HELP! "recovery to the backup storage location is not allowed"?


  1. Posts : 46
    Win7 Home Premium x64
       #1

    HELP! "recovery to the backup storage location is not allowed"?


    Short version:

    I can't restore the backup I made of Windows 7 to my new hard drive. Restore refuses to recognize the new drive as a valid destination. When I try to restore my image using the Win7 DVD, I get an error message that reads: "Recovery to the backup storage location is not allowed". Obviously, it is trying to restore to the same drive I backed up Windows to.

    How do I get my Windows setup to restore to the new drive?

    Long version:

    I had two 500GB drives in my PC. One SATA (Master with Windows on it) and one legacy 500GB IDE drive (also Master, channel 0) I was using for data. Both drives were getting pretty full, so I bought a 1TB sata drive with the intension of moving my Win7 installation to it. I removed the Data IDE, and put the 1TB sata in its place.

    When I installed the 1TB drive, I wanted it to be Master, so I moved my Win7 drive to Slave. I then booted back into Windows using the BIOS boot menu.

    Back in Windows, I ran Backup and backed up EVERYTHING to the new 1TB drive. But I wanted Windows on that new bigger 1TB drive, so I booted up my trusty copy of Linux from an external HDD, wiped my Win7 drive (after confirming the backup was good), and moved EVERYTHING from the 1TB drive back to the now empty 500GB drive. Got that? 1TB now empty. Backup of Win7 on the drive it was on originally.

    Now to restore.

    When I boot the Win7 DVD and try to restore my image, it doesn't seem to acknowledge the 1TB drive (though the Command Prompt sees it just fine). When I try to do a Restore, it finds my image, but when I click start, I get the error:

    "Recovery to the backup storage location is not allowed".

    Clearly, it's trying to restore to the same 500GB drive it was on originally, which now contains my backup.

    I tried swapping the cables to make the 1TB the slave (since Win7 was on a "Slave" drive at the time of the backup, I figured it must be trying to restore to the slave) and the data drive Master, but that too did not work.

    I haven't tried it yet, but my next step is to move the backup BACK to the 1TB drive and Restore to the 500GB. I'm fairly certain this will work, but it sure as heck means I went through a lot of trouble for nothing.

    Can anyone tell me why I can't restore my backup to a new/larger drive???
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #2

    Your main problem is using a Linux disk, & moving the backup.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 46
    Win7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    theog said:
    Your main problem is using a Linux disk, & moving the backup.
    I couldn't restore Windows to the 1T drive with the files still on it. I would of run into the same problem. And the drive isn't big enough for two 500GB partitions that are larger than the single 500GB partition I'm backing up.

    I have no other drives with enough free space to backup my C: drive.

    PS: I'm replying via my RESTORED Win7 setup, restored back to the 500GB that I started with. :)
      My Computer


 

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