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

This system is piece of gargage...

I was just dragging and dropping files to the OneDrive cloud storage.

System froze and became very erratic in it's behavior...  Non-responsive, response, mouse doesn't move, start screen is blank, no apps nor tiles... 

Soon as it comes back up, it's getting reset to factory default.

Tried to reset pc and that failed...   Trying again...

Refreshing your PC reinstalls Windows and keeps your personal files and settings. It also keeps the apps that came with your PC and the apps you installed from the Windows Store.

Resetting your PC reinstalls Windows but deletes your files, settings, and apps—except for the apps that came with your PC.

Restoring your PC is a way to undo recent system changes you've made.

Too late now... I should have done Refresh 1st.

What's not clear and I'm searching for now is whether or not Refresh or Reset will format the C: drive partition.

Yes, been a UPS pilot for almost 20 years now.  Navy pilot for 13 years prior to that.

I've been working with Windows since its inception.  Even did bench work on the Intel 8086 in the late 70s when it was one of the hottest microprocessors around.  The first personal computer I could afford was a IBM 286 running MS DOS.  The hard drive was a whopping 20 MB and it used 8 inch floppy diskettes.

I still have a running Windows 95 machine in the basement that I play chess on.  I like it because it actually has to take time to think before making its move.  Makes me feel more superior.

In my opinion, Windows 8.1 is the best Windows OS to date.  For all the start up utilities and services it runs in the background the boot up speed is incredible.  10 times faster than Windows 7.

Also the new Recovery Environment (Windows RE) is ultra cool!  A not so commonly known feature of RE is the elimination of the need to ever boot up from an external drive.  This feature, sometimes referred to as "Failover" will automatically take you to theRE Recovery Options Menu if the system fails to boot from the hard drive several times in a row.  From RE at this point you have troubleshooting and recovery options available including restoring from a system image disk.  The RE Options Menu also provides means to boot from a USB, Network, or CD if you so choose via the "Use a Device" option.  You can also restore to factory settings from this menu.

Of course, you can manually access the RE Options Menu.  Just do the following:

Right click the Power Charm (upper left corner on Start Page)

Pull down Sleep/Shutdown/Restart Menu

Left click Restart while holding down the Shift key

I think the exercise you are planning before returning the computer will be good training for you and good use of the lemon machine you happened to get.  Its probably a blessing in disguise for all the experience you're getting although you'll probably not think it is until its long in the past.

I've been currently running Windows 8.1 on 3 separate PCs since its been out.  Other than the hard drive failure I had on the one machine I've had no other problems and love it very much!

FYI. I've since made 6 System Image Disks (2 for each of the 3 machines) successfully with absolutely no hiccups. 

Good Luck!

UPSPiolot,

Thanks for all the detailed info, not only the technical stuff, but also the personal.  Very interesting.  I'm truly privileged and fortunate to have made your acquaintance, and if you don't mind, hope to learn from your vast knowledge and experience concerning PCs, etc...

I agree, I truly think Windows 8.1 is the best Windows OS to date; however, I don't think it'll be adopted for business anytime soon.

Thanks for detailed info on Windows Recovery environment.  I've already experienced what you mentioned, but didn't know what was happening at the time.   After my first BSOD ( bad_system_config_info ), my system rebooted multiple times on it's own and came up in the Windows RE you mentioned. 

When and if this system comes back up, I'm going to try booting into the WinRE environment via holding down shift key and restarting pc.  I'll practice with the various options and features to see how they work.

System appears to be stuck:  "Resetting your PC 50%"  been like this for past hour or so...

I created a recovery disk ( usb ) and think I'll have to use that to do fresh install...

While Windows Recovery Environment is great feature, if the drive is seriously disabled or the partition on which Windows Recovery becomes corrupted or inaccessible, then one has to use external media correct?

I noticed I had two or three recovery partitions on my system.

I had following partitions on my system:

500MB EFI System

040MB OEM

750MB Recovery

7.51GB Recovery

8.00GB OEM

300GB C: Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary

Questions:

System Image Disk:

Is system image disk same as system image backup, but instead of saving to a folder on a drive, you burn image to CD/DVD?

How do you create system image disk?

Does your system image disk contain all partitions?

How would you restore system using system image disk?

My system is officially dead.  Resetting system stalled ( got stuck at 50% ).  I forced shutdown with power button.  System will not boot at all.  Gets blue screen with following:

Recovery

Your PC needs to be repaired

The Boot Configuration Data file is missing some required information.

File: \BCD

Error code: 0xc0000034

You'll need to use the recovery tools on your installation media.  If you don't have any installation media ( like a disc or USB device ), contact your system administrator or PC manufacture.

Press Esc for UEFI Firmware Settings

Irony is, I would think the 7.51GB Recovery partition I saw on my disk when I first got system would still be intact and could be used as a recovery disk.  Perhaps it's coincidental, but the 7.51GB Recovery partition is about the same size as the data written to my recovery usb stick.

Lucky for me I created a recovery drive on one of my USB sticks.  I'm backup up my recovery disk ( USB stick ) via dragging and dropping all files from one usb to another.