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
    2013-10-30T08:46:36+00:00

    I am not too happy about having to remove everything and starting over. But if that's the solution, then I best get mentally prepared. Luckily, only my operating system and software is on my C drive. Everything else is on my other drives.

    However, I don't relish getting involved in technical details and will only do so when necessary. However, it looks like I might have to learn more about boot disks, partitions and other stuff.

    You asked about my partition layout. I don't even know where to look to answer your question. I assume, however, that my screen capture above provides some guidance?

    Kevin thanks for your reply, I hear your concern and I was in your situation on the 19th when 8.1 was released.

    You actually have the EFI 3 partition layout by the looks of things and therefore there is a suitable way around the failure to backup, Jobongo has described a method (and been awarded recognition for the fix) its up to you if you have the ability to follow the method and attempt system/recovery extension.

    Other users have reported success but as I am sure Jobongo agree's these procedures come with no guarantee and data loss is possible (I have to mention that to be fair) also who knows if the extending of the partition might cause a knock-on effect further down the line with Microsoft updates and complications with bitlocker?? (again this is possible).

    Make sure you backup all your data (not a system image) using "file history" in the action centre of 8.1 (atleast then you wont loose your files, settings etc)

    Data loss is guaranteed with fresh install method so I would personally take the risk to attempt partition adjustment, if it fails your at fresh install option, if it works then you have your entire system, drivers,apps,programs,settings,updates,configuration, and the system you are used to that you have lovingly build up over time. Do you understand me? the decision is yours...

    Kevin you really wont need to go further than this thread to learn "enough" regarding the partitions and the methods used to fix.

    I had the 2 partition layout and I could not boot after extending a partition, I found that extending the partition in 8.0 then upgrading worked for me.

    Fresh install was not an option for me, too much work to rebuild my system, I simply extended the system partition using partwiz then upgraded to 8.1.

    I totally agree that this is too much for some users and not fair either.

    Your pictures are good and you are in the same boat as others on this thread, quite simply Kevin your recovery partition has been filled with extra data during 8.1 upgrade and the mechanism used to create an image is now handicapped due to there being insufficient space on the system/recovery partition.

    Again this thread explains this problem well from start to finish.

    Jobongo is on this thread and as you can see he is willing to assist like myself and others, I personally would advise to consider using the 3 partition layout fix that Jobongo has described But this may just be too much for you??. I would advise to read the thread from start to finish (a lot to read) but trust me it will probably help. You might decide to give it a go?

    Fresh install does not have to be an option just yet,

    Do you have an 8.0 image to fall back on??

    If you fresh install you will need all your drivers etc as I am sure you are aware?

    There is also the possibility as mentioned at the top of this page to try this:- wbAdmin start backup -backupTarget:E: -include:C: from the command line, but I have not tried this, would a restore be possible?? you could try to use this to atleast back up your C: partition for a future time when your more able to try out different ways to fix, (or for a rainy day :-)

    Could also be too much to consider.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-10-30T10:24:59+00:00

    Thanks a lot Jobongo and all of you.

    I solved the system image issue by using Partition Wizard (PW), a nuclear bomb.

    I installed PW from the link given by Jobongo. For the first time I could see the amount of data in my partitions. Which Disk management did't allow (all partitions but C: were declared 100% free !)

    My partition layout was slightly different (from yours) on my Samsung 840 pro :

    • Recovery 400 MB (150 unused)
    • EFI 300 MB (247 unsused)
    • MSR 128 MB (nothing unused!)
    • C: 237 GB (208 unused)

    and last but not least :

    • Recovery (a second one! Redundant with the first one?) 349 MB (12 unused, that's it !! Below the limit of 50MB required by the system image creation tool)

    Then I decided to extend it after shrinking the main partition ( a huge amount of103 MB escaped from the more or less 250000 MB, it is painful) and creating an "unallocated space after" the shrinked partition.

    At this step, considering my skills, I gambled :

    I extended the last partition (second "recovery partition" lacking some MB), with using the neighboring and new born unallocated space (103 brave MB).

    Then I press the "Apply" button and PW restarted the computer, did its duty and eventually  Windows 8.1 still worked.

    And I succeeded in creating a system image on an external disk (about 20 mn on a mere USB 2.0).

    No Deadly 0x80780119 signal. Yes! I did it!

    Remaining questions:

    Will system image recovery work? ( i'm tempted to test that)

    What about that second" recovery partition" where the issue came from? (NB i had deleted a 16 GB recovery partition when on Windows 8.0 )

     Will (the supposed functionnality of) the extended partition still work after my extension method (ie using a precedent unallocated space? Assuming the last (second recovery) partition (now 452 MB) is not redundant with the first (recovery) partition (400 MB).

    Thanks a lot everybody

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-10-30T10:38:08+00:00

    Will system image recovery work? ( i'm tempted to test that)

    That is the question, most probably yes but there is only 1 way to find out... lol

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-10-30T11:37:01+00:00

    Will system image recovery work? ( i'm tempted to test that)

    That is the question, most probably yes but there is only 1 way to find out... lol

    A second dive into the unknown :)

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