Backup recovery after reload

[TulsaFineCabinetry]

I just finished a clean reinstall of Windows Vista Home Premium after the registry problems got too hairy to deal with. I did a full backup prior to reinstallation using the built in Windows backup utility. The newly installed Vista won't allow me to recover the backup because it doesn't think it's been backed up. Anyone know how to get the information (photos, MP3's, docs, etc) off of the USB drive and back onto the PC?

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Welcome to the Windows Forum.

Where did you back it up to? You should be able to open the backup file on the target device with the Windows Backup/Restore utility.

P.S. sorry, I just re-read your post, which says you backed it up to a USB drive. What files do you have on that drive?

[TulsaFineCabinetry]

Welcome to the Windows Forum.

Where did you back it up to? You should be able to open the backup file on the target device with the Windows Backup/Restore utility.

P.S. sorry, I just re-read your post, which says you backed it up to a USB drive. What files do you have on that drive?

Prior to wiping the C:\ partition and reinstalling Vista, I did a full backup to an external USB drive. The files included are photos, mp3's, docs, emails, contacts, etc. There's about 120G of data on the backup drive.

After getting the PC back up and running, the first thing I did was open the windows backup and restore window, chose restore from a previous backup, and received the message "Windows has not been backed up." The selection buttons at the top of this screen were ghosted, no options.

As far as Windows knows, it's brand new. What I'm trying to figure out is whether there's a way to drive all of my data back into the system automatically, or whether I'm in for many evenings of manually transferring data.

[MANEMAN]

Hi there.

If you are saying you have 120GB of files on the external drive, and you are perhaps going to have to load these back manually, I take it that these files are "Readable" ?

By that I mean if you click on an MP3 or JPEG which is on the external drive ("The Backup") - it will open in an application on your computer. Is that correct ?

I have never used the Windows Backup Utility, but from what I understand, The backup is saved in the file format - " .BKF "

If it is not in that format, that is probably why you cannot recover it in the way that you wish.

The newly installed Vista won't allow me to recover the backup because it doesn't think it's been backed up

If it is in normal file types. It probably hasn't. - Not in the way you were expecting anyway.

Stated a bit more simply: If the file format is not .bkf you have not done the backup you wished for.

Most of us here use Disk Imaging software. Acronis, Macrium, etc. It is not that expensive (Macrium is free) and it is fairly bulletproof.

I hope the information I have given is of some help to you.

John.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

I have never used Vista or its Backup/Restore facility, but I believe it's different from previous Windows versions.

I am sure there is a way to restore files from previous backups, even though it is unknown to the newly installed Vista tool.

See these guides for help; also use the tool's Help facility to find information how to restore data from an external backup file.

• http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/backup.aspx
  
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.09.backup.aspx