In this post, you will be guided on how you can fix error 0x80070013 while executing various operations in your Windows 10 computer like System Restore, Windows Backup, or Windows Updates. When you encounter error 0x80070013, you will see the following error messages.
For System Restore, it states:
“System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer’s system files and settings were not changed.
Details: System Restore failed while scanning the file system on the drive <Partition Letter>
The drive might be corrupt. You might want to retry System Restore after running chkdsk /R on this disk.
An unspecified error occurred during System Restore. (0x80070013)
You can try System Restore again and choose a different restore point. If you continue to see this error, you can try an advanced recovery method.”
Whereas in Windows Backup, it states:
“Check your backup, Windows Backup failed while trying to read from this shadow copy on one of the volumes being backed up. Please check in the event logs for any relevant errors.
The backup failed, The media is write protected (0x80070013).”
On the other hand, you will see the following error message in Windows Update:
“There were some problems installing updates, but we’ll try again later. If you keep seeing this and want to search the web or contact the support for information, this may help: (0x80070013).”
There are several suggestions you can check out to fix the error depending on where you encountered it. If you encountered it while running Windows Updates, then you can try to reset the Windows Update components or run the Windows Update Troubleshooter. And if you got the error when running System Restore, you can try to run a System File Checker scan or the DISM tool as well as the CHKDSK utility. Lastly, if you got this error when running the Windows Backup service, you can try to check its status in the Services Manager.
Error 0x80070013 in Windows Updates:
Option 1 – Try to reset the Windows Update components
- Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
- After that, type each one of the following commands and hit Enter after you key in one after the other.
- net stop wuauserv
- net stop cryptsvc
- net stop bits
- net stop msiserver
Note: The commands you entered will stop the Windows Update components such as Windows Update service, Cryptographic services, BITS, and MSI Installer.
- After disabling WU components, you need to rename both the SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2 folders. To do that, type each one of the following commands below, and don’t forget to hit Enter after you type one command after the other.
- ren C:/Windows/SoftwareDistribution/SoftwareDistribution.old
- ren C:/Windows/System32/catroot2/Catroot2.old
- Next, restart the services you’ve stopped by entering another series of commands. Don’t forget to hit Enter after you key in one command after the other.
- net start wuauserv
- net start cryptsvc
- net start bits
- net start msiserver
- Close Command Prompt and reboot your PC.
Option 2 – Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter
You might also want to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter as it could also help in fixing error 0x80070013. To run it, go to Settings and then select Troubleshoot from the options. From there, click on Windows Update and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button. After that, follow the next on-screen instructions and you should be good to go.
Error 0x80070013 in System Restore:
Option 3 – Try to run both Systems File Checker scan and DISM tool
Running the System File Checker scan as well as the DISM tool can help you resolve error 0x80070013 while performing System Restore. Refer to these steps to do so.
- Open the Command Prompt with admin privileges.
- After opening Command Prompt, execute this command to run a System File Checker scan: sfc /scannow
- Once the scan is completed, restart your computer and then see if the error is now fixed. If not, you can run the DISM tool.
- Open Command Prompt with admin privileges again.
- Then type in the following commands and make sure to hit Enter right after you type each one of them in order to properly run the DISM tool:
- Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
- Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
- Dism /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
- Do not close the window if the process takes a while as it will probably take a few minutes to finish.
Option 4 – Run the CHKDSK utility
- In the Windows Search box, type “command prompt” and from the search results, right-click on Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”.
- After opening Command Prompt, type this command and tap Enter: chkdsk <Partition Letter>: /f /r /x /b
- The command you entered will start to check for errors and fix them automatically. Else, it will throw an error message saying, “Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like the schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)”.
- Tap the Y key to schedule Disk Check the next time your computer restarts.
Error 0x80070013 in Windows Backup:
Option 5 – Try checking the status of the Windows Backup Service
- First, you need to tap the Win + R keys on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.
- Next, type “services.msc” in the field and click OK or tap Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
- After that, you will see a list of services and from there, look for the Windows Backup Service and double click on it to open its Properties.
- Then check if its Startup type is set to Disabled. If it is, then change it to “Manual”. Note that this service is essential as it provides backup and restores capabilities.
- Now click on the Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made and then restart your computer. Check if the error is now gone.