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
    2013-10-30T23:05:34+00:00

    Question 1:

    I think that it will create the all of the files necessary in the directory that you select. In the case in the article it was the root directory of the C: drive. If you don't specify a directory to copy it to then it will copy it to a temporary directory. Basically this part is to change the initial configuration that Windows looks for when installing. This is the way that I see it.

    Question 2:

    I would imagine so. The ISO image contains all of the files necessary to boot from. At least the 8.0 does. For example, to create a bootable USB, I simply copied all of the files from the DVD onto a USB stick and everything was ready to go. There was no extra preparation of the USB (i.e. creating a bootable USB, etc). The only thing is that since I am using UEFI firmware, I made sure that the format was FAT32. UEFI does not recognize NTFS disks if I am not mistaken.

    The only thing I have a problem with is the fact that I can't get my hands on an 8.1 ISO. I have tried downloading the ISO from Microsoft, but  since I have an OEM version, I cannot use that service. I am trying to find a way around it and if anyone knows of a way please let me know.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-10-30T17:23:17+00:00

    Does anyone know if we original Windows 8 users can get our hands on Window 8.1 CD? That would save a lot of upgrades.

    I have found three good sources of information:

    1. http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/windows-81-tip-download-windows-81-iso-windows-8-product-key
    2. http://www.jmedved.com/2013/09/installing-windows-8-1-or-8-without-a-product-key/
    3. http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/36314-Questions-about-adding-a-quot-ei-cfg-quot-file-to-Windows-8-ISOs (discusses ei.cfg files)

    Having read both the articles, because I am not that familiar with ISO files, I have a couple of questions.

    Questions:

    1. From the second article: This will create bootable Windows81.iso image in a root directory of your second drive. If you have a single drive, place file into a subdirectory. Otherwise file will be written in Virtual store (usually at%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore). I assume that this file will be deposited in J (or whatever letter) drive after your C drive?
    2. Then burning this file to a CD will make it a bootable? No other steps are required?

    So now, I could start with Windows 8.1 and bypass most of the upgrades from Windows 8 to 8.1?

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-10-30T17:05:44+00:00

    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...

    If the worst case scenario is having to do a rebuild, I am okay with that. I am not happy about it, but I can live with it. Before this computer, every 18-24 months, I used to do a rebuild, anyway. I like that brand-new computer feeling. So this time, I will be early, about 6-12 months early.

    With my prior pcs, I had physical disks, and I could tell when they were getting bogged down. Now, I have an SSD for my C drive, so I do know as easily when my computer is becoming bogged down. It still seems very quick to me.

    As far as my data is concerned, almost everything data-wise is on separate physical drives. My C drive is reserved for operating system and software only. I will backup my data anyway, but it should remain unaffected. I will have to back up some settings for various programs before the rebuild. Other than that inconvenience, I will have 6-12 hours, probably much closer to 6 than to 12, of work getting my pc back to where it ought to be.

    Does anyone know if we original Windows 8 users can get our hands on Window 8.1 CD? That would save a lot of upgrades.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-10-30T15:31:06+00:00

    Now I can see that my W8.0 partitions have no sizing issue regarding W8.1 system image recovery. Hence no need to address this point now then upgrade confidently to W8.1.

     

    Now I have 2 options:

    • Playing with my nerves upgrading to 8.1 again...
    • Staying quiet with W8.0 until a consistent solution appears

    Merci Paulo :)

     

     

    I think the error is a parameter error (partition inconsistency) as mentioned a few times before by unsuccessful user attempts to restore to 8.1 following system partition extension,

    If you have tried to recover a 8.1 image using the 8.0 recovery you will definitely receive an error code, I have discovered this for myself, you can only recover 8.1 from 8.1 usb key !!

    My nerves were totally ruined by this, I lost x3 8.1 systems, the 4th I could backup and restore.

    Can you provide a screen shot via disk management please? please see my example...

    EXAMPLE:-

    Thankyou.

    **(**did you have any other USB devices connected to the laptop whilst trying to restore to 8.1??) This can sometimes create conflicts. Also did you FORMAT HDD? Before attempting 8.1 restore? as I think this is an error/conflict between the restore image and the partition alignment on the hdd, possibly by formatting hdd you force the restore onto clean disk.

    Final trick here, when you use the usb key to restore, you can try pulling out the usb key immediately before confirming the restore at the last point, this has worked for me in the past in win7...

    I realise your back in 8.0 now but if you do try again you have some extra ideas at hand, perhaps you have still got your 8.1 image to try this out?

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