Windows 7 - 'Insufficient storage available' error in Backup

Asked By MarkNorri

24-May-07 10:33 AM

If I try to create a 'Complete PC Backup' or 'Create backup copies of your
files and folders' in Windows Vista ( Business ), I receive an error message
...

...'Insufficient storage available to create either the shadow copy storage
file or other shadow copy data (0x8004231F)'

I have over 230GB of available space ( NTFS ) on my backup drive and a
Complete PC Backup would only require 60GB of this. Even if I try 'Creating
backup copies' and specify the backup of, for example, only 'emails' ( which
would only require perhaps 2 or 3 MB of space ), I still get the same error
message about 'insufficient space'

This is only one of many frustrating glitches I have come across with Vista
...

Any helpful suggestions welcome   ... or is it time I just 'up-graded to
Windows XP' as many people seem to be suggesting?

--
Thanks

Mark

24-May-07 03:05 PM

I'm afraid I don't have a good answer for you at this point. You're not
doing anything wrong, and as you showed in another post, you have plenty of
free space. I have worked with two other customers on this error and neither
case is resolved. We know it's a Volume Shadowcopy Service (VSS) error, not
strictly a Backup error.

If you're using a brand new computer, my hunch is that the problem is due to
the way the computer was imaged. (By imaged, I mean the way in which the OEM
put the operating system onto the computer.) I've worked with several
customers here who are experiencing bizarre problems using Backup and
Complete PC Backup, not just the error you report but other equally unusual
errors. Of the customers I've sent back to their OEM for help with
reinstalling Vista, they all reported success with using these backup tools
afterwards.

So, my advice is to contact the company that sold you the computer and ask
for assistance in reinstalling Vista. This is the only way I know that will
get you back up and running with functional backup tools. A clean install
will also address other issues lurking that you haven't encountered yet.

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows file and storage technologies? Visit our
team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.

25-May-07 09:31 AM

Thanks for your response Jill   ...  I must now think very hard about your
recommendation for a clean install of Vista to try and solve this problem.

This puts me in a dilema which I would like your experienced opinion on   ...

... The principal reason why I wanted to make a 'Complete PC Backup' is
because it has taken me such an extraordinary amount of time to set up this
new PC with a variety of 'industry standard' programmes which have all
required updates & downloads & contact with software manufacturers & premium
phoneline calls, etc, etc, to get them to function with the Vista operating
system. Other than from yourself, no one has been of much help and no one is
prepared to take any 'responsibility' for the problems of glitches and
incompatibility of Vista. I have no free support from Microsoft because the
computer manufacturer installed Vista   ...   and the computer manufacturer
will not provide any free support with 'software issues'.

...  Having already thought 'I can't possibly go through all that setting up
process again, so I will purchase an external hard drive to create a Complete
PC Backup'  ...

...  it now appears that I will have to start the entire process again?

So, in your experienced opinion, do you think I should stick with Vista and
re-install everything from scratch, hoping that most of my problems will be
OK on a clean install   ...   or, as the teething problems & incompatibility
problems of Vista may still be ongoing for a while, should I play safe and
simply install Windows XP?

I'd be most grateful for your opinion before I proceed.

With many thanks,

Mark Norris

25-May-07 11:53 AM

If it were me, I'd reinstall Vista.

In your current state, if your hard drive crashes, you're going to have to
get everything reinstalled anyway, and you'd be worse off because you'd
probably have data loss. Yes the reinstall will be painful but you've been
through the process recently and it should be fresh in your mind on what you
need to do. A year from now, it will hurt much worse.

You might be leaning towards going back to XP and I don't blame you. I think
you got a bad apple with your Vista install and I think you'll be pleasantly
surprised at how well it works when the installation is done properly.
Though I can't say for certain that bad imaging is to blame, I can say that
everyone I've talked to who clean installed over the likely bad image is no
longer having backup problems. There may be some magic fix out there for the
VSS error but so far I haven't found it. I bet there are other things broken
on your system as well.

If you do a clean install, here's what I recommend: do the clean install and
then take a Complete PC Backup BEFORE installing any applications. This will
allow you to make sure the Complete PC Backup is working and isn't breaking
due to some incompatible application. Then make sure that the apps you do
install are compatible with Vista.

Once your applications are completely installed, take another backup and
save it to DVD (if you can). Saving to hard disk is fine for periodic
Complete PC Backups (even preferred), but putting your original image on DVD
ensures that that particular point-in-time image won't eventually be purged
as new images are created.


--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows file and storage technologies? Visit our
team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.

25-May-07 12:07 PM

Hi, Mark - If you don't mind my popping in with a suggestion... I would
make a decision as to whether to stick with Vista based on a) whether
you like it; b) whether it works well for you except for this "Complete
PC Backup". If the answer to those two points is "yes" then I'd purchase
an external hard drive if you don't have one (or a second hard drive in
your desktop computer) and an imaging/backup program like Acronis True
Image. I'd image your system with TI and save the image to the external
drive and do incremental backups of your data on a regular basis. I'd
burn DVD-R's of the backups also and put them in a safe place because I
like a third backup of data somewhere other than on or next to the computer.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

31-May-07 04:51 PM

Well it seems i had the same problem : 70Go have desappeared from hd after
coping and deleting 70Go (80 000 small files and several 10Go files)
Of course i have desactivatted vss on c but no free space recovery.
(Sorry about my english speaking)

09-Jul-07 06:40 PM

Mark...Your not alone Buddy! I'm having the EXACT problem with my Vista
Business, and am SERIOUSLY considering taking drastic measures! I've already
had to send this brand new laptop back to HP to be rebuilt after it crashed
after owning it for only 2 months! We immediately noticed this issue with not
being able to perform a backup due to insufficient storage.
The last customer service rep/IT rep that I chatted with online REALLY
pissed me off!!! I simply stated that after owning this product for 3 short
months, and this second issue can't seem to be resolved, I needed HP to allow
me to return this laptop to them, and they need to replace it for a brand new
replacement, since as Jill Zoeller stated...we got a dud!! The customer
service rep continually stated that HP WON'T do this, so don't expect your
computer manufacturer to be much more helpful.
--
Budman

18-Jul-07 02:27 AM

I had(!) exactly the same problem and error message, and I solved it
this way... I looked at which user runs the VSS process, and it it is
the SYSTEM User. I just gave the SYSTEM user full access to all drives
(and make sure all directories inherit that permission), and that's it.

One of my drives had custom permissions, and I forgot to give the
system itself access: then it can't read the NTFS volume, and it
definitely can't write to it (like, a backup or something ;) ). And
apparently one missing permission causes the entire backup/restore point
creation to fail. Kinda odd if you ask me.

Anyway, I hope this helps you guys as well! :)


--
Jodi

09-Nov-07 10:03 AM

I had the same problem when updating a complete PC Backup, make sure you go to properties of computer(my computer) and go to system protection tab and make sure you have a restore point created. Mine did not because when I made the first backup it was from a fresh machine that Windows never got around to making one. Once I created one I was able to do my backup.