Windows 7: Why is W7 Saying Not Enough Backup Space?

Greg S · 06 Mar 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by mjf

Quote: Originally Posted by Greg S

Quote: Originally Posted by pparks1

I'm about 99% sure it's the system reserved partition. The error message says for volumes under 500MB, you need at least 50MB free. Well, the System reserved partition is 100MB...and if you got less than 50MB of free space on it, you will get the error message that you see above.

Right click my computer, Manage, go to Disk Management. Right click on the System Reserved partition at the front. Choose change drive letter and path. Assign it a drive, like X. Then open My Computer and check the Free space. I'd bet a dollar to a donut that you have less than 50MB free.

Here is an article explaining this exact problem;
Windows 7 Enterprise Backup Image Error 0x80780119 - Microsoft Answers

In my case, the partition just magically cleaned itself up within a few hours and I was able to run backups. What caused it to drop for a period of time under 50MB is still a mystery to me.

And if one doesn't have a System Reserved Partition and gets this error, what would it be then?

See Post #6

"The system reserved partition needs shadow storage space. You can check this in Disk management (right click Computer>Manage>Disk Management) the system reserved (100MB) should be around 70% free. If you've got 50% free or more then this isn't your problem.

But you should also check the VSS space on the storage volume.
From an elevated command prompt
>vssadmin list shadowstorage

will show you the available shadow storage space on your backup volume."

.

mjf, check the post I made two above the one that I quote you here. I posted screenshots of both in hopes that you or someone could translate it for me.

mjf · 06 Mar 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by Greg S

mjf, check the post I made two above the one that I quote you here. I posted screenshots of both in hopes that you or someone could translate it for me.

Sorry - you've lost me.

Looks like the OP is giving Windows Imaging a miss anyway. On some systems it just seems to be problematic.

sygnus21 · 06 Mar 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by mjf

Looks like the OP is giving Windows Imaging a miss anyway. On some systems it just seems to be problematic.

Yes he's decided to use something else. It appears that Windows Backup was wanting to include another drive in addition to "C" drive for an image backup

Quote: Originally Posted by RealGem

Yes, I was experiencing that.

But as I say above, I am no longer relying on Windows for backups. But thanks for your reply.

http://www.sevenforums.com/performan...ml#post1276205

Greg S · 06 Mar 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by mjf

Quote: Originally Posted by Greg S

mjf, check the post I made two above the one that I quote you here. I posted screenshots of both in hopes that you or someone could translate it for me.

Sorry - you've lost me.

.

I gave screenshots of Disk management and vssadmin list shadowstorage. I just assumed that you knew how to interpret both and could tell me what my problem was with Windows System Image/Backup.

mjf · 06 Mar 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by Greg S

Quote: Originally Posted by mjf

Quote: Originally Posted by Greg S

mjf, check the post I made two above the one that I quote you here. I posted screenshots of both in hopes that you or someone could translate it for me.

Sorry - you've lost me.

.

I gave screenshots of Disk management and vssadmin list shadowstorage. I just assumed that you knew how to interpret both and could tell me what my problem was with Windows System Image/Backup.

Ok - my knowledge is very limited.
Re: Shadow storage on the storage volume -
I believe that if the maximum shadow storage is set too low it can cause these errors as this is also used in the imaging process. Your image backup areas appear to have the maximum set at 1%. Mine are set at 30%. See my screen shots. I have a number of images on volumes U and V. You may want to try increasing the maximum shadow storage to something higher and see how you go. (Move the slider in the second screen shot and apply).

Why is W7 Saying Not Enough Backup Space?-shadow-storage.jpg

Why is W7 Saying Not Enough Backup Space?-shadow-storage2.jpg

RealGem · 06 Mar 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by sreedhav

Dear RealJem,

This is a long shot, but has a bearing on your problem! Kindly read this article : Not enough space for successful backup(0x81000014). Iam posting an excerpt from the link which has the most relevence.

Quote"
My case is: my volume to be backed up is too full. When doing backup in Vista/Windows 7/Server 2008/R2, VSS backup is the way to go. While VSS will attempt to allocate free space in the drive being backup for creating shadow copy. This is the default VSS behavior but can be altered by vssadmin.exe utility. Please note elevated priviledge is required for running vssadmin.exe.

So, if the drive you are going to backup is too full, you might hit this problem. That means, even if you have free space in other drive, by default VSS don't know how to leverage them"UNquote.

The EXTN. HDDs come pre-formatted, especially the NTFS ones, it's the partitions you have to make! I have two EXTN.HDDs, one is a Seagate Free Agent Pro 750GB and the other is a Western Digital Portable "elements"1TB and both came formatted!
Regards,
Sreedhav

What were the two methods you tried to create a manual backup, as you mentioned in your first post

The two methods were System Image and normal backup, but as I said above I have abandoned the Windows methods as I don't have any trouble understanding SyncbackSE. It just lets you create profiles; From Source folder to Destination folder. Not sure if my Seagate 1TB was formatted, but it works ok with Synback.

Please don't think I'm ungrateful though. I appreciate all the responses from everyone offering help. I plan to use Windows backup when I have more time to test it properly. I also have limited knowledge of doing admin or elevated commands, so I would need to learn how to do it.

Quote: Originally Posted by pparks1

Quote: Originally Posted by RealGem

OK I did that and yes it's 48%.

It's 48% full, 48% free, or it has 48MB free. If it's got less than 50MB free...that is your issue....as I have been saying all along.

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, you were right; it is less than 50% free.

Thanks

pparks1 · 06 Mar 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by RealGem

Quote: Originally Posted by pparks1

Quote: Originally Posted by RealGem

OK I did that and yes it's 48%.

It's 48% full, 48% free, or it has 48MB free. If it's got less than 50MB free...that is your issue....as I have been saying all along.

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, you were right; it is less than 50% free.

Thanks

No problem, well that confirms my initial suspicion. Just like me, you have less than 50MB free on your System Reserved partition and thus the built-in Windows utility doesn't work. I just wish there was a method for cleaning up that partition, but it seems like Windows wouldn't let it under 50MB since this problem can occur.

mjf · 06 Mar 2011

My response in post #26 was directed to Greg S at his request.

As I said before there are 2 shadow storage areas of concern. Greg S had the same problem or symptoms with NO system reserved partition.
I am surprised that the lack of shadow storage space on the system reserved was that rigid that 48% versus 50% would cause failure. I recall reading elsewhere that around the 40% free mark problems would be seen. Unfortunately I cannot remember the source.

pparks1 · 06 Mar 2011

It's not really about a percentage. The error message clearly states that if you have a volume that is less than 500MB (and the System reserved partition is 100MB), that you have to have at least 50MB free. So, if the person has 48MB free, it's under 50MB and is a problem.

mjf · 06 Mar 2011

The thread was talking percentages. In the absolute guidance as per
Understanding Disk Partitions
System Partition Requirements Basic system partition requirements are:

Must have at least 100 megabytes (MB) of hard drive space.
Must have enough free space to create shadow copies of the partition.
- If the partition is less than 500 MB, it must have at least 50 MB of free space.
- If the partition is 500 MB or larger, it must have at least 320 MB of free space.
- If the partition is larger than 1 gigabyte (GB), we recommend that it should have at least 1 GB free.

The stated minimum is 50MB for system reserved partition under 500MB (ie. 100MB). I'm suggesting based on other reading is that this may not be a rigid figure. At around the 40MB free you are definitely likely to strike problems. The example referred to earlier in the thread was for someone who had only 38MB free.

Windows 7: Why is W7 Saying Not Enough Backup Space?

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