Windows8.1 Create system backup image errors and solutions

2013-11-29 15:39:21 · loading...

I am having this issue, cant optimise the system partition 350mb. 8.1 official release,
This is also causing a huge problem, the optimise option in windows 8.1 allows me to optimise the c: drive but not the system partition this prevents a system image backup...!!
Due to the system partition being out of space for a shadow copy to be placed onto it the backup fails every time with this error code, -- 0x80780119 --.
Backups are a huge factor in operating systems and since upgrading I cant backup my system using windows image backup, if I could optimise the system partition and straighten out the file structure within it (free up some space) for the shadow copy then the volume shadow copy could be placed onto the drive but it cant...
This all worked fine in 8.0 but not now...please fix this problem!?
Not being able to backup your system is not good enough...
here is my my issue again in pictures...

1.system volume needs optimising
but pressing the optimise for this does nothing at all.. current status remains "Needs optimisation".
The way an ssd reclaims drive space is to use the optimise function, this not working prevents the reclaim for files/data to be written to space where files have been deleted previously. Giving the impression the drive/partition is full when really its not full just needs optimising/trimmed.

2. initiate the system image backup

3. both volumes to be backed up

4. error message due to insufficient space on the system partition for shadow copy. 

5. finally here is a capture of the current disk setup on my system, notice the system partition only has 17mb free space and according to the above error message I need atleast 50mb free for the volume shadow copy !? Due to this I cant create a backup of my system using windows 8.1 !
(system partition has no drive letter assigned to it 350mb)

PLEASE HELP !! Thanks for reading.

Most Helpful Reply
Jobongo        asked on     

I have found a way around this getting Windows System Image Backup working again. I did this on my laptop and desktop confirming that I could recover from the images. It is actually pretty easy but should not be necessary. The reason that the backup would not work was because the recovery partition was using 284MB of the 300MB available. There was not 50MB available for shadow copy. Here are the steps I took on an EUFI GPT disk:

Note: All commands are without quotes. 

Disclaimer: I would recommend backing up all of you important data as any time you mess with partitions, there is the possibility to lose data. This process was done one both my laptop (Win8.1 Home) and desktop (Win8.1 Pro). I cannot take responsibility if this causes any damage. With that being said, I hope this helps.

Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html Note that none of the changes will take effect until you hit apply. I am sure others may work but this is the one that I used and it is free. 

You should have 3 Windows partitions; Recovery - 300 MB, EFI System - 100 MB, and your system Volume to start off with. 

1. Once installed, Open Partition Wizard and Shrink your system volume, C: in my case, by 101MB at the beginning of the partition. (I had to put 101MB as when I tried 100 it said that the space was too small when doing the next step) To do this, Right Click the C: Drive, select, Move/Resize, and the put 101 in box named "Unallocated Space Before:" and click OK.
2. Copy the EFI System partition (100 MB FAT32) to this new Free Space by right clicking, selecting copy, and then selecting the unallocated space. Then next the OK.

3. Delete the 100MB EFI System Partition after the Recovery Partition.  
After this is done, you will see 100MB unallocated space after the Recovery Partition. 

4. Right click on Recovery partition and select Extend. Drag the bar to take up all of the extra free space. This will change the recovery partition from 300MB to 400MB allowing for enough space (50MB) for the shadow copy. Click OK. 

5. Next Click Apply. I received an error stating that it could not make changes due to C: being in use. I clicked restart. 

When the computer restarts, Partition Wizard will do its thing. Once it is done you should boot into Windows again.

This next part is essential, because, windows now does not recognize the partition that was moved before as an EFI System Partition. If you try and do a backup image now, only the system partition will show and not the Recovery or EFI System

6. Open a cmd prompt with administrator privileges. Press Start Key, Type cmd, right click, select run as administrator. 

7. Type diskpart to start windows command line disk manager. 

8. Find the disk that Windows is installed on by typing List disk. This will be different on each machine but for illustration mine was disk 0

9. Select that disk by typing the command "select disk" and the disk number.

10. Next, determine the EFI partition that was moved earlier. This is the partition that was moved earlier and should be 100MB. Type in the command "list part" to see a list of the partitions on the disk. Mine was Partition 3. This may be different on your system. 

11. Once you have determined the partition number, type "select partition " and your partition number

12. Next you have to set this partition as an EFI System volume. Type in this command - "set id = c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b" This changes the partition type to an EFI system volume.

13. After all of this is done, restart your computer and you should now be able to back up you system using the System Image Backup in File History.

I know some of this may seem a little elementary to some but you never know who needs help and their technical knowledge. 

