Windows7 Backup and Restore utility: I can't find the file to backup

Hi,

New to this forum. I am using Win7 Backup and Restore, along with a Seagate external drive for my backup needs. I backup every week, and have been using it for about 1 year. I see the backups happening each week, but I've never had the need to restore anything. For the first time, I've needed to find an old version of a file. I have read the many articles about how to use the Win7 Restore utility, but when I 'search for files' using this utility for the file I'm looking for, I don't see it in any of the backups (various dates over the past 3 months). Now I'm wondering what it's backing up. The backup drive has lots of data, so it's putting something in there ;-)

So, in summary, I go through all the restore steps, but can't find the file I'm looking for. Is there some secret to using this tool? Seems straight forward...

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

I find this program invaluable - it will find everything on your comp in seconds.

Download Everything

Type in the name of the file or any part of it and if it's on your comp, it will tell you.

When the file come up, right click and "open path."

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the link to Everything. I ran it, but the file I am looking for does not show up in the list on my (Seagate) backup drive (K:).

When I browse through the folders on the Seagate backup drive, all the files are zipped. Does Everything look in all the zipped files?

I presume that the Windows Backup and Restore utility is zipping the files when they are put out on the backup drive.
Aside from unzipping all the files are manually searching for the file I'm looking for, any other thoughts?

I'm back to the question: maybe Windows Backup and Restore is not backing up my files as I expected (setting up Windows Backup and Restore seemed straight forward) or restoring has some common pitfalls I am not aware of.

More thoughts?

thanks!

I don't really know why you can't find the file, but the program I use to make an image is :

DiscWizard | Seagate (This is the Acronis Trueimage Program)

It is free since you have a Seagate hdd.

After you make the image, you can mount it and open it to see everything it has backed up and hopefully not have any more problems finding files in the future.:)

I backup weekly and after verifying the image, delete the previous one.
This choice is in "options" on left side right before you click "proceed."

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info about DiscWizard. I'll check it out.

But I think I found what happened with my Windows Backup and Restore problem. When setting up the Backup and Restore utility it asks what files to backup. A person has a choice between 'Let Windows choose (recommended)' and 'Let me choose' (custom). If one chooses 'Let Windows choose (recommended)' (what I did), these are the files that get backed up (from the Windows Backup and Restore help): "Default Windows folders include AppData, Contacts, Desktop, Downloads, Favorites, Links, Saved Games, and Searches." Note that it does not include the 'My Documents' folder (under C:Users/user_name). This is where the file I was looking for existed, so it was never backup up. I changed what to backup to 'Let me choose', and I included all folders under C:, and reran the backup. Now I can see the file I was interested in. Thankfully this was a lesson, using a non-critical file, in how to properly use the Windows Backup and Restore backup utility. I thought I had been 'backing up' everything on my computer for a year. I really could have been screwed if this were an important file.

Here's a comment for the Microsoft folks: Why would Microsoft recommend 'Let Windows choose' what files to backup when those files don't include commonly used folders under C: Users/user_name such as 'My Documents', 'My Pictures', etc. Aren't these the main files people need to backup? Wouldn't this be a good thing to mention in the 'help pages' or on the Backup and Restore Utility setup form. I wonder how many people have been screwed by this simple mistake on Microsoft's part.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me rant.. and thanks for the pointers to Everything and DiskWizard.

Glad you found it, but I'm a little confused.

If it was on your comp, why didn't Everything find it?

Did you enter the correct name of file?

One other thing: When you use Trueimage, it will back up your full C drive as the default setting.

Everything found the latest file on C, but nothing from the older backups.
Thanks again.