Vista Business: Restore does not see the backup files.

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.



--
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
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"Vince" <Vince@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2B01C224-57DD-41DF-BCF1-4C3B35F783D9@microsoft.com...
> 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?

I've seen a couple people report this. I am investigating and hope to have
an answer soon.

--
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.



"Vince" <Vince@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2B01C224-57DD-41DF-BCF1-4C3B35F783D9@microsoft.com...
> 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?

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???

"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:

> I've seen a couple people report this. I am investigating and hope to have
> an answer soon.
>
> --
> 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.
>
>
>
> "Vince" <Vince@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2B01C224-57DD-41DF-BCF1-4C3B35F783D9@microsoft.com...
> > 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?
>
>

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/blog...9/02/4385.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy...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.



"John Blackwell" <JohnBlackwell@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1288664E-EEDD-4E41-A015-82008556114D@microsoft.com...
>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???
>
> "Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:
>
>> I've seen a couple people report this. I am investigating and hope to
>> have
>> an answer soon.
>>
>> --
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> "Vince" <Vince@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2B01C224-57DD-41DF-BCF1-4C3B35F783D9@microsoft.com...
>> > 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?
>>
>>

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 - mcdon18@cytanet.com.cy

"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:

> 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/blog...9/02/4385.aspx
> http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy...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.
>
>
>
> "John Blackwell" <JohnBlackwell@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1288664E-EEDD-4E41-A015-82008556114D@microsoft.com...
> >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???
> >
> > "Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:
> >
> >> I've seen a couple people report this. I am investigating and hope to
> >> have
> >> an answer soon.
> >>
> >> --
> >> 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.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "Vince" <Vince@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:2B01C224-57DD-41DF-BCF1-4C3B35F783D9@microsoft.com...
> >> > 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?
> >>
> >>
>
>

I had the same problems recently - Complete PC Restore could not find
backup files. Here's what I did to fix:

Recipe to recover hard drives if backing up using Windows Complete PC
backup and Restore.
Read completely before following these procedures:

Ingredients required:
- The USB drive containing your backups
- One USB drive at least the same size of your failed internal hard
drive to write the files extracted
from the .vhd files
- A third USB drive to store the backups of your backups
- A new internal drive to replace the original internal drive if it
failed
- Beer (it's more prudent to overestimate the amount required than
underestimate)

Utensils required:
- Some basic knowledge of computers
- Understanding of how to use some of the basic tools in UBCD4WIN CD
- Understanding of MS Virtual PC
- Enough memory to handle installation of a virtual machine on top of
your host OS

Prep time:
Approximately 2 hours (includes drive time to nearest computer store to
purchase required external drives)

Cooking time:
Approximately 24 hours (depends on the size of the .vhd files you are
going to recover and your altitude above sea level)


1. Find and make a backup copy of the .vhd files
Disconnect and store the drive containing these secondary .vhd files
in case you screw something up, which you're bound to do. Leave the USB
drive with the original .vhd files attached and attach the third USB
drive.
2. Install new internal drive, format and install an operating system
(compatible with MS Virtual PC, I used Vista). Partitioning not needed
at this point, drive will be reformatted later.
3. Download and Install MS Virtual PC.
4. Create a new virtual machine. I used these settings to start and
added virtual drives later:
Memory - 1.5gb
Network Adapter - same as physical machine's network adapter
5. Install an operating system on virtual hard disk 1 (I used Vista)
of the new virtual machine 6. Download and burn a UBCD4WIN CD 7.
On the physical host machine, share the third USB drive, give share
permissions "Everyone - Full control"
8. Depending on how many .vhd files you are recovering, you might have
to come back to repeat these steps. I had four, so I needed to do this
twice. In Virtual PC, configure hard disk 2 to point to the first .vhd
file you want to recover, and hard disk 3 to the next one. Virtual PC
will only allow you configure three at a time (the first will be the
virtual machine's OS drive, and the other two the drives you are
recovering).
9. Boot the virtual machine off UBCD4WIN CD
10. Enable networking and verify you can ping the host physical
machine
11. In UBCD4WIN on your virtual machine navigate to the UNC path of
the USB drive you shared on the physical machine (i.e.
\\192.168.1.100\Z$)
12. In UBCD4WIN on your virtual machine, navigate to the second
virtual hard drive. You will see the files in there that you will need
to move over to the shared USB drive on your host machine. If the
volume contains the "System Volume Information" folder, you will have to
set permissions as "Everyone - Full" and propagate rights to child
objects. Select all files on this virtual drive and copy and paste to
the mapped shared USB drive into a folder with a name reflecting the
former drive designation. Don't forget to unhide hidden and system
files.
13. Repeat step 12 if you have a third virtual drive.
14. Repeat steps 9-13 if you have more than two drives to recover.
15. Once you have verified that all files have been copied to the
external USB, boot your physical machine off UBCD4WIN CD, format and
partition your internal drive according to your needs. It is not
necessary that the partition sizes match the original partition sizes
from your failed drive - we'll get that working later.
16. Give each partition proper drive letter designations - make sure
they match your original configuration.
17. Copy the files from the external USB to their respective
partitions.
18. Navigate to each drive containing a "System Volume Information"
folder and undo changes made in step 12.
19. Reboot off of Vista Install CD. Select System Repair option
20. Bring up DOS window and navigate to CDDRIVE:\boot
21. Run "bootsect /nt60 C:" (run bootsect /? first to verify the
proper boot sector options)
22. Reboot into safe mode
23. Verify your drive letter designations are correct, if not fix.
24. Reboot.
26. Add beer for taste.
27. Let cool and enjoy.


Some Notes:
It may not be required to load an OS on the virtual machine (step 5) -
I did it before I thought to use UBCD4WIN because I originally was going
to go another route. Keep in mind this is how I did it and I was
experimenting as I went. There may be a more efficient method, but this
worked for me. I had 4 partitions with a total of 82gb of compressed
..vhd files. The time required to move these files twice across USB 1.0
drives accounts for the approximate 24 hour cooking time. Your time
will be considerably less of course if you're using USB 2.0. The
original and replacement internal drives were both 250gb, and I resized
my C:\ drive from a 20gb drive to a 50gb drive on the replacement drive.
You've now obviously learned your lesson regarding Windows Complete PC
Backup and Restore. Now download and install a responsible backup
program and don't ever let this happen again. And also RAID your hard
drive.

Also, your Vista license key will likely not work after making these
changes - the hardware signature will be different enough to render the
key useless. You can try to talk Microsoft into giving you a new
product key, but good luck with that. You have three days to get a new
key.

Greg Kaighin

i had the same problem, busted my head for hours trying to find a
solution and it paid off.

don't use the backup tool to restore the vhd image on your portable
drive, just plug in the portable USB or DVD; restart your computer and
hit F8 during restart on the black screen; select repair your computer;
follow the prompts and then select from external usb and walla! there u
have it... should take like 2 hours for a 100gb image to restore.



irrelevant notes:
first let me point out i wanted to backup the entire computer and not
just a file inwhich case you can try with the virtual server to mount
the image, secondly, vista's own system restore doesn't really restore
all files "system restore" is where vista in itself sets periodic points
to reset the computer form its own internal resources...