 371, first LSN: 26:426:1,
last LSN: 26:428:1, sort order: 52, striped: 0, number of dump devices: 1,
device information: (FILE=1, TYPE=VIRTUAL_DEVICE:
{'Northwind_00__8b6a35a5_2ead_4045_8bc2_c975392f00 20_'}).

So it's backing up to a virtual device, which explains why I don't see the
backups anywhere.

Anyway, any ideas as to what might be going on and how I may be able to fix
it so that my regular maintenance jobs and backups are able to run again
would be appreciated. Thanks!

Neil

It has been a long time since I've worked with SQL Server 7.0, and I
don't have the docs handy, but the thought I have is that a third
party backup tool is running the database backups. As shipped SQL
Server can only back up to a disk file (local or remote) or a tape
drive physically attached to the server. However they provided hooks
for third party backup software vendors to write an agent that runs on
the SQL Server; the agent initiates the backup and routes the data to
the backup program running on a centralized system. That allows
backup directly to tape with the tape drive on another server.

Good luck!

Roy Harvey
Beacon Falls, CT

On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:43:33 GMT, "Neil" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:

>Having problems with SQL Agent in SQL 7. Just noticed that my backup hasn't
>been running since the 17th. Went into SQL Agent, and the 4 jobs that it
>does (integrity checks, optimizations, transaction log backup, and db
>backup) were all hanging -- still running "step 1" from the 18th.
>
>I stopped SQL Agent and restarted it, and tried running the integrity
>checks. It hung.
>
>Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running optimizations. It hung.
>
>Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running db backups. The backups
>job runs three backups: master, msdb, and my database. Interestingly, the
>backup job created a backup for master and msdb, but didn't create a backup
>for my database. The job just continually showed that it was being processed
>when I looked in EM, under Management, SQL Server Agent, Jobs.
>
>I stopped SQL Agent again, and restarted it. Then I did a manual backup of
>my database. The manual backup worked fine. Also, the database itself seems
>to have been working fine these past 11 days. But, for some reason, SQL
>Agent won't run the jobs for my database.
>
>As noted, the last successful running of the jobs was on the 17th, between 4
>and 5 a.m. On that same day, between 3 and 4 a.m., the sys admin applied
>some Windows 2000 Server security updates and rebooted the server. Then the
>jobs ran an hour later. Then, on the 18th, the integrity checks ran
>successfully at 4:10. After that, nothing ran successfully.
>
>Even stranger, still, are the SQL Server Logs.
>
>The SQL Server logs show SQL Server stopping at 3:29 am on the 17th
>(probably at the time of reboot), and then restarting at 3:35 am, and then
>completing the backups of the three databases at 4:37 and 4:38 am. That's
>all fine.
>
>Then, that night, at 10:08 pm on the 17th, there's a log entry that reads:
>"Using 'xpsql70.dll' version '2000.28.09' to execute extended stored
>procedure 'xp_msver'"
>
>Then, at 11:00 pm that same night, EVERY database was backed up (master,
>model, msdb, Northwind, pubs, my database, and another I have there called
>test1). They all got backed up at 11:00 pm on the 17th, even though I have
>no maintenance plan that specifies that they should be backed up.
>
>Then, after the 17th, according to the logs, those 7 databases got backed up
>every night between 10 and 11 pm -- but at a different time each night:
>10:41 on the 18th; then 10:37 the following night; then 10:41; then 10:42;
>then 10:51; 10:57; etc. Clearly, these backups are happening at the end of
>another job, which is taking longer and longer.
>
>But the question still remains: what caused these 7 backups to happen in the
>first place? The Windows 2000 Server updates that the admin applied the
>morning of the 17th? And why do my regular Agent jobs not execute, but just
>hang indefinitely?
>
>Also, though the log shows these 7 backups running every night, I don't see
>the backups anywhere. Looking at the properties for one of the log entries,
>I see the following:
>
>Database backed up with following information: Database: Northwind, creation
>date and time: 2002/05/19(12:03:16), pages dumped: 371, first LSN: 26:426:1,
>last LSN: 26:428:1, sort order: 52, striped: 0, number of dump devices: 1,
>device information: (FILE=1, TYPE=VIRTUAL_DEVICE:
>{'Northwind_00__8b6a35a5_2ead_4045_8bc2_c975392f0 020_'}).
>
>So it's backing up to a virtual device, which explains why I don't see the
>backups anywhere.
>
>Anyway, any ideas as to what might be going on and how I may be able to fix
>it so that my regular maintenance jobs and backups are able to run again
>would be appreciated. Thanks!
>
>Neil
>

