Server locks up during backup of exchange same two nights each week

System is a Dell 400SC running SBS2003. Starting three weeks ago, during the backups of exchange on Thursday and Friday nights caused the server to lock up requiring a cold boot. Nothing is written to the NTbackup logs (please note that I am running NTbackup NOT SBSbackup) and nothing is written to the event viewer. The last entry in the event viewer "Backup data transfer method is shared memory (64k)" The backup of the C,D,and E drives completes successfully. The NTbackup on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday complete successfully. The backup sets for all five days are the same and the backup times are the same (11:20PM), although each nightly backup goes to its respective folder on an external USB drive. The backup process has been used for many months and the external USB drives are rotated each Friday. The failures have occurred regardless of which set of external drives is connected.
If I manually run a backup, using the same file selection (i.e. c,d,e, system state) the backup completes successfully.
TIA
BillP

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