System Image Not Found on External USB HDD with Image as Root Folder

[SIW2]

You don't need to create one.
You want to open an existing one



A borwse window will open -

browse to your vhd and it should mount


You can then rt click it and copy anything out - just like any other partition.

You could also make an image of it , like this:









Call it any name you like , but you must use the .pmf extension.

I don't know if there is a size limit on the free version - there might be.

Try it and see - you have nothing to lose.

 

[GAR]

Sorry, yes..create. And it did, with the same results as windows now. It mounts, but shows it as ~500GB of free space. No files show up. Bummer. Guess Windows managed to erase something important. Stupid, I should've known better than that, but I just figured since it was virtual it was safe!

This is on a 2TB Western Digital drive in a Sabrent powered enclosure, FYI.

 

[SIW2]

See if it can recover the partition - never tried it mounted vhd - but it might

 

[GAR]

Won't do it with this version. They want money $$$ How selfish they are!
Trial only lets you have 64KB recovery.

 

[SIW2]

Ther is one more thing you can try.

It depends if your installed windows has picked up the shadow volumes from your external.

Give shadowexplorer a whirl - you never know ShadowExplorer.com - Downloads

If that doesn't find them - I have written a little program that should hopefully pisk them up - you can copy stuff out if it finds and mounts them.

I made it for PE - but the shadow copy function works fine in Windows as well.

View attachment NT6Repairx86.zip



Dunno why I am bothering - he seems to have gone.

 

[kado897]

Won't do it with this version. They want money $$$ How selfish they are!
Trial only lets you have 64KB recovery.

You might be able to recover it using the partition recovery features in Partition Wizard. Free Partition Magic alternative, partition manager freeware, partition magic server, partition magic Windows 7 and free Partition Manager software for Windows 7/8/VISTA/XP/2000 and Windows Server 2003/2008/2000.

You would need the Windows version not the bootable disk.

 

[SIW2]

That is also worth a go.

 

[whs]

Slightly off topic, but while some knowledgeable people are here, this episode made me realize that someone could clone my entire machine should they have access to to my external drive and were able to access the VHS file.

What encryption software, if any, are any of you using for your secure folders.

I equipped my external disk to which I image with a $10 remotely controlled electrical switch from Home Depot. With that I switch the disk(s) off when not in use for imaging or recovery.

 

[GAR]

I'd sure like to know what windows did to that .vhd file when I selected delet partition rather than detach.
The shadow explorer didn't see anything. the drive letter came up but no information would load from it.did the custom program. NT6 repair didn't see any shadow files either, but thanks for that effort.

Trying the partion wizard Kado recommended. Not sure how it works yet so trying to move through that now. Looking like maybe you have to download recovery plug ins in addition to the main program?

 

[GAR]

Progress I guess. I had to mount the .vhd through windows again and Partition Wizard saw it but showed it as empty logical drive. Ran through partion recovery and it saw it and I guess it restored it. Drive changed from logical to primary and used space was as it should be. Within the program I can explore the root folders that were in the .vhd file, but I don't know what to do from here. Windows Disk Management still shows it as Unallocated. Also, when I try to explore through Partition Wizard into those root folders, it opens them and says loading, but it doesn't seem to load.

Looking forward to further input. Thanks

 

[Heist]

Well ladies and gentlemen, I am back up and rocking although my method was certainly the exception and not the rule. I consider myself highly fortunate in the regard that I had my old hard drive, the one from which the original image was captured and then transplanted to my new hard drive.

I retrieved the old hard drive, installed it in an old laptop - hooked up my external and ran a new backup image (Or 2nd copy as it were).

Here's where things get a bit strange:
When I went back to my primary machine and ran the Microsoft Restore application, VIOLA! it immediately recognized not only this latest back-up, but also the old back-up (the one which I was originally attempting to install), and the "trick" back-up I ran yesterday.

