windows 7 backup error "shadow copy could not be created"

well ill let you know if it works myine wont finish and skiops files like a set of my pictures and tells me cant back it up because its on the the target path and dont know how that happen it work fine before

After trying everything on this page I tried one last thing and it worked! I currently have Rollback 9.1 installed on my system drive only. It turns out there's 2 ways to get my backup to work, either uninstall rollback and run the backup which then works, then re-install Rollback

OR in Rollback v9.1 there's a new command that can be started from the Run box - shieldcmd /defrag  which also allows running Windows backiup while Rollback is still installed!

This command was originally added so that any defrag program could completely defrag a hard drive with Rollback still installed. Once the defrag is done Rollback's baseline needs to be updated to the current system snapshot.

I decided, since I didn't want to lose my restore points so I ran the shieldcmd /defrag command and my backup then ran and completed successfully! AND since this was a backup and not a defrag ( I'm just copying files with the backup) There was no need to update the baseline in Rollback.

I imagine other programs like Goback and Comodo Time Machine would need to be uninstalled before a backup as they have no command similar to Rollback's shieldcmd /defrag in their current versions

So, I hope this helps out anyone who may have one of these progs installed

I had the same problem in windows 7 and I know what caused it (in my case) .. I used tune up utilities a few days ago and this disabled some services to free up extra ram. One of the services that was disabled was Microsoft Shadow Copy .. I have set this on Manual now and everything is fine again. I guess the people from tune up utilities were to blame here as a service like this should always be set on manual (will run when needed) instead of totally disabled or default: Automatic.

To fix it go to START and in the search field type: Services . Open services and look for the service I mentioned and simply set it on automatic or manual (last option is best to save some ram)

If it was disabled and you decide to set it on automatic you will need to reboot again so windows automaticly starts this service

When you see this error, definitely check the backup log as the specific reason for your failure is probably in there. Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Application. Select the top Error for Windows Backup.

For instance my error was: Backup did not complete successfully because a shadow copy could not be created. Free up disk space on the drive that you are backing up by deleting unnecessary files and then try again.

On the next go around, I unchecked "create system image" and viola it went through just fine. I'd imagine the space from my user folders + the system image (I think they're side by side and don't overlap on the backup) was more than my external drive could hold. To get both on the backup I would either need to trim down the folders that are backed up or get a bigger backup drive.

The tip to make sure SPP Notification Service and the Volume Shadow Copy service are both started is a good place to begin, then check the log, then look for specific solutions to the problem online if you're unsure.