Windows 8 backup error code 0x81000033

Anonymous

I am attempting to create a system image from Windows 8 on a external USB drive. I have a Seagate expansion drive with 1.81 Tb capacity that I am attempting to put the backup on. In Control Panel/Windows 7 file recovery I am selecting 'back up now' The backup appears to proceed normally... but eventually fails with error code 0x81000033

There is plenty of free space on the Seagate external drive - so space should not be an issue.

How do I correct this issue?

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.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Hi Conrad,

Welcome to Microsoft Community and thank you for giving us an opportunity to assist you with this issue.

It looks that, you are getting error 0x81000033 when you are trying to create a system image from Windows 8 on an external USB drive.

Let me ask you few question:

What is the complete error message?
When do you exactly get this error message?
Have you installed any third party Antivirus or security software?

Please follow the steps given in the methods given here.

Method 1: Check for Volume shadow copy service and Windows backup service.

I would suggest you to check if the Volume shadow copy service and Windows backup services are running on you r computer.

Follow these steps:

a) Press Windows key +R Key and type "services.**msc"**without quotes.

b) Search for the Volume shadow copy service and Windows back up serviceand check their status.

c) If they are not automatic, then right click on them and select start.

Please move to the next method if you still face the issue.

Method 2: Run check disk

I would suggest you to go through the section ‘Repair a drive’ of the article to perform check disk. Here is the link for your reference.

One of the best ways you can improve your PC's performance is by optimizing the hard drive. Windows includes features to help optimize the different types of drives that PCs use today. No matter which type of drive your PC uses, Windows automatically chooses the optimization that's right for your drive.

Please refer to the section "To repair a drive to perform check disk".

Improve performance by optimizing your hard drive

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/improve-performance-optimizing-hard-drive

Important Note: While performing chkdsk on the hard drive if any bad sectors are found on the hard drive when chkdsk tries to repair that sector if any data available on that might be lost.

Now try to create system image.

Please move to the next method if you still face the issue.

Method 3: Temporarily disable Security Software

I would suggest you to disable the security software temporarily and then try to create a system image.

Note: Antivirus software can help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn't disable your antivirus software. If you have to temporarily disable it to install other software, you should re-enable it as soon as you're done. If you're connected to the Internet or a network while your antivirus software is disabled, your computer is vulnerable to attacks.

I hope your issue gets resolved by now. Please write to us if you have any Windows related issue.

0 comments

63 additional answers

Anonymous

2012-12-30T17:43:10+00:00

Same here!

Dell's customer and tech support can't help with the issue, and suggest to replace the pc.

I went to Costco where I bought it, tried backing up on their same pc unit, and it failed too.

So Dell can't fix it, Microsoft have no solution, and no 3rd party exist yet.

What do we do now?

PC: Dell XPS One 2710

Error: 0x81000033

Message:

Windows Backup skipped backing up system image because one of the critical volumes is not having enough free space...

NOTE:

First volume (EFI) is 500 mb.

Second volume (Drive C) is 501 gb, 92% free.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2012-12-29T12:25:00+00:00

I am having the same problem on a clean Windows 8 machine that I purchased two days ago. Looking online, I found many other people with this issue and found a fix that at least worked on Windows 7 machines:

http://www.pagestart.com/win7br0x8100003301.html

Will this also work on my Windows 8 machine?

Suggestions?
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2012-12-28T18:16:49+00:00

Same issue with Clean install on Dell 7010 with Win 8 Pro. Attempting to back up to a NAS with 1.5TB available and image should be no more than 200GB. Tried all the below steps with no Joy.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2012-12-27T06:50:46+00:00

OK, that was less than helpful... but I'll try to jump through your hoops anyway.

The complete error message reads:

Windows Backup: Troubleshooting options

Check your backup.

Windows skipped backing up your system image because one of the critical volumes is not having enough free space. Free up some space by deleting unnecessary files and try again.

Error code 0x81000033

Lots of help there, right?

FYI - Drive C: Used space: 411,986,952,192 bytes Free space 578,966,646,784 Bytes.

I'm not sure how much more than 539GB of free space is needed... please clarify the above obscure error message.

Target drive: Used space: 233,984,192,512 (After failed backup) Free space: 1,766,411,501,568 bytes - not sure how much more than 1.6 TB free is needed to backup 383BG of data - again, please explain.

I preformed chkdsk on the system drive (C:) - as this is a brand new system I found no errors - as expected.

I checked the Volume shadow copy service and the windows backup service...

Windows backup service was running (but was set to manual) - I modified this to automatic.

Volume Shadow Copy service was not running and was also set to manual, - I changed it to automatic and started the service.

Gee... if these are needed to be set to automatic start, I wonder why Windows 8 installs with them set to manual start???

I disabled my third-party security software (after disconnecting the computer from my router) so that shouldn't be a issue...

Ran the backup (for the umpteenth time) to see if any of the above steps will make any difference....

Backup failed at around 49% complete...

I can't attach the really informative error message... which basically says: Error code 0x81000033.

So, when can we expect a hotfix for this issue? (I'm not the only one here experiencing this)

Or failing that, maybe an answer that really solves the problem?
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments