How to Set Up a Cleaning Job in Backup Exec

By Mercedes T. Green

Backup tape drive heads should be cleaned.
i casstte tape image by Nicemonkey from Fotolia.com

The cleaning light is blinking on your tape backup device and last night's backup failed to finish successfully. The log file for the backup job in Symantec Backup Exec states that the software was unable to write to the backup media. What's going wrong?

One of the most common causes for this error message is dirty read/write heads on the tape drive device. Regular cleaning of the tape drive device is a normal maintenance process, which should be conducted regularly.

Set up a Cleaning Slot

Step 1

Put a cleaning tape in the tape device. Open Symantec Backup Exec. Click on "Devices" in the navigation bar.

Step 2

Select "Robotic Libraries." Click the robotic library or drive you want to clean. Select "Slots." Select the slot that contains the cleaning tape.

Step 3

Click on "Properties" in the "General Tasks" pane on the left side of the window. Check the box beside "Cleaning Slot." Click the "OK" button.

Set up the Cleaning Job

Step 1

Click on "Devices" in the navigation bar.

Step 2

Select "Robotic Libraries." Click the robotic library or drive you want to clean.

Step 3

Click on "Clean" beneath "Drive Tasks" in the left task pane. Click "Run Now."

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