Windows 7 Backup Failed

[abhiroopb]

Hi All

I have desperately been trying to perform a backup on my computer for about a day now and whenever I try to use the Windows Backup I get the following two errors about 25GB (out of 120GB) into my first backup run:

The backup operation that started at '‎2010‎-‎05‎-‎15T21:00:09.040000000Z' has failed with following error code '2155347999' (Windows Backup cannot find the shared protection point.). Please review the event details for a solution, and then rerun the backup operation once the issue is resolved.

Then a few seconds later I get the following error:

The backup was not successful. The error is: Windows Backup failed while trying to read from the shadow copy on one of the volumes being backed up. Please check in the event logs for any relevant errors. (0x81000037).

I have read through everything I can find on google and there does not seem to be an answer as to what is causing this problem.

I have two junction points in my main "users" folder and I thought this may be causing the problem. Indeed when I select a "test" folder to backup, it does so without a problem. However, I am unsure how I should "deselect" these, i.e. make sure that these aren't part of backup. What I did was only select the folders I was sure did not have any junction points or symlinks. I also created custom libraries with the required folders for backup and even these caused problems.

Finally, I went into each and every folder, ensured there was no malware, junction points, symlinks or essentially anything that could be causing a problem and I ran the backup again selecting only a small selection. This time the backup ran to only 3GB.

This is really annoying as in principle the Windows Backup seems adequate for my needs.

I am already backing up my basic documents to dropbox and Windows Backup is just another level of protection for me.

Anyway does anyone have any suggestion as to how I can make this work?

If not can anyone recommend a VERY simple backup programme? I don't need hundreds of features, just something that does incremental backups and allows me to restore a previous version.

Thanks

 

[TrainableMan]

I haven't had this issue myself but two possible problems identified as culprit are:
1. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/973455/. If you add a reparse point or a child of a reparse point to a library.
2. Antivirus/Antimalware reporting some bad files and holding locks for those files. Backup fails when it tries to backup these files. For this, please remove the bad files reported by the Antivirus/Antimalware and rerun backup.

What you call junction points are likely issue 1 identified above.

Source thread here ...
http://social.technet.microsoft.com...f/thread/8be1ce21-a23d-4d2b-8563-5882dc73a383

 

[abhiroopb]

I haven't had this issue myself but two possible problems identified as culprit are:
1. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/973455/. If you add a reparse point or a child of a reparse point to a library.
2. Antivirus/Antimalware reporting some bad files and holding locks for those files. Backup fails when it tries to backup these files. For this, please remove the bad files reported by the Antivirus/Antimalware and rerun backup.

What you call junction points are likely issue 1 identified above.

Source thread here ...
http://social.technet.microsoft.com...f/thread/8be1ce21-a23d-4d2b-8563-5882dc73a383

THanks I have already ready through that forum and tried point 1, by making sure I am not backing up junction points.

Also I do not have any viruses (as far as my AV is concerned)

 

[Nibiru2012]

Why are you using this buggy program to backup your files?

Relieve your stress and install Macrium Reflect Free. This is a VERY popular backup imaging program. I backed up my Windows 7 Pro x64 in about 3-1/2 minutes yesterday. (About a 13 GB size).

I backup to an external hard drive, but you can use DVDs also.

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Read about it HERE

 

[abhiroopb]

Thanks for the suggestion, however i am looking for a file backup service not a disk imaging one.

 

[TrainableMan]

It may be worth at least trying to run while your virus software is disabled in case it has locks on any of the files, not a virus per se, just that it is holding the file "in use".

 

[Nibiru2012]

Thanks for the suggestion, however i am looking for a file backup service not a disk imaging one.

When you say file backup service, do you mean a program to do it for you automatically?

If you buy either the paid version of Macrium Reflect or Acronis True Image, both of these will do what you want.

If you want to do it manually, then just get an external hard drive and do it yourself.

