Vista - I need to restore files from Vista Backup file structure

I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista Backup
tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the drive
that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system drive for
some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and can
access the files within. Most of the files can be located and restored just
by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files (videos)
have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't open
with Media Player any longer.

Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell windows
that my backup drive is not a system drive)?

Any help would be appreciated.

Can you explain more about what happened during the crash and how you got
the system back up? In other words, how did you get the backup drive after
the computer crashed? (did you back up to D:, and then C: failed, so you
replaced C: with D: and reinstalled the OS?) We'd really like to understand
this!

There are ways to rejoin the files. Here's one suggested by a developer:

It is possible to join two or more files together using the '+' syntax on
copy.

copy smallfile1+smallfile2+smallfile3 largefile

The copy command above has to have "/b" switch in order to prevent
terminating reading from the chunk at the 1st ctrl-z.


There are also other tools on the Internet for this, such as tucows.com or
download.com. We just split the files at the byte level, so they can just be
"glued" back together.

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies? Visit
our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.


"W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:766B8DF7-6E16-4419-9BD0-CA51157272A6@microsoft.com...
>I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista Backup
> tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the drive
> that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system drive
> for
> some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and can
> access the files within. Most of the files can be located and restored
> just
> by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files
> (videos)
> have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't open
> with Media Player any longer.
>
> Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell
> windows
> that my backup drive is not a system drive)?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.

Another question for you: did you try the advanced restore, backup made on a
different computer?

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies? Visit
our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
"W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:766B8DF7-6E16-4419-9BD0-CA51157272A6@microsoft.com...
>I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista Backup
> tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the drive
> that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system drive
> for
> some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and can
> access the files within. Most of the files can be located and restored
> just
> by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files
> (videos)
> have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't open
> with Media Player any longer.
>
> Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell
> windows
> that my backup drive is not a system drive)?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.

What happened:
I don't know exactly what I did to cause this but during a restart the
startup failed and left me with a black screen with the vista build number in
the lower right corner of the screen. The startup wouldn't go any further.
I tried running the Vista DVD repair to no avail so I re-installed Vista on
the same drive that it was on before (the C drive). Thankfully I had used
Vista backup to backup my files to my D drive(a separate hard drive). When I
tried to get my data restored using the Vista restore app, it wouldn't
recognize my D drive because it was (much to my surprise) now the boot disk
and the system disk. I found out how to change the bootmgr and make C the
boot disk but can't figure out how to change the system volume to C also so
the restore tool will allow me to restore my files off the D drive.

Any help would be appreciated.

"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:

> Can you explain more about what happened during the crash and how you got
> the system back up? In other words, how did you get the backup drive after
> the computer crashed? (did you back up to D:, and then C: failed, so you
> replaced C: with D: and reinstalled the OS?) We'd really like to understand
> this!
>
> There are ways to rejoin the files. Here's one suggested by a developer:
>
> It is possible to join two or more files together using the '+' syntax on
> copy.
>
> copy smallfile1+smallfile2+smallfile3 largefile
>
> The copy command above has to have "/b" switch in order to prevent
> terminating reading from the chunk at the 1st ctrl-z.
>
>
> There are also other tools on the Internet for this, such as tucows.com or
> download.com. We just split the files at the byte level, so they can just be
> "glued" back together.
>
> --
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>
> Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies? Visit
> our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
>
>
> "W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:766B8DF7-6E16-4419-9BD0-CA51157272A6@microsoft.com...
> >I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista Backup
> > tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the drive
> > that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system drive
> > for
> > some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and can
> > access the files within. Most of the files can be located and restored
> > just
> > by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files
> > (videos)
> > have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't open
> > with Media Player any longer.
> >
> > Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell
> > windows
> > that my backup drive is not a system drive)?
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated.
>
>
>

Yes, I tried the advanced restore but it still won't list my D drive because
it is a system disk.


"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:

> Another question for you: did you try the advanced restore, backup made on a
> different computer?
>
> --
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>
> Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies? Visit
> our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
> "W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:766B8DF7-6E16-4419-9BD0-CA51157272A6@microsoft.com...
> >I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista Backup
> > tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the drive
> > that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system drive
> > for
> > some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and can
> > access the files within. Most of the files can be located and restored
> > just
> > by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files
> > (videos)
> > have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't open
> > with Media Player any longer.
> >
> > Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell
> > windows
> > that my backup drive is not a system drive)?
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated.
>
>
>

Thanks for the info. I've passed this on to our team and will let you know
what I hear.

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies? Visit
our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.


