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.

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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.

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Anonymous

2014-01-18T15:42:24+00:00

This here is the "Microsoft Community". I think people come to here to learn how to make their 8.1 working as it is advertised by Microsoft for Windows 8.1. Nobody needs to be told that 3rd party software can generate a system back up. Initially support staff from MS has posted in this thread - without providing a solution. I am not arguing against the workarounds discussed here. They are just not what regular Windows users could or would want to do with their installation. I agree that It seems indeed so that Microsoft neither wants to solve the problem nor even acknowledge it. That does not mean we should give up keeping this thread running and pointing at the problem. While for a few posters the workarounds might be a way to go, they are for most users not a solution, and keeping this issue "alive" should serve as constant reminder (and hopefully) embarrassment for MS.
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Anonymous

2014-01-18T13:44:43+00:00

I look at this thread as a guide to make image backups. I am thankful that two methods were devised for fixing this bug. I don't think Microsoft will bother to fix this problem and I think that is wrong on their part. But for people posting here to get mad at one another because Microsoft made a terrible mistake is unfortunate.

If the bug bothers anyone reading this so much that they want to vent, I would suggest they call Microsoft and complain. The people who made the hundreds of posts that helped me and others don't have an ability to make Microsoft fix this mess.
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Anonymous

2014-01-18T12:29:05+00:00

You know what - you guys are an a mission. A good mission as it happens - namely to make Microsoft provide us with what they purport to provide. It is pretty obvious at this point that they are not going to reply to this thread. We should all mentally note this point with regard to Microsoft. Maybe at some point they will provide a solution - maybe they won't. The solutions offered in this thread are not for the faint-hearted - involving, as they do, shrinking partitions and what not. This is not what the people who used Image in 8.0, but can't in 8.1, necessarily want to do. So I think describing the post that you replied to as unhelpful is way over the top. I have found it very helpful that I can get free software (e.g. Macrium) which seems to work just as well as the MS app, and thereby avoid all the complex messing about that some have been able to apply. So thanks a lot Marty - I think you have been helpful
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Anonymous

2014-01-18T11:28:39+00:00

Guys!

Have you ever thought about giving up on Microsoft and just using a much better third party application?

There are great free options.

There are many posts in this thread concerning the four or more options made available by other software companies for backing up partitions and cloning hard drives. So to answer your question we have done more than think about using these programs.

This thread is sooooo long that it is hard to wade through it all. But if you do read the whole thread you will also see two solutions that allow many of us to make an image with the Microsoft imaging program. Both of these solutions worked for me.

I think your comment is not helpful at all.

Are you trying to belittle the problem? And are you trying to imply that only the not-so-clever have a problem to back up their 8.1 system using the advertised 8,1 functionality? We all do know that 3rd party programs exist that may produce an 8.1 system imagine. And yes, apparently a few people here have finally managed with risky manipulations, they are not supposed to do, to get 8.1 to produce a system image.

What most posters here want is that MS officially acknowledges the issue so that probably tens of thousands of 8.1 users unaware of this issue do not waste countless hours, because they believe it's their fault when they cannot generate a 8.1 system image. And then, we want MS to fix the issue so that the 8.1 image backup function works as advertised.
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