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Mr. Jefferson
Asked: 2011-03-08 09:43:55 +0800 CST

How do I erase a tape with NTBackup on Windows Server 2003?

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I am trying to get NTBackup under Windows Server 2003 to perform a backup to tape. But when I start the job I always get the error "There is no free media with the selected type." As a first troubleshooting step I want to erase the tape I'm using, to start over. Is this possible with NTBackup?

backup windows-server-2003 ntbackup

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    You should be able to erase a tape by using the Removable Storage console:

    • Open Computer Management (Right click My Computer > Manage)
    • Expand the Removable Storage and find the tape drive, right click on it for the option to Erase.

    You could also consider running your NTBackup job in unmanaged mode with the /um switch - this turns off the media management and will simply overwrite whatever tape is in the drive when the job runs. More details here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314844

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  2. The problem as described is usually quite simply fixed by running a Cleaning tape - all input to the device is via the tape heads sensing and this is usually skewed if the tape heads have particles on them (from the magnetic tapes shedding a few particles) - clean the heads - run the Cleaning tape at least twice and then run a manual backup.

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