"W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E0717D4B-74C6-40D9-8F24-0B3A83187FFF@microsoft.com...
> What happened:
> I don't know exactly what I did to cause this but during a restart the
> startup failed and left me with a black screen with the vista build number
> in
> the lower right corner of the screen. The startup wouldn't go any
> further.
> I tried running the Vista DVD repair to no avail so I re-installed Vista
> on
> the same drive that it was on before (the C drive). Thankfully I had used
> Vista backup to backup my files to my D drive(a separate hard drive).
> When I
> tried to get my data restored using the Vista restore app, it wouldn't
> recognize my D drive because it was (much to my surprise) now the boot
> disk
> and the system disk. I found out how to change the bootmgr and make C
> the
> boot disk but can't figure out how to change the system volume to C also
> so
> the restore tool will allow me to restore my files off the D drive.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> "Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:
>
>> Can you explain more about what happened during the crash and how you got
>> the system back up? In other words, how did you get the backup drive
>> after
>> the computer crashed? (did you back up to D:, and then C: failed, so you
>> replaced C: with D: and reinstalled the OS?) We'd really like to
>> understand
>> this!
>>
>> There are ways to rejoin the files. Here's one suggested by a developer:
>>
>> It is possible to join two or more files together using the '+' syntax on
>> copy.
>>
>> copy smallfile1+smallfile2+smallfile3 largefile
>>
>> The copy command above has to have "/b" switch in order to prevent
>> terminating reading from the chunk at the 1st ctrl-z.
>>
>>
>> There are also other tools on the Internet for this, such as tucows.com
>> or
>> download.com. We just split the files at the byte level, so they can just
>> be
>> "glued" back together.
>>
>> --
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>> rights.
>>
>> Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies?
>> Visit
>> our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
>>
>>
>> "W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:766B8DF7-6E16-4419-9BD0-CA51157272A6@microsoft.com...
>> >I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista Backup
>> > tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the
>> > drive
>> > that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system drive
>> > for
>> > some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and
>> > can
>> > access the files within. Most of the files can be located and
>> > restored
>> > just
>> > by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files
>> > (videos)
>> > have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't
>> > open
>> > with Media Player any longer.
>> >
>> > Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell
>> > windows
>> > that my backup drive is not a system drive)?
>> >
>> > Any help would be appreciated.
>>
>>
>>

While the team is investigating this one for you, a wild thought...
Unplug the D: drive and do a repair of Vista. Now, plug D: back in and see if it
has lost its system designation. If it does, perhaps you can pull it and put it
in an external USB case.
-steve

W <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Yes, I tried the advanced restore but it still won't list my D drive because
>it is a system disk.
>
>
>"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:
>
>> Another question for you: did you try the advanced restore, backup made on a
>> different computer?
>>
>> --
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>>
>> Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies? Visit
>> our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
>> "W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:766B8DF7-6E16-4419-9BD0-CA51157272A6@microsoft.com...
>> >I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista Backup
>> > tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the drive
>> > that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system drive
>> > for
>> > some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and can
>> > access the files within. Most of the files can be located and restored
>> > just
>> > by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files
>> > (videos)
>> > have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't open
>> > with Media Player any longer.
>> >
>> > Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell
>> > windows
>> > that my backup drive is not a system drive)?
>> >
>> > Any help would be appreciated.
>>
>>
>>

--
Stephen Boots
MVP Windows Live
Windows Live OneCare Forum Moderator
sboots@mvps.org

We're not sure what happened. The developer suggests that if you can fix
your machine that so c: is boot, Backup should be able to load the catalog
from d: (restore from different computer) and restore the files.

--
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.


"StephenB" <sboots@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:j6tdq2dei0ln2aevcjkn7v1c8d21n2fufj@4ax.com...
> While the team is investigating this one for you, a wild thought...
> Unplug the D: drive and do a repair of Vista. Now, plug D: back in and see
> if it
> has lost its system designation. If it does, perhaps you can pull it and
> put it
> in an external USB case.
> -steve
>
> W <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
>>Yes, I tried the advanced restore but it still won't list my D drive
>>because
>>it is a system disk.
>>
>>
>>"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:
>>
>>> Another question for you: did you try the advanced restore, backup made
>>> on a
>>> different computer?
>>>
>>> --
>>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>>> rights.
>>>
>>> Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies?
>>> Visit
>>> our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
>>> "W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:766B8DF7-6E16-4419-9BD0-CA51157272A6@microsoft.com...
>>> >I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista
>>> >Backup
>>> > tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the
>>> > drive
>>> > that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system
>>> > drive
>>> > for
>>> > some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and
>>> > can
>>> > access the files within. Most of the files can be located and
>>> > restored
>>> > just
>>> > by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files
>>> > (videos)
>>> > have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't
>>> > open
>>> > with Media Player any longer.
>>> >
>>> > Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell
>>> > windows
>>> > that my backup drive is not a system drive)?
>>> >
>>> > Any help would be appreciated.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
> --
> Stephen Boots
> MVP Windows Live
> Windows Live OneCare Forum Moderator
> sboots@mvps.org

The restore program will not recognize system drive(s) as a valid restore
drive. I've tried it.

I also tried copying the backup folder from D to a DVD and restore.
Although it gets further that my previous attempts, it eventually fails
stating that the restore application cannot read from the DVD drive. It says
to insert the disk volume (blank) and try again. Very frustrating. I
might have to just accept that I lost a couple of valuable videos. My fault
for loading beta software I guess.



