Restore can’t see the backup

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I had a nasty crash that left me unable to boot. I didn’t have a boot CD, so I had to do a System Restore, wiping out my program and data files.

I had made a full image backup a month ago and put the files on a separate hard drive, E:. I went there and clicked on Restore, but got a message saying that the program couldn’t find the backup file.

How do I let Restore know where the image is?

Thanks.

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Without a boot CD, you might be out of luck. Every Image app I am aware of has to be booted to in order to restore. Do you know someone with the same Windows version that would let you use their PC to create a boot disk for the Imaging app to allow you to boot and restore from your Image?

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I had made a full image backup a month ago and put the files on a separate hard drive, E:. I went there and clicked on Restore, but got a message saying that the program couldn’t find the backup file.

krsmav,
Hello… I’m guessing that you used “Windows Backup” … I have only tried that program a few times …Going from memory you can browse for the backup where the Image was stored …

1. Also if the Image on “E” is still there and Windows can’t “See” it for some reason …Just copy it back (whole folder) to your C: Drive …at that point Windows should be able to find it and recover…:cheers: Regards Fred

PS: Does “E” show up using explorer? If not… have a look see in Disk Management and make sure it’s there with correct drive letter

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Whether driving a car, playing Golf or doing computer backups, there are RULES that you must follow.

I’ve been doing this stuff for 30+ years and I’ve learned to follow the rules when setting up a backup scheme.

One, the backup program as well as the Backup Image Files, MUST not be on the C: drive, or even the drive that includes C:
The Backup program should be either on a Bootable CD or Flash Drive.

Two, the backup must incorporate everything on the C: drive, including boot sector, master directory, etc., so that the backup can be restored to a blank hard drive and it will boot the PC.

Three, most every backup program knows where it puts its backup files…..Don’t move them, or the backup program will not be able to find them.

Four, after a backup, the backup image file(s) must be Checked, Verified, or Confirmed. Nothing is worse than a backup image file, full of errors.

Five, the backup files must not be setting next the the computer they come from, in case of fire, theft, hurricane, or other acts of God.
They should be in a location that is fireproof and that can not be blown away or be carried away by thieves.

Follow these five simple rules and you should never have a problem with your backups.

Many problems have been reported with people trying to backup Windows 7, with Windows 7.

Some of the best HD backup programs in the world are FREE, if you just look for them.

Good Luck,
The Doctor

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Sorry for responding so late–I had just started a new job when this thread started, so I’m just now catching up.

I had made a full image backup a month ago and put the files on a separate hard drive, E:

[*]What version of Windows are you using?
[*]What app did you use to make the image backup?
[*]Does your system have the small “system” (aka “system restore”) partition on it (separate from the boot partition, aka “C:”)?

I have the full prior image, in its WindowsDiskImage folder, on my L: drive (a separate internal hard disk). Windows Explorer sees both the drive and the image. The problem is that Restore doesn’t see it.

My guess is that you’re referring to System Restore, which is not the same system utility as System Recovery. If so (and if my memory serves–it’s been a while since I fooled around with System Restore), System Restore works only with “shadow copies” (images) of protected partitions that it has saved. It knows nothing about images created by other backup apps, even Windows Backup. Since your HDD was trashed, all images saved by System Restore were permanently lost–they won’t even be part of any backup image (which would have been redundant, so that makes sense).

You’ll need to have the backup app that originally created the image to restore that image, and that app can’t be running from the drive to which you’re restoring the image (unlike System Restore, which can sort of do just that–the difference is technical, not practical). If that app were Windows Backup, then you’d need either (a) a Windows Recovery Disk (which you apparently didn’t make or can’t find) or (b) the System Partition (which contains the Recovery Console utility) on the original HDD (assuming that we’re dealing with Win7 and if that partition was created during the original installation and wasn’t trashed when the HDD crashed). [Someone else said that you could also access the Recover utility by booting from a Win7 install disk–I can’t vouch for that, though it could be true.]

If (b) is true and you did use Windows Backup to create the image, then you should be able (in theory) to boot into the Windows Recovery Console and access that image to restore your C: (boot) partition (someone else already gave you a link to the instructions on how to do that, but didn’t mention that the System Partition must exist for that method to work). At that point, I’d say “good luck,” as I’ve never used the Recovery Console in Win7 and didn’t put a System Partition on my HDD.

