Hello, My windows 7 backup is failing with the following message "Error Code: 0x81000101". I searched the internet but didn't find any good solution. Can you please tell me what should I do?

Help! Help!

You have your post marked as a discussion, it signifies that you don't need help but rather want to have a discussion. If you want help, change your type to question instead of discussion. You need to be very specific about what error you are receiving. I'm at work so I can not view pics that are hosted somewhere else that are on our firewall's banned sites. Also be specific about how you're doing your backup and to what.MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

Backup gives error Code 0x81000101

Verify if these two services are running: a) Volume Shadow Copy service b) Windows backupAlso ensure that their dependency services are running.Verify if their dependency services are running.You can check this information from services.msc1) Go to start and type services.msc in the search field.2) Locate the two services. 3) Right-Click on the service one at a time. 4) Select properties. 5) Go to Dependencies Tab. 6) Note the dependency services. 7) Make sure they’re also running. 8) To start a service, right click on it and select start.From many users facing the same issue, turning off system restore for the hard disk on which Windows is installed and turning it back on seems to have solved the issue.You may try the same.Refer:Turn System Restore on or offhttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Turn-System-Restore-on-or-off See if this helps.Try running the Windows backup utility.Please turn off your Rollback Rx while performing the steps.For backup, refer:Protect your files and PC with Windows 7 Backup http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/archive/2009/10/23/protect-your-files-and-pc-with-windows-7-backup.aspx MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

This error can occur if the Shadow Copy services are not running. The backup applications and System Restore depend on these services. Perform the following. Open Control Panel. Click the Classic View in the Tasks pane. Double click Administrative Tools. Double click Services. Scroll down and double click the Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider. In the Startup Type menu, select Automatic. Click the Start button. Click Apply / OK. Next, scroll down to the Volume Shadow Copy service and perform the same steps. Exit everything and reboot the computer.MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

If none of the above worked read this next Did your computer come with a Recovery Partition on the drive? (Check the computers documentation) If it did, you cannot have any backup software or System Restore set to backup or monitor that drive. Go to Control Panel. Click on Classic View in the Task Pane. Double click System. Select Advanced System Settings in the Tasks Pane. Click the System Protection Tab. In the Available Disks section, make sure that the backup partition is not selected. If it is, remove the check mark. After this is done or if this does not work, go to Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools and click on Disk Cleanup. In the Options dialog, select 'Files from all users on this computer'. Click the C: system drive. When the scan is completed, click the 'More Options' Tab. In the 'System Restore and Shadow Copies' section, click the 'Cleanup' button. In the 'Are you sure......' popup, click Delete. Click OK. Wait for the Disk Cleanup to complete. Now, go back into Disk Cleanup and follow the same procedure for any other drives that appear in the drop down menu where you selected the C: drive the first time. Exit everything and reboot the computer. After the computer reboots, check System Restore again. If System Restore is still not working, go back into System Protection and turn off System Restore for all drives and reboot the computer again. This will delete all restore points on all drives. After the reboot, go back and enable System Restore for the C: volume only. Create a new restore point for that drive. Let me know the results.MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

Please temporary disable the antivirus and check the result. If the issue persists, maybe your previous backup is corrupt. I suggest you move the backup location to another partition, or move the previous backup to another partition. Then run backup and check if the issue still occurs.Arthur Xie - MSFT

Hello Aurthur, Your suggestion is absolutely correct. I disabled my anti-virus and the backup worked without doing any of the steps mentioned above. But you know what, my anti-virus is "Microsoft Security Essentials". ... how come it broke my Windows 7 since its is a Microsoft product?