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Symptoms

After you back up files by using Windows Backup on a Windows 7-based computer, you receive a notification that resembles the following:

Check your backup results
The backup completed but some files were skipped.

When you click the Options button that is next to the notification, you receive the following message:

Check your backup results

The backup completed but some files were skipped.

View skipped files

When you click the View skipped files link, you see one of the following error logs.

Scenario 1:

Backup encountered a problem while backing up file C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\<folder Name>. Error:(The system cannot find the file specified. (0x80070002))


Scenario 2:

Backup encountered a problem while backing up file C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\LocalLow. Error:(The system cannot find the file specified. (0x80070002))

Backup encountered a problem while backing up file C:\Users\<User Name>\Contacts. Error:(The system cannot find the file specified. (0x80070002))

Backup encountered a problem while backing up file C:\Users\<User Name>\Searches. Error:(The system cannot find the file specified. (0x80070002))


Scenario 3:
Windows Backup will fail with error code 0x80070002, "The system cannot find the file specified." In this scenario, either of the following issues occurs:

  • The computer stops responding.

  • The copy operation stops.

Cause

Scenario 1 cause

This issue occurs if you back up a library that contains custom folders that are located under your user profile.

Scenario 2 cause

This issue occurs if the following conditions are true:

  • Windows Backup tries to back up files in the LocalLow, Contacts, and Searches folders.

  • These folders are not present on your computer.

Note These folders are created only if certain applications are installed on the computer.

Scenario 3 cause

This issue occurs if the following conditions are true:

  • The computer has an NVIDIA USB Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI) chipset.

  • The computer has at least 4 GB of RAM.

  • You try to copy data from the computer to an external USB storage device.

Notes

  • This issue may also occur when you are using USB devices other than storage devices.

  • This issue may also occur if you perform other input/output (I/O) operations on the USB storage device. In this situation, the I/O operations fail.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, use one of the resolution methods that are listed for your scenario.

Scenario 1 resolution

To resolve this issue, take one of the following actions:

  • Ignore the error message.

    Note The custom library files that are stored in your user profile will not be backed up.

  • Move the library folder from the user profile path to a location outside the user profile path. For example, move the folder to the C:\MyLibraries folder.

  • Exclude the library from the list of files that Windows Backup backs up. Then, include the original location of the content in the library in the backup list.

  • Move the library folder to a location other than the user profile folder. Then, add a link to the moved folder from the library. Make sure that the library is included in the backup.

    To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Click Start, and then click your user name.

    2. Right-click the folder that you want to move, and then click Cut.

    3. On the navigation pane, expand Computer, locate the place where you want to store the folder, and then paste the folder in that location.

    4. Right-click the folder that you moved to the new location, and then click Copy.

    5. Click Start, click your user name, right-click any empty area in the folder, and then click Paste shortcut.


      Note To store the folder in a location other than a folder in your user profile, you may have to create a new folder. To do this, browse to the root of the drive in Windows Explorer, click New Folder on the Windows Explorer menu, and then edit the folder name. For example, rename the folder "MyLibraries."

Scenario 2 resolution

You can safely ignore this error message.  

However, you can also use one of the following methods to eliminate this error message during future backup operations:

  • Create the missing LocalLow, Contacts, and Searches folders that are listed in the error message.

  • Exclude the folders from the files to back up in the Backup settings, and then include those folders in their original location. To exclude the folders in the additional locations and to include those folders in the original location, follow these steps:

    1. In Control Panel, open Backup and Restore.

    2. In the Backup section, click Change settings.

    3. In the Set up backup dialog box, click Next.

    4. In the What do you want to back up dialog box, click Let me choose, and then click Next.

    5. Expand Data Files, expand <your user name> Libraries, expand Additional Locations, and then click to clear the AppData folder, Contacts, and Searchescheck boxes.

    6. Expand Computer, expand the item for your system drive (for example, expand Local Disk (C:)), expand Users, expand <your user name>, and then click to select the AppData, Contacts, and Searchescheck boxes if they exist.

    7. Click Next, and then click Save settings and exit.

    8. In Backup and Restore, click Back up now to perform a new backup. The backup operation should complete without errors.

Scenario 3 resolution

For information about how to resolve this issue, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

976972 You encounter problems when you move data over USB from a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computer that has an NVIDIA USB EHCI chipset and at least 4GB of RAM

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