David, have you tried any other backup options such as using a third 
party archiving program? I have a somewhat similar problem when I backup 
to my 1 Tb external USB. I use the LastPass password manager on my 
browsers and there is some process that LastPass keeps in action, 
probably due to it's encryption and full time security, that interferes 
with most of my normal system backup options. I use Linux Mint, not 
Microsoft, so it's clear that any running process might interfere with 
other operations. Another option you might try is to restart in 'Safe 
Mode' which should keep all nonessential processes from starting up, and 
running your backup there.


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