How to Fix “The system cannot find the file specified” Error 0x80070002

The 0x80070002 error while backing up Windows is known to appear since the days of Windows 7. Before the The system cannot find the file specified part of the message, you will get the path to the folder that is, according to Windows, causing the problem, and your backup will fail.

This issue is most commonly known to appear with users who have custom folders within their user profile library. The backup tools for Windows can cause a conflict with such folders, and render your entire backup useless.

Given the fact that there is actually a very big number of users who rely on Windows’ backup features and would rather avoid using third party software, there are a couple of things that you can do to solve this if you’re affected.

If you see the folder in question with the error, then move that folder.

Method 1: Move the library folder to a location not within the user profile path

This is a fairly easy solution, and more than a few users have reported it to work.

1. Open My Computer or This PC, open the drive where your operating system is installed (usually C:), and open the Users folder.
2. Right-click the folder that you would like to move and select Cut from the context menu.
3. Open My Computer or This PC again, and open the C: drive again. Create a new folder, such as MyLibraries and save it.
4. Open the MyLibraries folder, right-click anywhere and select Paste from the menu.

Method 2: Exclude the library from the list of files that are backed up

When the library won’t back up, you can always exclude it to avoid the errors. However, given that you still need the files to be backed up, you should include the original location of the content in the library when creating the backup list. This should help you with the 80070002 error.

Method 3: Move the library folder to another location, and link it

Using the steps in the first method, get to the Users folder.

1. Select the user folder that you need and move it to another location, again, following the steps in the first method. Note that the destination folder doesn’t have to be named MyLibraries, name it however you want.
2. Head to the destination folder where you’ve pasted the user folder. Right-click it and select Copy from the menu.
3. Go back to the Users folder, right-click on an empty area, and select Paste shortcut to create a link to the folder. Try backing up again, it should work properly now.

Given the number of people who rely on Microsoft’s Windows, one would expect that a feature that so many people would use, such as Backup and Restore, would work properly, but here it, giving you a headache again. Fortunately, all you need to do is follow the solutions described above, and you’ll be able to back up your system without any problems whatsoever.