I've tried the check disk, system file checker, profiles (this one had a number of entries for the image of UpdatusUser with two of them having a RefCount of 1), I've got an Intel USB controller and even tried giving the reserve partition a drive letter mapping, but while the Windows Backup works on the file backup, the system image looks to be nearly finished, then the drive goes click and stops.
Extra Notes:
May I also point out this this has been working for months now without a problem and only started 2 days ago. The OS is Win7 x64 Ultimate backing up to an external USB drive over eSata.