Fix for System Restore Error 0x8007007B in Windows Vista

© Ramesh Srinivasan | Windows Vista | 26th May 2008

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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9 Comments

  1. wolflob
    said this on Tuesday, June 14th 2011 5:16 pm

    Thanks..Fix worked great for Windows 7 Home Premium

  2. dog
    said this on Monday, May 23rd 2011 8:39 pm

    wow it was real helpful..thanks..

  3. Patrick
    said this on Wednesday, March 9th 2011 7:23 am

    Thank You!

    The Fix worked perfectly for the Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional installations on my DELL Laptop and my DELL Desktop respectively.

  4. utkarsh
    said this on Sunday, January 2nd 2011 1:06 pm

    This work for Windows 7 also great fix thanks

  5. ParralQ
    said this on Tuesday, November 30th 2010 6:28 am

    Hola!!

    Tengo el mismo problema que Don Langford, me gustaria saber si la soluciòn que le diste al problema fue la de formatear tu pc y reinstalar todo, o si encontraste alguna forma de solucionarlo con el Regedit

  6. Phillip Julias
    said this on Monday, November 8th 2010 4:35 am

    Sander,

    Simply highlight the (Missing) vol and click configure, then move the bullet to Disable at the top and click okay. Accept the warning, and then it will disappear. Now enable it on your real drive

  7. 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…

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

    Fix worked great for Windows 7 Home Premium.

  9. wwwprofi
    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”.

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