Software⏱️ 4 min read📅 2026-06-11

How to Fix: Creating Windows 8.1 system image error

Windows system image creation error solution

Quick Answer: Free up at least 320MB of space on the USB hard drive for volumes over 500MB, and 50MB for volumes under 500MB. Check Disk Management for accurate disk space information.

📋 Table of Contents

  1. 💡 Why You Are Getting This Error
  2. ✅ Best Solutions to Fix It
  3. 💡 Conclusion

Creating a system image in Windows 8.1 can be a useful way to back up your operating system and settings, but it requires sufficient disk space on the target drive. Unfortunately, if there is not enough space available, you may encounter an 'Insufficient storage available to create either the shadow copy storage file or other shadow copy data' error. This error occurs when the volume shadow copy service operation fails due to insufficient free space on the backup destination and volumes included in the backup.

This issue can be frustrating, especially if you're trying to back up your system and don't have enough disk space available. However, with the right steps, you should be able to resolve this error and create a successful system image.

💡 Why You Are Getting This Error

  • The primary cause of this error is that there is not enough disk space on the target drive or volumes included in the backup to create the volume shadow copy. The minimum required disk space for shadow copy creation varies depending on the volume size: 50 megabytes for volumes less than 500 megabytes, and 320 megabytes for volumes more than 500 megabytes. Additionally, it's recommended to have at least 1 gigabyte of free disk space on each volume if its size is more than 1 gigabyte.
  • Another possible cause could be issues with the EFI or Windows Recovery Environment partitions not meeting the requirements set by the System Image tool.

✅ Best Solutions to Fix It

Freeing up Disk Space

  1. Step 1: Step 1: Check available disk space on your target drive and volumes included in the backup. You can do this by opening Disk Management and looking for any volumes that are full or have limited free space.
  2. Step 2: Step 2: Delete any unnecessary files, programs, or data from your target drive to free up disk space. Be cautious when deleting files, as you may lose important data if you're not careful.
  3. Step 3: Step 3: Consider upgrading your hard drive to a larger one or using an external drive with enough capacity to hold the volume shadow copy. Make sure to format the new drive before proceeding.

Using PowerShell to Manage Disk Space

  1. Step 1: Step 1: Open PowerShell as an administrator and navigate to the directory where you want to create the system image.
  2. Step 2: Step 2: Use the 'Get-PSDrive' cmdlet to get a list of all drives on your system, including the EFI and Windows Recovery Environment partitions. This will help you identify which drives need more disk space.

💡 Conclusion

By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the 'Insufficient storage available to create either the shadow copy storage file or other shadow copy data' error and create a successful system image in Windows 8.1. Remember to always back up your important files and data regularly to ensure that you can recover them in case of a disaster.

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