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

Anonymous

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.

initiate the system image backup

both volumes to be backed up

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

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.

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

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.

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.
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.
Delete the 100MB EFI System Partition after the Recovery Partition.

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

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.
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

Open a cmd prompt with administrator privileges. Press Start Key, Type cmd, right click, select run as administrator.
Type diskpart to start windows command line disk manager.
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
Select that disk by typing the command "select disk" and the disk number.
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.
Once you have determined the partition number, type "select partition " and your partition number
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.
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.

0 comments

778 additional answers

Anonymous

2014-01-07T23:47:43+00:00

Well, aside from the snark.

You are moving the recovery partition, you still have access to it and can recover your PC it just doesn't have to reside on the main disk.

Try reading more closely.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-01-07T22:32:19+00:00

I found the easy way to get around this problem. It is caused by the recovery partition having insufficient room for a shadow copy.

On the File History panel in the Control Panel right above the System Image command is the Recovery option. This allows you to copy the recovery partition from your primary disk where the manufacturer has it. You can choose your backup disk as the destination if you don't have a DVD or a USB stick.

(If you use your backup disk there are additional steps you need to take.)

Move the recovery partition and then delete it from the main disk. You can then use Disk Management to extend your main drive partition to recapture the space.

(If you used your backup disk the recovery process used the entire disk.

Go into Disk Management and shrink the recovery partition. Create a simple disk from the recovered area and assign a letter. I remove the letter from the recovery partition to hide it in file explorer.)

Run System Image and use your backup disk as normal.

Regards,

Chris

Well I found an easier way to get around this problem. I erased the whole hard drive and then there was nothing to back up. I simply use my Windows 8.1 PC as a doorstop and I never will have to worry about making an image backup again.

Seriously, I don't know why nuking the recovery partition on the hard drive would be an option that most of us would think acceptable.

Why does this appeal to you, Chris?
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-01-07T21:00:34+00:00

I found the easy way to get around this problem. It is caused by the recovery partition having insufficient room for a shadow copy.

On the File History panel in the Control Panel right above the System Image command is the Recovery option. This allows you to copy the recovery partition from your primary disk where the manufacturer has it. You can choose your backup disk as the destination if you don't have a DVD or a USB stick.

(If you use your backup disk there are additional steps you need to take.)

Move the recovery partition and then delete it from the main disk. You can then use Disk Management to extend your main drive partition to recapture the space.

(If you used your backup disk the recovery process used the entire disk.

Go into Disk Management and shrink the recovery partition. Create a simple disk from the recovered area and assign a letter. I remove the letter from the recovery partition to hide it in file explorer.)

Run System Image and use your backup disk as normal.

Regards,

Chris
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-01-06T23:31:18+00:00

cookre(2), while this worked for you, and will work for some, it will not work for most. It all depends on the order of your partitions. Most people will still have to use the instructions Jobongo gave because they cannot simply shrink C and use the free space to expand their recovery partition. If the fix were this easy for everyone, this thread wouldn't be nearly as long as it is. I'm glad your computer was set up in such a way that you could do this, but again, unfortunately, most people cannot use this method. Good post though, as some people will be able to do this.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments