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
    2014-06-23T17:59:51+00:00

    Thanks a lot it worked for Me

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-05-25T14:53:28+00:00

    The answer you give is pretty solid :-) I did once have a problem with partition wizard when resized before system (C:) that in the process of rebooting there was a failure that required me to re-install the OS. This is why I prefer to use Hirens boot device with a mini win 7 pe environment to do the work off line. You did not mention the MSR Reserved (128Mb) partition which sits between the EFI system and the OS data partitions. The easy thing is if you do this booting from a Hirens USB/DVD disk is you can shrink the front of the OS partition and apply. Then select the MSR and move it sliding against the OS into the new unallocated space and apply. Do the same with the EFI partition. Now extend the recovery partition and apply. This method is really easy and eliminates the need to use diskpart to reset the partition Id's I will say that it is amazing that Partition Wizard with all it's versatility and functionality that it will not set GPT disk partition Id's, it will do basic...Hey it's free :-) One other thing is the Hirens is not compatible with UEFI firmware. You must go into the firmware and change to allow legacy bios booting for it to work. When the chores are done go back in and put it back for windows to boot again. I also found another problem is windows does not like for you to enter the firmware when turning on the computer. Sometimes pressing "Shift" key and "turn off computer" works, other wise go into recovery/advanced recovery methods and select modify firmware to get in.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-05-04T23:56:57+00:00

    I just blew away way Win 8.1 and reinstalled Win 8.0 from the retail disk.  You are correct there is plenty of room for shadow copy in the Win 8.0 MSR.  The Store based update from 8.0 to 8.1 causes the MSR to fill up.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-05-04T10:44:12+00:00

    lessons learned from the different ISO Versions.

    • The new Windows 8.1 with update 1 on UEFI Machine still uses a 300MB Partition.
    • The new Windows 2012 R2 with update 1 on UEFI Machine still uses a 300MBPartition.
    • Microsoft Developers fixed the way the backup works with this partiton in new ISO´s.
    • Windows Updates from 8.0 to 8.1 screws up the backup function.
    • Windows Updates 1 is not Fixing this Problem.
    • There is still no Update for this Problem.
    • There is only the workaround for creating a new 450MB Partition available.

    I really would like to see a update that fixes the backup Problem.

    The update should not create a larger recovery partiton.

    Jürgen

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