Yes -- after I wrote the post, I found out that the backup is being
performed by the tape backup system's agent, which hooks into SQL Server.
The only thing is, this has been going on for years, and has never
interfered with SQL Server Agent before. Also, the tape backup agent's
backups never appeared in the SQL log before. (The software is Veritas
Agent, I believe.)

So, in summary:

1) Vertias Agent has been running for years doing nightly backup to tape,
without interfering with SQL Server Agent, and without its backups appearing
on the SQL Server log.

2) On 4/17, an update to Windows 2000 Server was installed, and, that
evening, the Veritas Agent backups started appearing on the SQL Server log.
(The sys admin swears he didn't update or change anything with Veritas Agent
or SQL Server -- only the Windows 2000 Server update.)

3) After the Veritas Agent backups started appearing on the SQL Server logs,
the night of 4/17, the regular SQL Server Agent maintenance and backup jobs
stopped working. They would execute, but would remain on "executing step 1"
indefinitely. When I tried to run each step manually, the results were the
same, with the exception of the backup. When I ran the SQL Server Agent
backup job manually, it did backup the master and msdb databases; but it
hung indefinitely when backing up my database.

So that's the situation. Now how to get out of it and get SQL Server Agent
to start working again.

Neil


"Roy Harvey (SQL Server MVP)" <roy_harvey@snet.net> wrote in message
news:uvke1454aqpg4rriceqh5uo3aenuedcktd@4ax.com...
> It has been a long time since I've worked with SQL Server 7.0, and I
> don't have the docs handy, but the thought I have is that a third
> party backup tool is running the database backups. As shipped SQL
> Server can only back up to a disk file (local or remote) or a tape
> drive physically attached to the server. However they provided hooks
> for third party backup software vendors to write an agent that runs on
> the SQL Server; the agent initiates the backup and routes the data to
> the backup program running on a centralized system. That allows
> backup directly to tape with the tape drive on another server.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Roy Harvey
> Beacon Falls, CT
>
> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:43:33 GMT, "Neil" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:
>
>>Having problems with SQL Agent in SQL 7. Just noticed that my backup
>>hasn't
>>been running since the 17th. Went into SQL Agent, and the 4 jobs that it
>>does (integrity checks, optimizations, transaction log backup, and db
>>backup) were all hanging -- still running "step 1" from the 18th.
>>
>>I stopped SQL Agent and restarted it, and tried running the integrity
>>checks. It hung.
>>
>>Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running optimizations. It
>>hung.
>>
>>Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running db backups. The
>>backups
>>job runs three backups: master, msdb, and my database. Interestingly, the
>>backup job created a backup for master and msdb, but didn't create a
>>backup
>>for my database. The job just continually showed that it was being
>>processed
>>when I looked in EM, under Management, SQL Server Agent, Jobs.
>>
>>I stopped SQL Agent again, and restarted it. Then I did a manual backup of
>>my database. The manual backup worked fine. Also, the database itself
>>seems
>>to have been working fine these past 11 days. But, for some reason, SQL
>>Agent won't run the jobs for my database.
>>
>>As noted, the last successful running of the jobs was on the 17th, between
>>4
>>and 5 a.m. On that same day, between 3 and 4 a.m., the sys admin applied
>>some Windows 2000 Server security updates and rebooted the server. Then
>>the
>>jobs ran an hour later. Then, on the 18th, the integrity checks ran
>>successfully at 4:10. After that, nothing ran successfully.
>>
>>Even stranger, still, are the SQL Server Logs.
>>
>>The SQL Server logs show SQL Server stopping at 3:29 am on the 17th
>>(probably at the time of reboot), and then restarting at 3:35 am, and then
>>completing the backups of the three databases at 4:37 and 4:38 am. That's
>>all fine.
>>
>>Then, that night, at 10:08 pm on the 17th, there's a log entry that reads:
>>"Using 'xpsql70.dll' version '2000.28.09' to execute extended stored
>>procedure 'xp_msver'"
>>
>>Then, at 11:00 pm that same night, EVERY database was backed up (master,
>>model, msdb, Northwind, pubs, my database, and another I have there called
>>test1). They all got backed up at 11:00 pm on the 17th, even though I have
>>no maintenance plan that specifies that they should be backed up.
>>
>>Then, after the 17th, according to the logs, those 7 databases got backed
>>up
>>every night between 10 and 11 pm -- but at a different time each night:
>>10:41 on the 18th; then 10:37 the following night; then 10:41; then 10:42;
>>then 10:51; 10:57; etc. Clearly, these backups are happening at the end of
>>another job, which is taking longer and longer.
>>
>>But the question still remains: what caused these 7 backups to happen in
>>the
>>first place? The Windows 2000 Server updates that the admin applied the
>>morning of the 17th? And why do my regular Agent jobs not execute, but
>>just
>>hang indefinitely?
>>
>>Also, though the log shows these 7 backups running every night, I don't
>>see
>>the backups anywhere. Looking at the properties for one of the log
>>entries,
>>I see the following:
>>
>>Database backed up with following information: Database: Northwind,
>>creation
>>date and time: 2002/05/19(12:03:16), pages dumped: 371, first LSN:
>>26:426:1,
>>last LSN: 26:428:1, sort order: 52, striped: 0, number of dump devices: 1,
>>device information: (FILE=1, TYPE=VIRTUAL_DEVICE:
>>{'Northwind_00__8b6a35a5_2ead_4045_8bc2_c975392f 0020_'}).
>>
>>So it's backing up to a virtual device, which explains why I don't see the
>>backups anywhere.
>>
>>Anyway, any ideas as to what might be going on and how I may be able to
>>fix
>>it so that my regular maintenance jobs and backups are able to run again
>>would be appreciated. Thanks!
>>
>>Neil
>>

