Windows 7 Back-up Stuck at 97% -- "Creating a system image of C:"

[K_Tarr]

Simply put, I'm trying to back up my files through Windows' because the Action Center appeared saying I haven't backed up my files in a while.

I started my first attempt at backing up around noon and an hour went by and the process froze at 97% during the "Creating a system image of (C" part. I got impatient, stopped the back-up, then tried again. Same thing occurred during my second attempt...stopped at the same percentage mark. I tried something different by deleting all other backups I had then tried again...

After a reset, around 8 o'clock, I tried again, and for three hours now, it's been stuck at 97%...again. Same thing--"Creating a system image of (C"

Now I've been patient this time. In the past in never took this long and it shouldn't take that long no matter what. My external HDD's light has been constantly blinking this whole time also.

I saw on one board in passing that this could be occurring because it's trying to copy a backup file in the same place of a particular folder it's backing up causing problems? I deleted all the last backup files and still no luck. Any ideas or troubleshooting advice is appreciated.

 

[hang-the-9]

How much data is on the disk are you making an image of? Is there enough free space on the external drive? If you look at the external drive in the image folder, and check the size while refreshing the view, does the size get larger or stay the same over time?

 

[K_Tarr]

How much data is on the disk are you making an image of? Is there enough free space on the external drive? If you look at the external drive in the image folder, and check the size while refreshing the view, does the size get larger or stay the same over time?

Hey Hang,

The files I'm backing up take up approximately 300 GB. My external HDD has over 1.2 TB of free space on it.

I'll have to get back to you later to see if the size gets larger or stays the same.

 

[hang-the-9]

300 GB should take a while to image. I have done backups of a clean Windows setup with no data really and it can take a while, especially to a USB2 drive. Start the backup at night, check it in the morning.

 

[K_Tarr]

300 GB should take a while to image. I have done backups of a clean Windows setup with no data really and it can take a while, especially to a USB2 drive. Start the backup at night, check it in the morning.

I will test this tonight and get back to you tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for the reply.

 

[falconmd57]

When creating a system image under Win 10, you have to turn off "Back up using files history" under Backup settings. It will never finish the image if you don't. It should complete the job.