I hope that this helps and let me know if you have any questions. 

    All Replies (290)

Found this helpful                                     0                 

PauloAllan        asked on     

Bump...

Found this helpful                                     0                 

Anannya Podder        asked on     

Microsoft                             Support Engineer

Hi,

The error message shows that there is no space to create the volume shadow copy on the storage location.

You need to create another partition on the hard disk, and then perform a backup.

If you are logged in as an administrator, you can repartition your hard disk by using the Shrink feature in Disk Management. You can shrink an existing partition or volume to create unallocated disk space, from which you can create a new partition or volume. (Note that the terms partition and volume are often used interchangeably.)

    Open Computer Management by holding Windows key and r. In the run box type Diskmgmt.msc

    In the left pane, under Storage, click Disk Management.

    Right-click the volume you want to shrink, and then click Shrink Volume.

    Follow the instructions.

Please let us know the issue status.

Found this helpful                                     0                 

PauloAllan        asked on     

Anannya Podder                               
Microsoft Support Engineer
What am I meant to do with another partition??
Your answer although appreciated is extremely basic and lacking proper guidance. 
.. is this acceptable do have to do this?? why do I need to do this? why cant I optimise the system partition?
I have done as you described and still I get the error, can you be more specific also, does the new partition need to be a new simple volume? does it need a drive letter assigned?? this is beyond the capability of most users... 
also !! the new partition can not be optimised either as I have just followed your advice and all the original problems still exist... please help and detail the purpose/creation of the new partition more clearly please... thankyou. 

Found this helpful                                     0                 

PauloAllan        asked on     

new partition as you advised.... used the shrink of the C: drive to create it,

Attempted a system image, and it failed !! no surprise, IT WILL ALWAYS FAIL AS THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ROOM ON THE SYSTEM PARTITION, SHADOW COPY CANT BE TEMP LOADED ONTO IT BEFORE BEING TAKEN OFF TO THE EXTERNAL BACKUP DEVICE, HOW ON EARTH CAN A NEW PARTITION RESOLVE THE ISSUE WITH THE SYSTEM PARTITION??

here we have the new partition but how can the SYSTEM PARTITION utilise this space which is what I think your implying so that the shadow copy has enough room? This will only ever be a continual loop, the shadow copy service WANTS THE SPACE ON THE SYSTEM PARTITION TO COPY WHATS ALREADY ON THE SYSTEM PARTITION..... by adding another partition into the mix we are creating more complications... and the shadow service will want to create a shadow copy of the new partition also on its OWN partition ... or have I missed something??

Final point, I notice the system partition is marked as active , does the NEW PARTITION YOU SUGGEST need to be marked as active also?? This is the message you get if you look to mark it as active, I have not marked the new partition as active....

Found this helpful                                     0                 

ManSch80        asked on     

After doing the upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, I have the same problem here with 2 PCs. The PC which I am working at now has only 16 MB left on the recovery partition.

Seems to be a common problem with upgrading to Windows 8.1.

I have found an article with the same problem in the preview:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1_pr-system/windows-7-create-system-image-error-after-dual/716f284d-bc5c-4fbf-bb26-aeab6af3a686

Seems that someone at MS should have picked that up...

Found this helpful                                     0                 

PauloAllan        asked on     

only 16 MB left on the recovery partition.
Seems to be a common problem with upgrading to Windows 8.1.

Yes I have 17 MB on my system partition, this is the problem, other than this problem I quite like 8.1 but this is bothering me as I need to use the inbuilt backup function,  Microsoft's reply on this thread is very surprising, lacking detail and reason.  Very frustrated indeed. 

Found this helpful                                     11                 

Jobongo        asked on     

I have found a way around this getting Windows System Image Backup working again. I did this on my laptop and desktop confirming that I could recover from the images. It is actually pretty easy but should not be necessary. The reason that the backup would not work was because the recovery partition was using 284MB of the 300MB available. There was not 50MB available for shadow copy. Here are the steps I took on an EUFI GPT disk:

Note: All commands are without quotes. 

Disclaimer: I would recommend backing up all of you important data as any time you mess with partitions, there is the possibility to lose data. This process was done one both my laptop (Win8.1 Home) and desktop (Win8.1 Pro). I cannot take responsibility if this causes any damage. With that being said, I hope this helps.

Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html Note that none of the changes will take effect until you hit apply. I am sure others may work but this is the one that I used and it is free. 

You should have 3 Windows partitions; Recovery - 300 MB, EFI System - 100 MB, and your system Volume to start off with. 