bkf files:restored folder's size differs from size of bkf file

vmg3300 · Mar 12, 2016

Hi
Thank you for taking the time to read my query.

I just restored a bkf file and the restored folder is smaller than the original bkf file. I need to delete the bkf file which is 12 GB but don't want to until I am sure all the files were restored.
I would like to figure out which files were not restored.
Is there any way to figure out which files are missing. After I restored the files, the report says that hardlinks could not be transferred but does not the size of them. The bkf file size is 33,754,314 bytes larger than the restored file,but the bkf file "size on disk"is 19, 099,648 bytes smaller than the restored folder!!!
When I left click on the bkf file and select properties it does not tell me how many files are in the bkf file only the bytes.

Is there any freeware/program that will tell me the number of files in the bkf properties dialogue box? Or even better let me look at the size and number of files in the three main folders I backed up.? I can not access/explore the bkf file only restore it. That would solve my problem. My backup tree is C:sharedhardlinkdata>beth>documents and settings>beth> and then 3 folders underneath
Thank you

ilikefree · Mar 12, 2016

Try this

WinMerge

or

https://sourceforge.net/projects/freefilesync/

vmg3300 · Mar 12, 2016

Thank you for taking the time to reply.I appreciate the links but was very surprised that the review on cnet or softonics had very poor user reviews. Thanks so much though.

ilikefree · Mar 14, 2016

I wouldn't send you to cnet for either
Remember when installing any free software the wrapper will almost always have other programs bundled with it so don't use express or standard installs always use custom install and read options carefully

This is from my website

WARNING
Due to the amount of time I spend repairing peoples computers I feel the need to warn users,
about the amount of crap that comes with almost all free programs when installed with express or standard settings.
In most cases, it is not the software makers that are bundling crap, but the wrappers they come in from external sites.
They may also try to change your internet home page, default search engine, or both.
Most external sites use some form of wrapper

DO NOT INSTALL USING EXPRESS OR STANDARD SETTINGS.
ALWAYS USE CUSTOM SETTINGS.
UNCHECK ANY OFFERS OF OTHER PROGRAMS THAT COME WITH YOUR DOWNLOADS.

vmg3300 · Mar 14, 2016

thank you for that very helpful information. I did not know to be on the lookout during the installation process for other things the program will try to instal!!!!
Have you used winmerge?
Do you happen to know if winmerge will be able to give me a report/list of which files are missing from my
extracted folder that are in the original bkf folder.
Could you kindly suggest the safest place to download winmerge from and any known ads/free programs that you might be aware of so I will know in advance to look for it during the installation.
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my query.

vmg3300 · Mar 14, 2016

Just realized I forgot something. The file bkf is very unusual and to the best of my knowledge there is no freeware that will extract it--only paid software. How can I find out if winmerge will work with the bkf backup file? I looked at their webpage but did not see any mention of the file types it supports.
Thank you

townsbg · Mar 14, 2016

At the moment I'm not sure about this but you might be able to open the file in winrar. I'll test that tomorrow because I don't have time tonight. As for restoring it I don't know what you have in there but if you backed up programs (most of what is under program files and program data). You will not be able to restore it. Also most of what is under Windows you will not be able to restore. The only data that you will be able to restore would be under your documents folder such as documents, videos, and music. Your programs will have to be reinstalled and since you are running running windows you can't replace any of the OS files. Without knowing any more information about what you backed up that is what I suspect is your problem.

vmg3300 · Mar 15, 2016

townsbg
Thank you very much for helping me out and trying to open the file in winrar. I greatly appreciate it.
I was thinking the same thing that you did--the difference in size is because certain windows system files are not restored. I also imported a report from the restoration of the folder and abot 30,000 hardlinks were not restored. But because the properties dialogue box of the bkf file does not list files and folders I can't determine how many files there are in the bkf folder, but now that I think about it that might not be useful because it might count system files which would just make it confusing.
Again thank you very much for your time.

vmg3300 · Mar 15, 2016

Hi
Thank you for reading this information: Below is the image of the file properties box from the bkf file and the properties box from the restored folder. There is a significant difference in bytes and I have no way of knowing what is missing. Also, below that is the report from the restoration of the bkf tool from the windows NT backup -restore utility after it restored the bkf file. If anyone could explain to me what this report means I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for helping me figure this out.

Catalog Status

----------------------

Catalog Status
Cataloging started on 3/12/2016 at 8:55 AM.

Backup of "C:"
Backup set #1 on media #1
Backup description: "Set created 5/31/2007 at 9:58 AM"
Cataloging completed on 3/12/2016 at 8:55 AM.

