Solved How To Create a Windows 8.1 (Preview) System Image

Did you use this?

"Does the file wbadmin.exe exist with a clean install?" YES

Yup, as noted in capture, still a no go.

View attachment 24021

Plus [and it ain't no biggie] when restoring from an 8 install and pointing to the Blue image
I get an error, so I have to reboot from the Blue ISO and then choose 'Repair Computer'
and then Blue overwrites 8Pro.

Yet I can boot from 8 Pro Recovery Disc and downgrade back from Blue to 8 Pro.
Go figure...ha ha.

Bottom line, I'm sticking with native imaging [albeit non-GUI] for the foreseeable future.
But if I have a need to image a single partition, I'll give SysRescue a whirl. THANKS AGAIN

Windunce

You certainly are a digger! Good for you!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Just some more info in case it might help someone else, although I have made no progress in finding the problem. I should probably start a new thread if I want this problem fixed.

Yesterday, I did a new install of Windows 8. After I had it activated and did the updates, I tried the wbadmin backup utility and it worked. I then restored that image backup to another drive for testing, then removed it from the system.

Today, the wbadmin backup will not work and I get the error mentioned earlier. The other install on the test drive that was not in the system and had not been connected to the net, does still work... :huh:

It would seem some type of update might be involved and Windows 8.1 was not. But I am giving up for now....

Thanks
 

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
Just tested two more system image backup and restore programs:
Clonzilla - Better than SysRescueCD. Has clear instructions. Somewhat slow.
Macrium Reflect - The best free image backup & restore program I've ever used! Excellent interface, easy to understand, and very fast (the fastest program I've ever used)!

Macrium Free is now my choice for image backups and restorals.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I solved my problem by deleting the WindowsImageBackup folder in the System Volume Information Hidden System folder.

Possibly it was caused by multiple independent OS installs inducing data corruption or confusion in that directory.

No more error messages and the image backup completes on both systems.
 

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
I solved my problem by deleting the WindowsImageBackup folder in the System Volume Information Hidden System folder.

Possibly it was caused by multiple independent OS installs inducing data corruption or confusion in that directory.

No more error messages and the image backup completes on both systems.

Nice piece of troubleshooting; congrats on fixing your issue!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro Windows 8.1 Preview
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Something else about using the wbadmin.exe for making images in Windows 8.1.

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.

I did an 8.1 .iso install and set it up with a 400MB recovery partition and the errors stopped and an image was created. On the 400 MB Recovery Partition it shows 108 MB available. So a 300 MB partition would have no where near the 50 MB required for the shadow copies.

Perhaps this is one reason Microsoft dropped the Back Utility from 8.1
 

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
It appears the final upgrade to 8.1 does have the problem with the Recovery Partition being too small. So now, both of my installs have a 500 MB Recovery partition and both installs do image backups fine.

Not really sure why Microsoft has not altered the Default for a clean install to account for a larger Recovery Partition. All it probably needs to be is an additional 50 MB. I would be interested to see if a new, clean 8.1 had a larger partition set up...maybe I will have to test !! :)

Again, this is on a UEFI system, I do not know how the Legacy installs behave.
 

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
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