Cant backup 8.1 using system image backup! Error 0x80780119, Cant optimise system partition, (this is why i cant backup) please read. . .

Anonymous
2013-10-19T14:16:48+00:00

I am having this issue, cant optimise the system partition 350mb. 8.1 official release,

This is also causing a huge problem, the optimise option in windows 8.1 allows me to optimise the c: drive but not the system partition this prevents a system image backup...!!

Due to the system partition being out of space for a shadow copy to be placed onto it the backup fails every time with this error code, -- 0x80780119 --.

Backups are a huge factor in operating systems and since upgrading I cant backup my system using windows image backup, if I could optimise the system partition and straighten out the file structure within it (free up some space) for the shadow copy then the volume shadow copy could be placed onto the drive but it cant...

This all worked fine in 8.0 but not now...please fix this problem!?

Not being able to backup your system is not good enough...

here is my my issue again in pictures...

1.system volume needs optimising

but pressing the optimise for this does nothing at all.. current status remains "Needs optimisation".

The way an ssd reclaims drive space is to use the optimise function, this not working prevents the reclaim for files/data to be written to space where files have been deleted previously. Giving the impression the drive/partition is full when really its not full just needs optimising/trimmed.

 

  1. initiate the system image backup

  1. both volumes to be backed up

  1. error message due to insufficient space on the system partition for shadow copy. 

 

  1. finally here is a capture of the current disk setup on my system, notice the system partition only has 17mb free space and according to the above error message I need atleast 50mb free for the volume shadow copy !? Due to this I cant create a backup of my system using windows 8.1 !

(system partition has no drive letter assigned to it 350mb)

PLEASE HELP !! Thanks for reading.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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Anonymous
2013-10-20T20:19:10+00:00

I have found a way around this getting Windows System Image Backup working again. I did this on my laptop and desktop confirming that I could recover from the images. It is actually pretty easy but should not be necessary. The reason that the backup would not work was because the recovery partition was using 284MB of the 300MB available. There was not 50MB available for shadow copy. Here are the steps I took on an EUFI GPT disk:

Note: All commands are without quotes. 

Disclaimer: I would recommend backing up all of you important data as any time you mess with partitions, there is the possibility to lose data. This process was done one both my laptop (Win8.1 Home) and desktop (Win8.1 Pro). I cannot take responsibility if this causes any damage. With that being said, I hope this helps.

Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html Note that none of the changes will take effect until you hit apply. I am sure others may work but this is the one that I used and it is free. 

You should have 3 Windows partitions; Recovery - 300 MB, EFI System - 100 MB, and your system Volume to start off with. 

  1. Once installed, Open Partition Wizard and Shrink your system volume, C: in my case, by 101MB at the beginning of the partition. (I had to put 101MB as when I tried 100 it said that the space was too small when doing the next step) To do this, Right Click the C: Drive, select, Move/Resize, and the put 101 in box named "Unallocated Space Before:" and click OK.
  2. Copy the EFI System partition (100 MB FAT32) to this new Free Space by right clicking, selecting copy, and then selecting the unallocated space. Then next the OK.
  3. Delete the 100MB EFI System Partition after the Recovery Partition. 

After this is done, you will see 100MB unallocated space after the Recovery Partition. 

  1. Right click on Recovery partition and select Extend. Drag the bar to take up all of the extra free space. This will change the recovery partition from 300MB to 400MB allowing for enough space (50MB) for the shadow copy. Click OK. 
  2. Next Click Apply. I received an error stating that it could not make changes due to C: being in use. I clicked restart. 

When the computer restarts, Partition Wizard will do its thing. Once it is done you should boot into Windows again.

