Backup location not available

mclute

Member
Hard drive crashed; new one installed (HP Touchsmart IQ506). Have full system backup on external WD My Book but keep getting "backup location not available." I have read a number of threads on this problem but no solutions. Has anyone found the magic key yet?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP/IQ506
    Memory
    4.0GB
When you click on the desktop computer icon, do you see the drive, if so

Try to change the drive letter of the back up. Use something high in the alphabet.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Do you even have access to Vista at all to check anything? Is it a clean drive with nothing installed on it and you're trying to restore an image to it? Or did you re-install Vista and are trying to restore a full backup but not a complete image backup?

Since Vista Home Premium doesn't include a complete image backup, what did you use to create the backup (software name and version)? Please explain the process by which you are trying to restore the backup - step-by-step. At what point does that error message appear? Do you have another computer you can attach the external backup drive to to confirm that it is being recognized by the computer and you can access the drive and rule out a problem with the drive itself?

Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. MP061 Inspiron E1705
    CPU
    2.00 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo 64 kilobyte primary memory
    Motherboard
    Board: Dell Inc. 0YD479 Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
    Memory
    2046 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) [Di
    Sound Card
    SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (17.2"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n SB2411SJGLLRMB, rev SB4OC74P, SMART Status: Healthy
    Case
    Chassis Serial Number: 5YK95C1
    Keyboard
    Standard PS/2 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech HID-compliant Cordless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    1958 Kbps download ; 754.8 Kbps upload
    Other Info
    Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-5540A ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]

    Dell AIO Printer A940

    Conexant HDA D110 MDC V.92 Modem

    6TO4 Adapter
    Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
    Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter
    Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
    Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

    Router Linksys / WRT54G -01
I can see the hard drive (Drive H in my case) when I click "Computer" and can see everything in it through Windows Explorer--just when I try to restore the backup from this drive using Advance Restore (i.e. backup from another computer...), I get the problem. I can see every backup folder--just won't restore.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP/IQ506
    Memory
    4.0GB
Sometimes this works. Change the drive letter to something high in the alphabet.

If that does not work, try on another computer, for a test. So we can locate the problem
Is it recognized?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Lorien--I used the software that came with the Western Digital USB external hardware. I don't believe it's an image backup--it backs up using basically same folder/file as computer. Step by step I used: Clicked advance restore (backup from another computer); drop down box shows available locations for a backup and I choose my Drive H (the western digital drive); the computer recognizes the drive--no problem; I am given a choice of which backup (date & time) I want to use (I backed up once a week since 2008 so have MANY backup files) and I select the first one (the origional full backup that all the subsequent backups reference)--note that while I am given the choice of which backup to use, I get "backup location not available" comment next to every backup file; Again, I select a file, hit restore and it muddles along for awhile and I get "Restore Complete"--but no files show up (for example, no excel files, word files, pictures, itunes music etc even thought they were in the respective backup file)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP/IQ506
    Memory
    4.0GB
Just to be sure
Run a full anti virus scan
download and scan with malwarbytes.
Many times virus will stop a back up so they will not be removed.
Since it is a new HD, I doubt that this will lead to anything, Probably due to the new HD.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Virus scans done and clear. Have copied backup files to C Drive and now looking for files to extract individually--will take a year of Sundays at this rate...
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP/IQ506
    Memory
    4.0GB
In that short a time, it must have been a quick scan. Do the full scan. AV will take about an hour and MB about 30 minutes, depending how many files you have.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Lorien--I used the software that came with the Western Digital USB external hardware. I don't believe it's an image backup--it backs up using basically same folder/file as computer. Step by step I used: Clicked advance restore (backup from another computer); drop down box shows available locations for a backup and I choose my Drive H (the western digital drive); the computer recognizes the drive--no problem; I am given a choice of which backup (date & time) I want to use (I backed up once a week since 2008 so have MANY backup files) and I select the first one (the origional full backup that all the subsequent backups reference)--note that while I am given the choice of which backup to use, I get "backup location not available" comment next to every backup file; Again, I select a file, hit restore and it muddles along for awhile and I get "Restore Complete"--but no files show up (for example, no excel files, word files, pictures, itunes music etc even thought they were in the respective backup file)

If this is just an external hard drive, if you choose the location as "This Computer" instead of another computer, do you still get backup location not available?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    Intel I5-2500K @3.3GHz
    Motherboard
    Asrock P67 Extreme4
    Memory
    16GB G.Skill Ripjaws X (4x4GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce 750 Ti SC 2GB
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    auria eq2367
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
    1TB WD Blue
    1TB Hitachi
    PSU
    SeaSonic X 650W 80 Plus Gold
    Case
    Corsair Obsidian 750D
    Cooling
    Corsair H60, Three 140mm case fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless Keyboard K520
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless Mouse M310
    Internet Speed
    Wave Broadband ~ 100 down 5 Up
    Other Info
    Laptop specs: HP g7-1365dx /
    CPU: AMD A6-3420M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics /
    RAM: Crucial 8Gb (2x4Gb) /
    SSD: Crucial M4-CT128M4SSD2 ATA Device/ FW 000F /
    GFX: AMD Radeon HD 6520G /
    OS: Windows 10 Pro x64
Not guiven the option to select "This Computer"--message indicates there is no backup on this computer and forces me to go to advance restore.

Also did full scan--still no luck
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP/IQ506
    Memory
    4.0GB
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