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

Question

Microsoft issued KB979281 to fix this problem.  Here's what the resolution says: 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.

On my system these folders are present.  I tried the fix anyway, but didn't select any of these files to back up.  It didn't fix the problem for me.  Why is Windows trying to back up these files in the first place?  What course of action is available to me now?

Answer 1

Hey cybereagle,

Disable your security softwares and perform the backup to determine if it’s interferring with the  backup process. Still no go? You may follow the steps mentioned below for further troubleshooting. Ensure that you enable the security softwares once you’re done with the troubleshooting.

This problem could also be due to one or more profiles under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows

NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList with missing ProfileImagePath.

To check whether you have missing profiles:

Caution: The registry contains critical settings that are necessary for your system to function properly. Take extra caution while making changes. . For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article below:

Back up the registryhttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Back-up-the-registry

1.       Open regedit, navigate to the above registry key. (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList). Expand the list

2.       Click on each of the profiles listed. The first 3 profiles should have ProfileImagePath value of

%SystemRoot%\System32\Config\SystemProfile,

%SystemRoot%\ServiceProfiles\LocalService, and

%SystemRoot%\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService

respectively.

3.       Starting from the 4th profile, the ProfileImagePath should contain path to the user profiles on your machine, such as C:\users\Christine

4.       If one or more of the profile has no profile image, then you have missing profiles.

To work around this, delete the profile in question:

1.       First, export the ProfileList key for safekeeping. (Right click on the key, choose “Export”, and save it to the desktop.)

2.       Right click on the profile in question, choose delete.

3.       Try backup again.

Refer:

Common causes and solutions to Backup, System Restore, and Complete PC Backup problems - updated

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Regards,

Shinmila H - Microsoft Support

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Answer 2

Shinmila, have followed above steps, but need some help with step 2 above.

My first ProfileImagePath is as above, but the 2nd & 3rd are slightly different, as below:

C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService

and

C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService

Is this likely to be the cause of error 0x80070002 ?

When I look at the 4th & subsequent ProfileImagePaths, they seem to be ok (they do contain user profiles similar to the above).

If the 2nd & 3rd ProfileImagePaths as above are the cause of the error, how do I correct this?

Thanks,

BM