Solved: One of The Volumes Specified for Backup is Invalid

• One of the Volumes Specified for Backup is Invalid

• The Cause

• Quick Fix for One of the Volume Specified for Backup is Valid

• Better Way to Create a System Image in Windows 10/8/7

• Further Reading about Windows Backup Failed

One of the Volumes Specified for Backup is Invalid

I got a message stating that “The backup failed. one of the volumes specified for backup is invalid because either not on a fixed drive, is not formatted NTFS, or is read-only. To convert the file system on a volume from FTA32 to NTFS, at an elevated command prompt type: CONVERT/FS:NTFS (0x8078011D)” when I try to create a system image in my windows 10 computer.

Thus, I did this conversion that convert the volume from FAT32 to NTFS file system. After that I found my computer couldn’t boot up, it’s so frustrating. Fortunately, I used WinPE and DiskPart to reformat the volume to FAT32, and then use the bcdboot to copy the boot files to it, then the computer can boot again.

I just confused about this problem? Can anyone give me some advices? Thank you in advance.

The Cause

Why you get the “one of the volumes specified for backup is invalid” problem? There are some things you should know. When you try to backup your system to external hard drive, USB flash drive, or other devices, Windows built-in backup tools will image the partition associated with system files, including system partition, recovery partition, and EFI system partition.

Usually, the recovery partition is formatted with FAT32 instead of NTFS. However, as long as one of these partitions is FAT32, Windows built-in backup tools create a system image might probably failed. Thus, you’ll get this error message by system.

Quick Fix for One of the Volume Specified for Backup is Valid

How to fix this problem? You might want to convert the recovery partition from FAT32 to NTFS. Nevertheless, this way cannot work in most cases, and this conversion may cause the computer can’t boot problem, it’s a risky operation. 

Is there any other way to solve “the backup failed one of the volumes specified for backup is invalid” issue?

Better Way to Create a System Image in Windows 11/10/8/7

Taking advantages of the third party backup software is another reliable way. AOMEI Backupper Professional as the best system backup software for Windows allows you to backup system to internal hard drive, external hard drive, USB flash drive, NAS devices, Network share, and so on. No matter what file system the recovery partition is, it still works great.

With AOMEI Backupper, you can bypass the “one of the volumes specified for backup is invalid” problem and create a system image without any issues. Detailed steps are listed below.

1. Download, install and launch AOMEI Backupper. On the main console, select “Backup”>”System Backup”.

2. Select a target location to save the Windows 10 system image file as you want.

★Tips: 
✍The program will select the source partitions associated with the Winodws 10 system files automatically.
✍Change “Task Name” box to separate from other backups if need be.

3. Click “Start Backup” to backup Windows 10 operating system easily.

★Tips:
✍You could enable Options to customize the backup image, including compress, comment, encrypt or split the backup image, enable email or SMS notification, using volume shadow copy (VSS), etc.
✍To automatically backup Windows 10 system, you could click Schedule > General > choose one of the mode to backup: daily, weekly, monthly, event triggers, USB plug in. 
✍Scheme: Please upgrade to AOMEI Backupper Professional or other editions to delete old backup images automatically while the number of backups exceeds the number you specified.

Wait for a moment, you will find the system backup has been created successfully, and the one of the volumes specified for backup is invalid in Windows 7/8/10 is solved at the same time. The time it takes will depends on the data size. After that, you can restore system to an early state when the Windows OS corrupted. In addition, AOMEI Backupper also provides many useful functions such as system clone, file sync, create bootable media, and other features.

Further Reading about Windows Backup Failed

There are some other Windows backup fails errors:

• Error 1: Windows 10 system image backup fails error code 0x807800C5

• Error 2: Only volumes formatted with NTFS can be protected

Let me explain details for you.

Error 1. Windows 10 Create System Image Fails with Error 0x8007800c5

There is another Windows 10 image backup fails error message: The backup failed. There was a failure in preparing the backup image of one of the volumes in the backup set. (0x807800C5)

This backup failed error could be caused by the corrupt system files or the old backup files issues. Hence, don’t worry, we provide two ways to fix the error code 0x807800C5:

Way 1. Fix corrupt system files with System Files Checker (SFC)

The system file checker will scan and fix corrupted system files. So, try the following steps to fix:

1. Type cmd in Windows search box, right click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.

And then run the command: sfc /scannow

Now, create a system image for Windows 10/8/7 to check if the problem solved or not. If the error still exist, please try the Way 2.

Way 2. Clean Up the Backup Location

To clean up the backup location for Windows 10/8/7, please remove the following file and folder in the backup location:

• The file named MediaID.bin

• The folder in WindowsImageBackup. is your computer name.

Run the system image backup, if you meet the same error with different details error: The specified backup disk cannot be found. Run the sfc /scannow to repair.

Error 2. Only volumes formatted with NTFS can be protected

Besides, you might encounter the error message while using Windows Server Backup: One of the source volumes specified has an invalid format and cannot be protected using Windows Backup. Only volumes formatted with NTFS can be protected. How to fix?

Or encounter the error message: The drive cannot be used to store a system image because it is not formatted with NTFS, you can use the following two ways to fix:

Fix 1: Format the FAT32 partition to NTFS in Disk Management.

1. Press Windows + R key combination, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter to open Disk Management.

2. Locate the FAT32 partition, right click and choose Format..., choose NTFS and click OK to format FAT32 to NTFS.

Fix 2: Format FAT32 partition to NTFS with CMD

1. Input the cmd in Windows search box, and right click the command prompt and run as administrator.

2. Execute the command: convert e: /fs:ntfs to convert FAT32 partition to NTFS. (replace the e with the drive letter that has FAT32 file system)

3. Then input the volume label to start the convertion.

Tip: Input the following commands to locate the volume label:

• diskpart

• list volume

After the process finished, you could create a system image using Windows Server Backup in Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019. If you would like to manage backups more flexible, please try AOMEI Backupper Server.