Windows 8.1: System Image Backup of C: drive fails, Error 0x8078012D and 0x8007045D

UPSPilot,

No need for apologies ( I know this is not what you folks are going to want to hear but here it is anyway... ).  Information you shared is pertinent and just may be reason we're encountering these issues.

What are you using to install Windows 8.1 CD/DVD?

Not that it matters, but for documentation purposes only, what's make and model of your system?

Is drive you're using SSD or HDD ( based on price I suspect it's an HDD SATA )?  At one time I thought it may be an issue with SSDs since that is what feline1 and myself were using, but it seems to afflict all type of drives.

I still think it's something in OS.  I'm pretty confident it has nothing to do with destination drive because I've used several new drives for destination with same results and you've used same destination drive and it works after replacing source drive.

To totally rule out it wasn't the original source drive ( Samsung 500GB SATA ), I'd like to suggest following if you don't mind spending the time.

1. Format the Samsung 500GB SATA.
2. Install Windows 8.1 along with all updates.
3. Don't install any additional programs nor personal files.
4. Perform system image backup to same external drive you've been using all along.
5. I have hunch and suspect system image backup will work from original Samsung SATA drive.

New discovery, not sure how it fits into system image backup not working but here it is...

While I was writing this, I connected a USB3 external 2TB Western Digital drive to my system to backup some files off the Dell XPS 15 system ( system with image backup issue ).

I dragged and dropped two folders to be copied to the external USB3 drive.

I just noticed that copying froze ( it's not moving at all ).

System is behaving strange:

a. external USB 3 drive's LED is not blinking

b. copying has stopped, progress screen shows 28%

c. system still recognizes pointer, I can move it via touch pad or mouse

d. i cannot get to start screen via touching Windows icon in lower left corner

e. for most part system is unresponsive...

Another development just happened:

All open windows closed on their own and system returned to the Start screen...

System is responsive again...

Did drive scan and everything is ok

Did chkdsk ( no arguments ) on C: everything is ok

Did chkdsk ( no arguments ) on D: USB3 everything is ok

Restarted laptop and it came back up

Started copying ( drag & drop ) of same two folders, from C: to D:

a. C:  280GB free of 460GB

b. folders combined are ~ 100GB

c. D: 1.17TB free of 1.81 TB 

Copying froze in the exact same place 28%.

While I can move pointer, system isn't responding just as it wasn't above.

This is very good...

Fact that I cannot perform a simply drag and drop ( copy ) suggests there is

something wrong with particular area on source drive...

System is literally frozen.  Can move mouse around, but clicking on any of the icons ( tiles ) doesn't do anything.  Sometimes I can flip back and forth between desktop and start screen, sometimes it just sits there.  I cannot shut system down.  Clicking on power icon doesn't do anything...

Pressing Power button doesn't put system to sleep either.

I'm going to wait for system to become responsive again.  Last time I forced shutdown, system did refresh...

I purchased my system from Costco because they are great concerning customer service and returns, get 90 days so none of this manufacturer  runaround because system just failed few days after warranty expired.

I was on phone with Costco concierge agent and Dell in three way conference call for 3.5 hours yesterday.   It's definitely a Microsoft issue.

I'm going to research a bit more and see if I can find work around.  If not, I've already informed Costco about situation and will order another system so I can do comparison tests and experiments  with systems side by side.  I'll keep newer one and return original if I can get newer one to work.

I suspect issue is either hardware, software or combination of both.

If issue is with OS or some files in OS then even if we're fortunate to find a workaround to get a successful image backup, we'll be backing up corruption in OS.  So formatting and re initializing SSD or HDD won't resolve the issue.

 If issue is with drive, then theirs possibility that even thought we can format drive and successfully restore backup image, there could be some issue deeper that we're not aware of nor are the apps chkdsk, scan disk, etc...

I really like this system and that is why I'm investing so much time into getting it to work.

For those who have upgraded from 8 to 8.1 there's supposedly a known fix coming out, see tomshardware concerning this issue.

There's rumor that only one or two more updates ( 8.2 or 8.3 ) are coming out for 8.1 before Microsoft moves on to win 9.0.

Another concern of mine is even if I get new system, if issue is result of one of Microsoft updates, then I'll simply encounter this issue again after performing several updates.

My goal this time is to try following...

#1

I just remembered I created a virtual image of system before all this happened.  I'm going to see if problem exists in virtual image.  It's lot easier to take snapshots and roll back if I can reproduce issue.  In fact, as soon as I finish writing this I'm going to see if I can do system image backup of my virtual instance of this system.

#2

On new system:

1. After initial configuration
2. Do system image backup ( SIB )
3. Make some changes to system & start screen
4. Do SIB to capture changes
5. Restore changes to external msata 512GB SSD via USB
6. Boot off external msata 512GB via USB.

They have external enclosures for msata SSDs. 

Hopefully system can boot from external drive.

If above works, then I'll gradually make small changes to system, make SIB to capture changes, then restore to external SSD.

#3

If cannot boot from external msata 512GB using usb, then I'll perform same operation using internal drive.

Please forgive any typos, syntax or grammer errors.  Typing this from my cell phone as fast as can.  Don't want lose text.

I don't think it has anything to do with your Blackberry files as so many people have encountered this issue who don't have blackberry stuff on their system.

