Unable to restore from a .bkf file

[nswar]

I installed W7 4 weeks ago and tweaked it to my liking and decided to back up settings and files to an external HD and ended up with file with the extension .bkf, but I don't know how to get W7 to restore from this file. Right-clicking on it does not get me anywhere, just a choice of ordinary programs.

If I start up Window XP and try the right-click I get the XP file restore wizard starting up, but of course that is no good when I want to restore in W7.

Anyone with any idea, please

Kurt

 

[kegobeer]

What program did you use to back up your settings and files?

 

[nswar]

What program did you use to back up your settings and files?

I used the W7 Backup Wizard.

 

[kegobeer]

Do you mean the Backup and Restore Center (control panel -> system and security -> backup and restore)?

 

[Zoner]

What do I do with my bkf files?

I, too am a victim. I have a large collection of my customer's data in .bkf files. Today I needed to restore one, but now that I'm running Windows 7 it lools like I have to downgrade to XP to retore them. Can it be that MS really thinks changing backup formats is a good idea? Really?

After trying Live Mail and not being able to read the subject lines, I gave up on that, too. Maybe I'll have to show my customers how up-to-date I am and revert to XP or maybe Win98!

If anyone can offer a hint on how to maintain the reatore capability of XP under Win7, I'm all ears.

 

[kegobeer]

I, too am a victim. I have a large collection of my customer's data in .bkf files. Today I needed to restore one, but now that I'm running Windows 7 it lools like I have to downgrade to XP to retore them. Can it be that MS really thinks changing backup formats is a good idea? Really?

After trying Live Mail and not being able to read the subject lines, I gave up on that, too. Maybe I'll have to show my customers how up-to-date I am and revert to XP or maybe Win98!

If anyone can offer a hint on how to maintain the reatore capability of XP under Win7, I'm all ears.

So, you have XP restore data and you are trying to use Windows 7 to do a restore? That seems like an apples to oranges issue, and not a problem with Windows 7. I would expect if you want to restore files to an XP system, you'd need to be running XP to do it. Install XP in a virtual environment and restore the files that way. Personally, if I was supporting customers that had XP, I'd keep one or two XP machines around.

As for Live Mail - what problems are you having? I don't use it, but my oldest son does and he doesn't have any problems with it.

 

[zigzag3143]

I, too am a victim. I have a large collection of my customer's data in .bkf files. Today I needed to restore one, but now that I'm running Windows 7 it lools like I have to downgrade to XP to retore them. Can it be that MS really thinks changing backup formats is a good idea? Really?

After trying Live Mail and not being able to read the subject lines, I gave up on that, too. Maybe I'll have to show my customers how up-to-date I am and revert to XP or maybe Win98!

If anyone can offer a hint on how to maintain the reatore capability of XP under Win7, I'm all ears.

Zoner

If your machine can run a VM you can run xp in it and dual boot

Ken

 

[ultraplanet]

I was looking into this before I actually made the jump to w7 but ended up not using it so I can't say for sure it will work but it is worth a try. It's for Vista and Server 2008 so maybe.....

Download details: Windows NT Backup - Restore Utility

Utility for restoring backups made on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 to computers running Windows Vista and Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008.

 

[Zoner]

What do I do with my bkf files?

Thanks for the insights, but perhaps I didn't explain clearly enough... It doesn't matter what OS my customers use, I have backup files of their data that I keep in one secure baclkup file per job. They are not system files, but very large collections of data. These were made when my machines were running XP, so I would think that Microsoft would provide backward compatibility for restoring from the files.

I do have machines that run XP, and could use these to do the restore, or I could run a virtual XP machine. But why would I want to spend the extra (non-revenue) time to go through all of that and copy hundreds of Gigs from machine to machine when the whole purpose of a backup file is to restore it some day in the future?

I also went through this when I had backups on 4mm tape, and Windows stopped supporting the drives. Maybe I'm too critical, but I prefer making money with my time than fiddling with incompatible software.

And for some reason the subject lines on Live Mail are dark-white on light-white, and are barely readable in a bright environment. Its not my hardware that causes it, either.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

[ultraplanet]

The link to the program I provided above should do exactly what you are looking for. Provide a way to use Windows 7 to restore files from a backup made using XP's backup utility.

After trying this out it doesn't work but the ntbackup utility itself will run under w7.

Copy 3 files from XP (c:\windows\system32) to a new folder on the Windows 7 machine (not the system32 folder though because w7 has its own version of vssapi.dll):

ntbackup.exe
ntmsapi.dll
vssapi.dll

Run ntbackup.exe from the folder you created on the windows 7 machine.

Click on do not show this message again when warned that removable storage service is not running.

Click on OK

NTBackup starts up and runs just like on XP.

 

[Zoner]

Ultraplanet, You are a genius! Works like a champ, and there are no hoops to jump through.

Many, many thanks!

-Z

 

[ultraplanet]

Thanks Zoner - it was an interesting problem.

 

[jimberdoo]

Worked Great!

Thanks a heap!

 

[zrtom]

The link to the program I provided above should do exactly what you are looking for. Provide a way to use Windows 7 to restore files from a backup made using XP's backup utility.

After trying this out it doesn't work but the ntbackup utility itself will run under w7.

Copy 3 files from XP (c:\windows\system32) to a new folder on the Windows 7 machine (not the system32 folder though because w7 has its own version of vssapi.dll):

ntbackup.exe
ntmsapi.dll
vssapi.dll

Run ntbackup.exe from the folder you created on the windows 7 machine.

Click on do not show this message again when warned that removable storage service is not running.

Click on OK

NTBackup starts up and runs just like on XP.

ultraplanet,
Great information! I was looking for something like this.

Did you have problems with the Windows NT Backup - Restore Utility in your link because there was no place to turn on "Removable Storage Management" in W7? Or some other problem?

I had a compatability problem/error with using the three files you list, though. I'm running x64 W7 and the ntbackup.exe is 32-bit. I was close but no cigar.

Rep for ya' though. Thanks.
Tom

 

[elfvon12]

I need help restoring my BKF file in windows 7. I have the same problem as Zoner, but I don't think I am as tech savy as he is. I was running Windows 2000 professional and I made a backup file before I upgraded, a .bkf file, on an external hard drive. I was upgrading to Windows 7 but I had to upgrade to Vista first. After installing Windows 7 I tried to restore my backup file and it would not do it. What do I do now? I no longer have a copy of Windows 2000 and even if I did, I do not know how to create a virtual partition or how to "dual boot".
It appears that there are plenty of windows users in the same boat. If the purpose of making a backup is to be able to recover one's files why does Microsoft change backup file formats without warning?

Any suggestions that do not require me to go back to school and get an IT degree would be appreciated.
Thanks