Attached VHD shows no files

It's trivial at this point how big the system image file is. It's empty, that's what matters. The 180 GB is the the size of the system it was created from, it does not mean it has 180 GB of data.

A system cannot be recovered from an empty image file.

The bit version has nothing to do with your issue; the external drive containing the system image file can be connected to any PC on your network as long as it can be accessed from other computers.

Please post following screenshots, both using your desktop computer (connect the external drive containing your Windows image backup file from your laptop to desktop):
- Properties of the system image backup file (browse to image vhd file, right click it and select Properties)
- Disk Management window when the vhd is attached to desktop

Kari

I am sorry but I am still unsure if you really did as told in the tutorial I linked to in my first response, post #2.

When you create a Windows System Image using Windows Backup, it creates a folder named WindowsImageBackup. In this folder are then several files, among others the image vhd itself. The whole folder is needed when the image is restored.

When doing a system recovery using this image, you must have the folder WindowsImageBackup on the root of a drive which is either directly connected to the computer you are recovering, or accessible through the network.

Somehow I get you as if you had taken the vhd file from its original folder (WindowsImageBackup) and this is causing your system not finding it. This would of course be wrong.

Anyhow, it does not matter if the image vhd is empty.

Kari

You don't have to delete, as the tutorial tells already in Step One. really, all this is explained in that tutorial.

You can rename the other WindowsImageBackup folders; the important thing is the actual backup image folder you want to use is named WindowsImageBackup, which in its turn is located on the root of a drive.

Disk management screenshot: is the drive G: the image vhd?

EDIT: Never mind, had to get my reading glasses in order to see the light blue color of the drive G, meaning it's a vhd, so that's it.

Give me a few minutes, maybe half an hour, I'll check something.

plove011 said:

yes, supposed to be.

Edited my previous post, please check it again.