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USB Device is Not Backed Up by Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows

KB ID: 3009
Product: Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.3.1 | 6.3.2 | 13
Published: 2019-09-24
Last Modified: 2025-08-05
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Challenge

A USB storage device attached to a Windows machine is not backed up by Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows despite the "Include external USB drives" option being selected.

Cause

Due to limitations within the Microsoft VSS functionality, creating a shadow copy of a removable device, such as a USB stick or a memory card, is not supported.

This limitation is documented in the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows User Guide:

USB sticks and SD cards are not supported [as a backup source].

Solution

Behavior by Design (based on OS limitation)

This is behavior by design, based on the Microsoft VSS limitation discussed in the Cause section.

 

Verify Drive Type

To verify the drive's type, use the following command:

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_LogicalDisk
Devices listed as "DriveType: 2" cannot be snapshotted using Microsoft VSS.
Screenshot shows two drives, the second one has DriveType : 2 highlighted.

More Information

Remember that a successful backup is not guaranteed even if a memory card or flash drive is recognized as an external drive.

 

DriveType Values

Name Value Description
Unknown 0

The type of drive is unknown.
NoRootDirectory 1

The drive does not have a root directory.
Removable 2

The drive is a removable storage device, such as a USB flash drive.
Fixed 3

The drive is a fixed disk.
Network 4

The drive is a network drive.
CDRom 5

The drive is an optical disc device, such as a CD or DVD-ROM.
Ram 6

The drive is a RAM disk.
Swipe to show more of the table

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