Unable to backup system image to external drive

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HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-0050

Microsoft Windows 10 Home, Version10.0.18363 Build 18363, 64bit

12 GB memory; 1 TB HDD storage D drive; 256 GB SSD storage C drive;

1 TB external drive F WD Easystore

On February 4th I ran a backup of files and folders and a system image using Windows built in backup program.  I had to choose the files rather than let Windows do it because all my data is on the D drive and Windows default locations are on the C drive and pretty much empty.  I put all the files I brought from my Win7 computer on the D drive and set Win10 to save new content there as well.

I also selected to keep only the latest image and minimize space used by backup.

I had been having trouble with System Restore and discovered after a sfc scan that the system files were corrupted.  The sfc scan repaired the problem.  Subsequent scans reported, “Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.” I got SR working the morning of Feb 4, hence the decision to do a back up and system image now that it was fixed and everything was finally working.  (Including HP Envy 5540 Printer and Microsoft Office 2019.)

The backup finished with no problems.  All my files were there as far as I could tell.  The image also completed.  The whole thing took 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Windows was set to run at 7:00pm on Sundays by default so I decided to let it run again 5 days later and then stick to that schedule, although this is probably more frequent than I really need.

Well last night it ran at 7:00pm as scheduled.  Many fewer files were backed up as it only collected what it did not already have which is what is supposed to happen.  But it would not back up a system image.  I let it run about five hours stuck at 97%.  Stopped it and ran it again for an hour or so.  Then cancelled it and started over.  New back up had added a few files from C files, but again when it got to system image it hung on 97% for hours.

I then tried to just make a system image on the WD Easystore external drive.  No joy.  Still hangs about half way copying C.

So, I thought maybe the system is corrupt again.  On Feb 6 I had to go back to the “Office Team” to fix some settings in Outlook and the tech had made some changes over remote access, but it was working correctly when he finished.  He fixed the problem.

I ran sfc scan again with the result, “Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.”

I found out how to run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth just to see if there was a problem. The result was. “Image Version: 10.0.18363.592, No component store corruption detected. The operation completed successfully.”

I did not run Chkdsk on the C drive which is an SSD drive.  And anyway, when I clicked C>Properties>Tools > Check or Optimize a box popped up saying there were no problems and no need to run either scan.

I did run Chkdsk on the WD Easystore external drive and no problems were found.

I cannot find any indication of corruption, so I don’t think Windows refuses to backup the system image because it is corrupt.

I do not know what else could be the problem.  I am asking for help to find out why I could complete a backup including a system image one day and five days later I can’t.  I don’t know what is different or where to look.

I hope I have given you enough information about my computer, the history of the problem and the things I have tried.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-0050 – 64 bit
Windows 10 Home Version 22H2
OS build 19045.5487
Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2019
-Version 2501(Build 18429.20132 C2R)

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Do you have a second external hard drive?

Try a backup to the second external hard drive. Ideally, there should be at least two backup hard drives, preferably three, and swapped out on each backup. External hard drives can and do fail.

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
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mpw

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Thanks for your reply.

I have a WD Passport, also 1T, but I was getting a lot of Disk errors in the Event Viewer after years of use. I did a scan with WD utilities which reported bad sectors.  So that is why I bought this WD Easystore a couple weeks ago.

I have done the WD utility scans on the WD Easystore.  Here are the results:

HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-0050 – 64 bit
Windows 10 Home Version 22H2
OS build 19045.5487
Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2019
-Version 2501(Build 18429.20132 C2R)

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Still worth trying a backup to the old disk to eliminate issues on the new one.
You could try a 3rd party backup to the new disk to confirm it’s a Windows thing. You’d need to install the 3rd party app and run it under Windows to be sure.

cheers, Paul

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mpw

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With three separate external hard drives, if one external hard drive fails there are two remaining hard drives with up-to-date information.

The grandfather-father-son method is one procedure for backing up: the “oldest” hard drive receives the “newest” backup.

Day 1 Backup 1 Hard drive 1
Day 2 Backup 2 Hard drive 2
Day 3 Backup 3 Hard drive 3
Day 4 Backup 4 Hard drive 1

Further description here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather-father-son_backup

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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mpw

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[geekdom]

Microsoft’s document (Windows 8) suggested this:
“File History checks if Backup schedule exists and is active and if it finds one, it will not let users to turn it on. In this case, users who want to use File History will have to delete the Windows Backup schedule.”

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/w8cookbook/windows-7-backup-and-restore-deprecated

———-

In the absence of further ideas, you might consider turning off file history while backing up. I strongly recommend the grandfather-father-son method for system backups.

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by geekdom.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by geekdom.

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mpw

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What is the file system on the external drive?

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mpw

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[mpw]

TaDa! Got it.

First of all, File History was apparently always off or at least it was when I found it.

My old external HD, Passport Ultra, is damaged and fails even the WD Quick Drive Test.  But I tried it anyway, as it was the only other one I had.  Turns out when system image failed, instead of just sitting there a 97% it gave some error messages.

Also, some alerts from notifications popped up and I gave permission to each one.

That did not work so I just turned off Virus and Threat Protection>Ransomware Protection>Manage Ransomware Protection>Controlled Folder Access>toggle to off

System image failed again.

Volume Shadow Copy Service keeps stopping no matter how many times I set it to run automatically.  So I checked that and it was off again and I started it.  I also checked Windows Backup while I was there and it was running.

Failed again but with a different error message.

Per internet research, try changing the name of computer on External drive.  Windows 10 would not allow me to do that so I used manage storage space backup settings to remove all the backup attempts today.  Still system image failed again.

This time I deleted all files from Passport and used the WD Erase tool, actually I think it reformatted the Passport drive.  Tested with WD Quick drive test tool, Passport External Drive still fails test.  I think it is definitely damaged but has been useful today.

When I plugged in the now reformatted Passport, I got new error message that I also saw the first time I plugged in WD Easystore, Win 10 did not recognize the external drive, “backup location cannot be found.”

I just clicked through the already existing backup settings, Passport was found and the rest is history.  I got a complete backup on the damaged WD My Passport Ultra.

The only different backup setting was letting Windows decide how many system image backups to retain.  Previously I had chosen to just keep just the most recent backup.

The only other changed setting was I left “Controlled folder access” off.

I tried a backup on my new WD Easystore and it completed successfully too.  It also created a new fresh backup rather than add to the old backup.  I don’t know why.  And it included an image.

So it is working.  TaDa!

Thanks to all for your thoughts and time.

HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-0050 – 64 bit
Windows 10 Home Version 22H2
OS build 19045.5487
Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2019
-Version 2501(Build 18429.20132 C2R)

• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by mpw.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by mpw.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by mpw.

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Elly

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mpw wrote:

Volume Shadow Copy Service keeps stopping

This is normal, it only runs when you want to make a shadow copy.

cheers, Paul

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mpw

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I have been backing my system by cloning and/or imaging my C drive since forever. I have used obscure third party software, Norton Ghost, Symantic (pre-merger) products, and built in Windows methods. In the end all were problematic. None were fast, 100% reliable, and easy to use. None until Macrium came along. On two occasions I have had to restore my system and that process was as quick and smooth and error free as creating the backups in the first place. Until the day that Macrium fails, and it might – nothing is perfect – I wouldn’t waste my time fiddling with anything else.

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mpw

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