System reserved needs 40-50MB of free space for shadow storage for Windows in built imaging.
there are also free space requirements for shadow storage on the partition where the image will be stored. That is observable as the image is being created.
USN Journal files are reported as the typical cause of the "clogging up" of system reserved. It is my understanding that the OS will eventually clear the crud but this isn't much help if you want to make an image NOW.
It would have been interesting to see what happened if you had run the
>fsutil usn deletejournal /N/D F:
command as per the tutorial.
I did. It made no difference.
I had no USN Journal files on the Reserved partition, so it did not work for me.
I would not agree that USN Journal files are reported as the *typical* cause of the "clogging up" of system reserved. The poster of that particular issue gave a long, detailed and seemingly credible description of his issue and how he dealt with it. Others posting in response did not find that to be a solution to their issue, although some did.
I have not found any other posts claiming to have *found* such USN journals on the reserved partition. That description and solution, however, is widely quoted...
The Volume Shadow Copy startup Type is normally "Manual" as recommended by MS and works for me.
Have a link to that MS recommendation? It is certainly that way on a clean install. I have no dispute with that, however have not seen such a recommendation. Once the service starts, it apparently has a timeout, as it will stop by itself. My understanding is that the "Automatic" setting simply starts the service when you logon. I presume that times out too.
Shadow Copy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I am surprised when you say extending system reserved to say 200MB also causes problems.
I posted no such thing. I stated that increasing the size of the reserved partition *allowed* you to make an image. reread the post. This issue is *NOT* the size of the partition, but the amount of remaining free space therein.
If Win7 needed a 200MB reserved partition, one presumes it would create one during install. It does not. Possibly there is there a KB article suggesting such an increase in size?
You say:
"My guess is that either Acronis or Clonezilla [or both] put the VSS service out of sync or trash the dependencies when you attempt to use their imaging systems - both of which programs I tried. No proof - just a presumption." ---Maybe, get rid of them and see what happens.
Do not have to. Neither program is on the machine, nor are they part of the system images. Both were run from rescue media, both of which fail to work properly [whole different issues...]
I was simply making an observation as the possible reason that starting VSS cleared that much space on the partition, allowing me to make a system image.
Once again, I want to note that when an MS system image [obviously created when there was sufficient free space on the reserved partition] is restored, it does *NOT* result in sufficient free space on the restored reserved partition. In other words, it does not restore the reserved partition as having about 68 MB of free space and 32 MB used space. If 68 MB was *used* prior to restoring the reserved partition - it remains that way. I would certainly like some info on why that occurs.
I also use (free) Macrium Reflect which is highly regarded. Many people give up on the inbuilt imaging and opt for this.
To restate my original post -
I need a Windows7 based solution - NOT an aftermarket imaging program. [acronis, clonezilla etc.]
I have not given up on MS Backup. I thought that my statement in the original post was pretty clear - and applies to *any* aftermarket imaging/recovery program.
If those programs work for you - use them as you see fit or hawk them in another thread.
I am looking for a *Windows* based solution to a *Win7* issue.
TIA
