Restore from external hard drive


  1. dland2000
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7 Pro
       New #1

    Restore from external hard drive


    I recently moved from XP to Windows 7 Pro. Before I did this I backed up a good deal of my C: drive using the XP backup/restore feature. The resulting backup file was copied to an external hard drive. Now that I'm on 7 I would like to restore some of these old files. However, when I go to the backup/restore app on Windows 7 the only option I have is to select the backup file from a network location. But it's not on the network, it's on an external hard drive that I plugged in. How can I just tell it to look for the file on the external drive?
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  3. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #2

    This is not obvious because Win7 cannot read the XP backup files. Have a look at this thread for more information. This is really catch 22.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  4. dland2000
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7 Pro
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Well, thanks for the help, but if I'm reading this right, there is no direct way to restore a backup from XP onto 7. You have to involve Vista in some way or buy a third party tool. What a joke.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  6. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #4

    If you still have your XP installation disk (and if it comes from the same PC), you could try to install it under VM (different solutions are possible) and recover the data that way.
    The problem with the windows backup/restore is that the system uses its own file scheme and you cannot recognize your files any more. That's why I prefer to do it by hand or use a program that does not alter my data structure.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

 

  Related Discussions
So I want to clone one external 2TB with another. So one drive is the main use one and another the backup one. So I copy everything over to backup and i store the backup at another house and then I start using the main: deleting and adding/editing files. What is the best software or whatever to...
Hello, Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer. I will do my best to describe what I find to be a confusing scenario. Our Windows 7 laptop became infected with a virus last August. It prevented me from booting the computer. We back up to a 930 gb "My Book" external hard drive. It appears...
I used windows backup to create a backup of my system on an external seagate harddrive. It created an big backup of about 11GB. Now when I try to restore my system using windows backup and restore, it shows the following message "windows could not find a backup for this computer". On selecting...
I have an internal hard disk not in use ,and I would like to make it as external disk ! I looked on the net and I found I should have the " encelsure " butt I think I wont find it here in my city . So is there another way ? like usb -esata cable ?
Hi guys, I'm new on any sort of forums so go easy if it's a stupid question..but here goes. Me and my brother built me a new computer from scratch (he did the building - i did the watching). To cut a long story short - I purchased an internal hard drive from Overclockers UK. It's a Samsung...
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 7 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 7" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

 © Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 18:54.
Find Us