----------------------

Restore Status
Operation: Restore

Backup of "C:", Restored to"E: Local Disk \restored backup"
Backup set #1 on media #1
Backup description: "Set created 5/31/2007 at 9:58 AM"

Restore started on 3/12/2016 at 9:00 AM.
Restore completed on 3/12/2016 at 9:00 AM.
Directories: 4
Files: 1
Bytes: 8,364
Time: 1 second

----------------------

Restore Status
Operation: Restore

Backup of "C:", Restored to"E: Local Disk \restored backup"
Backup set #1 on media #1
Backup description: "Set created 5/31/2007 at 9:58 AM"

Restore started on 3/12/2016 at 9:01 AM.
Restore completed on 3/12/2016 at 9:01 AM.
Directories: 7
Files: 69
Bytes: 9,505,786
Time: 3 seconds

----------------------

Restore Status
Operation: Restore

Backup of "C:", Restored to"E: Local Disk \restored backup"
Backup set #1 on media #1
Backup description: "Set created 5/31/2007 at 9:58 AM"

Restore started on 3/12/2016 at 9:03 AM.
Restore completed on 3/12/2016 at 9:20 AM.
Directories: 1472
Files: 12600
Bytes: 1,997,886,913
Time: 17 minutes and 23 seconds

----------------------

Restore Status
Operation: Restore

Backup of "C:", Restored to"E: Local Disk \restored backup"
Backup set #1 on media #1
Backup description: "Set created 5/31/2007 at 9:58 AM"

Restore started on 3/12/2016 at 9:24 AM.
Restore completed on 3/12/2016 at 9:25 AM.
Directories: 368
Files: 1176
Bytes: 909,114,014
Time: 1 minute and 39 seconds

----------------------

Restore Status
Operation: Restore

Backup of "C:", Restored to"E: Local Disk \restored backup"
Backup set #1 on media #1
Backup description: "Set created 5/31/2007 at 9:58 AM"

Restore started on 3/12/2016 at 10:22 AM.
Warning: Unable to create "E:\_SharedHardlinkData_\fc7f135a.130000.b43e" - skipped.
Reason: The system cannot find the path specified.

Warning: Unable to create "E:\_SharedHardlinkData_\fc7f135a.330000.45f1" - skipped.
Reason: The system cannot find the path specified.

Warning: Unable to create "E:\_SharedHardlinkData_\fc7f135a.130000.d77f" - skipped.
Reason: The system cannot find the path specified.

Warning: Unable to create "E:\_SharedHardlinkData_\fc7f135a.70000.d742" - skipped.
Reason: The system cannot find the path specified.

THERE ARE ABOUT 30,000 OF THESE WARNING ENTRIES....

Warning: Unable to create "E:\_SharedHardlinkData_\fc7f135a.70000.2f4b" - skipped.
Reason: The system cannot find the path specified.

Warning: Unable to create "E:\_SharedHardlinkData_\fc7f135a.30000.427b" - skipped.
Reason: The system cannot find the path specified.

Warning: Unable to create "E:\_SharedHardlinkData_\fc7f135a.50000.eb23" - skipped.
Reason: The system cannot find the path specified.

Restore completed on 3/12/2016 at 11:45 AM.
Directories: 2
Files: 0
Bytes: 0
Time: 5 seconds

----------------------

Restore Status
Operation: Restore

Backup of "C:", Restored to"C: SQ004525V02\Users\Liz\Desktop\restore_bkf 12gb"
Backup set #1 on media #1
Backup description: "Set created 5/31/2007 at 9:58 AM"

Restore started on 3/12/2016 at 12:07 PM.
Restore completed on 3/12/2016 at 12:37 PM.
Directories: 4145
Files: 27576
Bytes: 13,203,808,384
Time: 30 minutes and 26 seconds

townsbg · Mar 15, 2016

I've never had to restore using windows restore however I wouldn't worry about hard links. I might be wrong though but I doubt that they are important since, if those really are hard links, all they are is a shortcut to other files.

vmg3300 · Mar 18, 2016

I tried winmerge but it would not work with the bkf file because it was to large.
It only works with files up to 2 GB.
In the examples I see the restored file is the same size as the bkf file.
I can not find any free or inexpensive software that works with bkf files. The one I found was $80.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you.

ilikefree · Mar 18, 2016

Try the free trial versions of these
BKF File Viewer Software to View & Read BKF File
Open and BKF Recovery Tool - Download
[url]http://www.scootersoftware.com/
[/URL]

vmg3300 · Mar 18, 2016

I just tried the bkf viewer. It extracts the folder and shows the folder tree. However, it does not give the size of the folders. My file is 12 gb with hundreds of files and folders. Do you think I should try microsoft? How would I contact them?

vmg3300 · Mar 18, 2016

I just tried using windows nt backup and restore tool again. And what I realized is as it is restoring there is a popup box called "Restore Progress" with the target number of files 27,576 and a running total of how many it has restored. I never knew the target number. When it finished, the dialogue box said all 27,576 were restored. However, the bytes were different.

bkf files:restored folder's size differs from size of bkf file

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