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

Anonymous
2009-10-29T00:57:14+00:00

I am trying to backup my PC to a USB external mass storage drive using Windows 7 backup feature.

I am getting the following error:

"A shadow copy could not be created. Please check "VSS" and "SPP" application event logs for more information. The specified object was not found. Error code: 0x81000019

appreciate any help on this issue

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Anonymous
2009-11-13T17:59:08+00:00

I was able to get windows 7 backup to finally work by doing the following:

The error message which I was receiving after windows 7 backup failed was:

A shadow copy could not be created. Please check "VSS" and "SPP" application event logs for more information. The specified object was not found. Error code: 0x81000019

My hard drive has a C and D partition. I am not sure if it was step 1, 2 or 3 below or a combination of all 3 steps that fixed my problem. I would start with step 1 then try to run backup. If that does not work procede to step 2 and try running backup again. If that still does not work go to step 3.  I excecuted all 3 steps prior to attemting my backup so I am not sure which one of the steps actually fixed the problem or if it was a combination of all 3 steps. All these steps together is now allowing me to backup via the windows 7 backup feature. Hopefully the solution will hold up long term.

Step 1:

I ran diskclean on the C and D drive partitions

Step 2:

Right click on computer

Properties

System Protection

Highlight D drive

Click Configure

Click delete all restore points

Step 3:

Right click on computer

Properties

System Protection

Highlight C drive

Click Configure

Click delete all restore points

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-01-09T16:31:59+00:00

    I was getting this same error and found a simple solution.

    My situation was fairly simple:  Dell T3500, single HD with Dell utility partition and C: drive, tons of free drive space,

    backing up to a network share with proper credentials.

    According to Disk Management, the hidden Dell partition was marked as "active" while the C: drive was not.  I

    marked the C: drive as active and all the problems were gone. I should mentioned that I did have to start both the

    VSS and SPP services which had been set to manual.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-01-25T15:56:45+00:00

    I agree completely. Is it any wonder users don't backup data? If you can't back it up, you shouldn't put data on it. It's like driving a car without brakes.

    If by some miracle, backup does work at some time in the distant future, does anyone here have any confidence that restore might work? After all, backup is just the insurance. What do we do if the claim is rejected?

    Maybe another 25 years to get restore working?

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-01-25T16:42:18+00:00

    There are many ways to kill a cat, but cat lovers would hate me for that......

    In the first place you save yourselves a lot of trouble by separating the system from the data you are creating all the time...

    By having a system disk and several other disks e.g. data disk, backup disk, I know, I know you are all very poor and do not live in the States...

    That's one thing that Microsoft forgot to tell you, guys and dolls plus another: the Windows Backup System is simply not up to the task as it is right now...

    You can use Acronis, a very good alternative, but that's another couple of bucks or get Windows in order like I told you before last year:

    We resized the Reserved Partion of 100Mb to 400Mb, and then let it startup again.

    Windows did sputter it little bit, but gave us 2 choices:

    a. repair the stuff or

    b. let it run normally

    so we did the last.

    after windows started up, we did a normal backup and folks it worked perfectly...

    PS it works also if you have a RAID system... 

    So come on Microsoft, patch this one up with a big update, the sooner the better

    Ceye somewhere around

    just a common usr as everybody else

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-03-08T00:21:55+00:00

    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.

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