When you start the System Restore utility in Windows Vista, the following error message may be displayed:

There was an unexpected error:

The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
(0x8007007B)

System Restore will now close.

The same error might occur when running Windows CompletePC Backup.

This problem seems to affect some OEM systems that have faulty image. Here is an excerpt from The Filing Cabinet Weblog on System Restore error code: 0x8007007B.

This error is caused by faulty imaging by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that results in the presence of an invalid volume. To see if this is the problem, go to System in Control Panel and open System Protection. There will be two volumes shown, one of which is selected and named “Missing.” Selecting C:\ and deselecting “Missing” solves the problem.

Resolution

Click Start, type SystemPropertiesProtection.exe. The System Restore Properties window will open.

You may see two C: drives in the listing with the same Volume label (see figure below). Deselect the checkbox for the duplicate volume, and enable the checkbox for the correct drive (the one with Windows logo).


Fig 2: System Restore enabled for the wrong drive.

For more information, visit the following Dell Website:

How resolve the error 0x8007007B when I run System Restore in Microsoft® Windows Vista™?

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4 Comments

  1. Sander
    said this on Saturday, August 21st 2010 12:15 am

    Great, only one flaw.

    I don’t have checkboxes in my System Properties Protection, so i can’t select or deselect anything, although it shows C: Missing and C: System…

  2. Adam
    said this on Saturday, August 7th 2010 4:04 am

    Fix worked great for Windows 7 Home Premium.

  3. said this on Tuesday, April 6th 2010 12:24 pm

    Great!

    This Problem also existed on my new Windows 7 PC. I couldn’t change the SystemRestore Settings, had problems with Shadow Copies and therefor couldn’t backup including all system-image files with Windows 7 integrated backup software.

    When deselecting this double drive c: like in the screenshot “automatic restore points” changing the settings for “system restore” worked, but when I backup with system image files, I still got error 0×81000019 “no shadowcopy could be created”.

  4. Don Langford
    said this on Tuesday, February 9th 2010 10:49 pm

    This is all nice but how do I cope with a computer that does not even start. This makes it impossible to download anything at all leave alone to start a programme. Even if I run it in safe mode it unevitably locks everything down as soon as I try to run any programme within windows safe mode. Restoring the HDD is possible via the DOS prompt but when I reach the restore mode I get the reply “Cannot create a file when that file already exists.” “No changes has been made in the computer.” Nothing is found searching in regedit mode. Will an installation of Win 7 replacing the present Vista solve the problem? I have tried to restore back to an earlier point of restore and everything seems to work and no errormessages until I try to reboot the computer same thing, locks completely and does not open Windows at all. The final drastic option seems to be DOS prompt and format C: and reinstalling everything again.

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