Why is my 64 GB USB Flash Drive "not a valid backup location?"

Anonymous

I tried to tack this on to a previous question but upon reading the Code of Conduct for this forum, I discovered that doing that was improper. My apologies for that.

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1, installed using Toshiba Recovery Discs (I have a brand new Toshiba laptop, when I recovered the system I opted to not have a recovery partition). I just cleansed all the bloatware off Windows, ran Windows update until there were no more updates to get (got SP1 this way), and now I've got a fresh, clean, windows installation that's never even been to a single website. Now, I'm trying to create a system image on a 64 GB flash drive (I won't even end up using half of it, as my SSD only has about 19 GB used, and that includes the hibernation file (I turned off the pagefile, because pagefiles are unkind to SSDs)

I asked previously if it was possible to manually create a Windows 7 System Image on a (large) USB Flash Drive, and I got two "Yes" answers from two Community Stars. (See my question here) It is also stated that this is possible on windows.microsoft.com, here. Note that when windows.microsoft.com states that "the system image must be saved on a hard drive, it is referring to the automatic creation of system images. If you keep reading, you'll see that the page indicates that if one wishes to manually create a a system image, that system image may be saved on optical discs, a USB Flash Drive, or a hard drive. If it is possible, then why am I having the following problem?

Inserted 64 GB USB Flash Drive --> Closed Autoplay dialogue --> Opened "My Computer" --> Right-clicked Drive E (my flash drive) and selected format --> Unchecked "Quick Format" --> Selected NTFS files system and 4096 byte cluster size --> Clicked "Format" and acknowledged that all data will be erased --> waited a while for format to complete, then clicked OK --> Closed "My Computer" --> Ejected my flash drive by clicking "safely remove hardware" --> Physically unplugged flash drive --> Grabbed a diet coke with ice --> Inserted 64 GB USB Flash Drive --> Closed Autoplay dialogue --> Opened Start Menu --> Clicked "All Programs" --> Clicked Maintenence --> Clicked Backup and Restore Center --> Clicked Create System Image --> (The program scans for storage devices) --> My flash drive shows up under "On a hard disk" and the words "The drive is not a valid backup location" appear under my Flash Drive being listed. For reference, "On one or more DVDs" is listed just below the text saying "The drive is not a valid backup location."

My understanding is that what I just tried to do is manually create a system image on an NTFS formatted (with a 4 KB cluster size) 64 GB USB Flash Drive. But it's not letting me! I understand I can't schedule automatic system image creation for USB Flash Drives, but according to windows.microsoft.com and two community stars, it is in fact possible to "manually" create a system image on a large USB Flash Drive, which I think is what I just tried to do. If there is another way to create a system image, even more "manually" than what I just did (I'm definitely not scared of the command line, if I need to use it I'm more than happy to do so), please let me know.

I do have a low-quaility SATA-3.0 Gbps notebook HDD in a cheap bus-powered USB enclosure, and I was able to create a system image on that. However, I expect that device to fail shortly. I was also successful creating a system image on blank DVD-Rs. I did, however, just spend $85 on a 64 GB USB Flash Drive specifically to store a system image, which I was hoping to use to store Windows 7 with World of Warcraft installed (total size of C drive will be about 50 GB; I have not yet downloaded WoW; I want to overcome this obstacle first).

Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks!

1st Edit: Added links so people wouldn't need to copy/paste to their address bar, and clarified the last sentence of the last paragraph.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

I would suggest you get away from the Windows backup program and get yourself a good commercial backup program. This forum is frought with problem reports for the Windows one. I know I was very unimpressed when I tried it. Two I'm familiar with and like are Norton Ghost (which I've been using for 7 years without the 1st problem), and Memeo which has a 30 day free trial and you can buy it for $29.99 - you can download it from http://memeo.com . You can get Ghost for next to nothing (like I did) if you watch the sales.

CNET has a lot of backup program reviews at

http://download.cnet.com/windows/backup-software/?tag=contentBody;sideBar .

Some of these are free (last time I checked there were 315), some have free trials (over 1000), and some are purchase only (over 200).

Good luck.

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71 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-04-12T18:21:44+00:00
1. Don't reply 3 months later.
2. Stop sending me replies.
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Anonymous

2015-04-12T16:54:54+00:00

Did you try it?
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Anonymous

2015-04-12T16:54:22+00:00

Except it is/was correct (the original response/conversation was one thing, the response was something else - for best assistance, one should always start their own conversation and refer to others via links or such if they feel it adds to their own points.)

This is actually a forum about Windows 7 Performance and Maintenance and this is a particular conversation in that forum (question by the original poster, to be more precise) concerning a specific system and a specific 'flash drive'.

The change in conversation subject matter (which was specified in the subject) was what was/is questioned in the quoted comment. From an issue about using a specific flash drive to create a backup to a misplaced frustration about how a system was packaged by external vendors...

The helpful part is pointing out the mistake of not starting a conversation specific to the new topic with the new set of variables spelled out for said new conversation. As for it being appropriate, I would think one would like such things pointed out as opposed to continuing down a different unrelated path. It certainly seems more helpful/appropriate than chiming in several months later to just attack someone else and not add anything about the original topic either way.

The flash drive issue has a workaround already in this coversation for those whose USB sticks are either not formatted appropriately or who have not checked the validity and full functionality of their Windows installation and files. The frustration about recovery methods provided with an OEM sold computer is still misplaced in this conversation, as Microsoft does not determine what Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. provide in terms of recovery with their systems when they sell it with a Microsoft OS - but they do get them to agree they have to provide some method. OEMs could (and many IT professionals have argued they SHOULD over the years) provide actual installation media (CD/DVD/USB stick/etc.) with the systems they sell with whatever OS - but most do not and choose other, less useful and less flexible methods (make your own, partition on the same hardware that might go bad, etc.)
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Anonymous

2015-04-12T11:16:00+00:00

"Second, the part of the conversation you interjected yourself into had nothing to do with the original issue 4 pages back and the response was specific to lamanian's post, nothing else."

In reply to your comment above...this is a forum of users looking for an answer to the flash drive and other issue. The comment above is not helpful or appropriate.
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