I find it strange that the backups through Veritas never used to
appear in the SQL Server log. I would have expected them to always be
there.

I'm afraid I can't be of much help. Even when I used SQL Server 7.0,
I never used Agent to run anything. I was working in a shop that had
a sophisticated (and VERY expensive) batch scheduling tool which we
used for all our backups and maintenance.

It sounds like a possible permissions problem of some kind, but beyond
that I have no clue.

Good luck!

Roy Harvey
Beacon Falls, CT

On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:54:20 GMT, "Neil" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:

>Yes -- after I wrote the post, I found out that the backup is being
>performed by the tape backup system's agent, which hooks into SQL Server.
>The only thing is, this has been going on for years, and has never
>interfered with SQL Server Agent before. Also, the tape backup agent's
>backups never appeared in the SQL log before. (The software is Veritas
>Agent, I believe.)
>
>So, in summary:
>
>1) Vertias Agent has been running for years doing nightly backup to tape,
>without interfering with SQL Server Agent, and without its backups appearing
>on the SQL Server log.
>
>2) On 4/17, an update to Windows 2000 Server was installed, and, that
>evening, the Veritas Agent backups started appearing on the SQL Server log.
>(The sys admin swears he didn't update or change anything with Veritas Agent
>or SQL Server -- only the Windows 2000 Server update.)
>
>3) After the Veritas Agent backups started appearing on the SQL Server logs,
>the night of 4/17, the regular SQL Server Agent maintenance and backup jobs
>stopped working. They would execute, but would remain on "executing step 1"
>indefinitely. When I tried to run each step manually, the results were the
>same, with the exception of the backup. When I ran the SQL Server Agent
>backup job manually, it did backup the master and msdb databases; but it
>hung indefinitely when backing up my database.
>
>So that's the situation. Now how to get out of it and get SQL Server Agent
>to start working again.
>
>Neil
>
>
>"Roy Harvey (SQL Server MVP)" <roy_harvey@snet.net> wrote in message
>news:uvke1454aqpg4rriceqh5uo3aenuedcktd@4ax.com.. .
>> It has been a long time since I've worked with SQL Server 7.0, and I
>> don't have the docs handy, but the thought I have is that a third
>> party backup tool is running the database backups. As shipped SQL
>> Server can only back up to a disk file (local or remote) or a tape
>> drive physically attached to the server. However they provided hooks
>> for third party backup software vendors to write an agent that runs on
>> the SQL Server; the agent initiates the backup and routes the data to
>> the backup program running on a centralized system. That allows
>> backup directly to tape with the tape drive on another server.
>>
>> Good luck!
>>
>> Roy Harvey
>> Beacon Falls, CT
>>
>> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:43:33 GMT, "Neil" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:
>>
>>>Having problems with SQL Agent in SQL 7. Just noticed that my backup
>>>hasn't
>>>been running since the 17th. Went into SQL Agent, and the 4 jobs that it
>>>does (integrity checks, optimizations, transaction log backup, and db
>>>backup) were all hanging -- still running "step 1" from the 18th.
>>>
>>>I stopped SQL Agent and restarted it, and tried running the integrity
