Solved Latest Win 8.1 ISO "Breaks" System Image Functionality

my2cents

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Hello all,

Brink and I have both confirmed that the latest GA of the Windows 8.1 ISO breaks the System Image functionality. This was confirmed by both of us by doing a clean install and immediately attempting to do a System Image backup. Here is the failure you will receive:

Screenshot (4).png

The root cause of this issue is directly related to the available free space remaining in the recovery partition, after being populated by MS during the clean install, which is less than the 50 MBs required for the shadow volume copy process to successfully complete.

NOTE: This issue does not appear to be resident after an 8.1 RTM clean installation so something has changed with the introduction of the latest ISO. With that said, if you encounter this issue, it is recommended that you just switch to a 3rd-party solution and I have already made that transition myself. Macrium Reflect Free is not only twice as fast doing backups and restorals but it allows multiple images to be saved to the same folder. I really think its time for us to let go of this antiquated method of doing backups.

Good luck, you have been notified,

my2cents

PS - Many thanks to Brink for all of his test efforts to confirm this is an issue.
 

My Computer

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I found the same thing. Worse, for me the failed image attempts left the Volume Shadow Service in an inoperable state, so other backup programs would not work either.

Upon scrounging around, I found this page. I did the first item in repair strategy 2 and it deleted a number of dead snapshots. The second item showed some failed items in the writers list, but these cleared up after a restart. Once this was done I was able to use Macrium Reflect Free to make a complete drive image without errors and restore that image. I am now using Macrium for my image backups.

Just for hahas I later re-tried the microsoft image program again. It again failed and munged up VSS. So much for that!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 consumer 64 bit
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    Laptop
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    Acer Aspire M5 481PT-6644
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I suppose until someone finds a way to keep the Winre.wim file from growing during the install, we will have to live with the problem, unless you are willing to take a chance and increase the size of the Recovery partition to 350 MB for the UEFI installs. Do not make it larger than 350 MB since the imaging utility cannot handle recovery partitions over that size.

This subject has been discussed since the pre-release of 8.1 and there are several threads concerning it.

@mikeytg, I have not seen a failed imaging attempt disable the VSS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
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This subject has been discussed since the pre-release of 8.1 and there are several threads concerning it.

I'd really like to see those threads because I had no problems creating a system image on 8.1 RTM or 8.1 Preview for that matter. So, how about a few links to those "yeah, we already knew that posts?" The only caveat with preview was that you had to us a wbadmin command string to invoke the system imaging process.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
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    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Do not make it larger than 350 MB since the imaging utility cannot handle recovery partitions over that size.

I don't use windows system image, so am not sure what you mean by that.?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
This subject has been discussed since the pre-release of 8.1 and there are several threads concerning it.

I'd really like to see those threads because I had no problems creating a system image on 8.1 RTM or 8.1 Preview for that matter. So, how about a few links to those "yeah, we already knew that posts?" The only caveat with preview was that you had to us a wbadmin command string to invoke the system imaging process.
Here are a couple, and there are several more.

http://www.eightforums.com/performa...-create-windows-8-1-preview-system-image.html

http://www.eightforums.com/performa...ckup-secureboot-isn-t-configured-correct.html
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Do not make it larger than 350 MB since the imaging utility cannot handle recovery partitions over that size.

I don't use windows system image, so am not sure what you mean by that.?
[DEL]The System Image utility backs up a Recovery (Tools) partition during the normal process. If you have a 500 MB recovery partition, it will show it is backing up a 350 MB partition, which appears to be its limit.

When you recover the image, you will end up with a 500 MB partition where was originally was and a 350 MB partition which has been set up as the actual Recovery partition. I just happened to notice one of my installs after I had changed the partition to 500 MB to get around the problem of imaging errors.

I have not yet tried this with wbadmin.exe so not sure it the results would be the same.[/DEL]
EDIT: Further testing has shown I must have missed seeing the smaller partition already on the drive. I am still not sure how it got there, maybe an image I used already had it, but my conclusion was incorrect, sorry. The larger partitions do seem to work normally, as Theog shows in a later post.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
They first link has nothing to do with this newly discovered issue. The first link actually just shows you how to create a system image because the option is missing, and the second one was just posted "two days ago." BTW, the second thread may be similar to the issue being described here, and I saw many trying to figure it out without a final resolution. So, here's the identification of the problem and the cause for the issue. It has been documented and confirmed and is on its way to MS right now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
Thanks. That is quite strange.

Do not make it larger than 350 MB since the imaging utility cannot handle recovery partitions over that size.

I don't use windows system image, so am not sure what you mean by that.?
The System Image utility backs up a Recovery (Tools) partition during the normal process. If you have a 500 MB recovery partition, it will show it is backing up a 350 MB partition, which appears to be its limit.

When you recover the image, you will end up with a 500 MB partition where was originally was and a 350 MB partition which has been set up as the actual Recovery partition. I just happened to notice one of my installs after I had changed the partition to 500 MB to get around the problem of imaging errors.

I have not yet tried this with wbadmin.exe so not sure it the results would be the same.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
OK, whatever, but below is a quote from the first thread posted in July.

The recovery image for 8.1 appears to be larger than it is for 8.0. If you have a clean 8.1 install and you are getting 'Not Enough Space" type errors it is probably because the 300MB recovery partition is not large enough for shadow copies to be created.

It has also been posted in the Microsoft forums.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
OK, whatever, but below is a quote from the first thread posted in July.

