SQL database backup job hangs in Pre-Processing for a long time or never process a byte count.

Problem

SQL database backup job hangs in Pre-Processing for a long time or never process a byte count.

Cause

This issue occurs for several reasons:

1. If backup account does not have public and sysadmin rights on SQL  instance in question.
2. Named Pipes and TCP/IP  are not enabled on SQL Server.
3. The physical consistency check of a database is stuck and will not complete.

It also may occur if AOFO has been enabled in the backup operation.

Solution

1. Check  the account permissions:

a. Make sure that backup account has public and sysadmin rights on SQL  instance in questions. The steps vary depending on the version of SQL. See the KB's listed below:

How to add a Windows user to the sysadmin fixed server role in SQL Server 2005 as a failure recovery mechanism

support.microsoft.com/kb/937682

Guidelines on granting SQL Server sysadmin privileges

support.microsoft.com/kb/2184138

2. Enable Named pipes and TCP/IP communications on the SQL server:

a. Click Start > Run
b. Type CLIConfg
c. Select "Named Pipes" and "TCP/IP",select "Enable", and OK.
d. Restart SQL Server service.

3. Manually run a database consistency check against the SQL databases.

a. To run a DBCC CHECKDB command, follow the instructions listed in the Microsoft TechNet article below.

DBCC CHECKDB (Transact-SQL)

technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms176064.aspx
 

4. Reconfigure the backup job without the Advance Option File Option (AOFO).