>>>checks. It hung.
>>>
>>>Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running optimizations. It
>>>hung.
>>>
>>>Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running db backups. The
>>>backups
>>>job runs three backups: master, msdb, and my database. Interestingly, the
>>>backup job created a backup for master and msdb, but didn't create a
>>>backup
>>>for my database. The job just continually showed that it was being
>>>processed
>>>when I looked in EM, under Management, SQL Server Agent, Jobs.
>>>
>>>I stopped SQL Agent again, and restarted it. Then I did a manual backup of
>>>my database. The manual backup worked fine. Also, the database itself
>>>seems
>>>to have been working fine these past 11 days. But, for some reason, SQL
>>>Agent won't run the jobs for my database.
>>>
>>>As noted, the last successful running of the jobs was on the 17th, between
>>>4
>>>and 5 a.m. On that same day, between 3 and 4 a.m., the sys admin applied
>>>some Windows 2000 Server security updates and rebooted the server. Then
>>>the
>>>jobs ran an hour later. Then, on the 18th, the integrity checks ran
>>>successfully at 4:10. After that, nothing ran successfully.
>>>
>>>Even stranger, still, are the SQL Server Logs.
>>>
>>>The SQL Server logs show SQL Server stopping at 3:29 am on the 17th
>>>(probably at the time of reboot), and then restarting at 3:35 am, and then
>>>completing the backups of the three databases at 4:37 and 4:38 am. That's
>>>all fine.
>>>
>>>Then, that night, at 10:08 pm on the 17th, there's a log entry that reads:
>>>"Using 'xpsql70.dll' version '2000.28.09' to execute extended stored
>>>procedure 'xp_msver'"
>>>
>>>Then, at 11:00 pm that same night, EVERY database was backed up (master,
>>>model, msdb, Northwind, pubs, my database, and another I have there called
>>>test1). They all got backed up at 11:00 pm on the 17th, even though I have
>>>no maintenance plan that specifies that they should be backed up.
>>>
>>>Then, after the 17th, according to the logs, those 7 databases got backed
>>>up
>>>every night between 10 and 11 pm -- but at a different time each night:
>>>10:41 on the 18th; then 10:37 the following night; then 10:41; then 10:42;
>>>then 10:51; 10:57; etc. Clearly, these backups are happening at the end of
>>>another job, which is taking longer and longer.
>>>
>>>But the question still remains: what caused these 7 backups to happen in
>>>the
>>>first place? The Windows 2000 Server updates that the admin applied the
>>>morning of the 17th? And why do my regular Agent jobs not execute, but
>>>just
>>>hang indefinitely?
>>>
>>>Also, though the log shows these 7 backups running every night, I don't
>>>see
>>>the backups anywhere. Looking at the properties for one of the log
>>>entries,
>>>I see the following:
>>>
>>>Database backed up with following information: Database: Northwind,
>>>creation
>>>date and time: 2002/05/19(12:03:16), pages dumped: 371, first LSN:
>>>26:426:1,
>>>last LSN: 26:428:1, sort order: 52, striped: 0, number of dump devices: 1,
>>>device information: (FILE=1, TYPE=VIRTUAL_DEVICE:
>>>{'Northwind_00__8b6a35a5_2ead_4045_8bc2_c975392 f0020_'}).
>>>
>>>So it's backing up to a virtual device, which explains why I don't see the
>>>backups anywhere.
>>>
>>>Anyway, any ideas as to what might be going on and how I may be able to
>>>fix
>>>it so that my regular maintenance jobs and backups are able to run again
>>>would be appreciated. Thanks!
>>>
>>>Neil
>>>
>

