The accompanying message for error 0x81000033 states that there is not enough space to perform a Windows backup. Naturally, if it is really small, you need to increase the unoccupied space. The problem is that in most cases the amount of space is more than enough. This error may appear even on a disc whose capacity exceeds the required capacity by several times. The failure has a secret meaning, which is not at all obvious.
Windows Backup skipped a system image backup because one of the important volumes did not have enough free space. Free up space by deleting junk files and try again
Error code: 0x81000033
Cause of error 0x81000033
The very lack of memory that Windows 10 speaks of, as well as the “seven”, Windows 8, really exists. Only it concerns the main volume of the hard drive, which we look at when checking the available space. The problem lies in the special section “Reserved by the system”. It is used by the operating system for several basic tasks:
- Saving information about the download and its configuration. The system reads the boot data and appends here for the correct disk selection at system startup.
- Download files required for BitLocker encryption. Only if this technology is active. The System Reserved partition stores the unencrypted partition for system backup.
Today, all hard drives that are formatted according to the NTFS file system standards contain a special feature – the USN journal. It contains a sequential record of all recent changes to the disk file system. Mainly concerns the root directory. Under normal conditions, this log receives several entries per day, but when you try to make a backup, it overflows. This is where error 0x81000033 comes from.
How to fix error 0x81000033?
There are 2 effective tactics for dealing with error 0x81000033 on Windows: clearing the USN log to free up that very missing space and increasing the volume of the System Reserved partition. Both are good for troubleshooting.
USN cleanup
The procedure is not particularly complicated, but may not work for everyone. In different versions of Windows, the System Reserved section may not appear in the Disk Management menu.
What should be done:
- Right-click on Start and select Disk Management.
- We are looking for the element “Reserved by the system”, right-click and change the letter for it.
- We enter two commands sequentially, separated by the Enter button: fsutil usn queryjournal F: and fsutil usn deletejournal /N /DF:
- We return to the disk management tool, right-click on the system partition and select “Change drive letter or drive path.”
- In the new window, click “Delete” and confirm the action.
Extending the system partition
This method is better from the point of view that the error will definitely not appear in the future, and as a result of the previous procedure, after a while the code 0x81000033 may return. The memory management procedure can only be done using Windows tools, but not always. If the method does not work, you will have to use additional programs.
How to fix error 0x81000033:
- We launch a window with a command line and enter the command bcdboot.exe / s C:Windows / s G: – in this example, C is the original system drive where the desired partition was located, and G is the new letter for the created system volume. It is important to check that the last drive letter does not intersect with already connected devices, that is, it should not be occupied.
- Entering a command loop DISKPART, DISKPART> select volume G and DISKPART>active.
- We restart the computer and check if the error appears.
An alternative way is to use Acronis disk Director, NIUBI Partition Editor, or a similar program that allows you to resize partitions without formatting them. You just need to select “Reserved by the system” among all the drive options and increase its maximum space by at least a few hundred megabytes. Only for this it may be necessary to free up some space by trimming it from another drive. Fortunately, the volume is small and it will not be difficult to donate to them.
Please write to us if you managed to fix error 0x81000033 in Windows using one of the listed methods or not. So you will help other readers and us to make the article even better.