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NinjaOne Backup — Error 310: Unable to Backup Volume

Audience: T2 Use when: Image backup fails with "Error 310: Unable to back up volume."

What This Error Means

Lockhart attempted to back up a specific volume (disk partition) and failed at the volume level — not at the VSS, NAS, or cloud level. The failure is specific to reading or processing that volume's data.

Most Common Causes

Cause Signal
Volume filesystem is corrupt chkdsk reports errors; volume may be RAW
Disk is failing or has bad sectors SMART errors; Event Log IDs 7, 11, 51
Volume is unmounted or offline Not visible in Get-Volume output
Dynamic disk configuration issue Volume appears in disk management but behaves unexpectedly
BitLocker-protected volume without key Volume is encrypted and Lockhart can't access it

Step 1 — Check Volume and Disk Health

# Check all volumes
Get-Volume | Select DriveLetter, FileSystemLabel, FileSystemType, HealthStatus, OperationalStatus,
    @{N='FreeGB';E={[math]::Round($_.SizeRemaining/1GB,1)}},
    @{N='TotalGB';E={[math]::Round($_.Size/1GB,1)}}

# Check physical disk health
Get-PhysicalDisk | Select FriendlyName, HealthStatus, OperationalStatus

# Check Event Log for disk errors in the past 24 hours
Get-WinEvent -LogName System -MaxEvents 500 |
Where-Object {$_.Id -in @(7, 11, 15, 51, 153) -and $_.TimeCreated -gt (Get-Date).AddHours(-24)} |
Select TimeCreated, Id, Message | Format-List

Step 2 — Run chkdsk on the Affected Volume

# Run chkdsk scan only first (no fix) to assess damage
chkdsk D: /scan

# If errors found, schedule a full repair on next reboot
chkdsk D: /f /r /x

⚠ If the volume contains dental databases (SQL, MySQL, Actian): schedule the repair during an agreed maintenance window — chkdsk requires exclusive access to the volume.

Step 3 — Check BitLocker Status

If the volume is BitLocker-encrypted, Lockhart needs to be able to read it. On domain-joined machines with BitLocker, the SYSTEM account should have access. If BitLocker is in a suspended or recovery state:

# Check BitLocker status on all drives
Get-BitLockerVolume | Select MountPoint, VolumeStatus, ProtectionStatus, LockStatus

If a volume shows LockStatus: Locked: the volume is inaccessible — unlock it with the recovery key before the backup can proceed.

Step 4 — Check If the Volume Is Included in the Backup Plan

If the volume is a secondary or data drive (D:, E:):

  1. NinjaOne → device → Backup → Edit plan → Volumes section
  2. Confirm the volume is included and not accidentally excluded
  3. If it was recently added (e.g., new drive), save and re-run

Step 5 — Check Disk Configuration

# Check disk partition style and type
Get-Disk | Select Number, PartitionStyle, OperationalStatus, HealthStatus

# List partitions
Get-Partition | Select DiskNumber, PartitionNumber, DriveLetter, Size, Type

Dynamic disks or unusual partition configurations can cause Error 310. Simple/basic GPT disks are the expected configuration.

Escalate to T3 If:

  • chkdsk reports uncorrectable errors — urgent data integrity situation
  • SMART shows disk failure — immediate hardware replacement needed
  • Volume is RAW — filesystem gone, data recovery may be needed
  • BitLocker recovery key is unknown — this is a data access crisis
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