BTW, followup: a server reboot cleared up the problem. D'oh!

"Roy Harvey (SQL Server MVP)" <roy_harvey@snet.net> wrote in message
news:rtmf14pqn6ilkr3nv4nvtl5m6k8gh1jgad@4ax.com...
>I find it strange that the backups through Veritas never used to
> appear in the SQL Server log. I would have expected them to always be
> there.
>
> I'm afraid I can't be of much help. Even when I used SQL Server 7.0,
> I never used Agent to run anything. I was working in a shop that had
> a sophisticated (and VERY expensive) batch scheduling tool which we
> used for all our backups and maintenance.
>
> It sounds like a possible permissions problem of some kind, but beyond
> that I have no clue.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Roy Harvey
> Beacon Falls, CT
>
> On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:54:20 GMT, "Neil" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:
>
>>Yes -- after I wrote the post, I found out that the backup is being
>>performed by the tape backup system's agent, which hooks into SQL Server.
>>The only thing is, this has been going on for years, and has never
>>interfered with SQL Server Agent before. Also, the tape backup agent's
>>backups never appeared in the SQL log before. (The software is Veritas
>>Agent, I believe.)
>>
>>So, in summary:
>>
>>1) Vertias Agent has been running for years doing nightly backup to tape,
>>without interfering with SQL Server Agent, and without its backups
>>appearing
>>on the SQL Server log.
>>
>>2) On 4/17, an update to Windows 2000 Server was installed, and, that
>>evening, the Veritas Agent backups started appearing on the SQL Server
>>log.
>>(The sys admin swears he didn't update or change anything with Veritas
>>Agent
>>or SQL Server -- only the Windows 2000 Server update.)
>>
>>3) After the Veritas Agent backups started appearing on the SQL Server
>>logs,
>>the night of 4/17, the regular SQL Server Agent maintenance and backup
>>jobs
>>stopped working. They would execute, but would remain on "executing step
>>1"
>>indefinitely. When I tried to run each step manually, the results were the
>>same, with the exception of the backup. When I ran the SQL Server Agent
>>backup job manually, it did backup the master and msdb databases; but it
>>hung indefinitely when backing up my database.
>>
>>So that's the situation. Now how to get out of it and get SQL Server Agent
>>to start working again.
>>
>>Neil
>>
>>
>>"Roy Harvey (SQL Server MVP)" <roy_harvey@snet.net> wrote in message
>>news:uvke1454aqpg4rriceqh5uo3aenuedcktd@4ax.com. ..
>>> It has been a long time since I've worked with SQL Server 7.0, and I
>>> don't have the docs handy, but the thought I have is that a third
>>> party backup tool is running the database backups. As shipped SQL
>>> Server can only back up to a disk file (local or remote) or a tape
>>> drive physically attached to the server. However they provided hooks
>>> for third party backup software vendors to write an agent that runs on
>>> the SQL Server; the agent initiates the backup and routes the data to
>>> the backup program running on a centralized system. That allows
>>> backup directly to tape with the tape drive on another server.
>>>
>>> Good luck!
>>>
>>> Roy Harvey
>>> Beacon Falls, CT
>>>
>>> On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:43:33 GMT, "Neil" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Having problems with SQL Agent in SQL 7. Just noticed that my backup
>>>>hasn't
>>>>been running since the 17th. Went into SQL Agent, and the 4 jobs that it
>>>>does (integrity checks, optimizations, transaction log backup, and db
>>>>backup) were all hanging -- still running "step 1" from the 18th.