The stranger part is that these were in exactly the same root folders which Windows had previously deposited them (F:\WindowsBackUpImage) so again, I cannot understand why Windows was unable to recognize the VHD and continually asked me to install a driver.

Be that as it may, I learned a valuable lesson the last 72 hours and will NEVER trust my back-up to Microsoft's Imagining Software ever again.

 

[GAR]

Congratulations Heist, but I'm still not so fortunate.

Partion Recovery did work, holy hell.
It recovered the partition, then I detached it in windows Disk Management.
I brought Disk Management back up and re-attached it and it shows used space and everything else.

So I've made progress...I'm back to my original problem I diverted from this morning....Access Denied.

What security settings do you think need changing to start?

 

[mjf]

I use Windows Imaging as my primary imaging software and Macrium as a backup and to perform things Windows can't do.
Windows imaging has never let me down on 2 PCs with at least 30 image restores to existing and brand new HDDs. I never rely on restore points - I just reimage.

@Heist
If you restore an image from within Windows then your USB 3 drivers are already installed. If you restore from the System Repair Disk then you need to manually load your USB 3 drivers. Was this your problem??

 

[SIW2]

@GAR,

well, that is progress.

Rt click the mounted image and see what it tells you about the drive - is it read only - what do the permissions say?

 

[Heist]

@Heist
If you restore an image from within Windows then your USB 3 drivers are already installed. If you restore from the System Repair Disk then you need to manually load your USB 3 drivers. Was this your problem??

MJF -
I attempted both methods, both from within Windows and the System Recovery Disk. Either way I was met with the Recovery environment asking me to install a driver from the same directory and external it was already mapped to.

Very queer and enormously frustrating.

 

[mjf]

Very queer and enormously frustrating.

I can understand the frustration. I know some people lose confidence in Windows imaging. The good thing is there are alternatives like Macrium.

I mainly use WD USB 3 externals. Another issue is that sometimes these HDDs "go to sleep". I unplug the power and USB then reattach and it's back to life and images recognized.

 

[Saltgrass]

If you are using a USB 3.0 drive, or any other, I suggest you switch it to a 2.0 port when not in Windows. On some boards, the USB 3.0 ports are inoperative if not in Windows. You may get a driver to load, but moving the plug is just so easy.

 

[mjf]

If you are using a USB 3.0 drive, or any other, I suggest you switch it to a 2.0 port when not in Windows. On some boards, the USB 3.0 ports are inoperative if not in Windows. You may get a driver to load, but moving the plug is just so easy.

You wouldn't want to buy those boards.
If you have a USB 3 ext HDD drive then moving back to USB 2 will be painfully slow. To make and restore an image to a USB 3 takes me ~10minutes using a USB 2 it takes ~30min+.
It is easy to check if you can connect to the USB 3 port and load the drivers. Boot from the system repair disk and
http://www.sevenforums.com/backup-r...p-via-usb-3-0-external-drive.html#post1640570
A similar process for Macrium if you haven't incorporated the USB 3 drivers into the Recovery pe disk.

 

[GAR]

I'm not sure where to start with the security questions.
My error is: J:\ not accessible. Access Denied.
When going through my external drive and start with the Office folder in the root of the drive.
Office: Attributes; read only Security; Everyone full control
WindowsImageBackup: Attributes; read only Security; Administrators/Everyone full control
Office: Attributes; Read only Security; Administrators/Everyone full control
Backup 2012-05-05 030014: Attributes; read only Security; Administrators/Everyone full control
.VHD file: Attributes; nothing checked Security; Everyone; Full control

There is a user in the folders; WindowsImageBackup through Backup 2012-05-05 030014 that is strange also has full control. The user is ; S-1-5-21-4269836154-2317595803-432792064-1001 The icon next to it is a person with a red question mark. Anyone have anything like this at all ever?

 

[GAR]

It appears the user S-1-5-21 is some kind of security id (SID)from windows. Thought maybe it had something to do with a virus but it appears okay. FYI