Restore from Backup Help

Charlie3

Charlie3

New Member
i, being a bit new to pc and being more comfortable with macs managed to mess up my machine so bad i had to re-install windows.

I am now wishing to restore one of my backups to restore my system to its original state.

When i go to the backup and restore section in the cp i am not able to restore from a backup and am told the bacup disk cannot be found.

I really need that backup cos i had all my music, photos, programs(i hope) in that backup.

Please help!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    2.8 GHZ
    Memory
    4 GB
    Hard Drives
    640 GB
    Internet Speed
    2 MBS
Would i be able to do this with advanced restore?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    2.8 GHZ
    Memory
    4 GB
    Hard Drives
    640 GB
    Internet Speed
    2 MBS
Charlie

You first need to find if you do have a backup. In backup and restore does it show you a file, time, date, size? IN the destination you set up (usually a different partition like D:) is there a hidden file thats as big as your OS. you can right click, properties for the entire drive then drill down.

There is a 3rd party app called treesize pro that will do the heavy lifting for you and its trial is free for 30 days

hope this helps

ken
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron E 1405
    CPU
    [email protected]
    Memory
    4 gigs
    Graphics Card(s)
    integrated intel 945
    Sound Card
    integrated
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    300 gig internal
    Internet Speed
    10 down 1.5 up
thanks for the quick reply, i do have a folder called the name of my pc in on my backup drive but is there no way that i can use advanced restore to recover the files. Its just my internet is really slow and i dont know if i have the time to wait while somting downloads.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    2.8 GHZ
    Memory
    4 GB
    Hard Drives
    640 GB
    Internet Speed
    2 MBS
Hmm, the problem is that the backup/restore center (working off the shadowstorage) very often does not restore the user files because it really is a system restore. If you have done a "file backup", then you can restore your files with "restore files" in the backup and restore center. Another good way, especially if you want to restore only some selected files/folders, is to go directly to the shadow (restore point). For that you can use Shadow Explorer ( ShadowExplorer.com - About ). If you need guidance on how to use that, check my tutorial here: Recover lost files with Shadow Explorer - Tutorial on Vimeo
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
i have everything in the backup so is it a system backup and can i restore my system, to that back up?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    2.8 GHZ
    Memory
    4 GB
    Hard Drives
    640 GB
    Internet Speed
    2 MBS
With a system backup you can restore the system, but you will not get your old files back. It will keep the files as they are right now. But you can get at the old files as decribed above - with Shadow Explorer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
the problem is that i want to restore the computer like you can see being done in the better editions of vista but i only have home and that is what i want to do, can i just hunt thought the backed up files and find my programs, music etc?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    2.8 GHZ
    Memory
    4 GB
    Hard Drives
    640 GB
    Internet Speed
    2 MBS
Hi Charlie3

You can recover your own data from your backup.

You can not recover programs, you will need to reinstall them.
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
Thanks, will do that in future

I have just remembered that i have the an windows.old folder on my c drive can i restore my system somehow useing that and the files using my backup?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    2.8 GHZ
    Memory
    4 GB
    Hard Drives
    640 GB
    Internet Speed
    2 MBS
In part this is b/c information is written to the registry, and that information cannot be merged into the restored registry.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD AM2 6000+
    Motherboard
    Nvidia M2N-E SLI
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 7600GT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    WD
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    Three fans
    Keyboard
    Dell Quietkey
    Mouse
    Dell Optical
    Internet Speed
    10 MBPS
so i can retrieve nothing from windows.old

I tryed copying my office folder from the old one to the normal program files but it didnt work.

So basicly there is no way that i can restore my old computer using that folder? I have to install it all again and use up another licence for office?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    2.8 GHZ
    Memory
    4 GB
    Hard Drives
    640 GB
    Internet Speed
    2 MBS
I think we are trying to help you, but I am now confused. What are you actually trying to do:
1. Restore your system (not your userfolders) to a previous time
2. Retrieve your user folders from a previous time
3. Try to recover programs after an upgrade (if you have a windows.old, you must have made an upgrade) If yes, from what did you upgrade
4. Something else - please describe
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
Sorry if am being unclear and what i have and if want to do is impossible, this is what i want to to.

have all the programs, all the files all the settings(if possible) from my previous setup.(Programs being at the top of the list, they take so long to install and setup)

i have a files backup and a windows.old folder in my c drive.

i want to put all this back in place

you guys clearly no more about this than me but I cant see whats wrong with the microsoft help link? it seems to be what i want to do?

am i missing somting really obious? have i asked to many questions?

i just want my pc back the way it was before i messed it up, same files, programs, settings, antivirus etc

surly you can do this with what i have, hopefully
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 546
    CPU
    2.8 GHZ
    Memory
    4 GB
    Hard Drives
    640 GB
    Internet Speed
    2 MBS
Charlie3 said:
Sorry if am being unclear and what i have and if want to do is impossible, this is what i want to to.

have all the programs, all the files all the settings(if possible) from my previous setup.(Programs being at the top of the list, they take so long to install and setup)

i have a files backup and a windows.old folder in my c drive.

i want to put all this back in place

you guys clearly no more about this than me but I cant see whats wrong with the microsoft help link? it seems to be what i want to do?

am i missing somting really obious? have i asked to many questions?

i just want my pc back the way it was before i messed it up, same files, programs, settings, antivirus etc

surly you can do this with what i have, hopefully
Click to expand...

charlie if you do have a backup from before the problem you can boot from the restore dvd and click on restore my system. if you dont have a restore dvd, there are others ways we can help

ken
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron E 1405
    CPU
    [email protected]
    Memory
    4 gigs
    Graphics Card(s)
    integrated intel 945
    Sound Card
    integrated
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    300 gig internal
    Internet Speed
    10 down 1.5 up
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