Vista Business: Restore does not see the backup files.

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Guest

Hi All:
I installed Vista Business, performed all the new updates/patches.
Used Backup and Restore Center to a Western Digital External USB drive.
Now I want to restore this original backup I cannot.

I inserted the Vista disk, selected Repair your computer.
Click Next to get to System Recovery Options and clicked on Windows Complete
PC Restore.

I get the following message that it cannot find the backup files.

I clicked Cancel and bring the command line and am able to see the external
hard drive and see the files on that hard drive.

Any ideas? I am a MSDN subscriber and would really hate to reinstall and
use up my product registration keys.

Path to the backup files is:
f:\xxusernamexx-DEL\Backup Set 2007-03-22 100603

Is there a workaround for this issue?
 
Looks like you used File Backup to back up your files and you are trying to
use Complete PC Restore to restore them. These are two different backup
applications so that's why one does not recognize the other. The path you
give below indicates a file backup. File backups are stored at the root of
the drive in a folder named after your computer, and within that the folder
is called Backup Set 2007-0306 and some numbers.

Complete PC Backups are stored at the root of the drive in a folder named
WindowsImageBackup and within that there's a folder named after your
computer, and within the folder is the backup image.
 
I've seen a couple people report this. I am investigating and hope to have
an answer soon.
 
I also have a similar problem to this. I thought I was being smart using
Complete PC Backup to back up the data on my Vista Business laptop.

Unfortunately, we've lost a critical file and need to restore it. It was
only then that we discovered that you can't restore a individual file from a
WindowsImageBackup.

This is hugely frustrating - and is one the most misleading back up tools
I've ever encountered.

As the file we need is crucial, is there any way on god's earth to access
this WindowsImageBackup data???
 
Oh yes, there is a way to mount the vhd file as a "virtual" disk and grab
individual files. There are a couple blogs out there that cover the
procedure. You need Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Beta 2's VHDMMOUNT tool. The
two articles below will walk you through this process:

http://community.bartdesmet.net/blogs/bart/archive/2006/09/02/4385.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2006/09/01/734435.aspx (allows
you to double-click the VHD to mount it)

Note: I never could get the procedure in the first article to work for me as
written. I had to choose "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my
computer" on the wizard page named "Browse for driver software on your
computer." Assuming you run the registry update and install the driver
correctly, you can navigate to the .vhd file in Explorer, right-click it,
and then click Mount. You will see the volume appear in Disk Management. If
the volume shows up as RAW, assign a drive letter to it. Now you can browse
the .vhd as a live volume on your computer.

Let me know if you have questions.

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows file and storage technologies? Visit our
team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
 
Hi Jill/All

I have am having the same problem and wondered if you found a fix?

1. I have Vista Ultimate X64 on a ASUS (P5E3) Deluxe L775 m/board
2. Bios up to date.
3. All Microsoft fixes updated.

Problem:

Did a COMPLETE PC BACKUP to my USB hardrive - worked a treat. Then I wanted
to check the RESTORE facility. I did a reboot with my VISTA DVD and went to
RESTORE.

It cant find my USB drive so it cant find my backup? - I see a lot of
people have reported this, but haven't seen a remedy.

rgds Brian

Please post to my email also if possible - (e-mail address removed)
 
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