The following errors keep getting logged on Windows Server 2016 before every backup. The backup uses Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).

Event ID: 5013
Source: CAPI2
Level: Error
Cryptographic Services failed while processing the OnIdentity() call in the System Writer Object.
Details: AddLegacyDriverFiles: Unable to back up image of binary Microsoft Link-Layer Discovery Protocol. System Error: Access is denied.

These errors don’t cause any issues with the backups themselves, and Microsoft advises that they can be safely ignored. However, we still wanted to resolve them to stop system logs from being littered with useless errors.

• Open Command Prompt as administrator.
• Run: sc sdshow mslldp and save the output to notepad.
• Run: sc sdset mslldp [output_from_the_above](A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU)

You can verify that the required permissions were successfully added by running: accesschk.exe -c mslldp
accesschk.exe can be downloaded from Microsoft Sysinternals.

Oxford, Oxfordshire
June 2025
Windows Server 2016