Why is W7 Saying Not Enough Backup Space?

mjf said:

Greg S said:

pparks1 said:

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."

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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.

Greg S said:

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.

mjf said:

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

RealGem said:

Yes, I was experiencing that.

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

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

mjf said:

Greg S said:

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.

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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.

Greg S said:

mjf said:

Greg S said:

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.

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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).

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.

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.