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
    2014-09-19T08:39:27+00:00

    Thank you, Jobongo so much for your information on how to make Windows 8.1 create a system image. 

    I followed your instructions, it worked!  But there is a small, unexpected issue.

    Original Partitions:  Recovery 300mb, EFI 99mb, *Other 128mb, C: NTSF 237.96gb

    After Repartitioning (I used my choice of sizes, and the GPT partitions)

     Recovery 399mb with 297.75mb used

     EFI 369mb with 65.21 used

     *Other 128mb with 128mb used (same as prior)

     C: NTSF 237.60gb with 76.75 used

    * Other partition does not show in Computer Management plug-in, it only shows up in the MiniTool Partition Manager.

    So, when I ran the System Image, the Recovery partition did not appear on the selection list.  I created an image consisting of EFI, C drive and the E drive.  I install programs on E vice the C boot drive. 

    I had carefully followed you instructions to set the ID of the EFI system volume, of course that worked as the system booted as normal.  Why can't I select the Recovery Partition when I attempt to create a system image?  Also, do you know what the "other" partition would be? 

    One final note: 

     Initially the sequence of my partitions was: Recovery , Fat32(EFI), Other, C:NTFS 

     After resizing, the new sequence is: Recovery, Other, Fat32(EFI), Other, C:NTFS. 

    This sequence is due to the existence of the "Other" partition, if this this has any bearing on the question posed. 

    Thank you for your response, in advance.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-09-16T23:27:34+00:00

    I ran this program http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html and found my product key for this oem sony pc.  However when I went to the MS web page to create a usb bootable disk and entered that key MS said the key was not valid.  No wonder sony didn't want to tell me the windows product key.  Its bogus.  I could buy win 8.1 on dvd and get a valid product key.  But now that win 9 is being discussed I think I'll just wait till win 9 comes out and buy the dvds for win 9 and start over with a valid product key and most likely all my sony disk recovery problems will go away....Gene

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-09-16T23:24:22+00:00

    DrGeneP,

           I haven't read your other posts, so I don't know of your attempts with regard to Sony themselves, but I can tell you that my Dell laptop came with the same type of OEM recovery drive on my laptop.  

           Now again, I don't know about Sony, or your dealings with them, but Dell will provide one OS recovery DVD disk for your new laptop by just asking them.  They mail it to you.  It's just a blanket OS recovery disk, without all of the bloatware that comes with the computer.  I don't know if Sony does the same, but if it does, you could do the same and wouldn't have to buy one separately. 

           My Dell laptop now has W8.1 on it, and the recovery disk is only W8, but it's no big deal to do the free upgrade if I need to redo everything.  I had purchased an SSD for the laptop like HarryTapp did, so the recovery disk was perfect in this situation. 

           If you have already talked to Sony about getting an OS recovery disk, then I apologize.   

    I also did not read all the messages about your Sony in this thread but I can tell you that you might not need to buy a restore disk.

    I tried to clean up my Asus Windows 8 PC with no luck.  By accident I deleted the recovery partition.  I grabbed the iso of Windows 8 from Microsoft and then installed that to the Asus with an external drive.  I believe that the installation included some type of license verification that was done automatically by the OS. I was never asked to provide a license key.  I did have trouble getting all the drivers that I needed from Asus, but no problems with Microsoft.

    Your situation might be different but if you haven't ordered the disks it is worth trying.  I had the same experience with Windows XP Professional when my son killed his laptop hard drive  in 2002. The OS looked at the BIOS and realized that the PC shipped with XP.  No Windows XP authentication happened either (to my recollection).

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-09-16T23:01:09+00:00

    I saved the snipp to my desktop and used the picture icon in the reply bar second from the right to browse and upload it to this reply. Notice I keep mine clean, pre create install partition and MBR disk. No windows recovery partition or bit locker use.

    Even if you "throw away" the factory disk(s) give you the option to go back to factory. If you want to get your very own copy of windows 8.1 Update 1 but id can get dicey with OEM/Upgrade keys and I don't know if it will work. First you have to find out your product key xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx go here...

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only  Choose install windows 8, when it gets to 1% close the window and confirm yes. Then choose install windows 8.1 this time it wont ask for your key. When finished choose create ISO and then do it again for Usb although the ISO can be burned to a DVD and Usb later anyway. If all goes well to this point you can attempt an install. When I did it my key which got the download to happen would not work for the install process. I had to get a 8.1 trial key to get it to work. My original key is 8.0 pro x64 (retail) so I had to find a 8.1 pro x64 trial key. I have yet to find 8.0 core or 8.1 core trial keys that will work, good luck. If you get the install to run then when completed (already given username and at desktop) connect to the internet an open an admin command prompt and type... slmgr.vbs -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx  (your valid 8.0 key) and then activate.

    If all this works then save your original 8.0 key and the trial 8.1 key for if in the future you need to do a clean re install.

    [Edit]

    I just did another one stretching the disk management window to show all the features of each partition...

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