"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:

> We're not sure what happened. The developer suggests that if you can fix
> your machine that so c: is boot, Backup should be able to load the catalog
> from d: (restore from different computer) and restore the files.
>
> --
> 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.
>
>
> "StephenB" <sboots@mvps.org> wrote in message
> news:j6tdq2dei0ln2aevcjkn7v1c8d21n2fufj@4ax.com...
> > While the team is investigating this one for you, a wild thought...
> > Unplug the D: drive and do a repair of Vista. Now, plug D: back in and see
> > if it
> > has lost its system designation. If it does, perhaps you can pull it and
> > put it
> > in an external USB case.
> > -steve
> >
> > W <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> >
> >>Yes, I tried the advanced restore but it still won't list my D drive
> >>because
> >>it is a system disk.
> >>
> >>
> >>"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:
> >>
> >>> Another question for you: did you try the advanced restore, backup made
> >>> on a
> >>> different computer?
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> >>> rights.
> >>>
> >>> Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies?
> >>> Visit
> >>> our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
> >>> "W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >>> news:766B8DF7-6E16-4419-9BD0-CA51157272A6@microsoft.com...
> >>> >I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista
> >>> >Backup
> >>> > tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the
> >>> > drive
> >>> > that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system
> >>> > drive
> >>> > for
> >>> > some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and
> >>> > can
> >>> > access the files within. Most of the files can be located and
> >>> > restored
> >>> > just
> >>> > by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files
> >>> > (videos)
> >>> > have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't
> >>> > open
> >>> > with Media Player any longer.
> >>> >
> >>> > Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell
> >>> > windows
> >>> > that my backup drive is not a system drive)?
> >>> >
> >>> > Any help would be appreciated.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >
> > --
> > Stephen Boots
> > MVP Windows Live
> > Windows Live OneCare Forum Moderator
> > sboots@mvps.org
>
>
>

Maybe we can try something else. When look into the tree structure of the
backup. I find the video file and another file with the .%%%TOC.WMV extension
on it. When I drag the video file (.avi file) to my desktop and try to play
it with Windows Media Player, I get the error.

"Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The player might not support
the file or file type or might not support the codec that was used to
compress the file."

Is there a way I can recover the file?

Thanks again for all your help with this. I really appreciate it.


"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:

> Thanks for the info. I've passed this on to our team and will let you know
> what I hear.
>
> --
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>
> Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies? Visit
> our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
>
>
> "W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:E0717D4B-74C6-40D9-8F24-0B3A83187FFF@microsoft.com...
> > What happened:
> > I don't know exactly what I did to cause this but during a restart the
> > startup failed and left me with a black screen with the vista build number
> > in
> > the lower right corner of the screen. The startup wouldn't go any
> > further.
> > I tried running the Vista DVD repair to no avail so I re-installed Vista
> > on
> > the same drive that it was on before (the C drive). Thankfully I had used
> > Vista backup to backup my files to my D drive(a separate hard drive).
> > When I
> > tried to get my data restored using the Vista restore app, it wouldn't
> > recognize my D drive because it was (much to my surprise) now the boot
> > disk
> > and the system disk. I found out how to change the bootmgr and make C
> > the
> > boot disk but can't figure out how to change the system volume to C also
> > so
> > the restore tool will allow me to restore my files off the D drive.
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated.
> >
> > "Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" wrote:
> >
> >> Can you explain more about what happened during the crash and how you got
> >> the system back up? In other words, how did you get the backup drive
> >> after
> >> the computer crashed? (did you back up to D:, and then C: failed, so you
> >> replaced C: with D: and reinstalled the OS?) We'd really like to
> >> understand
> >> this!
> >>
> >> There are ways to rejoin the files. Here's one suggested by a developer:
> >>
> >> It is possible to join two or more files together using the '+' syntax on
> >> copy.
> >>
> >> copy smallfile1+smallfile2+smallfile3 largefile
> >>
> >> The copy command above has to have "/b" switch in order to prevent
> >> terminating reading from the chunk at the 1st ctrl-z.
> >>
> >>
> >> There are also other tools on the Internet for this, such as tucows.com
> >> or
> >> download.com. We just split the files at the byte level, so they can just
> >> be
> >> "glued" back together.
> >>
> >> --
> >> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> >> rights.
> >>
> >> Want to learn more about Windows Server file and storage technologies?
> >> Visit
> >> our team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.
> >>
> >>
> >> "W" <W@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:766B8DF7-6E16-4419-9BD0-CA51157272A6@microsoft.com...
> >> >I backed up my files (not the full system backup) using the Vista Backup
> >> > tool. My computer crashed and it wont allow me to restore from the
> >> > drive
> >> > that I had previously backed my files up to (it says its a system drive
> >> > for
> >> > some reason). I do, however, see the backup catalog on the drive and
> >> > can
> >> > access the files within. Most of the files can be located and
> >> > restored
> >> > just
> >> > by dragging them out of the compressed folders but the large files
> >> > (videos)
> >> > have been split into multiple files with the same file name and won't
> >> > open
> >> > with Media Player any longer.
> >> >
> >> > Any suggestions on how to get these movie files to work (or to tell
> >> > windows
> >> > that my backup drive is not a system drive)?
> >> >
> >> > Any help would be appreciated.
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>