Windows 7 backup fails with Error code: 0x8078012D

Anonymous
2009-12-21T01:28:35+00:00

Vista backups worked fine till I upgraded to Windows 7.

Now every backup fails with the same I/O error code 0x8078012D.

This is on a Toshiba laptop manually backing up over USB to external 500 GB harddrive.

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Anonymous
2009-12-21T22:42:55+00:00

Hi Searey,

Welcome to Microsoft answers.

The error might have occurred if the services related to Windows backup might have been disable, you may try restarting the service, follow the steps below:

1.      Click Start.

2.      Type Services in the Start Search.

3.      In the Services Windows search for Volume Shadow Copy in the list.

4.      Right click on the Service.

5.      Click on Properties.

6.      Select the Startup Type to Manual.

7.      Click OK.

8.      Now repeat the same for Windows Backup service.

If the issue persists, then I suggest that you run the chkdsk which repairs the chkdsk errors, follow the steps below:

i. Click on start

ii. Type cmd in start search box.

 iii. Right click on cmd.exe in the Program list and then select the option Run as administrator.

iv. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

 v. In the command prompt window, type the following command and press enter Chkdsk /R 

 vi. Press Y when you are prompted to check the disk the next time that the system restarts.

vii. Close all applications, and then restart the computer.

 Note: During the restart process, Windows checks the disk for errors, and then Windows starts. Now run the check disk in command prompt, follow the steps below:

Now when you try to perform backup, I recommend that you may try disabling the security software temporarily on the computer and perform a backup, make sure to enable the security software back on the computer.

Swathi B 

  • Microsoft Support.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-07-25T03:56:44+00:00

    I tried renaming the folder like you did and I got a Windows error message disallowing the use of symbols/characters like ": /" in folder names. How were you able to get around that?

    That part's easy:

    Using Windows Explorer, simply navigate to the drive that contains the contains the WindowsImageBackup folder, right click on it and add ".old" to the end of the folder name.  But that doesn't address the core problem that's causing backup to fail.

    But the underlying problem remains.

    I now have two WindowsImageBackup folders (.old and .old2)    .old contains 210GB from a week ago (last time I tried to run backup) ... and .old2 which was created tonight but is empty.

    Seems like I need to re-run the backup without the system image ... but that makes me uncomfortable.

    Backup now reports 348GB free on my external drive... and says the "Backup size" is 298GB, so there's room for it.

    (Another possible variable: I ran tonight's attempt - and *probably* last-week's failure - from a non-SYSTEM user ID.  I recall previously running backups successfully without having to login with privileges, because BACKUP itself had enough privs to do the job.)

    What are the real risks associated with running CHKDSK /F (as mentioned earlier in the thread)?

    (Not feeling comfortable about it; never had to use it when I ran backups in the past.)

    AND... a look at the most-recent WindowsImageBackup folder reveals "interesting" contents:

    • Folder matching the name of my machine

      - Sub-folder for this backup: "Backup 2017-07-24 230110" (corresponding to when it finished) ...   containing 3 .VHD files (45GB, 207GB, and 15GB ... each with "gobbledygook" names (Unique Resource Identifiers if I remember correctly? ... 36 characters plus the suffix)

      - Another sub-folder (at the same hierarchical level) called "Catalog" with two small files: BackupGlobalCatalog and GlobalCatalog, 7KB each

    It turns out those VHD files are... system images!  We don't need to create a new system image with *every* backup, do we? (particularly on a stable and relatively resource-constrained machine)

    I'll clean up excess System Images with the Disk Cleanup utility, and invest in a larger external drive ;)

    Next step: figure out what's happening with the contents of the backups.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-07-17T16:30:43+00:00

    Same core problem as others here ... unfortunately the message threads are not clear.

    When running CHKDSK /R (step 8) ... run it on the C drive or the external drive?

    Being cautious, I ran it on the external drive first (using the "less risk" philosophy since that disk is nearly empty).  CHKDSK F: /R

    ran for roughly 9 hours on a brand-new 1TB WD USB drive.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-05-29T11:00:03+00:00

    I've just had the same problem

    I've been using the Win7 Backup every 3 days for several months without any errors. 

    As of today I'm getting this error.  I run the MS Security Essentials suite 

    It seems to be happening when it starts the system image backup process

    So I renamed the existing image folder on the backup device and tried again

    It Worked,  so I deleted the renamed image folder

     The folder name I renamed was E:/WindowsImageBackup

    cheers

    I tried renaming the folder like you did and I got a Windows error message disallowing the use of symbols/characters like ": /" in folder names. How were you able to get around that?

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-05-29T10:46:32+00:00

    Hi https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/profile/233b6ab0-5d31-4acb-9aa0-5a1327d272d4Naman R,

    I have followed this and all of the protocols described in the following user posts, but my backup is still not working. Your instructions worked only to stop the error code from popping up again, but now Windows shows the backup as finished but the actual backup vanishes and never shows up in the external hard drive. Plus with every new backup try I have to go back into the "Properties" menu of each "Volume Shadow Copy" and "Windows Backup Service" because after setting them both to "Start", they revert back to "Stop" on their own:

    I am trying to run backup to a LaCie Rugged 1TB external hard drive, which has worked in the past, and has over 450GB of free space available, the backup is only 103GB. I am working on a Toshiba Satellite L675-S7044, Windows 7 Ultimate, the laptop is 6 years old. 

    I managed to get a system image on the LaCie hard drive the other day (I don't know how), but now that I have run the backup over 12 times in 24 hours, none will show up on the LaCie. Windows backup gives me the confirmation that the backup has finished every time but it does not transfer to the LaCie- it just vanishes.

    I have been running protocols for 7 days now without any of the fixes mentioned in the Microsoft community working, do you have any suggestions? And yes, I am replacing this computer with a new one as soon as I can get my system backup to transfer to the external hard drive. This is so extremely frustrating and time wasting!

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