 

[abhiroopb]

It may be worth at least trying to run while your virus software is disabled in case it has locks on any of the files, not a virus per se, just that it is holding the file "in use".

One of the forums suggested doing this. I am using Microsoft security essentials and i disabled real time protection but it still didn't work.

 

[abhiroopb]

When you say file backup service, do you mean a program to do it for you automatically?

If you buy either the paid version of Macrium Reflect or Acronis True Image, both of these will do what you want.

If you want to do it manually, then just get an external hard drive and do it yourself.

Thanks for the suggestions. But before i pay for software I'd like to get the free windows software to work, if possible.

 

[abhiroopb]

Just to clarify i need to either get windows 7 backup working or find some software that backs up my files new versions. Ideally something like Macs time machine is exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[celldweller1591]

try Norton Ghost to backup your system. it is the only app i can rely on in matters of backup.

 

[abhiroopb]

Thanks, but I tried Norton Ghost and besides it being very resources heavy, it's far too expensive at USD 70.

 

[celldweller1591]

Hmm...thats the only disadvantage

 

[Nibiru2012]

Check this out and see if it will work for you; it should be right up your alley since it's free and appears to offer the features you want.

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[abhiroopb]

Thanks I decided to go with Acronis True Image 2010. It's paid but it worked really well for me. I especially liked it's "nonstop backup" feature.

I haven't paid for it (using the trial) but provided it backs everything up and allows me to recover, then I think I plan on buying it.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Good deal for you! I was trying to steer you to some superior software compared to the frustrations you were experiencing with the windows backup.

If you need anything else let me know. BTW, Acronis True Image is a TOP-RATED program. Most of the uber-geeks I know use it.

 

[abhiroopb]

Another update, while Acronis was great it was a MAJOR resource hog. I have 6gb of ram and this ate up 500mb in total (it ran about 7 different processes). Also the backup was slow and made my external hard drive very noisy. In sum, I wasn't happy. I looked around further and came across Genie Timeline Home 2.0. This is basically Time Machine for Windows. It does exactly the same thing as Apple's Time Machine, except it's got a lot more customisation options and it works on Windows. The features in this program were exactly what I wanted (i.e. quick, easy backup and ability to load older versions). It also has a light memory footprint (150mb in total while backing up and about 75mb when idle).

Thanks again!

 

[catilley1092]

When my computer was new (last November), I tried to backup using Windows backup, and the backup kept failing over a file out of place. So after many attempts, I reinstalled my OS, the backup ran perfect. Windows Backup is very picky, if something's wrong with your file system (your system may be running well, but you'd never know), it won't go. That file system must be in perfect order for it to work. Hope this helps. BTW, Macrium is an excellent backup/disc imaging program that doesn't cost a cent.

 

[Fire cat]

When my computer was new (last November), I tried to backup using Windows backup, and the backup kept failing over a file out of place. So after many attempts, I reinstalled my OS, the backup ran perfect. Windows Backup is very picky, if something's wrong with your file system (your system may be running well, but you'd never know), it won't go. That file system must be in perfect order for it to work. Hope this helps. BTW, Macrium is an excellent backup/disc imaging program that doesn't cost a cent.

True. And really annoying as well. Windows Backup refused to back up after I installed Hypercam 2, which corrupted system files.

Seeing as reinstalling the OS each time this happens is kinda annoying, it might be better to do a system restore to before the problems. Worked for me.

3rd Party softwares do a much better job than Windows Features do! +1 for Macrium.

Cheers,
Fire Cat

 

[catilley1092]

System Restore may very well work for some, but I purchased my desktop right after 7 was released. Vista was originally on the PC, then 7 was loaded on it, and somehow, the file system got screwed up. They (HP) had probably tens of thousands of computers to upgrade, so they were most likely in a hurry. As long as the computers booted, they passed them through. One file was out of place, the downloads folder. After the reinstall, everything was fine.