System State Backup does not work. "system writer is not found in the backup". "vssadmin list writers" does not list the system writer

This same error has been appearing in forums for about 5 years now!  Resolutions vary from altering permissions on folders as described in this article:-  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2009272   and theres even a solution which involves performing an in-place upgrade like this:-

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsbackup/thread/5a637292-fca7-4b8b-94a3-cbceda96d58e

I have nothing wrong with the permissions under c:\windows\winsxs

The cryptsvc stops and starts successfully but the system writer still does not appear in the list from vssadmin list writers.

This means I can not backup the system state.  "wbadmin start systemstatebackup -backuptarget:d:   also fails.

Since the problem is not fixed by the permissions changes and service restarts, the only other option appears to be an in-place upgrade.

Since I have WindowsServer-2012 fully patched and the problem appears to have been successfully ported over theres nothing to upgrade to.

How do I get out of this situation?