Can't create restore points or backup files

I have a Gateway NV78 running windows 7 home premium 64 bit OS. I can't create restore points or do image backups on this computer. Plenty of room on C: drive and on the external drive I’m backing up to for image backups. When I try to create a restore point, I get the error 'The restore point could not be created for the following reason The specified object was not found (0x80042308). It runs for about two minutes before this message. I see under the event log the following errors:
volsnap 14 - shadow copies of volume C: were aborted because of an IO failure on volume C
Ntfs 57 - The system failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur.
atapi 11 - The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0
I have always had problems with this computer concerning backups and restore points.
I have taken the following steps:
1. Did a fresh intall of the entire system from the Gateway factory installed partition. Tried to back up - no go.
2. Disabled all firewalls and antivirus software
3. run chkdsk \R - disk is clean.
4. Ran SFC \scannow - file system is clean.
5. Got into services and made sure that VSS and SPP were set to run automatically. Stopped both and restarted. Still no go.
5. Checked vssadmin - All writers are OK before attempting to set restore point. Microsoft is the only provider. After attemping to create restore point, the following writers have timed out: task scheduler writer, system writer, WMI writer, COM+ REGDB writer, MS Service writer, Registry writer, Shadow Copy Optimization Writer.
6. I checked the registry, and the SystemSetupInProgress and UpgradeInProgress flags are both 0.
7. Got into msconfig.exe and did selective backup with 3rd party services disabled, and no startup files being run. Still no go.
8. Tried to backup using Macrium software - same errors.
9. Made sure that there are no old restore points on drive.
Can’t think of what else to do at this point. The system tried to create a restore point over night, and I saw that that failed also. (Guess because no restore points had been created for 7 days). However, Microsoft updates seem to go OK, and it says that restore points are being created during the update, but if I check to see if there are old restore points, none exist.
Can't think of what else to do, and would greatly appreciate any help.

Mag 45 - did you ever find a solution? I have the same exact problem. I've had this Dell laptop for 2 years and from day 1, there has never been a system restore point or backup of this system anywhere, anytime. I guess I'm about as computer savvy as I care to be, probably a higher level than the vast majority, but I just got tired of trying. I have more important things to do and have no desire to become a computer techie!

whs said:

Skye said:

Mag 45 - did you ever find a solution? I have the same exact problem. I've had this Dell laptop for 2 years and from day 1, there has never been a system restore point or backup of this system anywhere, anytime. I guess I'm about as computer savvy as I care to be, probably a higher level than the vast majority, but I just got tired of trying. I have more important things to do and have no desire to become a computer techie!

Doing nothing is not a good strategy. If I were you, I would use imaging. Free Macrium or free Paragon are good options. Then at least you can bail yourself out the day disaster strikes - and I have not yet seen a system where it did not strike one day or another.

I know you're right and disaster has struck in the past. I have pulled my photos and documents onto an external hard drive but perhaps the imaging programs you mentioned would be a good option. Will they work regardless of the current inability to create images?

Have you mucked with the System Volume Information folder?

Solving error 0×80080005 of Windows Backup | Under My Hat

JimLewandowski said:

Have you mucked with the System Volume Information folder?

Solving error 0×80080005 of Windows Backup | Under My Hat

Nope.

whs said:

Sure they will work. They do not rely on the Windows imaging.

One other thing you could try:

Open an elevated commend prompt and run this command

WBADMIN START BACKUP -backupTarget:f: -include:e:

where 'f ' is the disk to which you want to image and 'e' is the partition you image. This command uses some of the same routines as the restore points. Have a look whether that works.

Once you have this image (the VHD), you can mount (attach) it with Disk Management.

Here's what i got:
(I'll try the 3rd party imaging suggestions you made) -- thanks for your help