Vista Backup failed: "The filename, directory name or volume label syntax is incorrect (0x8007007B)"

My computer recently attempted to run a backup and failed with the above error code. I tried creating a new backup on removable media, again this failed. I watched where the backup failed and found some files that were behaving oddly, including one that was nameless, without file type, size or properties. The more I deleted, the more I found.

I ran an update install of vista to repair my system files to no avail. Saved all my files to removable media and did a clean install, and still no joy. Oddly, my PHP folder survived the clean install. Deleted it, no luck.

I have run memory and hard disk diagnostics and everything looks fine. Most perplexing. Any help would be appreciated. I have started a thread on the Microsoft Answers forum and started a dialogue with Dell, my comp manufacturer, about it.

Okay, so the fix, which cost me £75 from Dell Tech Support, was to clean install Vista again, this time removing all partitions. I couldn't believe it when it worked - the recovery partition was nothing to do with the problem, but it worked. Grr. Oh well, you learn something new every day, and now I know for future.