I’m pessimistic about all of the above in your case, however, given the name of the folder that you say your image backup resides in. Win7’s Windows Backup (which I use) creates a folder named WindowsImageBackup; since that’s not what you’re seeing, I’m guessing that you’re either booting XP or else you used some other (unknown) third-party app to create the image.

If this reaches you after you’ve already solved or given up on your problem, by all means do make a Windows Recovery Disk (CD or DVD) right now!

Many problems have been reported with people trying to backup Windows 7, with Windows 7.

I would agree with DrWho’s five rules (which I practice), regardless of what backup app is used. Whether this last statement is germane to the problem at hand is another issue. Whether anyone else ever has problems (as many or more?) with 3rd-party backup software (free or paid) is yet another.

I’ve yet to see a backup system that casual Windows users can consistently figure out how set up reliably (without some expert assistance)–not even for data files, let alone system images. Windows 8 is supposed to address at least the data backup problem–we’ll see.

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Whether driving a car, playing Golf or doing computer backups, there are RULES that you must follow.

I’ve been doing this stuff for 30+ years and I’ve learned to follow the rules when setting up a backup scheme.

One, the backup program as well as the Backup Image Files, MUST not be on the C: drive, or even the drive that includes C:
The Backup program should be either on a Bootable CD or Flash Drive.

Two, the backup must incorporate everything on the C: drive, including boot sector, master directory, etc., so that the backup can be restored to a blank hard drive and it will boot the PC.

Three, most every backup program knows where it puts its backup files…..Don’t move them, or the backup program will not be able to find them.

Four, after a backup, the backup image file(s) must be Checked, Verified, or Confirmed. Nothing is worse than a backup image file, full of errors.

Five, the backup files must not be setting next the the computer they come from, in case of fire, theft, hurricane, or other acts of God.
They should be in a location that is fireproof and that can not be blown away or be carried away by thieves.

Follow these five simple rules and you should never have a problem with your backups.

Many problems have been reported with people trying to backup Windows 7, with Windows 7.

Some of the best HD backup programs in the world are FREE, if you just look for them.

Good Luck,
The Doctor

My problem is like on number three rule, I moved my shadow backup to local disk C: from local disk D: and format the local disk D: and copy again my shadow image backup from disk C: and paste it to disk D:. After that the backup wont appear on the option… Are there any solution to fix this one?

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If you’re using Windows 7, the backup will be located in a folder called “WindowsDiskImage”.

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I have the full prior image, in its WindowsDiskImage folder, on my L: drive (a separate internal hard disk). Windows Explorer sees both the drive and the image. The problem is that Restore doesn’t see it. The Restore option to use an image other than the most recent one looks only at the network, and not at a hard disk.

I’ve already tried MiniTool Power Data Recovery (it’s like Recuva), but it produced only 100 gibberish files. Recuva did the same.

Does Backup perhaps have a hidden file that points to images it has made, and if so is there a way to edit it? Or is there another program that can handle a restoration? I can reinstall the programs, but my whole life is in my data files.

If there’s nothing I can do, can anyone recommend a data recovery service?

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I have the full prior image, in its WindowsDiskImage folder, on my L: drive (a separate internal hard disk). Windows Explorer sees both the drive and the image. The problem is that Restore doesn’t see it. The Restore option to use an image other than the most recent one looks only at the network, and not at a hard disk.

krsmav,
Did you try to “Browse” to find “L”….If not is there any way to “loose” the “Network”? Or try to copy the Image to your C: Regards Fred

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Did you attempt to acquire a Boot Disk on someone else’s PC. You really need the boot dosk to restore. You insert this disk then tell the app what Image to restore to from where and which partition to restore. Without the boot disk you might be out of luck.

You possibly could use a utility such as 7Zip to open the Image file archive and grab your data from the Image in this manner.

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Like Ted Myers mentioned above, a recovery works by inserting the DVD-R, or CD-R which should have been created at the time as the disk image. The external media is then used to format the HD where Windows is installed and then use the disk image which is located on your L: drive in this particular case to restore the OS.

If you’ve lost the disc, or didn’t create one, follow the instructions in option #2 here instead: Restore your computer from a system image backup

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And by the way, this Boot Disk only needs to be created one time, not with each Image. I have used the same boot disk for my Acronis Images for the last year or so. I might make another just so I’ll have a back up boot disk.

