3TB External USB Drive & Windows 7 System Image

I have 3TB USB 2.0 external drive. It works OK except when I try to create a system image using the Windows 7 Backup and Restore facility. Then I get an I/O error. The event viewer has an error message in the Backup category that says the backup operation has failed with following error code '2155348010' (One of the backup files could not be created.).

After I purchased the drive I read that the Windows 7 system image function may fail when using a large sector drive (4k). Is there any way to get it to work? If not, are there any third-party backup and restore packages that take system images and work with 3TB drives?

 

Macrium Reflect is free and should work.

 

This may help you also from Microsoft:

An update that improves the compatibility of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with Advanced Format Disks is available

Cheers
3Fees

 

That update only works for advanced format disks that have 4K physical and 512 byte logical sectors. I think my 3TB drive may be 4K native.

 

I don't think there is a way, as Microsoft say "Windows server backup is not designed to run on such disks."

Backup Fails With Error Code "2155348010"

They will eventually solve this issue. If you have enough space you could back it up on your HDD or onto another smaller HDD.

 

It appears that without 512 byte sector emulation capability, these drives are problematic doing backups,,contact the maker and ask if there is a firmware update to address this symptom, Its a good idea to check windows 7 hardware compatability. Strange HDD manufacturers made something thats not compatible with the backup features and still sell it, Get a refund ?

Cheers
3Fees

 

Are there any Windows 7 compatibility problems if I just use the 3TB drive to store individual files? I'm not really sure what it can be safely used for considering it can't be used for system images.

 

Check Windows 7 Compatability Center for external drives:

Windows 7 Compatibility: Software Programs & Hardware Devices: Find Updates, Drivers, & Downloads

I seen(short glance) 1,2,4TB external drives are compatible with Win 7 64 bit,

However not for backup that takes 512 bytes emulation capable Drives(see errors above)

Newegg reviews are mixed some are happy others are not at 3TB usb 3 and 2, some report file copying works!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...07601 600030763 600030809&IsNodeId=1&name=3TB

Try and exchange your drive from where you bought it for external drive with emulation capablity, if you want win 7 backup and restore features. You'll find most managers want to know whats going on and are helpfull, after all they want a chair when the music stops playing.

Cheers
3Fees

 

Unfortunately, I copied a lot of data to the disk before I realized that it would not work with system images. 3TB is way too big to wipe. It would take forever. I guess I'm stuck with it, but at least I can use it for files and photos without having to worry about compatibility issues.

 

Acronis, perhaps? Dunno, as I'm not using that large of drives. Great product, tho, so work a check.

 

This issue is still not fixed and it's quite annoying!?

Any word?

 

THis worked for me:
I have a Toshiba 3TB, I deleted the primary partition, then in the Windows Disk Managment I right-click-format as GPT.
Then I got the Macrium Reflect 5.x for free, and created my Disk Images.

Best I could do; windows ain't smart past 1.5 or 2 TB as of 6/2013