Hi Peter,
Perhaps you are running into this bug? Have a look at the Application log in Event viewer for a more detailed explanation of this problem. Here are some of the bug details;
CSCsa93522 Bug Details
BARS intermittently fails with COM+ error and the process becomes hung
Workaround:
While doing a backup/restore using IP address, a proper mapping between IP and DNS (using WINS or lmhosts file) is required to correctly access the system. Missing configuration would lead to failures.
Please verify that all the configuration settings(WINS/DNS/lmhosts) are correct which could be one reason that you are hitting this issue.
As a workaround, Instead of IP, configure this server (data source server) using the server name for backups.
Hope this helps!
Rob
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