...  The only common denominator here is Microsoft OS.

We're all using different destination drives from various drive manufactures.

All our systems  have slightly different configurations.

a. some with virus scanners installed and running, some without

b. some are results of OS upgrades, others are fresh installs or newly purchased with 8.1 installed

Systems all worked at one time and suddenly stopped working.

For me following was working fine for whole month from 5/30 - 6/25 or so ) then suddenly stopped.

The only variable that changed on my system were installs from Windows Update.

Hi sgms,

yes I tend to agree with you, really -

I did suspect my BlackBerry files initially, but as you say, many others are experiencing this issue but none of them have BlackBerry encrypted files on their drive.

There were a few suggestions earlier in the thread to look at various logs, but none of these logs had any useful info in them.

Basically, in every case, the 'VCSS' service just fails and gives a clueless red-herring error message (about running CHKDSK) ... all this means is the guy who wrote the VCSS service mapped that error text to that exception code (or something like that). 

Microsoft need to sort this out!  

If my C: drive ever goes kaput, I'm in for some lengthy reinstalls :(

Hi Guys!

I've been following this thread for awhile because I had the same issue but have recently been successful in creating a System Image on my PC that was giving me the problem.  I also used the same external drive that I originally was unable to write the image to.  Its been awhile since the original post so here's the error message I was getting:

The operation failed due to a device error encountered either with the source or the 

destination. If the source or destination volume is on a disk, run CHKDSK /R on the sourceor destination volume, and then retry the operation. (0x8078012D)

Additional Information: 

The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. (0x8007045D)"

I know this is not what you folks are going to want to hear but here it is anyway.  I decided to replace my Hard Drive.  I replaced my Samsung 500GB SATA drive with a Toshiba 500GB SATA drive.  The new drive was only $45 and a lot easier to replace than I expected.  Depending on the PC, it can be very easy or very difficult.

I then re-installed Windows 8.1. Then installed all current Windows 8.1 updates followed by re-installing all the programs I had on my PC before.  

I then attempted to create a System Image using the same external drive that I had the failure with before.  It was successful the first time no problem.

I then re-loaded all of my personal files (pictures, music, documents, etc...).  In other words, I brought the PC back to the exact  same state it was in when I was getting the error and unable to write the System Image.

I then re-formatted the external drive (same one) and attempted to create another System Image om it.  Holding my breath - I was pleased to find that it was successful - first time no problem!

This tells me - in my case - it was definitely the "source" drive and not the "destination drive that was causing the problem.  With this information, I have to rule out that the problem (in my case) was with the Windows 8.1 OS like most of you are concluding.  

I have no idea what could have been wrong with my original hard drive but can say this:  The reason I decided to create the System Image of my old drive in the first place was that my PC was starting to act up.  Crashing and freezing up more often than usual.  I think this is the reason most folks conclude they better back themselves up.  Unfortunately, this defeats the purpose because you are ultimately only imaging an ailing system.

What do you guys think?

I don't think it has anything to do with your Blackberry files as so many people have encountered this issue who don't have blackberry stuff on their system.

...  The only common denominator here is Microsoft OS.

We're all using different destination drives from various drive manufactures.

All our systems  have slightly different configurations.

a. some with virus scanners installed and running, some without

b. some are results of OS upgrades, others are fresh installs or newly purchased with 8.1 installed

Systems all worked at one time and suddenly stopped working.

For me following was working fine for whole month from 5/30 - 6/25 or so ) then suddenly stopped.

The only variable that changed on my system were installs from Windows Update.

Hi sgms,

yes I tend to agree with you, really -

I did suspect my BlackBerry files initially, but as you say, many others are experiencing this issue but none of them have BlackBerry encrypted files on their drive.

There were a few suggestions earlier in the thread to look at various logs, but none of these logs had any useful info in them.

Basically, in every case, the 'VCSS' service just fails and gives a clueless red-herring error message (about running CHKDSK) ... all this means is the guy who wrote the VCSS service mapped that error text to that exception code (or something like that). 

Microsoft need to sort this out!  

If my C: drive ever goes kaput, I'm in for some lengthy reinstalls :(

feline1,

You've opened up a good thread and you've been very diligent in attempting suggestions provided.

I don't think it has anything to do with your Blackberry files as so many people have encountered this issue who don't have blackberry stuff on their system.

I purchased aDell XPS 15 9530 running Windows 8.1, 16GB Mem, 512GB SSD, Touch Screen, etc...

After initial configuration, I did a system image backup.  I proceeded to do several Windows Updates, than ran system scan using Windows Defender.

System ran fine for several weeks of subsequent & frequent Windows Updates, running Windows Defender and performing several Windows System Image Backups.

This is a Microsoft issue.

I'm surprised Microsoft hasn't asked anyone for logs.  Lots of suggestions and try this and try that, but no log analysis to pin-point the issue.

The only common denominator here is Microsoft OS.

We're all using different destination drives from various drive manufactures.

All our systems  have slightly different configurations.

a. some with virus scanners installed and running, some without

b. some are results of OS upgrades, others are fresh installs or newly purchased with 8.1 installed

Systems all worked at one time and suddenly stopped working.

For me following was working fine for whole month from 5/30 - 6/25 or so ) then suddenly stopped.

The only variable that changed on my system were installs from Windows Update.