I have used Complete PC Backup and have backed up to a USB external drive.
The odd few times I've used this option I have been able to re-image my
drive back from the Complete PC Backup images without any problem but, as I
always used the Windows Vista DVD to access the Complete PC Backup
application for reading the files.
However, I have to say that I stopped using Complete PC backup because,
after a number of backups to my USB drive (I always did 'full' backups and
deleted the old version before imaging again) Complete PC backup kept
telling me that I didn't have enough disk space to backup - even though the
USB hard drive was 'empty'
In the end I went back to my old faithful application Acronis True Image
2009.
Have you tried downloading the ISO copy of the Vista Recovery Disk, burning
it to a CD and running it to see if you can access the files that way?
--
--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience
Web:
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web:
http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web:
http://www.silversurfer-guide.com
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