This next part is essential, because, windows now does not recognize the partition that was moved before as an EFI System Partition. If you try and do a backup image now, only the system partition will show and not the Recovery or EFI System

  1. Open a cmd prompt with administrator privileges. Press Start Key, Type cmd, right click, select run as administrator. 
  2. Type diskpart to start windows command line disk manager. 
  3. Find the disk that Windows is installed on by typing List disk. This will be different on each machine but for illustration mine was disk 0
  4. Select that disk by typing the command "select disk" and the disk number.
  5. Next, determine the EFI partition that was moved earlier. This is the partition that was moved earlier and should be 100MB. Type in the command "list part" to see a list of the partitions on the disk. Mine was Partition 3. This may be different on your system. 
  6. Once you have determined the partition number, type "select partition " and your partition number
  7. Next you have to set this partition as an EFI System volume. Type in this command - "set id = c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b" This changes the partition type to an EFI system volume.
  8. After all of this is done, restart your computer and you should now be able to back up you system using the System Image Backup in File History.

I know some of this may seem a little elementary to some but you never know who needs help and their technical knowledge. 

I hope that this helps and let me know if you have any questions.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-10-22T15:53:26+00:00

    I don't understand why this issue is only affecting users with SSDs… If that's the case, then Microsoft needs to review their code in 8.1 since usage of SSDs nowadays is very prolific.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-10-22T15:16:06+00:00

    No actually I was talking about the partition layout. It was discussed the difference between UEFI and Legacy bios's earlier. About the NUS though, it is funny that you mention that. I was talking with a colleague about getting one. Are they really that good?. I was hoping to set one up as a home server for VPN/Media/Plex/etc... etc.

    Confirmed! Jobongo, your method WORKS. People with EFI & Recovery partition setup on SSD similar to the ones Jobongo and I posted should consider trying his method. The entire process will take no more than 20-30 minutes (depending on how distracted you were..)

    On the NUC I bought the last year's model (with i3-3217U), 8gb ram, 128gb ssd, wifi/bluetooth card. it's for my parents... but this device is all they needed for now. Other than the backup issue earlier (now resolved) my experience with it has been very good. Maybe I will grab an i5 model when the price is right.

    For homeserver/plex it would good too except the fact that you will have to daisy-chain other hard drives with all your media collection. My current homeserver setup consist of W8.1 ran by a i3-2100t (passive cooling) on a mini-ITX board with a 3-drives hotswap plane (7tb total) & 300w SSF PSU all inside a lightly modded Lian-Li Q-07. Draws 72~90w depends on Load.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-10-22T14:48:53+00:00

    The technician is supposed to call me back on Thursday. I'm gonna tell them how to fix it since he seems to be out of the loop completely! Maybe Gizmodo or Engadget should pickup on this issue so that Microsoft PR gets to tell their folks about this problem in Windows 8.1        

    I was promised a call back but nothing, not sure who Gizmodo or Engadget are?? are they Mods/Microsoft??

    Yes this needs sorting out... I bet most users have not even bothered to try a system image and that's why we are getting nowhere, its a numbers thing, if everyone who actually is having this issue all complained then we would get a response, Microsoft are saying nothing on this matter, its not going to go away though...

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-10-22T14:42:39+00:00

    " They spent 6 hours one day on my computer and 9 hours on a different day and zilch! These guys could not get it fixed. I knew the issue was the 300MB recovery partition so I kept asking them to extend it via diskpart or via  a hotfix but the level 2 technician didn't seem to know how to get this done. This seems to be a widespread problem affecting a large number of users. Microsoft needs to issue a patch so that this is not a problem for other users. "

     

    Same here, the operator/support guy was out of his depth over the phone but did try, now I cant even get through to them...   Strange how Microsoft does not seem to be taking ownership of this...this is a CRITICAL issue -- imho

    I agree, they have no idea what to do! It seems it would take a lot of us to complaint to Microsoft to release a patch fix or hot fix. It shouldn't be that much of an issue for Microsoft to properly acknowledge it and issue a fix really. The technician is supposed to call me back on Thursday. I'm gonna tell them how to fix it since he seems to be out of the loop completely! Maybe Gizmodo or Engadget should pickup on this issue so that Microsoft PR gets to tell their folks about this problem in Windows 8.1

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