So Brink and I just tested this issue thoroughly yesterday and we both performed a successful backup "prior" to doing a clean install using the latest GA Win 8.1 ISO. However, once we did a clean install using same, we both encountered the failure on initial and repeated attempts, so it really sounds like you are bound, bent, and determined to prove that all our hard work was all for naught because (apparently) this is a well known issue and; therefore, "everybody" already knows about it. I'm done!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
I don't see any disparity here. I recall issues with this in win7 being posted up. That was with the 100mb thing running out of space. I don't recall the posts Salty refers to, but the issue seems to have persisted.

I don't think many would know it can be a particular problem when moving to 8.1, so it is good that My2c and Shawn tested it, and that it now has it's own thread.

Interesting how it decides where to put winre.

It is on the win8.1 partition in my case.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I don't see any disparity here. I recall issues with this in win7 being posted up. That was with the 100mb thing running out of space. I don't recall the posts Salty refers to, but the issue seems to have persisted.

I don't think many would know it can be a particular problem when moving to 8.1, so it is good that My2c and Shawn tested it, and that it now has it's own thread.

Interesting how it decides where to put winre.

It is on the win8.1 partition in my case.

Hi SIW2,

Thanks for your response. This issue has cropped up a few times in the past and many times it was caused by an OEM installation "overpopulating" the Recovery Partition so it would seem similar to the hard and fast failure that we documented yesterday. Now, I can't speak to the Win 7 issue; however, this issue has turned from a random issue to a solid issue that can be directly related to the Win 8.1 installer. IMHO, you can't make a logical comparison between a few similar reported instances and a hard and fast installation fault that has just recently been discovered. Make no mistake about it, if anyone uses that latest ISO, they will experience this issue. And a big thanks to Mikeytg for simply comfirming it as such in his follow-up post.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel G2020
    Motherboard
    ASRock B75M-DGS R2.0
    Memory
    8GBs @ 1333 MHz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO
    PSU
    400w
    Internet Speed
    57/11
From your first post, it may be that 8.1 upgrade adds to the contents of of the 350mb and either doesn't remove what was already in there - or creates some kind of backup/log files in there.

That seems possible as a clean 8.1 install doesn't suffer from this problem.

Can you have a look and see what is in there after upgrade?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Are we all talking about the 350MB reserved disk partition that Windows creates when doing a clean install and the hard drive formatted with the Windows installation disk?

I usually remove that partition in Windows 7 in fact I don't create the reserved partition at all, I use my hard drives disk utility to format the hard drive then install Windows.

I found no downside to not creating a reserved partition in Windows 7 but that's keeping in mind I do not use Windows 7 backup tools since I have my own backup software.

Is the reserved partition needed in Windows 8?
 

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System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
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    Intel Core i7-2670QM
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    Samsung 8GB
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    NVIDIA GT 555M
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    Intel 525 120GB | HGST Travelstar 1TB
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    CM Storm Xornet | Microsoft Sculpt Comfort
    Internet Speed
    25 Mbps | 600 Kbps
    Other Info
    Seagate Backup Plus 1TB
No, I don't have a reserved partition. I believe the new oem machines now come with this uefi thing and gpt partitioning.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Is the reserved partition needed in Windows 8?

YES, with UEFI mode.

The problem is only for UEFI mode clean installs.

Screenshot of EFI & the new Windows 8.1 update partition.

Win8-1 new Partition.PNG

With backup working.
 

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    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
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    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy DV6 7250
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    Intel i7-3630QM
    Motherboard
    HP, Intel HM77 Express Chipset
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD4000 + Nvidia Geforce 630M
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    IDT HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6' built-in + Samsung S22D300 + 17.3' LG Phillips
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    multiple resolutions
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    Samsung SSD 250GB + Hitachi HDD 750GB
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    120W adapter
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    small
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    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei
    Internet Speed
    slow and steady
    Browser
    Chromium, Pale Moon, Firefox Developer Edition
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    That's basically it.
The problem is only for UEFI mode clean installs.

Screenshot of EFI & the new Windows 8.1 update partition.

View attachment 30102

With backup working.
Because of Theog's post, I had to see if I could determine where exactly the additional 350 MB partition he is showing came from. It appears that partition is created when using the Setup utility from the RTM .iso to update from within Windows 8.

The screenshot below shows a Windows 8 to 8.1 done through the Store. As you can see there is no additional partition and an error does occur with this configuration just as it would with a clean .iso install, as My2cents indicates.

I am going to wait to see if something reconfigures the drive to include the necessary partition, but for now, it looks like you will get the error with either an .iso install or a Store update.

The increase in size of the Winre.wim file appears to be centered around a couple of folders. The Windows\System32\DriversStore\FileRepository and the Windows\WinSxS folders are around 20-26 MB larger each than those folders in the original winre.wim file.
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Is the reserved partition needed in Windows 8?

YES, with UEFI mode.

The problem is only for UEFI mode clean installs.

Screenshot of EFI & the new Windows 8.1 update partition.

View attachment 30102

With backup working.

My computer does not have UEFI . I have upgraded 8.1 through store and I have downloaded the 8.1 iso just in case. Therefore my computer is unaffected by this error after the an clean install with 8.1 GA iso is done rite?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 professional x64 + WMC
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5920
    CPU
    Core 2 duo T5550
    Motherboard
    ACER CHAPALA
    Memory
    4GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel GMA X3100
    Screen Resolution
    1280 X 800
    Hard Drives
    160 GB HDD
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