Solved "System Can't Find Path Specified" Error During Backup

[Durango]

I automatically back up my hard-drive weekly to an external drive. For several weeks I didn't notice that the capacity of my external drive had been exceeded. At that point I deleted several of the older data file backups, thus giving me ample space on the external drive to once again perform my backup.

However, several attempts to perform the backup have resulted in the message that "the backup did not complete successfully because the system can't find the path specified". I am at a loss as to why I am suddenly getting this error message, and I have no idea what path is causing the problem.

Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance............

 

[HammerHead]

Question

What backup software are you using?
Are you doing a full backup, image or incremental?

 

[Durango]

What backup software are you using?
Are you doing a full backup, image or incremental?

Sorry -
I'm using the Backup and Restore utility that comes with Windows 7. I am doing a full backup (system image and data files).

Thanks for any help/advice you can give me..........

 

[HammerHead]

Destination

I know this does not quite match the error message you gave.

Check the destination where your software is set to and make sure you have access.

EX: H:\My Backups

Take ownership and add your account with full priveleges if necessary.

 

[HammerHead]

Backup Tut

Here is a tutorial that might point out a problem.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html?filter[2]=Backup Restore

 

[kado897]

This can sometimes happen if you have deleted something that backup expects. If you go through the configure backup routine it may fix the problem.

 

[HammerHead]

New Config

Kado has got the right idea. You don't have to change the disk. Add a new directory and change the path. If it works you can go back and change it again to something else that you prefer.

 

[Durango]

This can sometimes happen if you have deleted something that backup expects. If you go through the configure backup routine it may fix the problem.

That did the trick, although I don't understand why. I guess I will never know what I deleted that backup expected.

Thanks.

 

[Durango]

I know this does not quite match the error message you gave.

Check the destination where your software is set to and make sure you have access.

EX: H:\My Backups

Take ownership and add your account with full priveleges if necessary.

I should have access/ownership because I have been successfully backing up to this external drive for about two years. As the drive began to fill up is when the backups began to fail. I always thought Windows would keep the disk from filling up by regulating the number of images that it kept and the number of data file sets that it kept. But I guess not, so I had to go in and delete several of the data file sets.

But then I encountered the error message until I did the backup reconfigure that Kado suggested. I love Windows 7, but it does keep you on your toes.

 

[kado897]

Glad it's sorted.
It threw me the first time it happened to me. I had set it up to backup specific folders and I had deleted one of these. Apparently when you do this backup gets very upset rather than just handling it. If it happens again you can get a clue I think by pressing more details or something like that and it tells you the folders that are causing the problem.

 

[Durango]

Glad it's sorted.
It threw me the first time it happened to me. I had set it up to backup specific folders and I had deleted one of these. Apparently when you do this backup gets very upset rather than just handling it. If it happens again you can get a clue I think by pressing more details or something like that and it tells you the folders that are causing the problem.

No, in my case pressing more details didn't tell me which folders. All it said was "can't find path specified". This time when I did the backup reconfigure, I unchecked the AppData folder, as I read someplace that this could cause problems. Anyway, I got a successful backup and am happy...........

 

[kado897]

Glad it's sorted.
It threw me the first time it happened to me. I had set it up to backup specific folders and I had deleted one of these. Apparently when you do this backup gets very upset rather than just handling it. If it happens again you can get a clue I think by pressing more details or something like that and it tells you the folders that are causing the problem.

No, in my case pressing more details didn't tell me which folders. All it said was "can't find path specified". This time when I did the backup reconfigure, I unchecked the AppData folder, as I read someplace that this could cause problems. Anyway, I got a successful backup and am happy...........

I've not heard of that one before but it is very unforgiving of the slightest problem.

 

[MilesAhead]

You can use this utility to find out if any paths on your system are too long:
TLPD | Free System Administration software downloads at SourceForge.net

Explorer won't let you create a new folder if the total length of the path is too long. But a file created via a program may push the total path length over the limit. By default TLPD searches all drives for paths longer than 200 characters.

I added a few tweaks to the source to enable searching even longer paths by using the "\\?\" prefix. You can get the modified source here:
SourceForge.net: TLPD: Update for Unicode?

But unless you're a sys admin the original binary should be fine for home use.

 

[Durango]

Glad it's sorted.
It threw me the first time it happened to me. I had set it up to backup specific folders and I had deleted one of these. Apparently when you do this backup gets very upset rather than just handling it. If it happens again you can get a clue I think by pressing more details or something like that and it tells you the folders that are causing the problem.

No, in my case pressing more details didn't tell me which folders. All it said was "can't find path specified". This time when I did the backup reconfigure, I unchecked the AppData folder, as I read someplace that this could cause problems. Anyway, I got a successful backup and am happy...........

I've not heard of that one before but it is very unforgiving of the slightest problem.

After I did the backup reconfigure and got a successful backup, I decided to go back and check the AppData folder and then let Windows choose how to perform the backup (rather than me selecting which folders). This also resulted in a successful backup, so I am happy x 2.

 

[kado897]

No, in my case pressing more details didn't tell me which folders. All it said was "can't find path specified". This time when I did the backup reconfigure, I unchecked the AppData folder, as I read someplace that this could cause problems. Anyway, I got a successful backup and am happy...........

I've not heard of that one before but it is very unforgiving of the slightest problem.

After I did the backup reconfigure and got a successful backup, I decided to go back and check the AppData folder and then let Windows choose how to perform the backup (rather than me selecting which folders). This also resulted in a successful backup, so I am happy x 2.

good to hear it. It is quite possible that the mere act of going through the configuration sorted out whatever the problem was.

 

[Durango]

You can use this utility to find out if any paths on your system are too long:
TLPD | Free System Administration software downloads at SourceForge.net

Explorer won't let you create a new folder if the total length of the path is too long. But a file created via a program may push the total path length over the limit. By default TLPD searches all drives for paths longer than 200 characters.

I added a few tweaks to the source to enable searching even longer paths by using the "\\?\" prefix. You can get the modified source here:
SourceForge.net: TLPD: Update for Unicode?

But unless you're a sys admin the original binary should be fine for home use.

Hey, thanks. I'll remember that and give it a try.