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DrWho said above:
“Some of the best HD backup programs in the world are FREE, if you just look for them.”

I’ve looked, but it’s difficult to determine what free programs actually work, and whether they can verify/restore the created image. What are your recommendations about WHICH free programs are best?

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rfarmer,

Hello… A really good free program is Macrium Reflect Free I Have use this program many times to both Image and Recover. Make sure that you Burn the WinPE recovery disk and test that your PC can boot from a CD (BIOS Setting) and that it will load and “See” the Image’s that you create.:cheers: Regards Fred

PS: If you have more questions about Imaging ..Post a new thread in “Security & Backups”

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That’s one program worth mentioning.

Acronis True Image is also available FREE from Seagate and other Drive makers.

Ghost used to be available for FREE on Motherboard Driver Disks. That’s where I got mine.

Try Googling for “FREE hard drive backup software”.

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The Seagate Acronis version is limited and is intended as a tool to allow you to move your existing disk installation to a new Seagate drive. I’m not sure, but I think it won’t work unless you have a Seagate drive installed.

Jerry

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Is the second drive a dynamic or GPT drive? I had a similar issue with a Windows2008 backup. The restore function would not see it until I copied the image files to a simple volume.

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The Seagate Acronis version is limited and is intended as a tool to allow you to move your existing disk installation to a new Seagate drive. I’m not sure, but I think it won’t work unless you have a Seagate drive installed.

Jerry

Seagate ‘Disc Wizard’ (by Acronis) is sufficiently unlimited that I’ve never encountered a need to use anything else for imaging. Its User Guide makes this clear, though Seagate Technical Support is not enthusiastic about bothering with user questions (which may be where the perception that it was ‘intended’ to be used only to allow you to move a system to a new disk came from).

Until the newest version (13, which doesn’t strike me as a step forward in multiple respects) Disc Wizard, while nominally usable only on a system with a Seagate drive present (though a USB-connected drive qualifies), could still be used on any system via a ‘technical override’ option (Google for it in case it’s considered an unacceptable work-around to be described here). I’m still using version 11.0.0.8326 and loving it.

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Also if possible grab a win7 dvd. Anyone will do the trick – boot up and select repair and there will be an option to restore from an image. You cannot do an image restore from an active system

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You asked in an earlier post if anyone knew of a data recovery service if recovering the backup could not be done. Before going that route, if you have the hardware skills, you should try pulling the drive out of the machine and slave it to a working system. Your data is still on that drive, even if you can’t get to it by booting to Windows and you can now see the slaved drive and transfer all your data without risk of corrupting it with recovery attempts.

If that’s not for you, take a look here for instructions on how to use the Windows 7 Image program to restore an image.

HTH.

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I tried every suggested method, without success. I ended up getting a new computer and moving the original C: drive to it. Then I used the paid version of MiniTool Power Data Recovery (the free version is limited to 1 Gb) to get back the lost files from the original C: drive. They were mostly intact, even though the drive had been written to a fair amount, because there were lots of duplicates.

Power Data Recovery sorted the files into types (.doc, .xls, etc.), but it couldn’t recover the names, creating them as file1.doc .. file[xxxx].doc. I purged the duplicates with Nirsoft’s Search My Files had am slowly viewing them and saving the ones I conceivably need. I’m nearly done with the .doc files and will go next to the .txt files., while my wife is working on the GIFs, which are mostly hers. It’s forcing us to purge the duplicates, rename things in a consistent way and reorganize rationally, a necessary process and probably what needed to be done sooner or later.

I’m now making a daily image backup with Macrium Reflect, starting it at the end of the day. Once bitten, twice shy.

Thanks to everyone who helped.

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Nowadays, there are many data recovery programs that are designed to help the user retrieve his inaccessible data online. You may select one to take a chance.

In my personal experiences, Recuva, TestDisk and iCare Data Recovery Free, etc, are efficient and free data recovery tools. You may give them a shot.

Tips: After experiencing this trouble, do not forget to back up all your important data on at least two different drive or locations.

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Lyrica4534 –

Many thanks. Recuva didn’t do much, but the paid version of Power Data Recovery got (almost) everything back.

Believe me I’m backing up religiously. The paid version of Macrium Reflect backs up incrementally as I work, and I create a new complete image once a week on a separate drive.

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