Cannot make a system image

[Ralph1965]

Hello,

I have the free upgrade of win 10 from win 8.1. It is the home edition.

I want to make a system image on my USB hard drive (500 Gb), After a long time, it says Cannot find destination drive (something to that effect). This is after 12.2 Gb is written to the drive. I ran chkdsk on the USB drive, and found no errors.

I quick formatted the drive.

What is going on?

Thanks,

Ralph1965

 

[Trouble]

The only time I've ever had that happen to me, it turned out to be a problem with the USB dock that I was using to connect my hard disk to my computer (dual 2.5 and 3.5 drive slots can't remember the name).
For some reason it would just disconnect and then reconnect randomly and would cause an issue when copying large files or using it for other purposes.
I got rid of the dock and purchased another one and the problem disappeared, so.....
Without knowing what you are using or how it is actually connected, I can only suggest that you make sure that your cables are connected firmly at both ends and go from there.
When it would happen to me, the drive would quickly disappear from File Explorer and then, just as quickly reappear but by then it was two late for my file transfer which failed with the same error you are getting.

 

[Grizzly]

Possibly your HDD enclosure is failing. Have you tried another USB port yet??
What kind of external drive are you using and what Image program?

 

[Saltgrass]

If you look in the Windows\Logs folder is there and entry for Backup and any logs included within?

When creating the image, it shows which partitions are being backed up. If you watch you might be able to tell where it breaks down. Hopefully the log will show what is happening.

 

[Ralph1965]

Possibly your HDD enclosure is failing. Have you tried another USB port yet??
What kind of external drive are you using and what Image program?

I have tried 2 USB ports. I have tried an USB drive that I bought several years age, and I forget what brand it is. The other is a Seagate Pipeline HD internal connected to an USB port via a hard drive adapter.

I have copied / moved 300+ Gb to / from these drives several times with no problems. They always show up in File Explorer, and are always accessible from any program I use.

I am using the create system image in Backup (Windows 7) in System and Security in Control Panel

Thanks

 

[Ralph1965]

If you look in the Windows\Logs folder is there and entry for Backup and any logs included within?

When creating the image, it shows which partitions are being backed up. If you watch you might be able to tell where it breaks down. Hopefully the log will show what is happening.

I went to the Windows\Logs folder, and there is a folder named WindowsBackup, but it has files like SystemImage.0.2.etl. I opened two of them, and they appear blank, but I don't know how to read them.

Thanks

 

[Norton]

Ralph Check the settings in the (Win 7) backup program and see if a scheduled backup is selected to your CD/DVD D: drive. If so uncheck the "scheduled backup" I think it may be looking for a previous scheduled backup disc.

 

[Stevekir]

Have you tried Macrium (the free version). I find it makes a very reliable image of the whole C: drive. I have booted on a system image made by it and it worked perfectly.

 

[Ralph1965]

Ralph Check the settings in the (Win 7) backup program and see if a scheduled backup is selected to your CD/DVD D: drive. If so uncheck the "scheduled backup" I think it may be looking for a previous scheduled backup disc.

I checked, and there was no scheduled backups.

 

[Ralph1965]

Have you tried Macrium (the free version). I find it makes a very reliable image of the whole C: drive. I have booted on a system image made by it and it worked perfectly.

I took your advice and downloaded the free version of Macrium, Do you have to make a boot CD, or can you boot directly from the ISO on the USB hard drive?

Thanks,

Ralph1965

 

[CosmicEternity]

I took your advice and downloaded the free version of Macrium, Do you have to make a boot CD, or can you boot directly from the ISO on the USB hard drive?

Thanks,

Ralph1965

http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50210.aspx
This should help. I haven't personally used the program, but you can try this.