Recovery Help

[MR0808]

Hi,

I currently have an Asus M50SA laptop running Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit. Recently my hard drive was failing and had to get it repaired. So I used the Windows Back up utility and backed up the entire hard drive to an external 3.5 inch usb hard drive.

I then sent my laptop off to get repaired and they took out the hard drive and put a new one in and re-installed Vista for me. However, when I went to run the recovery program from the install disk, it kept coming up with the error that it could not find any backups. Using the command prompt though, I could connect to my USB drive and see the image.

What do I need to do to get the recovery software to see the VHD file on the USB drive?

 

[limneos]

You must boot with Vista's Install cd, Select "Repair My Computer" on the second screen, then select you Windows Installation, and then select "Restore a Complete PC backup".

Regards

 

[limneos]

the above works only if you made a Complete PC backup.

Otherwise, you must go to Start-All Programs - Maintenance - Backup and Restore and just restore your backed up files.

 

[MR0808]

That's the thing. I did do a Complete PC Backup. But when I go to Restore a Complete PC Backup, it comes up with the error of not being able to locate my backup.

 

[limneos]

hmm..strange...Try disconnecting the external hard disk and connecting it again WHILE on recovery mode, then search for Complete PC backups again.
Also, try moving the VHD image to the root folder of the external disk, if it is not there already

 

[MR0808]

THanks. I'll give those a try later tonight.

 

[limneos]

oh man this might hurt a bit...

Take a look at this:

Vista "Complete PC Restore" won't recognize backup files. : Search, Organize and Visualize in Windows Vista : Software Development for Windows Vista : MSDN Forums

that said, I think you should not move the VHD or any files to the root folder, on the contrary, you must make sure they are in their very first place where they were first placed by the backup.

good luck...

Hints (taken from the above link):

1. wbadmin get versions
2. wbadmin start recovery -version:03/05/2008-01:31 -itemtype:volume -items:c: -backuptarget:d: -recoverytarget:c:

(replace version date with your version (you'll get it from wbadmin get versions and also replace appropriate drives (d: in the example is the external drive)