>>>>
>>>>I stopped SQL Agent and restarted it, and tried running the integrity
>>>>checks. It hung.
>>>>
>>>>Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running optimizations. It
>>>>hung.
>>>>
>>>>Stopped SQL Agent and restarted it and tried running db backups. The
>>>>backups
>>>>job runs three backups: master, msdb, and my database. Interestingly,
>>>>the
>>>>backup job created a backup for master and msdb, but didn't create a
>>>>backup
>>>>for my database. The job just continually showed that it was being
>>>>processed
>>>>when I looked in EM, under Management, SQL Server Agent, Jobs.
>>>>
>>>>I stopped SQL Agent again, and restarted it. Then I did a manual backup
>>>>of
>>>>my database. The manual backup worked fine. Also, the database itself
>>>>seems
>>>>to have been working fine these past 11 days. But, for some reason, SQL
>>>>Agent won't run the jobs for my database.
>>>>
>>>>As noted, the last successful running of the jobs was on the 17th,
>>>>between
>>>>4
>>>>and 5 a.m. On that same day, between 3 and 4 a.m., the sys admin applied
>>>>some Windows 2000 Server security updates and rebooted the server. Then
>>>>the
>>>>jobs ran an hour later. Then, on the 18th, the integrity checks ran
>>>>successfully at 4:10. After that, nothing ran successfully.
>>>>
>>>>Even stranger, still, are the SQL Server Logs.
>>>>
>>>>The SQL Server logs show SQL Server stopping at 3:29 am on the 17th
>>>>(probably at the time of reboot), and then restarting at 3:35 am, and
>>>>then
>>>>completing the backups of the three databases at 4:37 and 4:38 am.
>>>>That's
>>>>all fine.
>>>>
>>>>Then, that night, at 10:08 pm on the 17th, there's a log entry that
>>>>reads:
>>>>"Using 'xpsql70.dll' version '2000.28.09' to execute extended stored
>>>>procedure 'xp_msver'"
>>>>
>>>>Then, at 11:00 pm that same night, EVERY database was backed up (master,
>>>>model, msdb, Northwind, pubs, my database, and another I have there
>>>>called
>>>>test1). They all got backed up at 11:00 pm on the 17th, even though I
>>>>have
>>>>no maintenance plan that specifies that they should be backed up.
>>>>
>>>>Then, after the 17th, according to the logs, those 7 databases got
>>>>backed
>>>>up
>>>>every night between 10 and 11 pm -- but at a different time each night:
>>>>10:41 on the 18th; then 10:37 the following night; then 10:41; then
>>>>10:42;
>>>>then 10:51; 10:57; etc. Clearly, these backups are happening at the end
>>>>of
>>>>another job, which is taking longer and longer.
>>>>
>>>>But the question still remains: what caused these 7 backups to happen in
>>>>the
>>>>first place? The Windows 2000 Server updates that the admin applied the
>>>>morning of the 17th? And why do my regular Agent jobs not execute, but
>>>>just
>>>>hang indefinitely?
>>>>
>>>>Also, though the log shows these 7 backups running every night, I don't
>>>>see
>>>>the backups anywhere. Looking at the properties for one of the log
>>>>entries,
>>>>I see the following:
>>>>
>>>>Database backed up with following information: Database: Northwind,
>>>>creation
>>>>date and time: 2002/05/19(12:03:16), pages dumped: 371, first LSN:
>>>>26:426:1,
>>>>last LSN: 26:428:1, sort order: 52, striped: 0, number of dump devices:
>>>>1,
>>>>device information: (FILE=1, TYPE=VIRTUAL_DEVICE:
>>>>{'Northwind_00__8b6a35a5_2ead_4045_8bc2_c97539 2f0020_'}).
>>>>
>>>>So it's backing up to a virtual device, which explains why I don't see
>>>>the
>>>>backups anywhere.
>>>>
>>>>Anyway, any ideas as to what might be going on and how I may be able to
>>>>fix
>>>>it so that my regular maintenance jobs and backups are able to run again
>>>>would be appreciated. Thanks!
>>>>
>>>>Neil
>>>>
>>