{"id":52,"date":"2017-12-04T16:24:47","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T21:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/?p=52"},"modified":"2025-11-11T19:05:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T00:05:29","slug":"cannot-perform-a-differential-backup-for-database-because-a-current-database-backup-does-not-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/2017\/12\/04\/cannot-perform-a-differential-backup-for-database-because-a-current-database-backup-does-not-exist\/","title":{"rendered":"Differential Backup Error: Current Database Backup Does Not Exist"},"content":{"rendered":"

In\u00a0rare cases, SQL Backup Master<\/a> may log the following error when attempting to perform a differential database backup:<\/p>\n

Failed to create backup: Cannot perform a differential backup for database “XYZ”, because a current database backup does not exist.<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This error occurs because the SQL Server backup chain for the specified database is being invalidated. Let’s review possible causes.<\/p>\n

Possible Cause #1 – VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) Backups<\/h4>\n

Some third-party backup solutions will take a snapshot of your SQL Server database via the Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service<\/a>. These snapshots will invalidate the current backup chain, thereby interfering with tools such as SQL Backup Master.<\/p>\n

Important<\/strong>: SQL Backup Master 6 and later includes a Backup History report that can help identify when this problem occurs. Select the Reporting<\/strong> tab in the main product window and select the Backup History<\/strong> report. When viewing the report, look for entries that have the Is Snapshot<\/strong> field set to True<\/strong>. These backups are not being created by SQL Backup Master.<\/em><\/p>\n

VSS creates database backups through a Windows system service called SQL Writer Service<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0When enabled, this service allows backup applications to\u00a0copy SQL Server data files while SQL Server is running.<\/p>\n

The solution in this case is simple – disable the SQL Writer Service, as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Press Windows + R<\/strong> keys to open the Run dialog, then type services.msc<\/strong> and press Enter.<\/li>\n
  2. Find the SQL Server VSS Writer<\/strong> service and double-click on it.<\/li>\n
  3. Click the Stop<\/strong> button to stop the service, when change the startup type to Manual<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  4. Click\u00a0OK<\/strong>\u00a0to finish.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When the service has been disabled, use SQL Backup Master to trigger a full database backup to re-establish the state of the backup chain.<\/p>\n

    Possible Cause #2 – Changing the Recovery Model<\/h4>\n

    If the SQL Server database recovery model<\/a>\u00a0has recently changed, you should manually trigger a new full backup in order to reinstate the database backup chain. Once this is done, future differential backups should run successfully.<\/p>\n

    Possible Cause #3 – SQL Server 2005 Bug<\/h4>\n

    Microsoft knowledge base article #921106 describes a bug in SQL Server 2005 that can cause this problem. The KB article also provides a hot fix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Still Need Help?<\/h4>\n

    If you’ve reviewed the above causes and solutions are still experiencing this problem, please feel free to contact\u00a0our support team<\/a>. We’re always happy to help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In\u00a0rare cases, SQL Backup Master may log the following error when attempting to perform a differential database backup: Failed to create backup: Cannot perform a differential backup for database “XYZ”, because a current database backup does not exist. This error occurs because the SQL Server backup chain for the specified database is being invalidated. Let’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":590,"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions\/590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sqlbackupmaster.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}